Heart Ailments

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Health, heart ailments, lifestyles

India is heading towards a health disaster as 50 to 60 million people are likely to be affected by heart ailments over the next few years unless immediate corrective steps are taken, a leading cardiologist said on Saturday.

“Nearly about 12 per cent of our population is going to be affected by heart problems in their lifetime as there is not going to be enough money in the world to treat so many people,” Naresh Trehan told reporters here today. “People eating junk food and those with a family history of heart diseases or having hypertension, blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and full of stress are more prone to heart diseases,” he said.

Trehan asked people not to ignore early warning signals such as repeated chest pain, sometimes mistaken as burning sensation or gas, as it can be the advent of a heart ailment.

“Men above 30 years of age and women over 35 years should get themselves checked up. Also people with a family history have 4 or 5 times higher chance of getting a coronary heart disease and they should get themselves checked up,” said Dr. Trehan.

Evidence shows that moderated lifestyles can go a long way in avoiding heart ailments. Prevention is better than cure. The right diet and the right amount of exercise helps us to be better prepared to face the stress and strain of a demanding work routine.

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“Moving up in Mumbai”

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Indian Economy, Mumbai

“Moving up in Mumbai” is a well written article by Eric Bellman in the Wall Street Journal. Speaking of three young men in Mumbai and their aspirations to get ahead in new opportunities created by a growing economy, the article captures insight into their lives and thoughts.

Writes Bellman “Until recently, much of the new wealth in India went to college-educated computer programmers, consultants and call-center workers. While they have made the country’s technology industry a new pillar of global commerce, the total number employed by the software industry is still only about two million — less than 0.2% of India’s 1.1 billion population. At the other end of the spectrum, India still has more than 200 million people who live below the poverty line, mostly farmers.

Between the two are tens of millions of Indians, mostly city dwellers in their 20s and 30s, who are taking their first steps into the salaried class by selling goods and services to the increasingly free-spending upper crust. They represent a kind of swing vote in how far India can spread the fruits of its rapid expansion. Annual economic growth has averaged more than 8.5% for the past four years, but much of the benefits have accrued to the old industrial families and the tech-savvy few.”

Over the next 3 years, the booming retail sector is expected to create 2.5 million new jobs in India.

“People are not despondent anymore,” says N.S. Sastry, former director of the National Sample Survey Organization, the government office that tracks employment trends. “They see better employment opportunities, better earning capacities and opportunities to improve their skills.”