In addition to targeted educational sessions and interactive opportunities to hone cardiovascular skills, new research from across the Middle East region is another critical highlight of the 8th Emirates Cardiac Society Congress in collaboration with the ACC Middle East Conference taking place in Dubai.

Poster presentations on topics ranging from the global cardiovascular disease burden in Saudi Arabia to the impacts of Indian yoga and aerobic exercise on cardiovascular outcomes in obese patients with type 2 diabetes are being presented over the course of the three-day event.

In the yoga study, obese heart disease patients with type 2 diabetes who practiced Indian yoga in addition to aerobic exercise saw twice the reduction in blood pressure, body mass index and cholesterol levels when compared to patients who practiced either Indian yoga or aerobic exercise alone. The study looked at 750 patients who had previously been diagnosed with coronary heart disease. One group of 225 patients participated in aerobic exercise, another group of 240 patients participated in Indian yoga, and a third group of 285 participated in both yoga and aerobic exercise. Each group did three, six-month sessions of yoga and/or aerobic exercise.

“Combined Indian yoga and aerobic exercise reduce mental, physical and vascular stress and can lead to decreased cardiovascular mortality and morbidity,” said Sonal Tanwar, PhD, a scholar in preventative cardiology, and Naresh Sen, DM, PhD, a consultant cardiologist, both at HG SMS Hospital, Jaipur, India. “Heart disease patients could benefit from learning Indian yoga and making it a routine part of daily life.”

In another study, patients with a history of heart attack were more likely to use emotion-focused coping strategies for stress such as eating more or drinking alcohol, while patients without a history of heart attack or heart disease used problem-focused coping strategies. Researchers at Yazd Cardiovascular Research Center in Iran collected data on 220 patients who had experienced a heart attack and 220 patients without any history of heart attack or heart disease to determine their coping method.

Data surveyed included demographic information, a live events questionnaire, a stress inventory, a perceived stress questionnaire and a coping inventory for stressful situations. The questionnaire showed that negative stress was perceived by 82.2 percent of the heart attack patients who used emotion-focused strategy and by 72.1 percent of the control group who used problem-focused strategy. And 60.2 percent and 53.6 percent, respectively, had a severe high level of stress.

“Our study suggests people with higher levels of stress are more likely to use inefficient coping strategies,” said lead researcher Nastaran Ahmadi, PhD. “It is important that clinicians – including cardiologists, psychiatrists and psychologists – talk to their patients about stress and coping methods,” she said. “If we can change our view about the perception of stress, then we can change our cognition process about stressful situations and make important lifestyle changes.”

Learn more about the Middle East Regional Conference here. For live updates follow @ACCCardioEd on Twitter and use #ACCMiddleEastConf.

Keywords: Blood Pressure, Diabetes Mellitus, Type 2, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, Iran, Body Mass Index, Exercise, Obesity, Coronary Disease, Myocardial Infarction, Heart Diseases, Life Style, Cardiovascular Diseases, Cholesterol

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