About 44 percent of male patients who experienced an acute myocardial infarction (AMI) — a heart attack — used to be smokers and almost 36 percent of them are still puffing away, said the Health Promotion Administration (HPA), which blamed the high smoking rate among these patients on widespread ignorance of the link between smoking and heart disease.
The health agency’s data show that heart disease has been the No. 2 cause of death in the nation for six consecutive years, claiming a total of 17,121 lives last year, almost twice the number of deaths from lung cancer last year, which stood at 8,587.
Data recorded over the past three years show that the death rate among people with heart disease has been increasing annually, making it the second-most life-threatening disease in the nation, after cancer.
Smokers are twice to seven times more likely to die from cardiovascular diseases than their nonsmoking counterparts, the agency said, adding that many people know that smoking can lead to lung cancer, but are unaware of the risk of heart attack and stroke posed by using tobacco.
The agency found that 77.8 percent of men with lung cancer are or were addicted to smoking, but while most of them quit smoking after being diagnosed — only 7.7 percent did not kick the habit — as many as 35.6 percent of male AMI patients continued to smoke after suffering a heart attack.
The agency said that a study published in medical journal The Lancet last year showed that 8.5 percent of disability-adjusted life years — the number of years lost due to illness, disability or premature death — worldwide can be attributed to smoking, including second-hand smoke, which is the highest among the world’s top 20 leading risk factors for poor health.
The agency said that quitting smoking is not only key to decreasing the risk of having another heart attack, it also reduces the likelihood that a member of the patient’s family will contract heart disease due to second-hand smoke.
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
CHANGING LANDSCAPE: Many of the part-time programs for educators were no longer needed, as many teachers obtain a graduate degree before joining the workforce, experts said Taiwanese universities this year canceled 86 programs, Ministry of Education data showed, with educators attributing the closures to the nation’s low birthrate as well as shifting trends. Fifty-three of the shuttered programs were part-time postgraduate degree programs, about 62 percent of the total, the most in the past five years, the data showed. National Taiwan Normal University (NTNU) discontinued the most part-time master’s programs, at 16: chemistry, life science, earth science, physics, fine arts, music, special education, health promotion and health education, educational psychology and counseling, education, design, Chinese as a second language, library and information sciences, mechatronics engineering, history, physical education
The Chinese military has boosted its capability to fight at a high tempo using the element of surprise and new technology, the Ministry of National Defense said in the Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) published on Monday last week. The ministry highlighted Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) developments showing significant changes in Beijing’s strategy for war on Taiwan. The PLA has made significant headway in building capabilities for all-weather, multi-domain intelligence, surveillance, operational control and a joint air-sea blockade against Taiwan’s lines of communication, it said. The PLA has also improved its capabilities in direct amphibious assault operations aimed at seizing strategically important beaches,
‘MALIGN PURPOSE’: Governments around the world conduct espionage operations, but China’s is different, as its ultimate goal is annexation, a think tank head said Taiwan is facing a growing existential threat from its own people spying for China, experts said, as the government seeks to toughen measures to stop Beijing’s infiltration efforts and deter Taiwanese turncoats. While Beijing and Taipei have been spying on each other for years, experts said that espionage posed a bigger threat to Taiwan due to the risk of a Chinese attack. Taiwan’s intelligence agency said China used “diverse channels and tactics” to infiltrate the nation’s military, government agencies and pro-China organizations. The main targets were retired and active members of the military, persuaded by money, blackmail or pro-China ideology to steal
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