“The Younger Age of Heart Failure in Turkey – Causes and Precautions”

The average age of heart failure, which is 74 years in developed countries, is 68 years in Turkey, according to an expert.

An event was organized in Istanbul in the context of an important meeting.

During the event, the President of the Turkish Society of Cardiology, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Çelik, points out that the age at which heart failure develops is younger in our country than in other countries.

Çelik said that, unlike Western countries, the incidence of heart failure in women is slightly higher than in men in Turkey, and the average age of diagnosis is 68 in the country and 74 in more developed countries.

“One of the main reasons is having a heart attack, with a significant number of people going on to develop heart failure afterwards. If diseases such as hypertension and diabetes are not controlled, that risk also increases,” he said.

Çelik noted that heart failure patients may be associated with many other illnesses, pointing out that the most common comorbidities are hypertension, cardiovascular disease, anxiety, diabetes, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), anemia, atrial fibrillation, iron deficiency, depression, hypothyroidism and chronic renal failure.

“The fight against heart failure must start with treating people who do not have heart failure, but who have diseases that cause heart failure,” Çelik added.

Heart attack

The days are long in the summer and it’s easy to get hungry when the night comes. Still, eating late in the summer may increase heart attack risk, a Turkish cardiologist warned.

Dr. Servet Altay told Anadolu Agency that the number of deaths related to heart disease increases in the summer.

He said hot weather, dehydration and nutritional disorders increase the risk in heart patients, and those patients should pay more attention to their meals, especially in the summer.

“We recommend not eating late. Our metabolism is not suitable for that. It is necessary to eat at an appropriate time and not after 7 or 8 pm,” he said.

When the evening meal is accompanied by alcohol, cortisone levels rise and heart attacks can occur in the morning, Altay said.

He advised eating seasonal fruits and vegetables in the summer.

“We ask them to stay away from all fried foods. Especially at the pool and on the beaches we eat fried food, which is harmful. We should prepare our meals without salt and not eat smoked foods that contain a lot of salt,” he insisted.

Bro: Hurriyet