KU VC Professor Dr Khalid Iraqi urges to give up fast food culture

The Karachi University Medical Center organized a ceremony in connection with World Heart Day at the KU’s Chinese Teacher Memorial Auditorium on Wednesday.

The Executive Director of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases Professor Dr Tahir Saghir termed that late-night use of cellular phones is also one of the major reasons for the increase of blood pressure problems among masses.

He shared that today’s youngsters hardly in 20’s, and 30’s are facing heart-related issues whereas in the past we hardly saw persons in 40’s with any heart disease or a heart attack. According to him, the massive use of mobile phones is a new pandemic for the nation.

He said people do not go for walks and gym which is very necessary for good health. He suggested that the KU must declare at least one day as a vehicle-free day on the campus and all students, faculty members, employees, and visitors should not use any kind of vehicle on that particular day.

“All of us should take a mandatory walk during the day. Park cars at some distance from the office and use the stairs instead of the elevator to go up.”

The KU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Khalid Iraqi said that we need to give up fast food culture. Our children also get used to fast food culture from the beginning and get heart and other diseases before they grow up. We should encourage our children from childhood to stay away from fast food.

He advised that a simple lifestyle is the only way to avoid heart disease. In our society, we avoid getting tests as we fear that they might diagnose any disease, we need to change our approach and mindset for our better health.

“We need to change our lifestyle and need to take time for our health. People should try to keep themselves close to the natural environment, make it a routine to go to bed early at night and get up early in the morning.”

A speaker, Head of the Cardiology Department of Patel Hospital Karachi Professor Dr Rehan Umar said that every fourth person in Pakistan suffers from high blood pressure, which is one of the major reasons for avoiding a good lifestyle.

He mentioned that smoking is more dangerous than many drugs including heroin. A chain smoker will be considered a lucky person who can die of a sudden heart attack or die without any pain because he will not face the pain of cancer like lung, throat, and stomach. He blamed the use of fast food is increasing rapidly in society, and actually, it is a fat food, not fast food.