Saina bats for Women’s health

Ranbaxy Laboratories launched the Red Heart Initiative at the annual Conference of Cardiology Society of India (CSI) 2014 on Saturday. The aim of the initiative was to raise awareness on high prevalence of heart disease amongst women in India and identify challenges in its diagnosis and management.

Ace badminton player Saina Nehwal joined doctors participating at the national conference to form a large red heart for creating awareness on women’s heart’s health. For every doctor participating in Red Heart Initiative, the pharmaceutical firm stands committed to provide one year of free cardiovascular therapy to one female patient.

“Women should take care of their bodies and exercise daily for at least 20 minutes,” Saina said adding that an ideal diet should comprise smaller than normal portions of carbohydrate rich foods.

Speaking on the occasion, Padma Shree awardee Dr SC Manchanda, senior consultant, cardiologist, Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, said, “It is generally not known that heart attack is a leading cause of death among women. More numbers of women die more from heart attacks than cancer. The other problem is that women in India are usually not brought to hospitals for treatment. It is high time that a programme is dedicated to make women and people at large aware of this fact.”

The event also explained that Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) in women, account for 40 per cent of the total CVD deaths in India. The major CVD risk factors, which are highly prevalent among Indian women, are dyslipidemia, high blood pressure, diabetes, high waist-hip ratio, sedentary lifestyle, psychosocial stress and poor quality. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, 58.2 per cent females suffer from dyslipidemia, while 64.4 per cent females suffer across the country.

Over 5,000 doctors from across the country participated at the conference, where leading cardiologists and experts stressed on the need to manage three major risk factors of CVD – dyslipidemia, diabetes and hypertension.