Recognizing
a Heart Attack or a Cardiac event !
With most heart attacks, victims do have
some warning but most of the time the symptoms can be confusing. The stereotypical
"Bollywood heart attack," clutching the chest in agony, is only one
scenario. The feeling in the chest may be more squeezing, tightening or heavy
pressure. It may travel down the left arm or up to the jaw or around the back
between the shoulder blades, particularly in women. One study found that 71% of
women experience flulike symptoms with no chest pain at all.
Both men and women may have indigestion,
nausea, lightheadedness, profuse sweating, shortness of breath with little
exertion and overwhelming fatigue.
According to a senior Cardiologist, "People
whose heart muscle is shutting down often feel really tired, so they lie down
and take a nap. That's not a good idea. They may not wake up."
Even if you merely
suspect you might be suffering from a heart attack, seek help as soon as
possible. "It takes skilled physicians and nurses and lab technicians and
often some kind of imaging tests to actually diagnose a heart attack, so
there's no way you can diagnose it yourself at home," says cardiologist Janet Wright, executive director of the Department
of Health and Human Service's Million Hearts campaign,
which aims to prevent one million heart attacks and strokes in the next five
years in the US.
What to do During a Heart Attack
It
does make sense to take one adult-strength aspirin, which prevents blood clots
and may help keep an artery partially open. Chewing it will get it into the bloodstream
quicker than swallowing it. The brand doesn't matter, as long as it's uncoated.
There are sublingual glycerine sprays available as well used often by angio
patients and sorbitrate tablets.
Call for Medical help or someone who can
for you
Women in majority take longer than men to
seek help when they have heart-attack symptoms--mainly because they don't want
to make trouble and also because they have too much else to do. Some doctors also
are guilty of brushing them off when they complain or mention their perceived or
actually experiences.
A US research by a heart attack survivor,
Ms. Thomas, and a study published in the
New England Journal of Medicine showing that women are 7 times more likely than
men to be wrongly diagnosed in mid-heart attack and sent home from the hospital.A
2005 poll from the American Heart Association found that only 8% of family-care
physicians and 17% of cardiologists were aware that more women have died from
heart disease than men every year since 1984. Women do bear some of the
responsibility for delays in care themselves. "Women think, 'Yes, we'll
call the doctor after we pick up the kids and finish that report and put the
casserole in the oven,' " says Ms. Thomas.Public-health officials in the
US also say that physicians need to be more aware of women's heart issues, and
watch their bedside manner with false alarms.
Facts
on Heart Disease – India and the US
USA: A 2005 poll from the American Heart
Association found that only 8% of family-care physicians and 17% of
cardiologists were aware that more women have died from heart disease than men
every year since 1984 in the USA.
According to a American
study” A lifetime spent being obese could be a predictor for coronary artery calcification,
a major risk factor for heart disease”.
Researchers from the US
National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute found that the rate of coronary
artery calcification is higher among people who have been obese for more than
20 years of their lives, compared with those who had never become obese.
India: In India, the threat of heart disease has been significant for
quite some time. It's been a case of the Pigeon shutting it’s eyes on a cat
approaching. The very magnitude compels us to question every detail of our
complicated lifestyle choices, diet and level of physical activity. This too in
the urban educated class. The rural mass is dependant on godly intervention and
hope, just like they pray for having good monsoons every year!
Heart Disease has been a leading killer in the West and has now
aggressively made its way to India. According to government data, the
prevalence of heart failure in India due to coronary heart disease,
hypertension, obesity, diabetes and rheumatic heart disease ranges from
anywhere between 1.3 to 4.6 million, with an annual incidence of 491,600 to 1.8
million.
According to a report by published by The Associated Chambers of
Commerce and Industry of India (ASSOCHAM), one of the apex trade associations
on the cardiovascular disease scenario in India, the country has seen a
considerable increase in the number of heart disease cases over the past couple
of decades. The report suggests that the leading cause of this is India's
economic growth and urbanization. A large section of the population has adopted
an unhealthy lifestyle combined with decreasing physical activity, increasing
stress levels and a higher intake of saturated fats and tobacco.
Says the President of the Heart Care Foundation of India “2.4 million
Indians die due to heart disease every year. The numbers continue to grow due
to things like stress, unhealthy eating habits, lack of sleep and dependence on
alcohol and cigarettes."
In India very few programmes see the daylight of success or a good
reasonable kick off! To address this rising heart disease epidemic, the
government had initiated an integrated National Programme for Prevention and
Control of Cancers, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and Strokes but nothing
much has been achieved on this front so far. A senior health ministry official
who wished to remain anonymous said "Though the programme is being
implemented in 100 districts of the country, much still needed to be done to
make it effective."
India will soon bear the largest burden of heart disease
globally: In India,
out of the estimated population of more than 1.27 billion dispersed across
various geographical regions, about 45 million people suffer from coronary artery disease.
‘According to current estimates, India will soon have the highest number of
cases ofcardiovascular disease in
the world,’ says Dr Nikhil Kumar, Director, Cardiology, Fortis Memorial Research
Institute, Gurgaon. It is estimated to account for 35.9% deaths by
the year 2030.
Very recent projections
suggest that India will have the largest cardiovascular disease incidence in
the entire world. 20% of the fatalities in India are from coronary heart
disease. By 2020, it shall go upto 30%. The incidence of the disease is as much
as 10-15 years earlier in a life cycle than people in the west.
There are an estimated
45 million patients of coronary heart disease in India. An increasing people
and majority are young. Current lifestyles suggest this number shall be ever
increasing ! There are atleast estimated 50.8 million diabetic patients in
India, a percentage which is the highest compared to any other given region in
the world.
Diabetes occurs in
India at an average age of 45 compared to 55-60 years in the rest of the better
world inhabitations.
Blood Pressure is
increasing rapidly in urban areas commonly known as hyper tension. Urban rate
is 25%-30% and rural is 10%-15%.
Sedentary or inactive
lifestyle devoid of any routine or exercise is a major cause of death, disease
and disability in India. It causes increased mortality and raises
cardiovascular disease, type II diabetes and obesity apart from a higher incidence
of colon and breast cancer, anxiety, hyper tension and lipid disorders or
imbalances.
In the light of the
above it becomes the responsibility of each and every citizen of any country to
execute 2 roles, one towards oneself and one towards others especially
community at large (very relevant in the Indian scenario) wherein education can
be departed in all possible modes right up to the rural village ( In India the
Gram)level.
The individual needs
to know the disease and how it occurs, how to prevent, what broad diet to eat
and lifestyle changes to be brought. Last of all how to handle a cardiac
emergency after recognizing one !
Regular tests such as
checking on lipid profiles and especially parameters such as LDL cholesterol,
Triglycerides, blood sugar level done on a bi annual basis would be ideal as a
routine monitoring.
Tell whoever you are
in touch with and pass on the info to as many using as many means available as
possible and hope awareness causes some arresting trends in an otherwise very
dismal scenario.
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