RIYADH, 5 April 2007 — A prominent medical consultant has called for a national campaign against cardiovascular diseases considering their growing incidence in the Kingdom. The call was made at the fourth annual conference titled “The Quality of Prevention, Medication and Training,” which concluded here Tuesday. The program was held under the support of Prince Khaled ibn Sultan, assistant to the minister of defense and aviation.
Dr. Muheeb Al-Abdullah, senior consultant for gastrointestinal and cardiac diseases at the Prince Sultan Cardiac Center, pointed out that high cholesterol, smoking, hypertension, obesity and lack of exercises are the primary reasons for all cardiac diseases.
Giving details of a five-year study conducted on hardening arteries among 17,232 Saudis, Abdullah said that 944 of them were found to be suffering from severe heart conditions due to clogged arteries. He added that the increase in this type of artery problems is estimated at 5.3 percent per year and 9.3 percent among the elders above 60 years.
Spelling out the magnitude of the problem, the specialist said 36.9 percent of the Saudis are suffering from obesity, while 72.5 percent who are above 45 years are obese. Around 23.7 percent of the Saudis are suffering from diabetes and 27.9 percent of the Saudi population does not know that they have sugar in their blood since they do not go to the doctors for regular clinical checks, he noted.
Speaking about hypertension, he said a fourth of the Saudi population is suffering from diseases related to blood pressure and 30 percent of the population smoke.
