Cardiovascular disease in Nepal will account for 35 percent of all the deaths in the country by 2030!
Currently, the Himalayan nation is facing threat from cardiovascular diseases which accounts to one death in every hour.
Eminent Interventional Cardiologist Dr Rajneesh Kapoor visited Kathmandu for a workshop about ‘complex cardiac procedures’ on November 4, 2018.
“Not all people die of heart attack. There is a considerable proportion of patients who suffer from heart failure, a type of heart disease in which the heart cannot pump properly. The reasons: more people are surviving heart attacks and thus face higher heart-failure risk afterwards. Another key driver is ageing as this is a chronic condition that plagues the elderly. The rise in diabetes and obesity is also a trigger,” said Dr Kapoor, Medanta Hospital, Gurgaon while speaking about the alarming rise in heart patients.
In his address statement he spoke about technologies such as FFR and OCT, which prevents unnecessary stenting and assists in the accurate placement of stents resulting in 100 percent blood flow to the heart.
Kapoor adds that OCT is very useful in treating patients where bypass surgery cannot be performed. He also highlighted the importance of miniaturing technology which is a boon to heat failure patients.
“Data shows that if the patient comes to us and they are short of breath and having symptoms, it’s already too late. Hence, in order to secure lives of heart patients, we are diligently working to provide health monitoring from homes, a step that saves the patient from giving repeat visits to the hospital and detect any symptom in advance. This will be life-saving especially for far distance patients,” adds Kapoor.
As part of his visit, he issued an advisory for the prevention of heart disease. Kapoor urged people to curb atmospheric pollution as much as possible and focus on living a healthy lifestyle.
This includes eight hours of sleep, high intake of fruits and vegetables, moderate thinking and regular exercise among others.
Currently, Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) in Nepal contribute to the 22 percent of the deaths. Smoking causes (E-Cigarette trend) approximately 10 percent of all CVDs, physical inactivity and obesity 6 and 5 percent, respectively
According to a 2011 study, the knowledge of cardiovascular health is poor in Nepal