CARDIOLOGY Professor William Mahalu has asked members of the public to develop the tendency of regularly undergoing heart health check-ups.
Prof Mahalu, from the Bugando Referral Hospital, made the call on Friday at a three-day clinic which started on Thursday.
”The problem of heart diseases is very big, so the public is advised to carry out medical check-ups regularly. Heart diseases are mainly caused by the food that we eat, cigarette smoking and lack of enough body exercises,” Prof Mahalu stated.
He said most cases of heart diseases result from cigarette smoking.
At the Jakaya Kikwete Cardiac Institute (JKCI), 40 per cent of patients come from the Lake zone regions, Mahalu said.
Professor Mahalu called upon cigarette smokers to avoid smoking at public places since smoke affects non-smokers twice than the smoker.
“We recognise non-smokers as passive smokers. The smoker gives out smoke and the non-smoker sitting beside thinks she or he is safe. But, the truth is that the non-smoker smokes twice than the smoker,” Prof Mahalu noted.
He said currently many people have started to understand about heart diseases due to various ongoing campaigns.
Another cardiologist from Bugando hospital, Dr Andrew Luhanga, said they have managed to conduct heart check-ups to more than 700 patients during the three-day clinic.
He said many children were diagnosed with advanced heart diseases because they were brought to the hospital late.
He said heart diseases have been troubling adults, especially those in the age group of 35 years and above.
He said at the Bugando hospital they have conducted heart surgery to seven patients in the past one week.
Dr Luhanga said the hospital will continue with various strategies to ensure that it reaches out to more heart patients by doing outreach to different parts of the Lake Zone regions.
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