Young Vietnamese city dwellers are increasingly at risk of heart disease, according to local health officials.
At a conference last week, doctors and health experts spoke of the growing number of young Vietnamese in urban areas who are suffering from heart disease, reports Thanh Nien.
According to Do Doan Loi, director of the National Health Institute, there has been an uptick in heart disease patients ages 25 to 40 as well as an increase in stroke patients.
Loi attributes this trend to the drinking, smoking and high stress levels prevalent in Vietnam’s urban centers which, combined with limited physical activity, have caused an increase in rates of conditions such as high cholesterol and diabetes.
Nearly half of all Vietnamese over the age of 25 have high blood pressure, and over 44% of city dwellers ages 25 to 74 experience high cholesterol, both of which can lead to heart conditions.
Heart disease is responsible for a quarter of all deaths in Vietnam, killing roughly 200,000 people annually.
[Photo via Flickr user Khánh Hmoong]
