Mohali
14 September 2019
DIVYA AZAD
Dr R K Jaswal, DM Cardiology, Director Cardiology, Fortis Hospital Mohali today delivered a talk for senior citizens on how to deal with cardiac emergencies. Apart from genetic factors, unhealthy lifestyle contributes to very high incidence of heart disease among Indians and this includes unhealthy food habits, lack of physical activity, obesity & metabolic syndrome, tobacco consumption and stress in day-to-day life.
Dr Jaswal stressed on the need that since approximately 80 percent of heart muscle is damaged within first two hours (Golden Hour) after the onset of heart attack, prompt action is required to quickly and effectively restore blood flow in the artery which is causing heart attack. Principal S Chaudhary, Vice President, Mohali Senior Citizens Association hosted a quiz for the senior citizens.
Giving the talk, Dr. Jaswal said, “Heart attack comes like a bolt from the blue. In majority of the patients (86%), there are no warning symptoms. The patient most of the times is absolutely normal even two minutes prior to the onset of heart attack. Therefore, it is difficult for the victim to believe that he/she has suffered a heart attack leading to inordinate delay in reaching the hospital. That is why large number of precious lives are lost even before reaching the hospital. Clinical studies have shown that 70% of the delay in opening the artery is due to inability of the patient in recognizing the heart attack and reaching the hospital for treatment. Since heart attack is like heart on fire, therefore majority of the muscle would be damaged by the time patient reaches hospital in case of delay beyond 2 hours. Therefore, prompt action on patient’s part is required. Every 30 minutes’ delay increases chances of death by 8%.”
In India, Coronary Artery disease has increased to epidemic proportions. Genetic predisposition of South East Asians (including Indians) to coronary heart diseases is 2 to 3-fold compared to Caucasians. It is expected that India has nearly 6 crore patients suffering from atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and about 90 persons per hour (15,00,000 in a year) die due to cardiovascular disease.
Coronary heart disease leads to heart attack in younger population in our country. Heart Attack occurs 10 years earlier in our country as compared to western population.
The survival and quality of life after heart attack depends upon the promptness with which the treatment is given to the patient who suffers a heart attack. Survival is significantly influenced by the quality of care provided by the treating hospital.
“The most important determinant of in hospital outcomes is the door to balloon time (DTBT), so the hospital should have on site 24×7 primary angioplasty team available. The treating cardiologist and the entire team should be capable of quickly undertaking the angiography to recognize the artery which is causing heart attack and then quickly and effectively open the blocked artery causing the heart attack. The process might require advanced technologies and instruments like Clot Suction machines, Calcium delbulking equipment (ROTABLATOR) and advanced imaging (Optical Coherence Tomography or Intravascular Ultrasound). The hospital should be well equipped with these instruments to achieve best results of primary angioplasty.
