The Taiwan Heart Foundation and the Health Promotion Administration (HPA) yesterday urged people with chronic cardiovascular conditions to make regular outpatient visits to avoid the risk of sudden cardiac arrest.
Heart disease was the second leading cause of death in Taiwan last year, killing one person every 26 minutes, Ministry of Health and Welfare data showed.
Cerebrovascular stroke, hypertension, diabetes, kidney diseases and vascular disease also cause more than 53,000 deaths each year, the HPA said.
Photo: CNA
Foundation executive director Hwang Juey-jen (黃瑞仁) said that heart disease is often linked to the “three highs” — high blood pressure, high blood lipids and high blood sugar — and people with these chronic conditions and who are taking medication should make regular outpatient visits and should not stop taking their medication on their own.
The risk of heart attack in people with high blood pressure, high blood sugar and high blood lipids are 1.78 times, 1.47 times and 1.43 times of healthy people respectively, the HPA said, citing a 2018 study.
Hwang said that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many people with chronic cardiovascular conditions have stopped making their regular outpatient visits in the past few months, especially between March and May, and although the number of visits increased in June, it was still about 10 percent less than before.
Without regular follow-up on their conditions or medication, the patients might be at risk of an increased risk of sudden cardiac arrest, he said, adding that the five-year mortality rate in patients with heart failure is about 50 percent.
Studies conducted China, Italy and the US also suggest that COVID-19 patients with the “three highs” or cardiovascular conditions have a higher risk of death, the HPA said.
HPA Director-General Wang Ying-wei (王英偉) said that about 80 percent of premature death from heart disease and stroke can be prevented by practicing healthy habits, such as exercising regularly; avoiding sugary beverages, deep-fried food, smoking and second-hand smoke; and drinking enough water throughout the day to stay hydrated.
People with chronic cardiovascular conditions should also undergo follow-up exams, control their blood pressure, blood sugar and blood lipids based on their doctor’s prescription, and avoid changing the dosage or stop taking the medicine on their own, Wang said.
AGING: While Japan has 22 submarines, Taiwan only operates four, two of which were commissioned by the US in 1945 and 1946, and transferred to Taiwan in 1973 Taiwan would need at least 12 submarines to reach modern fleet capabilities, CSBC Corp, Taiwan chairman Chen Cheng-hung (陳政宏) said in an interview broadcast on Friday, citing a US assessment. CSBC is testing the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, the Hai Kun (海鯤, Narwhal), which is scheduled to be delivered to the navy next month or in July. The Hai Kun has completed torpedo-firing tests and is scheduled to undergo overnight sea trials, Chen said on an SET TV military affairs program. Taiwan would require at least 12 submarines to establish a modern submarine force after assessing the nation’s operational environment and defense
A white king snake that frightened passengers and caused a stir on a Taipei MRT train on Friday evening has been claimed by its owner, who would be fined, Taipei Rapid Transit Corp (TRTC) said yesterday. A person on Threads posted that he thought he was lucky to find an empty row of seats on Friday after boarding a train on the Bannan (Blue) Line, only to spot a white snake with black stripes after sitting down. Startled, he jumped up, he wrote, describing the encounter as “terrifying.” “Taipei’s rat control plan: Release snakes on the metro,” one person wrote in reply, referring
The coast guard today said that it had disrupted "illegal" operations by a Chinese research ship in waters close to the nation and driven it away, part of what Taipei sees a provocative pattern of China's stepped up maritime activities. The coast guard said that it on Thursday last week detected the Chinese ship Tongji (同濟號), which was commissioned only last year, 29 nautical miles (54km) southeast of the southern tip of Taiwan, although just outside restricted waters. The ship was observed lowering ropes into the water, suspected to be the deployment of scientific instruments for "illegal" survey operations, and the coast
Taiwan’s two cases of hantavirus so far this year are on par with previous years’ case numbers, and the government is coordinating rat extermination work, so there should not be any outbreaks, Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Director-General Philip Lo (羅一鈞) said today in an interview with the Liberty Times (the Taipei Times’ sister newspaper). An increase in rat sightings in Taipei and New Taipei City has raised concerns about the spread of hantavirus, as rats can carry the disease. In January, a man in his 70s who lived in Taipei’s Daan District (大安) tested positive posthumously for hantavirus, Taiwan’s
RSS