According to Dr. Khushwant Popli, Head of the Department of Cardiothoracic and Vascular Surgery, Aakash Healthcare Super Speciality Hospital, Dwarka, Delhi, “These brand watches can help you in identifying the risk factors, but ultimately your long-term survival depends on how you can reduce these risk factors and get a good life.”
He said there are various risk factors for cardiovascular disease, which include an unhealthy diet, especially which is high in saturated fat, trans fat and salt, physical inactivity, obesity, tobacco use, stress, poor sleep, family history of heart disease, and excessive alcohol consumption.
He advised reducing these risk factors for cardiovascular disease by inculcating a healthy diet, 30 minutes of moderate exercise daily, decreased salt and sugar intake, significantly refined sugars, control your diabetes mellitus, hypertension, and cholesterol and stop smoking and alcohol or if you have any chronic addiction.
The survey, comprising 64% of men and 36% of women, found that just like mobile phones, people change their fitness brands whenever an updated version is launched. But it is another matter when it comes to its usage.
According to Sachin Taparia, founder of LocalCircles, many users were unaware that these fitness watches and bands could monitor heart health despite various available brands.
He said last year, during the Garba celebrations in Gujarat, many people, even those as young as 17-year-old, died of heart attacks. According to the Gujarat authorities, a total of 1,052 people died of a heart attack in Gujarat in six months time till November end, with 80 per cent of the victims being in the age group 11-25 years age group.
According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain a significant global health challenge responsible for over 18 million deaths each year.
The burden is hefty in the WHO South-East Asia Region, which includes India, where CVDs account for 3.9 million deaths annually, primarily due to heart attacks and strokes.
