Recently, a 35-year old software professional, Nimit Ahuja was shopping at a mall when he suddenly collapsed. Though he was rushed to the hospital, he could not survive the sudden cardiac arrest.
Cardiologists say young lives like these can be saved if there are facilities like Automated External Defibrillators (AED) available at public places in India. An AED is a portable device that can automatically diagnose a sudden cardiac arrest and help save life with the press of a button. It sends an electric shock to the heart to restore its normal rhythm and bring a person back from the verge of death.
Why So Many Cases of Cardiac Arrest Strike in the Morning
Evidence from people with heart disease strongly supports the existence of the molecular link first discovered in laboratory mice between the body's natural circadian rhythms and cardiac arrest
Advertisement
"An AED, if used during a cardiac arrest within the first 4-6 minutes, can save more than 95 percent of lives," Bipin Kumar Dubey, director, department of cardiology in the Rockland group of hospitals, told IANS.
"There should be at least one AED available at all public spaces like shopping malls and airports. The government should make it mandatory for builders to set up at least one AED in all public buildings," he said.
![Potentially Life-saving Cooling Treatment Rarely Used for In-hospital Cardiac Arrests: Researchers]( "Potentially Life-saving Cooling Treatment Rarely Used for In-hospital Cardiac Arrests: Researchers")
Researchers report that the brain-preserving cooling treatment is rarely being used in patients who suffer cardiac arrest while in the hospital.
Doctors said Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is a leading cause of death and account for greater than 50 percent of cardiovascular deaths in India. More than 660,000 deaths occur every year in India alone as a result of SCA.
The SCA is a condition in which the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. If this happens, blood stops flowing to the brain and other vital organs.
Experts said people who have heart disease are at a higher risk for SCA. SCA can however happen in people who appear healthy and have no known heart disease or other risk factors like hypertension.
Ram E. Rajagopalan in the department of critical care medicine in Sundaram Medical Foundation of Chennai said if an AED is used on a patient suffering with a sudden cardiac arrest his chances of survival will grow by more than 60 percent.
"We definitely need the common man to be aware of what an AED is, as anyone anywhere with access to an AED can save a life," Rajagopalan told IANS.
Lamenting that very few people know how to respond to emergency situations like SCAs in India, Anil Bansal, chief cardiologist at Columbia Asia Hospital in Gurgaon, said people have to be trained to use an AED.
"The need of the hour is to make AED devices available at all public spaces and to train people on how to use them," he added.
A recent study in medical journal Lancet said that by 2010, 60 percent of the world's heart patients would be in India.
As per World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, mortality due to cardiac causes has overtaken mortality due to all cancers put together across the world.
Source: IANS
Potentially Life-saving Cooling Treatment Rarely Used for In-hospital Cardiac Arrests: Researchers
Researchers report that the brain-preserving cooling treatment is rarely being used in patients who suffer cardiac arrest while in the hospital.
Advertisement
Doctors said Sudden Cardiac Arrest (SCA) is a leading cause of death and account for greater than 50 percent of cardiovascular deaths in India. More than 660,000 deaths occur every year in India alone as a result of SCA.
The SCA is a condition in which the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops beating. If this happens, blood stops flowing to the brain and other vital organs.
Experts said people who have heart disease are at a higher risk for SCA. SCA can however happen in people who appear healthy and have no known heart disease or other risk factors like hypertension.
Ram E. Rajagopalan in the department of critical care medicine in Sundaram Medical Foundation of Chennai said if an AED is used on a patient suffering with a sudden cardiac arrest his chances of survival will grow by more than 60 percent.
"We definitely need the common man to be aware of what an AED is, as anyone anywhere with access to an AED can save a life," Rajagopalan told IANS.
Lamenting that very few people know how to respond to emergency situations like SCAs in India, Anil Bansal, chief cardiologist at Columbia Asia Hospital in Gurgaon, said people have to be trained to use an AED.
"The need of the hour is to make AED devices available at all public spaces and to train people on how to use them," he added.
A recent study in medical journal Lancet said that by 2010, 60 percent of the world's heart patients would be in India.
As per World Health Organization (WHO) statistics, mortality due to cardiac causes has overtaken mortality due to all cancers put together across the world.
Source: IANS
Combination Therapy can Help Survival Chances in Patients Who Experience In-Hospital Cardiac Arrest
Use of a combination therapy during cardiopulmonary resuscitation resulted in improved survival among patients who experienced in-hospital cardiac arrest.
Advertisement
 Research Finds That Hospitals' Cardiac Arrest Incidence and Survival Rates Go Hand in HandNew University of Michigan Health System research shows that hospitals with the highest rates of cardiac arrests tend to have the poorest survival rates for those cases. | Advertisement
|
Advertisement
Recommended Reading
Latest Heart Disease News
The first community-based study, published in the journal Lancet, says that delays in seeking care account for nearly 55% of the reported cardiac and stroke deaths in India.
The study emphasizes the existing proof on the heart disease risks of tobacco smoking and the urgent need to stop smoking among cancer survivors.
New study findings provide novel pathophysiological insights involving blood vessel integrity and tissue-mediated coagulation in a type of heart attack in young women.
Recent study identifies five heart failure subtypes with the potential for individual patient risk prediction.
In middle-age patients, CT scan identifies people who may benefit from drugs to decrease heart disease risk, stated study.