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Written By: Editorial Team | Updated : September 29, 2021 6:29 PM IST
Image credits by: Chronic heart failure is a serious, chronic, progressive condition where the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the body’s needs for blood and oxygen.
COVID has disrupted healthcare access drastically in the past 18 months, including delays in cardiovascular disease diagnosis and timely treatment. This has had an especially drastic impact on patients with cardiovascular diseases. Evidently, there was an overall reduction in admissions of cardiac patients and the decrement in the number of cardiac interventions undertaken. For example, in March 2020, India reported that 30 per cent fewer cardiac emergencies reached health facilities in rural areas compared to the previous year.[i] Reluctance to seek medical care due to fear of infection was also one of the reasons for the decline in the overall hospitalisations of cardiac patients.[ii] This disruption proved catastrophic especially for heart failure patients.
COVID also heightened the risk for heart diseases like heart failure and exacerbated existing cases. Chronic heart failure is a serious, chronic, progressive condition where the heart is unable to pump enough blood to meet the body's needs for blood and oxygen. Affecting approximately 8 to 10 million people in India,[iii] contributing to roughly 1.8 million hospitalizations annually, nationwide.
In addition to the risk posed by COVID, the rising incidence of non-communicable diseases like hypertension, diabetes is contributing to heart failure burden; evidently emerging as a critical health problem in India. Patients with diabetes, for instance, have over twice the risk of developing heart failure than people without diabetes.[vii] With India home to the second largest diabetic population in the world, in addition to the pandemic disrupting routine care and spurring altered lifestyle patterns that affect diabetics' glucose control, uncontrolled diabetes cases are on the rise, which contribute to complications like heart failure. Thus, there is also an urgent need for patients with diabetes and hypertension to regularly screen for heart failure.
Heart failure is a chronic disease that requires lifelong management, with early diagnosis and treatment being key. There are a number of new medical treatment options, depending on the type or severity of the condition and the cause. A holistic treatment plan commonly includes the right medication along with healthy lifestyle changes. These include an optimal diet with restricted salt and fluid intake, smoking cessation and minimal alcohol consumption. Exercise and physical activities based on functional capacity is also vital in managing heart failure.
To effectively manage heart failure, adhering to treatment plans and lifestyle modifications, as recommended by one's doctor, is essential, particularly to avoid increased hospitalisation risk and deteriorating health outcomes resulting in reduced survival.
This World Heart Day, lets prioritise our heart health and work towards a healthy and happy heart.
(This article is authored by Dr Jamshed Dalal, Director, Cardiac Sciences, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Mumbai)
Views reflected in the article are personal.
References
[i]https://www.who.int/publications/m/item/rapid-assessment-of-service-delivery-for-ncds-during-the-covid-19-pandemic#:~:text=Download%20(1%20MB)-,Overview,from%20163%20Ministries%20(84%25).
[ii] Guha S, Karak A, Choudhury B, Yadav G, Yadav R. COVID 19 pandemic: Its impact on cardiovascular training and care. Indian Heart J. 2020;72(6):473-476. doi:10.1016/j.ihj.2020.12.001
[iii]http://repository.ias.ac.in/114560/1/JPractCardiovascSci2128-8092841_222848.pdf
[iv] Nishiga, M., Wang, D.W., Han, Y. et al. COVID-19 and cardiovascular disease: from basic mechanisms to clinical perspectives. Nat Rev Cardiol17, 543 558 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41569-020-0413-9
[v]https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7035e5.htm
[vi]https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/70/wr/mm7035e5.htm
[vii] https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.118.311371
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