USE HEART TO BEAT CVD (WORLD HEART DAY 2020)




The COVID-19 pandemic has shone light on the healthcare profession and our responsibilities as individuals towards our health by enforcing the habit of regular hand washing, and so on. But while we're taking up responsibilities for our general health during this pandemic, we need to look after our cardiac health in particular too.

What is the heart and what does it do?

The human heart is a muscular organ, about the size of a fist, which is responsible for pumping blood to all tissues in the blood through a network of veins and arteries called cardiovascular system. 



What are CVDs?

Cardiovascular Diseases (CVDs) are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels. They include: coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, rheumatic heart disease and other conditions. 

CVD is currently the leading cause of death in the world. It is estimated to be the cause of 17.9 million deaths every year. We therefore need to learn about our hearts and its care. 

Types of CVD

There are different types of CVDs occuring in different ways, and also having effect on different parts of the heart.


Congenital Heart Disease

These are heart diseases present right from the time of birth. They include diseases like septal defect and cyanotic heart disease. 


Arrhythmia

This refers to irregular heartbeats. Arrythmia can be harmless when experienced once in a while due to anxiety, but becomes a serious heart condition when it occurs too often due to a weak or damaged heart. Bradycardia, tachycardia and fibrillations are examples of arrhythmia. 


Myocardial infarction

Also known as heart attack, cardiac infarction, and coronary thrombosis. 

Myocardial infarction refers to interrupted blood flow damages that can destroy part of the heart muscle. Usually it is caused by a blood clot that develops in one of the coronary arteries, also occuring if an artery narrows or constricts.


Congestive heart failure

This simpy refers to when the heart does not pump blood to the remaining parts of the body properly. 


Other CVDs include; Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, Pulmonary stenosis, etc. 


Symptoms of CVD 

Different individuals show different symptoms for CVD, but some symptoms are more common in most cases and types of CVD, they include; breathlessness, swelling in the legs, abdomen or areas around the eyes, chest pain, light headedness and dizzy sensations, and a blue tint to skin. 


Causes of CVD

The major causes of CVD are: damage to all or parts of the heart and depleted supply of nutrients to the coronary vessels. 

Some CVDs like septal defects, are due to problems in the genetic make up of a person. However, factors like high cholesterol, diabetes, age, junk food diet, and family history, can also cause CVD. 


Treatment of CVD

There are two major ways to treat CVD. They are;  Medication and Surgery. 

Once the symptoms of CVD have been detected and a test has been carried out to confirm the CVD, an individual can begin to use medications prescribed by a doctor to treat CVD, but if there is no improvement, a surgery is advised. 


Many different medications are used for treating CVD, they include: statins (for lowering cholesterol), beta blockers (for treating heart attack),

etc. 


Though surgeries take a while for patients to recover from, they are an effective way to treat CVD.


Angioplasty, a surgical procedure carried out to enlarge constricted blood vessels is an example of a surgery that could be used to treat CVD. Other surgeries are also used to repair or replace heart valves. Electronic machines that regulate the heartbeat for people with arrhythmia could also be used to treat CVD.


Another way of treating CVD is heart transplant, though it takes a very long time to find a heart which matches. 


How then can we use heart to beat CVD?


Use heart to make better choices

We all should take care of our hearts by eating healthy diets, observing healthy consumption of alcohol, and avoiding cigarettes or substances that have negative effects on your hearts.


Use heart to beat heart

In cases of underlying heart diseases, regular medical check-up and consistent use of medications should be taken seriously. Visiting the doctor for advice on exercises to engage in is highly recommended.


Use heart to influence

As medical practitioners, it's our duty to educate, enlighten and inform our patients about CVD and encourage them to constantly have their heart states checked.


Use heart to participate

Today, Tuesday, 29th September, 2020 is world health day, visit https://www.world-heart-federation.org on how to participate.


Michael Ayomide

Member; NIMELSSA EDITORIAL TEAM 19/20

Comments

Tolulope Rhoda said…
It's actually amazing that we can use the heart to beat a disease that could beat and injure the heart.
Happy World Heart day!
29 September 2020 at 04:17
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

LAB GUYS

Image
I had gone for a retreat at one of the retreat centres around Surulere, I and a couple of other medical students from LUTH. One was a pharmacy student, another radiography and the remaining two, MBBS. We had just finished and were about to leave the centre when we encountered an old white lady. My guess is that she is from the Philippines. Quite a cheerful lady, and knowledgeable too. She had a thing or two to say about everything.
Read more

SEVEN TIPS TO HELP YOU THRIVE IN LAB POSTINGS

Image
  Training programs for medical laboratory science graduate degrees requires that students learn a great deal of medical theory. But it also requires that they spend time in a clinical laboratory (usually of an attached university training hospital) gaining experience and developing hands-on skill for many of the tests conducted in that laboratory.     Experience in the laboratory however varies from one student to the other. For some, it’s a tolerable, rewarding learning experience with a little tinge of distress. For others it’s an experience filled with many difficulties—personal, interpersonal, academic, operational and formal difficulties. Still for some, time in the lab is a burning hell. Irrespective of what it could be, laboratory experience is never just an effortless pass time you cruise through without some friction, so much so that students think of their time in the lab as something to strive through at best, and at worst, something to survive.    However, if the following
Read more

CONVERSATIONS: MY LOCKDOWN STORY.

Image
Six amazing individuals across various levels in the field of medical laboratory science come together to have a conversation about these uncertain times. Six questions answered by them takes us through their lockdown experiences. Q 1: The first question goes to you, what was your reaction and what did going home feel like when federal government asked all students to go home due to the pandemic? DANIEL: Okay. At first, I agreed with govt. It was a good idea to curtail the virus, but still going home felt somehow to me. I knew I'd go home to eat and rest well. A break from CMUL stress, but damn! I didn't want to leave school because, at home I'd be bored, broke, running errands! LIGHT!!! AARGH the transformer spoils weekly (laughs).
Read more