New Delhi, Sep 21 (IANS): The national capital region (NCR) has the most number of heart patients between the ages of 25 and 45, a survey revealed Saturday.

"Young hearts high on cholesterol" was conducted by Assocham ahead of the World Heart Day Sep 29 and revealed that Delhi was followed by Mumbai, Ahmedabad and Bangalore.

"Around 38 percent of the men between 25 and 45 years in Delhi-NCR have alarmingly high cholesterol, which is one of the key risk factors for heart disease," said B.K. Rao, chairman of Assocham health committee.

"High cholesterol is a major risk factor for heart attack, stroke and peripheral vascular disease," added Rao.

The reasons include job stress, smoking, increased consumption of alcohol and unhealthy diet, said D.S. Rawat, secretary general of Assocham.

"As per the results, smoking alone is estimated to be responsible for 22 per cent of cardiovascular diseases," he said.

"Obesity increases the risk factor. Unfortunately, there is a global shift in diet as more and more people are consuming fat, salt and sugar diets and are exercising less," added Rao.

As per Rao, people especially those working in the corporate sector must take out time for physical exercise daily, should discuss problems at work with friends and family to reduce stress and also go on short holidays at regular intervals.

In addition, more youngsters should go for routine vascular health check-ups, added Rao.