More than 2500 acute cases are handled every year at the Heart Hospital of the Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC). This is apart from the numerous other minor cases treated at the hospital on a day-to-day basis.
Disclosing this yesterday, a consultant cardiologist at Heart Hospital, Dr Fahad Abdul Rashid al-Kindi said improved medical facilities have helped the hospital discharge patients admitted for such treatment as angioplasty in 3 to 5 days, depending on the intensity of the disease.
Similarly, many of those admitted for heart related surgeries are treated effectively and discharged within 10 or 15 days, he said while adding that cardio-vascular diseases are the main cause for morbidity and fatality among the country’s population, especially the expatriates.
Dr al-Kindi also informed that about one-fourth of the country’s population is suffering from different levels of diabetes and there is a greater necessity of residents adopting a different lifestyle.
Obesity and diabetes are also contributing heavily to heart related disorders, said Dr al-Kindi while adding that smoking continues to cause severe heart problems to a considerably large number of
expatriates.
“Smoking and food habits are among the main reasons for the high incidence of heart ailments among the Asian expatriates, especially the young ones from the Indian sub-continent. Of course there are other genetic reasons also for their heart ailments,” he said.
Inquiries made yesterday at the Gulf Heart Association symposium found there are currently 120 beds  at the Heart Hospital in Doha. In the next few years the number of beds is expected to go up considerably as there is a growing demand for increase in their numbers , said Dr al-Kindi.