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 Dr Anil Kumar, Senior Consultant Cardiologist,Aster Medcity, Kochi
43 year-old Raman was driving back home after a long day at work when he
experienced a sudden heaviness in his chest. Even though it was pleasant
weather, he started sweating. He immediately stopped his scooter on the side of
the road. But collapsed on the road and lost his consciousness. People, who
gathered around him, called an ambulance to shift him to the hospital. However,
he was lost to the world by the time medical help arrived.
Could his heart have
been saved? Could his life have been saved? He has a wife and two school-going
children. His family became helpless after the tragedy. Could the family have
been saved? The answer is a big YES.
The World Heart Day's motto is 'Use Heart to Beat Heart
Disease.' We should use our hearts and involve ourselves in actions that can
prevent heart attacks. One heart saved is one life saved and this will save a
family from a disaster.
Heart attacks, are affecting people in their 40's and 50's. Often they are just
into the most productive stage of their lives and would be the main earning
member for the family. Their children would be in high school or early college
when disaster strikes. Often, families lose the leader of the family to heart
attacks. Even if the person lives, there is often loss of job, financial
insecurity and decreased earning capacity, especially if the patient is not
treated on time.
We should join our hands together in preventing heart diseases and treating heart
attacks at the earliest. Heart disease can be prevented by leading a good
lifestyle with healthy eating habits and regular exercise. Regular checkups will
detect high blood pressure, sugar and cholesterol. Controlling of the risk
factors will help to prevent heart attacks during the 40s and 50s. The timely
treatment of heart diseases will also save the heart from sudden cardiac arrest
and heart failure.
For preventing heart attack related deaths, awareness should be created among
the public about its risks, ways to prevent it and how to treat heart attack at
the earliest. This will save many a heart in the society. An action plan should
be prepared for preventing deaths related to heart attacks, which claimed 28005
lives in 2019 alone.
Action plan for preventing heart attacks and related deaths:
1. Educate high school children about how to prevent heart attacks and related
deaths: The children should be educated on the importance of leading a healthy
life, eating healthy food and performing cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR).
2. Teach adults to perform CPR: At present many people lose their lives as
nobody is aware of what to do when a person collapses down in front of them. If
adults are given CPR training, they would be able to save lives if someone
collapses in front of them.
Learn how to do CPR
3. Prevent the use of tobacco and narcotic substances: People who use tobacco
and narcotic substances have more chances for developing heart attacks.
According to a recent report of the World Health Organisation (WHO), 1.9 million
people die every year in the world due to tobacco induced heart diseases. Heart
attacks can be reduced by quitting smoking and avoiding use of narcotic
substances.
4. Ensure healthy eating habits: The food you eat can increase or decrease the
chances of heart attacks. Unhealthy eating habits and a diet high in saturated
fats can cause obesity, high blood pressure and uncontrolled diabetes, which in
turn increase the chances of heart attacks. Heart diseases and heart attacks can
be reduced substantially by following eating foods with low-saturated fat and
high fibre.
5. Encourage the culture of regular exercise: Studies have shown that regular
exercise reduces the chances of heart diseases and heart attacks. Regular
exercise helps to improve cardiovascular health and make your heart stronger.
6. Organize health checkups for a vulnerable group of people: People with a high
risk of heart diseases should be tested more frequently. Regular screening helps
to detect risk factors and avoid heart attacks.
7. Ensure affordable treatment for heart disease: Another important factor for
saving lives is to ensure affordable treatment.
People like Raman often have high BP, sugar and cholesterol undetected. This
would have resulted in blocks causing a sudden heart attack. Even when heart
attack stopped his heart and caused the heart to stop, a bystander could have
started CPR - massaging his chest. This would have kept him alive till medical
help arrived. The heart attack itself could have been prevented if Raman had
done regular checkups and controlled his BP, sugar and cholesterol.
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