RIYADH, 6 July 2005 — Eating habits and lack of exercise are the major contributory factors to the rising number of deaths in the world, said Dr. Roger Hajjar, Associate Professor and a Senior Cardiologist from Harvard Medical School, USA. The visiting cardiologist, a guest speaker at a seminar of “Managing Dyslipidaemia — bridging the gap between guidelines and clinical practice,” at the Marriott Hotel recently, said cardiovascular disease accounts for over 16 million deaths each year — one third of global deaths.
In the Kingdom, 13 percent of the deaths are due to heart failures; 36 percent are fatal during the first attack. The seminar was sponsored by Crestor and was presided over by Dr. Mohammed R. Arafa, head of the cardiology division and consultant cardiologist at the King Khalid University Hospital in Riyadh.
Dr. Hajjar said imbalances in cholesterol levels caused by a host of factors trigger cardiac problems. Hence, it is important to take a highly effective cholesterol medication, in consultation with the physician who can help patients achieve new cholesterol goals.
To cut the risk of heart disease, he said it is very important to treat high cholesterol patients on an effective medication from the start of the treatment.
He noted that one of the very effective medications to quickly achieve the cholesterol goals is Crestor, which is now widely used across the world.
It is now approved in over 73 countries in the world including Europe and the USA.