Vijayawada: People told not to ignore heart failure symptoms

Vijayawada: Senior cardiologist and chairman of Aster Ramesh Hospitals Dr Ramesh Babu said that there is a distinct difference between heart attack and heart failure.

Addressing the media here on Saturday, Dr Ramesh Babu said that people will mistake heart failure with heart burning and ignore it after taking some medicine. “But that may lead to fatality,” warns the cardiologist.

Referring to the difference between the heart attack and heart failure, he said that the block of valves will lead to heart attack whereas the heart’s capacity to pump necessary blood will lead to heart failure. However, heart failure should not be taken lightly and should be treated after going through CT scan.

He said that hypertension, diabetes and blockages in the blood vessels are the major causes for heart failure and fatigue, and breathlessness, swelling of legs, lack of appetite, weakness, obesity, edema and difficulty with physical activity and others are causes of heart failure.

The cardiologist recalled that he had recently presented his point of view in an international medical conference organised by Indian Society for Heart and Lung Transplantation at Chennai on heart failure—advanced medical intervention for heart failure patients including complex procedures and stent, angioplasty techniques.

Dr Ramesh Babu explained the importance of a more streamlined diagnostic approach. He suggested advanced treatments like quadruple therapy and emergency bypass surgery to improve the life expectancy of the heart failure patients.

Senior cardiologists Dr Somnath, Dr Bikas Sahu, Dr Dharanendra, Kartik and others were present.