BENGALURU: Every cloud has a silver lining – a phrase that is often used to suggest that even in the darkest of times, there is always something positive to be found. The human race went through its greatest health crisis due to Covid-19 from 2020 to 2022. There was an alarming increase in cardiovascular deaths post-Covid-19 pandemic. But this has also led to an increase in public health consciousness with more people being aware of the need for regular health checks, especially cardiac check-ups.
In other words, the pandemic was a wake-up call for many people, who realised that they need to take better care of their health. This increased awareness could help identify and address cardiovascular problems early on, resulting in a decrease in cardiovascular deaths in the long run.
Take Charge of Your Heart Health: The slogan for this year’s World Heart Day is Use Heart, Know Heart. This is very appropriate as we notice a lot of patients going back to their family, friends, and office circle and talking about the need for regular heart check-ups. The increased awareness of heart health has translated into more apartment associations and colleges requesting CPR demonstrations.
Post-Pandemic Trends Among People in Cardiovascular Health:
As medical professionals, one trend that we have seen for the past few years is that more and more people are undergoing regular preventive health checks, especially cardiac checks such as ECG (electrocardiogram), Echo (echocardiogram), Exercise stress test – treadmill test (TMT), and cholesterol tests. Surprisingly, more people in their 20s and 30s are seen to opt for these checks than ever before.
As a result of these preventive checks, we have been able to pick up many patients with underlying heart disease who had no prior symptoms or family history of heart-related conditions. Echocardiogram tests have identified features of high blood pressure in some who were not even aware that they were hypertensive. They were started on appropriate treatment with lifestyle modification, thereby preventing the complications of high BP.
Another cause of concern in recent years is the increase in heart attacks among young individuals while exercising at the gym. A detailed cardiac evaluation including ECG, Echo, and Exercise stress test will definitely reduce the incidence of these unfortunate events.
Exercise stress tests have also been positive in quite a few otherwise healthy individuals with a family history of heart disease. At our hospital, many of these patients who were found with heart issues underwent appropriate coronary interventions in time to prevent heart attacks.
Takeaway
On this World Heart Day 2023 (Sept 29), let us all take a pledge to educate one and all on the need for regular health checks, good eating habits, regular exercise, yoga, meditation, good sleep, and avoiding smoking and tobacco use so that we can all be heart-healthy.
(The writer is senior consultant - interventional cardiology, Manipal Hospital Jayanagar)