High Blood Cholesterol: Health awareness campaign in Sharjah International Airport Free Zone

SHARJAH(16/04/2015) : Sharjah Airport International Free Zone (SAIF ZONE) organized an health awareness campaign on high blood cholesterol and its role in the creation of atherosclerosis on Tuesday at its headquarters.

The campaign which was addressed by Dr  Bassam Albaba, Consultant of Interventional Cardiology at  Al Qassimi Hospital in Sharjah explained  cholesterol, heart disease  and the various causes of arteriosclerosis.

The event was attended by Saud Salim Al Mazrouei, Director of SAIF ZONE and Hamriyah Free Zone Authority (HFZA) and other senior staff members.

"This campaign is first part of our corporate social responsibility (CSR) towards our empoyees, investors and companies, and was organized out of our commitment to identify and educate the staff of the reasons for heart disease”, said Al Mazrouei.

“We will continue to have such campaigns in the future as the health of our freezone staff and investors is of much importance to us”, he added.

The campaign "high blood cholesterol and its role in causing atherosclerosis," detailed on the risks of atherosclerosis.

“High cholesterol levels can lead to clogged arteries that come from a process known as atherosclerosis or hardening of the arteries,” explained Dr Bassam.
“Making lifestyle changes often can help prevent or treat atherosclerosis,” in a presentation, Dr Bassam explained the causes of cardiovascular diseases and went through steps for its prevention and control.

He started off with  the different causes that lead to the hardening of the arteries, particularly high cholesterol, smoking, blood pressure and obesity in addition to the lack of physical activity and the effect each of them have.

“A healthy diet and exercise and regular physical activity are some of the measures that needs to be adopted to prevent this disease before it happens,” Dr Bassam stressed.

The main reasons behind the cardiovascular disease are unhealthy lifestyle choices such as unbalanced nutrition, lack of exercise and smoking, as well as psychological stress and biological factors such as high blood pressure and cholesterol, obesity and diabetes pressure.

Treatments for atherosclerosis may include lifestyle changes, medicines, and medical procedures or surgery.

He urged the audience to quit smoking and reduce and cope with stress the healthy way. He also advised them to follow a healthy diet in order to prevent or reduce high blood pressure and high blood cholesterol.

On the sidelines of the campaign, organizers arranged free tests to measure the blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol in the blood, as well as body mass index, and other measurements that reveal the risk for heart disease factors.