Without the White Coat
By Florentino P. Alerta II, M.D.

Heart disease and the Filipino people

It is every practicing physician's dream and goal in his/her career in the medical field to make some or any kind of change just by simply “healing” his/her community. However, it is common character among Filipinos to wait for the last minute when hell break lose in the form of heart attack or stroke before taking action to avoid it. It is always that situation that gets us unguarded and being hit hardest when we are financially drained. ,Most people never prepare for a medical emergency. Normally, they depend on somebody to help them. Depending on “dole-outs” may be the reason why we never move ahead and forward as a people.

While seating in that office clearing people for blood donation, we normally encounter a patient, unaware that his/her blood pressure is that high, arguing that he/she doesn't have any signs of nape pains or dizziness. He is just interested in donating blood not caring if his/her blood pressure is on the pre-hypertensive stage or that he/she can be categorized of having “Hypertension Stage I” (JNC 7, systolic BP 140-159mm/Hg, and a diastolic BP of 90-99mm/Hg). Statistics show that 92 percent of the Filipino population ages 20 years and above will have at least one risk factor for coronary heart disease. (high cholesterol levels, diabetes mellitus, obesity, smoking and hypertension). It is always the case that the “common” Filipino will have a lifestyle that will lead him further to an early coronary and a fatal heart attack.

A high blood pressure will never scare off a patient to take steps in dealing the treatment of hypertension without knowing that a threat of strong or fatal heart attack is waiting. Medical evidence and reports (6 th ,NNHeS) show that of 100 adult Filipinos, 22 of them will have hypertension with blood pressures greater than 140/90mmHg or higher, and those at the ages of 20 to 29 years old will have prehypertensive findings (systolic BP 120-139mm/Hg and diastolic BP 80-89mm/Hg).These figures and findings will not move the Filipino population into taking steps in the early detection and prevention of coronary and heart disease, again waiting for that last minute when heart attack will set in.

As the Filipino will always love to take maintenance medications not believing on the phrase “an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”, the common Filipino still believes in spending the rest of his life saving on maintenance medications instead of modifying his lifestyle and sticking to a healthy diet and daily exercise. We indulged ourselves in a diet full of grease, fat and cholesterol and have soaked our lives in alcohol and women plus the extra and deathly deviant behavior of smoking, all of these boils down to coronary heart disease, liver disease, lung cancer, high cholesterol levels and sexually transmitted diseases including the AIDS/ HIV infection. We always ask ourselves who's to blame, did we ever look at the mirror then the same reflection is the person to be blamed not the system or community surrounding him. If we are to make changes in ourselves then we should make the first step in changing and modifying our lifestyle. The ball will start to roll in our own backyards. Lets us make the first step in facing coronary heart disease and finding ways to prevent and avoid it.