By NNN-PTI
Kathmandu : More than 40,000 people of Nepal are suffering from heart diseases, according to a latest report published by the Nepal Heart Foundation (NHF).
Heart diseases account for 25 per cent of the total deaths in the country, the report said.
About 20 per cent of Nepali adults have high blood pressure and the number of heart patients has increased five folds in the past 10 years, the report, released at a symposium to mark the eighth World Heart Day on Sept 30, said.
About 90 per cent of heart problems can be restrained by opting for healthy lifestyle, said Dr Prakash R Regmi, general secretary of the NHF, adding unhealthy lifestyle is the main cause for heart diseases.
Annually, 17.5 million people die of heart diseases worldwide and about 9 million of these people are from developing nations, WHF said.
Healthy eating and physical activity is vital for a healthy heart, Regmi said, adding that lack of physical activity can cause obesity, diabetes, hypertension and heart problems.
Data have shown that almost 300 million people globally are overweight, and almost 22 million of them are children aged below five years of age.
People who consume spicy, salty, sweet and oily foods and eat less vegetables are prone to heart diseases, the report said.
Taking more tobacco, cigarettes and alcohol as well as doing less physical exercise and having more tension are the basic causes of heart diseases, the speakers at the symposium pointed out.