WORLD HEART DAY … September 29
In 1999, the World Heart Federation decided to celebrate WORLD HEART DAY on September 29 every year. What is there to celebrate now in 2024 when only an increase in the heart problems is being noticed ? A myriad modalities of medical and surgical treatment had emerged during the past quarter of a century which could not eliminate heart problems.
And, you may be interested to read about the RIGHTS & WRONGS that we had been doing -- click on :
https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2023/01/right-or-wrong.html
That's human's problem. On the other hand, "Human Hearts" are observing a "Grievance Day" on September 29 demanding "less work", as heart is the organ which works non-stop from birth to death without 'rest', taking care of 37 trillion cells in the body. Skin cells are replaced every two weeks; red blood cells are replaced once in 120 days; liver cells are replaced once in 10 months. The heart cells are not ordinarily regenerated. The "International Union of the Human Hearts" has every justification in demanding "less work" !!! What happens if all the human hearts, across the globe, strike work for five minutes !!!
Various writings and ads (with commercial colour of discounts) appeared today (September 29) across the globe scaring the public about their heart health. Some of them, purported to be of educative value to the public, may have a hidden agenda of vested interests. And, some normal persons may be converted into patients !
Much of the modern heart treatment may be like cutting some of the branches of an evil tree without tackling the roots – tobacco, trans-fats, junk foods, smartphones, stress and most of the comforts of modern lifestyle – which are the root cause for HEART diseases. As we failed to eleminate heart problems through modern medical treatment, we are now back to the PREVENTIVE mode with the theme for the WORLD HEART DAY of 2024 as "USE HEART FOR ACTION" which means that we have to put our heart and soul to PREVENT heart diseases rather than focussing on treatment modalities. This is to be done through LIFESTYLE changes -- food, exercise, sleep and peace are some of the important components. To see my 'scribbling' on some of these components, go to :
https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com/2017/04/food-exercise-and-sleep_25.html
HEART ATTACK -- risk assessment
When somebody dies suddenly and unexpectedly, generally, the cause is mentioned as ‘heart attack’. 'Heart Attack' may be due to a block in blood flow inside the heart due to a clot (circulation problem). 'Cardiac Arrest' may be due to an abnormality in the electrical activity inside the heart (electrical problem). Both may be present at the same time. For a very long time, high cholesterol, obesity, high blood pressure, smoking, stress, bad lifestyle, heredity, etcetera have been considered as the likely factors for assessing the risk of heart attacks. However, many who were predicted to be at high risk lived a normal life, and some with a low risk profile died of heart attacks even at a young age.
CELEBRITY YOUNG HEART DEATHS: A 42-year-old Rohan Mirchandani, CEO of Greek Yogurt brand Epigamia died of a sudden cardiac arrest onDec 21, 2024. A 36-year-old Rohan Malhotra, Co-founder of VC firm Good Capital passed away due to cardiac arrest on Oct 3, 2024. A 51-year-old Ambareesh Murty, Co-founder of Pepperfry Furniture company died due to heart attack in Aug 2023. There are scores of such cases, celebrities and common people. 50% of all heart attacks in Indian men occur under 50 years of age, rich or poor.
So, people are lining up for a CARDIAC CT SCAN (CT angiography) which is priced around 15,000 rupees. In some centres, it's like an 'Over The Counter' product -- ask for it, they will do it. Is it right or wrong to get it done without a doctor's advice ? Some say it's right to know the status. Some warn about the radiation during the procedure and the bad of a needless investigation and an unnecessary intervention.
Recently two simple imaging techniques have been developed to assess the risk better -- 1. 'Coronary Calcium Scoring' (CT scan measurement of calcium buildup in heart blood vessels); 2. 'Ultrasound Plaque Imaging' of the blood vessels in the neck and groin (measuring cholesterol deposits in the blood vessels). It remains to be seen if these two new assessments improve our predictions.
"UNHEALTHY LIFE" -- Right or Wrong ?
There are many aged persons in our villages. Many of them say "We ate whatever was available in our farm and at home; worked in our fields; slept sometime after sunset and woke up sometime before sunrise; we had no timepieces and no electricity; we didn't go to hospitals."
They spent a very long unhealthy life -- is it RIGHT or WRONG ?
‘Modernity’ in lifestyle brought in its wake all the adverse factors, bad food, bad habits, enormous stress & ecological imbalance (destruction of Nature). They are all associated with money, materialism, competition, comparison, ego, hubris, hegemony, selfishness, greed, arrogance, anger, miserliness, manipulability, vanity, vengeance, etc.
'MODERNITY' may be the root cause for the increase in heart problems and even the emergence of COVID. Moderns may have to mend their ways to prevent emergence of more heart problems and new viruses.
Cell phones arrived, we forgot writing letters;
Automobiles arrived, we forgot walking;
Computers arrived, we forgot spellings;
Calculators arrived, we forgot mathematics;
Modern jobs arrived, we forgot families;
TVs arrived, we forgot cinema theatres;
Digital games arrived, we forgot playgrounds;
Modern pharma arrived, we forgot grannies’ remedies;
Speciality hospitals arrived, we forgot ‘MBBS clinics’;
Super-specialists arrived, we forgot family doctors;
Nuclear families arrived, we forgot relationships;
Junk food arrived, we forgot healthy meals;
Food courts arrived, we forgot cooking;
Internet has arrived, we forgot libraries & teachers;
HEART specialists arrived, we forgot HEARTY meals !
COVID has arrived, we forgot everything else !
( I too forgot everything else, and authored 28 articles in 30 months on COVID, during the COVID pandemic, which were published in a monthly medical journal, The Antiseptic – a WORLD RECORD of sorts in medical journalism !!!)
And, now, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) is coming to make us forget about our BRAINS !
Dr. T. Rama Prasad,
https://drtramaprasad.blogspot.com WhatsApp: +91 98427 20393 drtramaprasad@gmail.com, Director & Senior Consultant in TB and Lung Diseases, 'PAY WHAT YOU CAN CLINIC’, Perundurai, Erode Dt., TN. Former Medical Superintendent (Special), RTS & IRT Perundurai Medical College and Research Centre.
We are having this plant which goes by the name
BLEEDING HEART !!!
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