Steady rise in incidences of heart disease: specialists

FACTS Foundation and Citizens Hospitals, Hyderabad in collaboration with MAYO Clinic, USA is hosted a academic feast of highest order - Cardio Vascular Update on May 21 and 22, at the HICC.

Dr A Sreenivas Kumar, Chairman, Citizens Heart and Founder Director, FACTS Foundation, said the heart disease is on the rise in India, from a 6 per cent to 8 per cent of the population being susceptible to heart related diseases a decade ago, the percentage has steadily risen and the prevalence is much higher amongst South Indians at 20 per cent as against 14 per cent of the population being at risk in North India.

He said, the alarming aspect is the rise in the number of youngsters with heart disease. The youth is falling victim to the disease due to high levels of stress and lifestyle habits like smoking while the elderly are getting the disease due to high BP and diabetes. Again the urbanites are more prone to heart disease than ruralites, he says.

The pattern of heart disease seen in USA 15-20 years ago is being repeated here now and we need to learn from their experience and take measures to curb the incidence, there is a need to control risk factors related to heart disease on war footing in India, he says. But the positive aspect is the best care being accessible to our populace, which ensures that the patient is back to his normal in no time.

This conference is training forty Doctors from community centers with little access to modern medical care in primary care and stabilisation for patients of heart attack, before he is moved to the nearest medical facility equipped with heart care, Dr Sreenivas Kumarsaid.

The prestigious MAYO Clinic - USA's best rated hospital in 2014 - 15, which for the first time in the annals of Indian Cardiovascular history, collaborated with an Indian outfit - FACTS Foundation and conducted an academic program in India, last year is again continuing the initiative this year in recognition of Citizen Hospital Cardiacvascular team's professional excellence and dedication to patient care, says Dr Sreenivas Kumar.

Dr Hari P Chaliki of Mayo Clinic said, the update will emphasise on practices which lead to better care for patients. He said, Doctors may differ on the appropriate treatment approach, but at the end of the day it's the evidence based medical practice which ensures a consensus amongst all the treating doctors and mandates them to follow the optimal treatment procedure, despite difference of opinion.

Therefore the thrust here will be on evidence based medical practices, he said. The main theme of the conference is on the treatment modalities to be adopted for our patients suffering from various Cardiac ailments with evidence based medical practices. Mayo Clinic, an authority on Patient Management Protocols, will impart the specialised knowledge to benefit Indian Doctors and through them the patients.

The Conference will discuss these practice guidelines extensively and explore ways to replicate them to suit our needs, which will enable our medical fraternity to adopt in their day to day practice.

According to Dr Sreenivas Kumar, we want to learn from the best practices followed by Mayo Clinic and adopt it to our conditions. The treatment modalities in our country are as good as in any advanced country, needing just the last mile fine tuning and an Update like this can iron out such short comings, he said.

The alarming aspect has been the sustained rise in the incidence of heart disease in our country. Diabetes, which was a marginal ailment back in 1970s, is reaching deadly propositions, seriously affecting 30 per cent of the population and even more in the older age groups. So is the case with hypertension with a large section of the population being afflicted.

These lifestyle diseases coupled with unhealthy habits like smoking, stress, lack of exercise, improper diet have made more and more Indians prone to heart disease. Heart disease which afflicted less than 4 per cent population four decades ago has reached epidemic levels today, says Dr Sreenivas Kumar.

This Conference is being attended by approx. 500 registrants with cardiologists and Physicians from across the country. The Update has senior faculty from Mayo Clinic Gregory W Barsness, Hari P Chaliki, Sudhir S Kushwaha and others from within the country and abroad like Dr A Sreenivas Kumar, Dr M Gokul Reddy, Dr M K Das, Dr Anil Dhall, Dr P Krishnam Raju, Dr Rajagopala Raju, Dr Ravi Bathina etc. interacting with the delegates.