The Hindu : Front Page : Hypertension tops health woes in Erode

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Wednesday, Oct 21, 2009
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Hypertension tops health woes in Erode

Karthik Madhavan

ERODE: A morbidity report prepared by the Health Department here has shown that the most common disease facing the people of the district is hypertension.

Data

The report is based on data collected at camps conducted under the Varumun Kappom Thittam, a State government scheme intended to screen poor people in rural and urban areas for diseases and ailments.

Between December 31, 2006 and June 30, 2008, doctors screened 23,149 people in 228 camps.

Sedentary lifestyle

They discovered that as many as 9,383 persons suffered from hypertension. Between December 29, 2008 and March 2, 2009 the department conducted 37 camps under the scheme — only to find hypertension again topping the list.

Then, data from 61 more camps showed 2,558 people suffering from the disease. The data reflect largely the situation in the rural areas: the department conducts 90 per cent of the camps outside city areas, in panchayats.

This has belied the general notion that people in the villages are healthier than their urban counterparts.

Doctors here say there is little to be surprised because people in villages too have more or less aped sedentary urban lifestyles.

Non-vegetarian food

“With villagers becoming prosperous and relying more on packaged food, their tendency to work hard has come down, which is what the morbidity report reflects,” says Dr. K.M. Abdul Hasan, convener, Health Panel, Confederation of Indian Industry (CII), Erode. Dr. M.N. Sathasivam of Maaruthi Medical Centre and Hospitals, says the metabolic disease has also to do with people’s food habits.“People in Erode have of late started having more non-vegetarian food, thanks to more money flow. And this money flow has brought along a sedentary lifestyle. It’s the lifestyle that has brought on hypertension,” he says.

The doctors say people suffering from and those desiring to avoid hypertension will do well to revert to a healthy lifestyle, take up exercise and be diet-conscious.

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