The responsibility of one's heart lies with one self.

Take it to heart

The responsibility of one's heart lies with one self. Period. Like every year, this time too we observed World Heart Day last Sunday. With this year's theme of 'Workplace Wellness', it encourages people to gather their internal, spiritual and physical energy to lead a healthier lifestyle, which would benefit humanity.

Dr B K Goyal, former sheriff of Mumbai, has the unique distinction of being awarded Padma Shri, Padma Bhushan and Padma Vibhushan by the President of India. He has contributed immensely in the field of cardiology.
CS had a heart-to-heart talk with him:u00a0u00a0

WHO: Dr B K Goyal WHAT: Sharing about mending hearts

Dying young
Incidences of heart attack are rapidly rising in India and if it continues in the same trend, it will soon assume epidemic proportion. Compared to the West, the incidences are almost four times higher in the below 40 age group in India. Certain identified risk factors cause heart attacks.

However, one can reduce risk of coronary heart diseases by regular exercise, healthy eating, avoiding stress, doing yoga, controlling diabetes, high blood pressure, obesity and stopping use of tobacco in any form.u00a0

Early detection
One should be familiar with the symptoms of angina which includes pain in the centre of the chest or in the left, spreading to both arms, neck and jaw, rarely to upper abdomenu00a0 andu00a0 mayu00a0 be related to exertion. At times, it's only gas.

But diabetics run the risk of a silent heart attack. One should consult a family physician as soon as he suspects any discomfort in the chest. The first step is ECG. If ECG results are vague, then further evaluation should be done by stress test, CT angio or coronary angiography. Since 1960s, bypass surgery has taken care of thousands of heart patients.u00a0

All for Angioplasty
The first balloon angioplasty was performed by Dr Andres R Gruentzig at Zurich on September 14, 1977. It has evolved since then, especially after the introduction of stents, and then the introduction of drug-coated stents in 2002.

This revolutionised the art of angioplasty, overcoming the occurrence of re-blockage in the stent and other complications. Now it's possible to tackle all blockages in coronary arteries including left main, total blockage and bifurcation blocks.

Ninety per cent of patients can be treated by this procedure and it does not require anesthesia or cutting. It helps avoid lengthy hospitalisation and physical trauma of Bypass surgery. We have performed more than 15,000 angioplasties and other complex procedures at Bombay Hospital.

However, Bypass surgery is the only option in some cases. But angioplasty will be the first choice in management of coronary heart diseases till simpler alternatives are discovered.u00a0

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