Leading Cardiologist and Cardiac Electrophysiologist, Dr Kartikeya Bhargava, at Medanta – The Medicity, Gurgaon holds interactive session with Hissar’s cardiologists and physicians to discuss cardiac arrhythmias and sudden cardiac arrest

Hissar, Sept 15: We often hear of people dying in sleep. But, do we have an understanding of what can cause this sudden death? In most cases, the cause is sudden cardiac arrest due to an undetected heart rhythm disorder, or an underlying coronary artery disease.

In India, however, there is limited awareness both among people and healthcare providers about mechanisms needed to be adopted to reduce risk of sudden cardiac death and save lives.

Dr Kartikeya Bhargava, Cardiologist and Electrophysiologist from Gurgaon’s leading hospital, Medanta – The Medicity, was in Hissar to deliver a highly informative talk to local doctors on the importance of timely identifying and treating patients at high risk of sudden cardiac death.

“Sudden cardiac death (SCD) is defined as death which occurs within one hour of onset of symptoms due to cardiac causes. In USA about 350,000 deaths occur every year which are sudden. While we do not have consolidated statistics for India, clinical evidence suggests the numbers of people dying a sudden death due to heart ailments is high. Most important cause of sudden death in India is coronary heart disease or artery blockage but very few people understand the concept of sudden cardiac death or do anything to mitigate their risks,” said Dr Bhargava.

In many cases, especially in smaller towns like Hissar, patients do not report fainting episodes, and carry on with their lives after regaining consciousness. There could be several reasons for a person passing out including a heart rhythm disorder coming from lower chambers of heart which can turn fatal if ignored. If the predictors are detected on time, the sudden cardiac arrest can be prevented by implanting a pacemaker-like device called ICD (Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator). ICDs are implanted under the skin (usually below the collarbone) to send life-saving electrical signals that bring the heart back to a normal rhythm whenever abnormal heart rhythm is detected.

If you have a history of coronary artery disease, a record of high blood pressure or cholesterol, or a tendency towards diabetes or obesity, you are at a higher risk of sudden cardiac arrest. People who smoke, have family history of irregular heart rhythm or sudden cardiac death are other groups who have higher chance of sudden cardiac death.

Also, chances of sudden cardiac arrest are higher in people whose ejection fraction is less than 35% or who have history of syncope (fainting intermittently). Ejection fraction is a measure of the heart’s pumping power. A healthy person’s ejection fraction ranges between 60-70%. This is diagnosed on performing ECHO.

“A sudden cardiac arrest occurs when the electrical impulse system of the heart malfunctions, disrupting regular heartbeat. It is more dangerous that heart attack because the rate of survival in case of sudden cardiac arrest is very low. Implanting an ICD in persons at high risk of sudden cardiac arrest can save lives. The key lies in improving identification of persons at high risk and recommending them for ICD implantation in time. Another important aspect of prevention is preventing coronary artery disease,” says Dr Bhargava.

The single most important and cost-effective way to prevent sudden cardiac death is to prevent damage to heart which occurs due to heart attacks caused by blockages in the arteries.  Cardiovascular disease is a huge health burden in India, magnified by the changing lifestyles, increase in sedentary jobs and lack of physical activity.

How to Reduce Risk of Sudden Cardiac Arrest:

Control your weight. People who are over overweight especially at the abdomen have high risk of cardiovascular disease.

Control diabetes, hypertension and LDL. Diabetes, hypertension and bad cholesterol magnify risk of both coronary artery disease and sudden cardiac arrest.

Exercise: 45 minutes of moderate daily exercise, at least 5 days a week, performing yoga or meditation, will go a long way to prevent heart attacks & sudden cardiac death.

Avoid Smoking: Smoking increases risk of coronary heart disease by narrowing arteries over a sustained period of time. Quitting immediately cuts the risk.

Managing heart health: People who already have suffered damage to their left ventricle (Ejection Fraction 35 % or Less) can prevent sudden death by implantation of small pacemaker like device called ICD. ICD is highly effective device which can revive more than 95% of victims who suffer from cardiac arrest.

The post Sudden Cardiac Arrest More Dangerous Than Heart Attack; Awareness Abysmally Low appeared first on Core Sector Communique.

• With the help of the Android application, girls can send a text message to family, friends and authorities concerned in an emergency situation 
• The unique selling proposition of the app, ‘Be Safe Girls’, is that it uses less than 1 MB memory space

New Delhi, February 2015: Amid growing number of crimes against women, a Women Safety application has been developed by students and faculty of ITM University, Gurgaon which has been recently selected for the National Campaign ‘Beti Bachao-Beti Padhao’ (Save girl child-Educate girl child).

The University’s app was selected recently during the two-day event held in Panipat by the Haryana Government to create awareness about the campaign. The Android-based application ‘Be Safe Girls’ has been developed by Ms Sujata, Asst Professor, Ms Sakshi, final year student of dept of CSE&IT, ITM University, Gurgaon and development team of the University. The USP of the app, as per the development team, is that it consumes less than 1 MB memory space.

“Beti Bachao, Beti Padhao is a great initiative of the government and it is a moment of pride for us that an application developed by our students has been selected for such an important national campaign. The app will infuse a sense of security among women, making them fearless and more confident. We hope that the efforts of our students will help the campaign become successful,” said Prof B S Panwar, Vice Chancellor, ITM University, Gurgaon.

The app has a button that will appear on the mobile screens upon downloading.  In an emergency situation, the girl would be able to inform her family, friends and security officials of the university or authorities concerned through a text message just with the pressing of the button. Upon activation, the app would send the precise location of the device to the people concerned.

Application uses location tracker with the help of any of the available technologies like GPS, 3G, 2G or Wi-Fi. The app would be available to the users once it is operationalized.

About ITM University

ITM University (formerly Institute of Technology and Management) was founded in 1996, to promote excellence in higher education by Educate India Society, registered under the Registration of Societies Act of 1860. The university was conceived in response to the acute deficiency of centres of higher learning in the country as also, the need to develop relevant human capital to meet the technology and management challenges of the 21st century. The founders had a clear and well defined mission – to build an unaided, self – financed university committed to delivering education of internationally recognized standards, a university that would go on to serve as an intellectual resource base in India and the sub-continent.

The university has collaborations with ITB (Ireland), University of Chester (UK), Pukyong National University (Republic of Korea) and Hogeschool van Amsterdam (The Netherlands), the University of Warwick (UK), Michigan Technological University (USA) and American Society for Quality.

ITM University has three schools namely, School of Engineering & Technology, School of Management and School of Law, offering UGC approved courses at UG, PG and Ph. D. level in all three schools. It has the distinction of being rated in the ‘Premier’ category by the reputed international rating agency: Accreditation Service for International Colleges (ASIC), UK.

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