ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) Assistant Professor of Cardiology Dr Syed Nasir Ali on Sunday said that women were more prone to heart diseases due to the presence of protected hormones against cardiac diseases. Doctors, owing to the increasing number of heart patients, urge civil societies and the media to play its due role and sensitise people to adopt healthy dietary habits and ensure daily exercise. In an interview, the professor urged the public to adopt the habit of pre-screening for cardiovascular disease to avoid stents due to which citizens have to bear heavy expenses. The use of fast food, cold drinks, smoking, working in smoking environments and double jobs were the major reasons of cardiac arrests and hypertension diseases, he added. Responding to a question, he said that stents were needed to be deployed only when there was a 75 percent hindrance in the flow of blood to the heart. He also identified remedies through drug treatment and chemical therapy where stents can be avoided in some certain cases. He negated the fact that doctors were installing stents unnecessarily in patients for financial gains. “It is not a blind procedure as the patient is being provided with records after surgery and it can be counter checked from other doctors,” he clarified. Talking further about the insertion of stents, he said, major beneficiaries of this negative campaigns were the quacks enticing patients toward drug treatment. “Because without this procedure the patients have to take medicines for a long period of time,” he added. The Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan was also involved in these issues and hence was banning substandard/unregistered stents sold in the market, he added. He said a single stent costs Rs 100,000 to Rs 150,000 to the entitled patients while private hospitals had their own packages. “Patients must go through appropriate post surgery treatment including proper care and strictly follow the doctors’ prescriptions to avoid procedural flaws,” he said. Published in Daily Times, February 26th 2018.