Half of deaths due to heart diseases in Armenia – specialist

Cardiovascular diseases account for more than 50% of deaths in Armenia, Parunak Zelvelyan, the director of the Cardiology Institute, has told a news conference devoted to the World Heart Day.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has been celebrating this day since 2000. Every year, 17 million people across the globe die of different forms of cardiovascular diseases, the rate expected to reach 23,000 in 2030.

Specialists believe that 80% of cardiovascular diseases are preventable in case risks involving the use of cigarettes and extra weight are reduced and more preference is given to healthy food.

As for the different methods of starvation cure, which have flooded the internet, Zelvelyan said he does not think positively about them.

“Sense of proportion and restraint is the best remedy against cardiovascular diseases. The most necessary and useful food can become harmful if not used in proportion,” he noted.

Zevelyan, who is the chief cardiologist of Yerevan, said the launch of the social insurance package has helped an increasing number of people to apply for heart surgeries.

At the end he said that a healthy lifestyle advocacy could essentially change the situation.