ISLAMABAD, Oct 4: About 60 per cent of all heart attacks are preceded by episodes of unstable angina.

This estimate was presented at the launch of national guidelines for unstable angina pectoris and infraction, drafted by the Pakistan Cardiac Society (PCS).

The office-bearers of the society — Prof Abdus Samad, Prof Sharhyar A. Kazmi and Dr Mansoor — told mediapersons on Saturday that heart attack was one of the three main causes of death.

The PCS officials said, in Pakistan, about 192 people out of every 100,000 were suffering from unstable angina and cities like Karachi and Lahore had the highest number of patients because of excessive living and dietary habits, and excessive use of tobacco.

They said 1.5 million people suffered from this disease worldwide with up to 10 per cent of them either dying or suffering heart attack within six months of the first diagnosis.

They also urged the government and hospital authorities to allocate few beds in each emergency/casualty ward for patients suffering from chest pain.

“Heart diseases, which were earlier considered to be the diseases of the West, have become quite common in our part of the world with 30 per cent people, below the age of 40, suffering from these,” they added.

The PCS office-bearers said workshops would be arranged throughout the country to apprise the medical professionals of the guidelines to implement standard treatment for these diseases, while campaigns would be launched to create awareness among people about the preventive measures.

The guidelines have been devised to provide the health specialists, especially young doctors, with standard procedures to deal with the patients suffering from unstable angina and infarction, they added.

The officials said the guidelines would help in upgrading the facilities available in the country and also to streamline the efforts, which at present, remained haphazard.

The guidelines are intended to assist both cardiovascular specialists and physicians in proper evaluation and management of patients with an acute onset of symptoms leading to heart diseases, they added.