Metabolic syndrome increases the risk of heart attack and stroke in a person, said a leading cardiologist Dr Rajeev Kumar Gupta while addressing a press conference organised on the first anniversary of ICCU at Hindu Seva Sadan Hospital located on Godowlia-Bansphatak road here on Friday. Dr Gupta said that due to uncontrolled lifesytle and wrong eating habits, the risk of heart disease, stroke and diabetes increases. “Metabolic syndrome includes high blood pressure, high blood sugar, excess body fat around the waist and abnormal cholesterol levels,” he said. According to him, since the start of ICCU in this hospital, many serious patients were treated and these patients were those who could not go to the private hospitals due to lack of money. “If we take a little care, we can avoid heart disease. We should use less quantity of ghee and oil, do daily exercise, morning walk, yoga etc. Do not consume cigarettes, alcohol, gutkha, tobacco etc and avoid mental stress as much as possible,” Dr Gupta said. According to him, now some such methods have come by which we can detect the high risk group (people who are at risk of heart disease) earlier. If these patients get proper advice and treatment, then they can avoid heart disease for a long time. “Metabolic syndrome is one such sign in the body by which many people are suffering today. They are more likely to suffer from heart disease in future. The best thing is that it can be controlled very easily and if the general public knows about this, it can be beneficial for many families and the entire society,” he said, informing that Metabolic Syndrome Clinic is being started every Tuesday and Friday in the Hindu Seva Sadan which will prove to be a milestone in the prevention of heart disease. Vice-Chairman of Managing Committee Jaiprakash Mundada said the hospital was established 88 years ago by four great personalities and is still serving patients selflessly. According to him, the patients are being treated by skilled doctors in 20 departments including medicine, surgery, orthopedics, dentistry, nose-ear-throat (ENT), women’s diseases and maternity, Ayurveda, X-ray, pathology, ultrasound etc. PRO Gaurav Rathi said that the CCU department is working under the direction of Dr Gupta on every Tuesday and Friday and the patients affected by metabolic syndrome are treated apart from giving them free medicines.