With a spate of cold fronts bringing down temperatures across the nation, a cardiologist from Shin Kong Wu Ho-su Memorial Hospital in Taipei yesterday cautioned the public against the increased risk of life-threatening cardiovascular diseases.
Hung Huei-fong (洪惠風) said the “three hyper group” — defined as people with high blood pressure, high cholesterol levels and high blood sugar — and those who are obese, drink and smoke are at high risk for such ailments.
Hung’s comments came after Taiwanese actor Jung Hsiang (戎祥), who had been known for his oversized figure and excessive drinking, died of a heart attack at the age of 44 at about 4am on Friday.
On the same day, National Taiwan University Hospital pediatrician Hsu Wen-ming (許文明), 49, was admitted to intensive care after suffering a heart attack, allegedly due to his excessive workload.
According to National Health Insurance admission data, the number of Taiwanese suffering heart attacks surged from 39.2 for every 100,000 people in 1996 to a ratio of 79.8 in 2009, posting a nearly two-fold increase in 13 years.
Urging people at high risk for cardiovascular diseases to be especially careful on cold nights, Hung said the sharp dip in temperatures at that time can cause blood pressure to fluctuate and increase the risks of life-threatening conditions, such as strokes and heart attacks.
“If people in that group or their families fail to pick up on their discomfort early on, they may not be able to receive emergency treatment in time,” Hung said, adding that his surgery schedule had been fully booked recently by people who had suffered heart attacks and who required balloon angioplasty or stent placements.
“Because more cold fronts are expected to batter the country in the following days, people should bundle up and keep warm. Those who experience chest tightness, chest pains or unidentified upper abdominal pains should immediately seek medical treatment,” Hung said.
THE HAWAII FACTOR: While a 1965 opinion said an attack on Hawaii would not trigger Article 5, the text of the treaty suggests the state is covered, the report says NATO could be drawn into a conflict in the Taiwan Strait if Chinese forces attacked the US mainland or Hawaii, a NATO Defense College report published on Monday says. The report, written by James Lee, an assistant research fellow at Academia Sinica’s Institute of European and American Studies, states that under certain conditions a Taiwan contingency could trigger Article 5 of NATO, under which an attack against any member of the alliance is considered an attack against all members, necessitating a response. Article 6 of the North Atlantic Treaty specifies that an armed attack in the territory of any member in Europe,
FLU SEASON: Twenty-six severe cases were reported from Tuesday last week to Monday, including a seven-year-old girl diagnosed with influenza-associated encephalopathy Nearly 140,000 people sought medical assistance for diarrhea last week, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said on Tuesday. From April 7 to Saturday last week, 139,848 people sought medical help for diarrhea-related illness, a 15.7 percent increase from last week’s 120,868 reports, CDC Epidemic Intelligence Center Deputy Director Lee Chia-lin (李佳琳) said. The number of people who reported diarrhea-related illness last week was the fourth highest in the same time period over the past decade, Lee said. Over the past four weeks, 203 mass illness cases had been reported, nearly four times higher than the 54 cases documented in the same period
Heat advisories were in effect for nine administrative regions yesterday afternoon as warm southwesterly winds pushed temperatures above 38°C in parts of southern Taiwan, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 3:30pm yesterday, Tainan’s Yujing District (玉井) had recorded the day’s highest temperature of 39.7°C, though the measurement will not be included in Taiwan’s official heat records since Yujing is an automatic rather than manually operated weather station, the CWA said. Highs recorded in other areas were 38.7°C in Kaohsiung’s Neimen District (內門), 38.2°C in Chiayi City and 38.1°C in Pingtung’s Sandimen Township (三地門), CWA data showed. The spell of scorching
HOSPITALITY HIT: Hotels in Hualien have an occupancy rate of 10 percent, down from 30 percent before the earthquake, a Tourism Administration official said The Executive Yuan yesterday unveiled a stimulus package of vouchers and subsidies to revive tourism in Hualien County following a quake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale. The tremor on April 3, which killed at least 17 people and left two others missing, caused the county an estimated NT$3 billion (US$92.7 million) in damages. The Ministry of Economic Affairs is to issue vouchers worth NT$200 at the price of NT$100 for purchases at the Dongdamen Night Market (東大門夜市) in Hualien City to boost spending, a ministry official told a news conference after a Cabinet meeting in Taipei. The ministry plans to issue 18,400