Preventative heart care is not on the top-of-mind for most Malaysian adults. I am shame to admit that I am one of the many Malaysian that has taken heart disease lightly. Heart disease often perceived as an illness that most likely happens to the elderly. Little did I know it can happen to even younger generation too. Now, numerous research was done and proven that Malaysians in their thirties are now more likely to have arteries of a person aged seventy years old due to the unhealthy lifestyles that we chose to live. This lifestyle indirectly are pushing young Malaysians to suffer heart disease at a younger age that what we perceived. I know it better than anyone because I was told that I too have heart disease almost 7 years ago.
Nearly 20 millions Malaysians above the age of 18 years are at risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which may in turn lead to the development of heart disease, based on the 2015 National Health and Morbidity Survey. Did you know that one out of two Malaysians are suffering from high cholesterol? Heart disease can be in several different forms, from heart attack, narrowing of arteries, abnormal heart rhythms, breaking down of the heart valve or heart muscle and degeneration of blood vessels, amongst others. Generally, these are known as cardiovascular heart disease, or CHD.
