21 per cent of heart attack victims keep on smoking

By Stefanos Evripidou

A Study of 300 heart patients has revealed that 21 per cent of those who suffered a heart attack had continued smoking after the crisis, compared to 25 per cent in Greece, 18 per cent in Britain and 21 per cent in Europe as a whole.

The study was undertaken in the last quarter of 2000 by eight public and private cardiologists at the Cardiological Unit of Limassol General Hospital and the Nicosia Cardiological Institute, Phileleftheros reported yesterday. The results of the study will be presented tomorrow at a Cardiological conference to be held in Athens.

Meanwhile, a further study will be made in the first quarter of 2003 for a comparison of the results.

According to the report, 81 per cent of patients were male and 19 per cent female. The study revealed that 69 per cent of heart patients were smokers until the day they suffered heart attacks.

Other revelations include the fact that 25 per cent of patients do not follow dietary programmes, while 35 per cent fail to adopt a programme of systematic exercise. Sixty-four per cent of Cypriot patients that are taking drugs have a blood pressure lower than 140/90, compared to 52 per cent in Greece and 49 per cent in the Britain and Europe.

Cypriot patients showed a marked difference in cholesterol levels as only 22 per cent of the patients had levels lower than 190, compared to 42 per cent in Greece, 54 per cent in Britain and 51 per cent in Europe as a whole.

The report concludes that there is substantial scope for improvement of preventive treatment on coronary patients in Cyprus in order to avoid new attacks through dietary correction of a patient’s way of life.

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