No fewer than 68 persons were on Wednesday inducted into the Nigerian Cardiac Society (NCS).
The breakdown shows three were inducted as fellows, 17 full members, and 48 associate members, in an event which took place during the ingoing 51st Annual General Meeting & Scientific Conference, which was held at International Conference Centre, Abuja.
Speaking at the event, President of the NCS, Dr Okechukwu Ogah stressed the need to train more cardiologists in Nigeria and induct more experts to fill in the gap for many who would not be staying in the country.
He said, “What it means, as you can see here,we know that a lot of people are leaving, so we need to train more, to make sure that the gap is filled up and not created. We are the people who train in all the institutions, and we teach in the universities, to make the environment better for the younger ones”.
He added that Cardiovascular diseases are better avoided than treated, stating that the heart must be guarded from any form of abuse or ailment.
“The choice of the team is that prevention is better than cure, we are targeting that area of prevention because once you prevent the risk factors of cardiovascular diseases, someone will not end up having the disease or even having it that it is requiring surgery. So that’s why we chose that.
“We’re looking at all the spectrum of care. Prevention is one of them. Medical care is one of them, then surgical care is also part of them. So that theme embraces all aspects of care that we offer our patients when they come to the hospital, within the community. The heart is very paramount, it is the engine of the body and we must take care of our heart” the NCS boss said.
Mr Okechukwu also urged those addicted to cigarettes to stop smoking, saying that it causes damage to the heart.
“We must protect it by running away from risk factors that lead to heart disease. One is smoking. Smoking is one of the dangerous things that man has created for itself. So if you run away from that we also run away from heart disease and other diseases are excessive alcohol consumption, which is dangerous not only to the heart, to the liver, to other parts of the body, then high blood pressure for one reason or the other, It is paramount in this common environment, it is common in Nigeria, Such that when you bring a 60 year old together,measure their blood pressure, you will find out that six out of the 10, actually have high blood pressure. As we age, Some of these diseases will keep coming up, and we must be prepared to take care of them by taking blood pressure drugs, and then running away from foods that are rich in fats and cholesterol.
“ We also eat more fruits and vegetables. We need to be more active, especially in Abuja. I envy the people living here because the streets are being constructed for the heart, such that you can walk miles without the sun, which should be replicated in other parts of our country.” he said.
Professor of cardiovascular medicine , University of Abuja, and Chairman of the local organising committee for the 51st annual general and scientific conference of Nigerian Cardiac Society, Professor Augustine Odili said,this year has the highest number of inductees which is a major bonus to fill in the gap in the society.
“We have experts and delegates from all around the world, the meeting is both physical and virtual. This year, we have the highest number of people inducted into the society.
“For me that is a step in the right direction and we need more of this to move from the level where we are now to the level where we get cardiovascular care,” he said.
Also speaking, Senior Cardiologist and Professor from Cape Heart Institute,University of Cape Town, South Africa, Professor Karen Sliwa, stressed on the importance of preventing Cardiovascular diseases.
She said, “Preventing cardiac disease is always better than treating it. And prevention starts from simple things, which we can adopt. One is healthy eating, which consists of food, vegetables, eating regularly, Other one is physical activities and you don’t have to go extreme. It just means if your walk for 10-15 minutes per day will make a big difference of not gaining weight and you’re burning the food better.
“Second is your physical activity, avoiding very sugar rich beverages, like fizzy drinks, too many sweets, processed food, sensitivity, healthy sleep, which is undervalued. if you sleep very little interrupted by noise it also increases obesity. Why is obesity so important? Being very overweight is pushing up your blood pressure. A high blood pressure can lead to a number of different problems, stroke, weakness of your arms and legs. The other one is a heart attack that is also increasing and certainly, your heart can give up and you can develop heart failure.
“There are also other issues associated or linked to being overweight, is that you have joint pain, you’ll get knee pain or shoulder pain, you struggle to walk, you have a much higher chance of getting sugar disease, So all this is linked to an unhealthy lifestyle and gaining too much weight.
“When you’re younger,You will not feel the consequences but when you’re above 30,40 there will be different complications of being overweight and having those risk factors will lead to disease.”
