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Getting down to the heart of the matter

Dr Kunchi is a recipient of the Mother Teresa Award for 2003 and has conducted around 8,000 heart operations. He devotes his time to study the high rate of CHD among the NRI population in the Gulf region, especially among the younger generation.

“As a doctor I cannot trust coincidence. We need to pin-point the reason or rather reasons for this situation. That requires elaborate study, collecting materials, case histories and hospital records from all relevant sources. We have started in that direction and hope this effort will gain critical mass in the days to come,” Dr Moosa said.

He said it is an accepted fact among the medical fraternity that CHD afflicts Indians 10 to 15 years earlier than people from other ethnic groups.

“A lot of research is going on all over the world to find out whether there exists some genetic reason for the increasing incidence of CHD among people of the Indian origin. No definite conclusion has emerged from these studies,” Dr Moosa said.

He said such research has created a new level of awareness among the medical fraternity and a focus on lifestyle changes. He said traditional foods in India contain very low levels of saturated fats, consisting mostly of grains and vegetables. Over the years, however, tradition gave way to a modern lifestyle.

Dr Moosa believes the time has come to take a close look at these changes.

“There is no use blaming the lifestyle and taking the moral high ground, people are forced to have such lifestyles due to professional constraints. As a doctor my concern is how to bring down the ill-effects to the bare minimum so people will not become vulnerable to CHD,” Dr Moosa said.

He added that the impact of unhealthy eating habits, stress and lack of exercise are recognised all over the world as major risk factors that lead to CHD. He said there is a sense of awareness among a small section of the population about the need to lead healthier lives, but such awareness needs to percolate down to a wider audience.

Dr Moosa said that people should be prepared to make the necessary changes in the lifestyle they follow, in order to guard against this dreaded disease. He also focused on the state-of-the-art treatment facilities currently available in India.

“Our health care professionals are among the best in the world. In the last few years, the health care infrastructure in the country has also developed to become on a par with facilities in the developed world. Unfortunately this is not widely known. I am sure India will emerge as a global centre for health care services,” Dr Moosa said.

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