Heart related problems claim 30 percent Lankans

Suraj A. Bandara

World heart day will be celebrated tomorrow under the theme 'workplaces wellness: Take responsibility for your own heart health'. This day was established to create community awareness of risk features for heart and stroke diseases and to endorse preventive measures.

According to special consultant of Non-communicable diseases Unit Dr Palitha Karunaprema, cardiovascular diseases are the world's largest killers, claiming 17.1 million lives a year. In Sri Lanka, 30 percent of the deaths are due to heart related problems. Nearly 100 patients die each day owing to heart troubles, he said.

In Sri Lanka, nearly 30 percent women and 18 percent men suffer from obesity. About 20 to 25 percent suffer from high blood pressure, 10.2 from diabetes and 17 percent have high cholesterol levels.