By The Hindu Bureau
Copyright thehindu
To commemorate the World Heart Day (September 29), cardiac experts from Kauvery Hospital stressed on the importance of maintaining heart health while highlighting various preventive strategies, treatment options and advancements in cardiac care to treat cardiovascular diseases.
The hospital, in association with The Hindu, presented a webinar on “Heart Health: Inside and Out” as a part of the wellness series on Monday. The doctors said that people should consciously adopt a healthy lifestyle by keeping diabetes, blood pressure and cholesterol under check, quit smoking, eat healthy and be physically active.
In comparison to Western and Caucasian populations, Indians are at thrice the risk for developing heart attack due to greater prevalence of premature atherosclerosis disease. “The coronary artery size in the Indian population is smaller,” said Arunkumar Krishnaswamy, senior consultant, Cardiothoracic Surgery, Kauvery Hospital, Alwarpet, while making a presentation on coronary artery bypass surgery. He said the surgical procedure improves survival, relieves chest pain, and prevents further damage to the myocardium and improves quality of life.
Talking about heart attacks among young adults, Bharath Kumar G.A., senior consultant, Interventional Cardiology, Kauvery Hospital, Radial Road, said five ‘S’ were causes – sedentary lifestyle, saturated fats, stressful work, substance abuse and sleeplessness. “It is important to know your risk, and be able to differentiate between gastric pain and heart pain because people often delay treatment due to misunderstanding of symptoms,” he said.
S. P. Vinothkumar, consultant, Paediatric Cardiology, Maa Kauvery, Tiruchi spoke about congenital heart diseases (CHD). He said that 10 in 1,000 live births have the propensity to develop CHD. “In India, 200,000 babies are born with CHD every year of whom 25% are born with critical CHD. Timely intervention can save these children,” he said.
The heart abnormalities in these children were either structural, functional or due to arrhythmia requiring corrective, minimally invasive or palliative surgery. “But it is more important to avoid stigma and opt for early diagnosis if children show symptoms such as respiratory disorders, blue lips or nails and muscle-related problems,” he added.
Watch the event here: https://newsth.live/THKAWHH
