Telemedicine can play key role in preventing CVDs

Bengaluru: World Heart Day is celebrated on September 29 every year with the aim to create awareness about cardiovascular diseases and their prevention. This year, the theme is harnessing the power of digital health to improve awareness, prevention and management of cardiovascular disease globally.

According to Dr Krishna Sarin M S, Consultant, Interventional Cardiologist, Specialist Hospital, "Indians have a much higher risk of cardiovascular diseases at a younger age when compared to their Western counterparts. The age difference is almost ten years. It is therefore of utmost importance that maximum awareness about the heart is created not only in urban areas but also in semi-urban and rural areas."

"Although most of our population is concentrated in rural areas, India's healthcare system is focused mainly in cities. The theme of this year's World Heart Day is focused on harnessing the power of digital health for awareness, prevention and management of cardiovascular disease. Is India actually ready for this, given that the majority of the population is able to afford only basic feature phones? Today, the cost of ownership, limited awareness about the functioning of the internet and the durability that feature phones come with, is holding almost half of the population back from moving to smartphones," said Dr Krishna.

It is estimated that every fifth death that occurs in the world is due to cardiovascular disease in India.

"The need of the hour is low-cost wearable or portable devices that people have access to, which can monitor their heart rates, blood pressure, and rhythm disturbances and red flag the need to visit a specialist. India also has minimal presence of specialist doctors in semi-urban and rural areas, which limits access to quality healthcare facilities," Dr Krishna said.

"The direction in which healthcare needs to move is towards telemedicine. Telemedicine enables high quality healthcare to be provided at an affordable cost. An online consultation could help save many a life as quite often people in rural areas, though diagnosed, do not seek medical intervention until it is too late. Exercise plays a vital role in prevention of cardiovascular diseases. One needs to aim for at least half an hour of moderate physical activity at least five times a week, whether it is playing a game, or walking or dancing" he added.

To create awareness on Cardiovascular Health and associated diseases, on the occasion of World Heart Day 2021, Specialist Hospital will be organising a free heart camp at its premises at Kalyan Nagar. Patients will be given an ECG, Echocardiogram, GRBS (General Random Blood Sugar), vitals check, consultations with cardiologists for heart care, physiotherapist for lifestyle modification and nutritionist for diet-related advice. People who are above 40 years of age can attend this free camp by registering their details on 8892783546. The camp will be held between 10:00 am and 5:00 pm on 29th and 30th September 2021.