| Addressing a press conference to announce the initiative on Saturday, Vishal Bali, vice-president, Wockhardt Hospitals said, "This initiative stems from our work in the community to prevent heart disease as it has become the number one cause of mortality in men." |
| The hospital data shows that men often get concerned about cardiac disease prevention only after the first episode of chest pain, it is therefore important to involve their family members in creating awareness about prevention of heart disease and their children are the best messengers, he added. |
| Sharing a study conducted over 16 years at Wockhardt Hospitals, Bali said that of the more than 10,000 patients who had undergone heart surgery was quite revealing. |
| Father's Day Celebration is a great time to actually acknowledge how important dads are in children's lives. Most people think of this as a time to seek out that perfect gift for the occasion, explains Bali. |
| Explaining the concept, Bali said the initiative plans to involve children to make an effort and enroll their fathers in Heart Network and once enrolled, these privileged fathers will receive literature and regular updates on the various dos and don'ts to prevent and reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases from Wockhardt Hospitals. |
| "In 1990 the average age of men who underwent heart surgery was 64 years and in 2004 the average age fell to 56 years which means that we will have more men in their late forties suffering chronic heart disease" said Dr Vivek Jawali, chief cardiovascular surgeon of Wockhardt Heart Institute, Bangalore. |
| Men suffer heart attacks at an average of 10 years before women so men have higher risk of heart disease at a younger age than women. |
| Disclosing the findings of an analysis conducted by the hospital on the growing incidence of heart disease amongst men Dr Ranganath Nayak, interventional cardiogist, Wockhardt Heart Institute said, "About 60 per cent of cases heart disease in men are related to lifestyle. Economic transition, urbanisation, industrialisation and globalisation have brought about lifestyle changes that promote heart disease. These risk factors include tobacco use, physical inactivity and unhealthy diet." |
| Smoking is the number one risk factor for heart disease, 40 per cent men compared to 20 per cent women have high cholesterol levels which makes them highly susceptible. |
| Almost 70 per cent of patients consulted were those whose diet was high in saturated fat with subsequent high blood cholesterol and high blood pressure. |
| The analysis revealed a pattern of a steady increase in the number of patients with cardiac and cardiovascular diseases, to the tune of 15-20 per cent per year. |
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