ILOILO CITY – The Philippine Heart Association-Philippine College of Cardiology has warned that cardiovascular diseases are affecting more younger people in the country.

THE Philippine Heart Association-Philippine College of Cardiology during its midyear convention in Iloilo City last week. (PHA)
The PHA-PCC noted during its midyear convention in this city that there is an uptick of Filipinos within their 20s who have developed cardiovascular diseases.
PHA President Dr. Rodney Jimenez said this was unlike in the past when cardiovascular diseases are common among those who are 40-years-old and above.
“This is mainly because of lifestyle,” Jimenez said. “For example, the younger people are spending so much time on social media. Thus, it decreases physical activities,” Jimenez added
He also cited lifestyle risk factors such as unhealthy food consumption, especially with the proliferation of more and more fast food. “Fast food is very high in trans fat,” Jimenez added.
But outside of the lifestyle risk factors, Jimenez noted there’s an improvement of diagnostics among younger people and that explains a spike in cases of cardiovascular diseases.
Citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), the PHA-PCC noted how ischemic heart disease is one of the top three causes of death in the country from January to June 2024.
More than 100 doctors and health professionals attended the convention at Iloilo Convention Center from Jan. 31 to Feb. 1 with the theme “Cardiology 101 Guidelines & Updates: Guiding Hearts with the Latest in Care.”
“(We) are sharing global cardiology expertise and know no borders. Continuing medical education is very much part of the PHA culture,” said PHA Vice President Dr. Walid Amil, chairman of the convention. “We focused on the recent guidelines in the field of cardiology and topics discussed were relevant and impactful to our daily practice,” added Amil.