Atherosclerotic coronary artery disease has assumed epidemic proportion in urban and semiurban areas, Dr Rajpal K Abhaichand, Fellow Interventional cardiologist of G K N M Hospital, said.

Unfortunately, a large number of young people in their productive years were affected by the malady, which has a crippling effect on the social fabric and economy of the Nation, Rajpal said.

Public awareness should be an integral part of a preventive cardiology programme, he said.

Lifestyle management should be stressed including total cessation of smoking and tobacco in all its forms, the aggressive control of diabetes, regular exercise of about 40-45 minutes a day and alteration in dietary habits, Rajpal said.

Eighty per cent of the victims of heart disease were from low and middle income countries, Balaji said.

However, the good news was that heart disease was largely preventable and that simple, affordable steps could be taken to reduce the major risk factors, he said.

Controlling these risk factors helped the heart age more slowly and dramatically reduced the risk of heart disease, Balaji said.