Do you know if you are at risk of a stroke or heart attack?
Heart attacks kill one in five Persons of Indian Origin (PIO) every year. By 2020, heart attacks will kill one in three PIO every year.
East Tamaki Healthcare Group of Companies Clinical Quality and CME Director Dr Richard Hulme said, ““I saw the ECG heart tracing of a 43-year-old Indian man last week. It was one of the worst I had seen in my over 25 years of medical practice. He had suffered a massive heart attack that had caught him out of the blue like the jaws of a great white shark. All the main blood vessels of his heart were narrowed and had become blocked. It is a frightening reminder that heart attacks can take the lives of young people and those closest to us without warning.”
Like Maori and Pacific peoples, Indian men and women need to be screened for cardiovascular disease ten years earlier than other New Zealanders.
Knowledge helps
The National Heart Foundation of New Zealand emphasises the need to know your numbers. Know your blood pressure, your cholesterol, your weight and Body Mass Index (BMI). You should also know if you have diabetes and know your risk of heart attack or stroke.
When you know these numbers, you can do something about it to prevent you, or your loved one, being the next heart attack or stroke victim.
If you are an Indian or Fiji-Indian man 35years and over, or an Indian or Fiji-Indian woman 45 years or over, you should know your numbers and risk.
It is never too late to do something to protect yourself and your loved ones.
Visit the ‘know your numbers’ website, discuss your risk with your pharmacist, family doctor or the practice nurse.
Free checks are available for enrolled and eligible patients at the following clinics:
South Auckland: Airport Oaks, 149A Kirkbride Road, Airport Oaks; Bairds Road Accident & Medical, 160 Bairds Road, Otara; Chapel Park: 160 Chapel Road, Chapel Park; Dannemora : 3 Redcastle Drive, Dannemora; Dawson Road, 124 Dawson Road, Chapel Downs, East Tamaki, 275 East Tamaki Road, East Tamaki; Mangere Town Centre, 12A Waddon Place, Mangere; Otara Shopping Mall, 7A Fairmall Place, Otara; Weymouth: 235 Browns Road, Manurewa
Central Auckland: Glen Innes: 5 Mayfair Place, Glen Innes; Otahuhu: 15-23 Station Road, Otahuhu; Sandringham: 546, Sandringham Road, Sandringham; Sylvia Park: Level 1, Shop N215, Sylvia Park, Mt Wellington
West Auckland: Lincoln Road Medical Centre, 131 Lincoln Road, Henderson; Ranui Medical Centre, 482 Swanson Road, Ranui, Waitakere; Wai Health Clinic, Corner Edsel & Catherine Streets, Henderson;
Mt Roskill: Mt Roskill Medical & Surgical Centre, 455 Richardson Rd, Mt Roskill; Mt Roskill Healthcare, Roskill Centre, 20 Stoddard Road, Mt Roskill.
Ranjna Patel is Director of East Tamaki Healthcare Group of Companies based in Auckland. The above article was sent by her based on the information provided by Dr Richard Hulme, Director, Clinical Quality & CME of the Group.
