Dubai: A senior cardiologist has warned of the likelihood of an increase in heart attacks if the majority of people with high cholesterol levels do not take steps to lower it.
More than half the population of Arab Gulf states has cholesterol levels of 220 mg/dl (see box), said Dr Afzal Hussain Yousuf Ali, a consultant cardiologist at the Dubai Heart Centre.
He said even people in the rural areas of the UAE, such as Hatta and Al Liseili, had high cholesterol levels.
Dr Ali drew parallels with Fiji where people have the highest rate of heart disease.
"They were once hunters and changed their lifestyle," said the doctor.
He said people here suffered heart attacks at ages 10 years younger than in the United States, Canada and Europe.
He said the Dubai Heart Centre conducts 1,200 angioplasties every year.
"That's a big number," he pointed out.
The heart doctor said a major study is being conducted across the Gulf States to check cholesterol levels and that over 5,000 people will be tested.
Samples are already being collected from patients at various government hospitals across the UAE.
The study, which is being conducted with the Emirates Cardiac Society and AstraZeneca, a pharmaceutical firm, will be completed within six months, he said.
Besides abnormal cholesterol levels, a quarter of the population of the GCC states has high blood pressure and 15-25 per cent have diabetes.
The doctor while praising the various municipalities for building parks and walking areas, said the health campaigns being conducted are ineffectual, calling them "haphazard".
He cited the case of Finland which had the highest rate of heart attacks in Europe, but brought it down 100 per cent over 20 years.
"The government and the society took it up as a challenge," he said, noting that people can make changes in their lifestyle.
Dr Ali said obesity was a challenge and that the rising cost of tobacco would help discourage smoking.
Checkup: Lipoprotein profile
Everyone over 20 years of age should have a fasting ‘lipoprotein profile' done every five years.
The test is done after a nine-and-a-half-hour fast.
A total cholesterol of 200 mg/dL (milligrams per decilitre of blood) or higher raises your risk of coronary heart disease.
