KHAMMAM: The Spandana Hospitals introduced a special heart attack prevention package for low-income groups here on Monday. Hospital chairman and leading cardiologist M. F. Gopinath said on the occasion that the hospital, which made its foray into brain and trauma care, launched a mass education programme in Khammam and the neighbouring district with a view to reaching out to risk groups with the recent research findings in the field of coronary artery disease in the Asian Indian ethnic groups.

He explained that the hospitals, under the special package, would conduct tests such as ECG, blood sugar and blood lipids, echocardiography and the stress tests all costing Rs 2,000 for a concessional fee of Rs 1,299. The package would be in effect for two months from Monday.

Risk factors

He said that men above 25 years and women above 30 years should plan their health and lifestyle modification to prevent heart attack. Many drugs were developed in recent years to treat high blood pressure and high cholestral - two major risk factors for heart diseases.

He said the death rate both during and after heart attack was four times higher in the Indian population compared to people in other countries. The American citizens of India origin were no exception. The mortality was more among women than men. People in the Indian towns and cities were more prone to heart attacks than those in the US cities.

The occurrence of heart attacks was six times less in Chinese and Japanese compared to the Indians.

He said it owed mainly to prevention of metabolic syndrome, high insulin in blood, high bad cholestral, increased clotting nature of blood and waist obesity. About 40 per cent of the Indian population had high lipoprotein.

He said the education campaign which got under way in all the four revenue divisions of the district in the day was aimed at making people prepared to distance themselves from smoking and alcoholic habits while encouraging them for regular exercises, he added.

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