Increase in cardiovascular diseases recorded in young adults – Dr Carpen

Head of the Cardiology Department at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC) Dr. Mahendra Carpen recently revealed that there has been an increase in cardiovascular diseases within the younger population.
Dr. Carpen made this revelation during the launch of the new Strengthening Our Cardiovascular Advocacy’ (SOCA) Heart Health Project which was developed by the Health Ministry in collaboration with STRIDE592, the Caribbean Heart Institute and the GPHC’s Cardiology Department.

The doctor told the gathering that since his return to Guyana some 12 years ago there has been a noticeable shift in the age demographic for persons dying from cardiovascular-related complications.
“It’s 12 years since I returned home doing cardiovascular medicine, when I first came back the heart attack patients were in their 50s and 60s. I did a procedure on a 24-year-old, and the change in the age group for serious cardiovascular disease is astounding. In just 10 years we have moved to a much younger population. So it’s very common now to see 30s and 40s year olds coming into the hospitals with heart attacks” the doctor stated.
Moreover, he attributed the increase to persons being unaware of important health factors such as blood pressure and cholesterol among others. He noted that these are simple factors that most people take for granted.
However, the new SOCA Heart Health Project which was launched on Friday plans to eradicate cardiovascular diseases within the country.

This is according to the founder of STRIDE592 Onika Jervis who highlighted that Guyana is currently leading the Caribbean diaspora in cardiovascular deaths. On this point, she noted that the new project was not only developed to decrease cardiovascular disease deaths and cases in the country but also to provide the necessary funding needed to expand the project and also to provide funding for crucial research.
“For Guyana, we are leading the Caribbean diaspora in cardiovascular deaths and I’m like, not on my watch. We are also doing it because we need to raise some money to do some research, I could only tell you those statistics because I couldn’t find none really for Guyana right, so we need to get a Heart Data research programme funded also so that we can go into all of our regions to get people walking” she stated.
Meanwhile, Health Minister Dr. Frank Anthony highlighted that out of the 6,000 people who die every year in the country, the majority of these deaths are related to chronic non-communicable diseases.

The minister noted that most of these diseases are lifestyle diseases and are influenced by how persons live their lives. On this point the minister noted that initiatives like the SOCA Heart Health Project are crucial steps towards reducing the spread of chronic non-communicable diseases in the country.
“But many of these things are lifestyle diseases, and its really how people are living their lives. So daily, if you’re eating the wrong things, then you will not be healthy, or you will be contributing to getting one of these diseases even faster. I think we need to have an education programme where we teach people how to eat and what to eat. I think this is a very important initiative. In the ministry, we recognise that chronic non-communicable diseases play a very important role in the profile of diseases that we have in Guyana” the minister stated.
Established some 14 months ago, STRIDE592 is a movement created to encourage people to exercise and improve their lives. The SOCA project, launched under Stride592, acts as an educational and social campaign to bring awareness about the move to eradicate cardiovascular diseases within the country.