Yes Scheb, you're correct. Asian countries typically have
high vegetarian content, low fat diets, and the populations
don't indulge in the many vices that we westerners do. Compare
the risk factors in my previous post for your lifestyle and the
average Sth East Asian citizen, and it's easy to see why heart
disease is more prevalent in the western world.
If you didn't already know, I located in Saudi Arabia, and I am
the Supervisor of the Angiography area in the Kingdom's most
prestigious hospital. We are seeing some interesting trends,
both medically and socially. Although the locals have been
traditionally heavy smokers, the other risk factors have been
low until recently, and we do not see a lot of degenerative
vascular disease like back home. However, since the gulf war,
we now have Pizza Hut, McDonalds and Haagen Daz, etc, and the
diet is changing considerably. Combined with a relatively
inactive lifestyle, increasing obesity and diabetes, and other
social factors which are changing, we are definitely going to
see a marked degeneration of the population in terms of
cardiac and other vascular diseases.
I know I've put a lot of emphasis on preventative medicine, but
the social structure here is not conducive for that. We can't
even get a breast screening programme up and running, and
universal vaccinations of children are only a recent development,
with some areas still not universally covered. I don't like the
chances of getting an IMAT machine here in the near future,
unless it's for research purposes. But, you never know. I'll
make some inquiries.
Regards,
Durro |
