Married people have a healthy heart: Cardiologists

Eminent cardiologists participated at the ‘ACVS (Advanced Cardiovascular Solutions) India 2017’ have informed that married people are at 14 per cent reduced risk of heart attack than those who are single or divorced.

The information came to light at the four-day event, which was organised by Facts Foundation, India in association with the Cardiovascular Research Foundation (CRF), USA, at HICC recently.

Dr A Sreenivas Kumar, Founder Director, FACTS Foundation; Chairman, Cardiovascular Sciences & Chief Cardiologist, Citizens Hospital; Dr Susheel K. Kodali, Organising Course Director, ACVS India 2017 & Director, Structural Heart & Valve Center, Columbia University Medical Center and Dr Rahul Potluri, Founder of ACALM & Cardiologist, Aston Medical School, UK attended the event along with 200 other doctors.

Dr Potluri said, “Through ACALM we have been focussing on big data. With an algorithm, this data is being used for research. Studies from the data collected show the link between breast cancer and cholesterol levels, reducing cholesterol with statins can bring down the risk of breast cancer. Another study on marital status and heart disease indicates, married people a healthier heart than those who are single or divorced.”

“Amongst Indians there is 30% higher chance of diabetes than the Caucasian population. We have double the rate of incidence of heart attacks in the 40 to 60 years age group as against the Caucasian population. The reasons being rapid adoption to Western habits, in addition to our known predisposition to heart disease,” he said.

“In the future, we will collate the data from individual hospitals here and analyse it, which can come with interesting revelations we didn't have access to, till now,” said the doctor.

Dr Kumar said, “The conference had demo of complex, new procedures and technologies, transmitted from local, national and international sites. The physicians at these sites demonstrated basic and advanced techniques for coronary, peripheral and structural intervention. Diseases which hitherto didn't have treatment and diseases which needed surgery to treat, were the focus of the conference.

The newer techniques to treat these through percutaneous treatment was deliberated and demonstrated. Heart disease can be prevented in 80 per cent of our patients, if they follow healthy lifestyles with regular exercise, healthy diet habits, by controlling BP, cholesterol, diabetes etc.”

Dr Kodali added, “The purpose of this conference is to increase learning and increase the opportunities of understanding, the learning is both ways. We have also deliberated about advanced devices being used in the West and not yet available in India for improving heart pumping for patients of heart failure and those with weak pumping of heart.”

“Taking the discussions had here, a step further Columbia University Medical Center is conducting research on pregnant women having rheumatic heart disease with narrowing valve, coming to Gandhi, Osmania and Citizen's Hospital. These women will be offered free treatment, two women have already been treated by clearing the valve with balloon,” he informed.