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Around 22 million patients in India alone suffer from heart failure, out of which approximately 5 lakh are from Mumbai. As per latest data, heart attack hits 2 million people per year leading to 1 death every 33 seconds. Also, it is alarming to learn that 25 percent deaths due to heart ailments occur in the age group of 25-29 years.
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According to *Dr. Z. Hamdulay*, *Director of Cardiothoracic & Vascular Surgery, Global Hospitals*, "Through our heart failure clinic, we focus on providing alternative treatments to patients who have been awaiting a suitable donor or the ones who have a long waitlist for a transplant.
ESMR, a supportive treatment technique at the clinic will give a hope of life to patients urgently waiting for transplantation."
Dr. Anil Sharma, Chief of Interventional Cardiology & Cath Lab, Global Hospitals, commented, "The main causes of heart failure are blockages in the blood vessels supplying blood to the heart resulting in heart attacks and weakening of Heart Muscle. The numbers of Heart Failure patients are on the rise because of increase longevity due to better treatment of blood vessel blockage via Angioplasty/Stenting. This time, we decided to lay our focus entirely on providing one stop destination in the form of Heart Failure clinic. The Clinic includes early detection of Heart Failure, Patient Education for lifestyle modification & effective treatment of Heart Failure by drugs and devices like Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) and Cardiac Resynchronization Therapy (CRT) which help the patients to survive longer.
Dr. Praveen Kulkarni, Cardiologist, Global Hospitals, said, "Heart Failure is predominantly a disease of the elderly age group. However in India, heart failure afflicts the population a decade earlier, thus affecting the earning segment of the population. The traditional risk factors for HF are hypertension, Diabetes, Coronary artery disease, all of which are in increasing abundance in India. Plus, with an aging population, the number of heart failure patients is expected to rise exponentially."
The facilities at the clinic include dedicated centre with fulltime cardiologists and cardiac surgeons, trained nursing staff, physiotherapist and dietitian. Investigative facilities like cardiac catherization, latest 3T cardiac MRI, fully integrated non-invasive cardiology setup etc. Treatment options including pacemaker implantations, cardiac revascularization like angioplasty and CABG, minimally invasive cardiac surgeries. Also,it has the provision and facility for LVAD implantation and cardiac transplantation along with in-house is EECP for refractory cases.
ManpreetSohal, Regional CEO, Global Hospitals commented, "Heart Failure management is a subspecialty within the cardiology services. It needs a multi-disciplinary approach with dedicated cardiologists for optimum care. With rapidly changing inventions in the field of heart failure management, only dedicated centre's can offer the latest treatment and do justice to the patients' health. The centre at Global Hospitals provides an excellent platform to carry out cutting edge research in the field of cardiac disease management."
The increase in the number of heart diseases is linked to various factors such as lifestyle changes, ageing, food habits and most importantly lack of awareness and delay in treatment. Today, there is an urgent need to educate and apprise people on the causes, consequences and best treatment options available for cardiac diseases.