Why you need the Services of the Best Heart Specialist Doctor in Delhi - Dr. Rajneesh Malhotra

Why you need the Services of the Best Heart Specialist Doctor in Delhi 

Anybody living in Delhi with a heart condition needs the services of the best heart specialist doctor in Delhi.

Best heart specialist doctor in Delhi is the medical professional who can tell you if you suffer from heart ailments.

What is a Heart

Like other muscles in the body, the heart is also a muscle. While a person controls other muscles in the body, the person cannot control the heart muscle as it beats 72 times in a minute completing a cardiac cycle every minute of its life in an involuntary action.

What are the Functions of a Heart

The heart is among the most vital organs in the body. It functions as a pump to circulate blood through a system of blood vessels. The heart functions throughout its life time. If the heart stops pumping blood then it dies and so does the person.

The heart performs its functions of receiving used blood from all over the body through the veins, sending the blood to the lungs for purification and receiving the purified blood from the lungs and finally pumping the purified blood to other parts of the body through the arteries. The heart comprises the heart chamber which is a muscle. The heart chamber comprises four parts and together with the circulatory system performs its assigned tasks.

What is Heart Disease

The heart is the central muscle that controls the function of pumping blood to all parts of the body. The heart supplies blood through the circulatory system consisting of blood vessels. The group comprising the heart and the blood vessels together with the blood that circulates in the body is the cardiovascular group.

Any disease that affects the heart and the blood vessels is a heart disease or a cardiovascular disease.

Types of Heart Disease

The various diseases affecting the heart include

• Congenital heart defects or the disease a person is born with
• Heart rhythm anomalies
• Coronary artery disease
• Blocked or narrowed blood vessels
• Heart attack
• Stroke
• Angina or chest pain
• Valve malfunctions
• Heart muscle problems

What are Symptoms of Heart Disease

Symptoms depend on the disease affecting the specific part of the cardiovascular system. They include

• Fainting, shortness of breath, dizziness, fatigue, numbness, fluttering,
• Pain in the chest, jaw, neck, abdomen and throat
• Swelling in feet, abdomen,
• Irregular heartbeats, rhythmic changes, slow or fast heartbeats
• Dry cough, skin rashes, fever
• Rhythmic changes, slow or fast heartbeats

Congenital heart defects are defects that a person is born with. The symptoms for disease of the heart due to congenital defects showing up at birth include

• Poor weight gain, shortness of birth, swelling around the eyes, abdomen and legs and pale blue or grey skin color

Get Symptoms Checked by the Best Heart Specialist Doctor in Delhi

People showing symptoms of heart disease must immediately seek the services of the best heart specialist doctor in Delhi.

For information visit http://www.bestheartsurgeoninindia.com

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A Medical Miracle Called Beating-Heart Surgery

Thousands of people go for Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) each year. This is referred to as Bypass Surgery or Open-Heart Surgery and is performed by the top heart surgeons in Delhi if the blockage in the coronary arteries is severe. CABG used to be performed with the assistance of the heart lung machine on Cardio Pulmonary Bypass (CPB) traditionally. This medical practice is in trends nowadays as well. This open-heart surgery allows doctors to operate on a surface which is still and blood-free.

Unlike CABG, in beating-heart surgery the heart beat is not stopped and the heart lung machine is not used. This treatment is known as Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery (OPCAB). Beating-heart surgery has to be performed in a highly stabilized environment as heart is still functioning to pump blood to the body parts.

Who needs to undergo OPCAB?

OPCAB offers a reliable option for a healthy heart for below mentioned category of high risk patients:

• Severe left ventricular dysfunction
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD)
• Chronic renal failure
• Advanced age
• Stroke
• when hybrid procedures are required, like, a combination of stenting and bypass surgery or some other surgical correction.

Understanding the Surgical Procedure

• Proper anesthesia will be given to you before performing the beating-heart surgery.
• Then your cardiac surgeon in India will remove a portion of a healthy vein for grafting from your own body.
• This graft will be used to bypass the blockage of the coronary artery. This helps in restoring the blood flow to the heart.
• Heart positioner is used for the proper positioning of heart. The plaque is removed from the blocked arteries while the rest of the heart beats normally.
• Tissue stabilizer helps to make heart steady and continue its normal beating process during OPCAB.
• It is also important to note that at times off-pump surgery may need to be converted to on-pump surgery. This situation arises when there is hemodynamic instability or improper exposure of the vessels that are targeted during operation, or when there is global ventricular ischemia. This condition is a high risk and complicated one.
• But, our top heart surgeons in Delhi who are globally trained and have decades of experience in handling most complicated cases, are easily able to handle such cases successfully.

Advantages of OPCAB procedure

• Beating-heart surgery allows for a faster recovery of the patient after the surgery at a relatively less cost of treatment than CABG.
• This surgery also reduces the need for blood transfusions and the time of hospitalization.
• This surgical technique is also free from negative effects like fluid imbalance, inactivation of certain blood cells, damage to the platelets, affecting the function of heart, etc. These complications are otherwise more likely to happen in the traditional CABG technique.

However, it is important to note that OPCAB is not always used as a replacement for CABG. The decision regarding the same is taken by treating doctor, depending upon the patient’s medical condition. Moreover, intramyocardial vessels and target vessels that are small and diffusely diseased cannot be operated through beating heart surgery technique.

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How Bentall Surgery in Delhi Helps You Overcome Aorta and Aorta Valve Defects

Bentall Surgery In Delhi

 

When you suffer from defects in the aorta you can bank upon Bentall surgery in Delhi to address these defects and correct them.
Bentall surgery in Delhi is the best procedure to correct defects in the aorta.

What is Bentall Surgery

The aorta is the largest artery in the human body. It comprises four important sections including the aortic valve which perform the function of carrying blood to various parts of the body. Since the aorta involves flow of blood the aortic valve ensures blood only flows out of the heart into the aorta and ensures blood does not flow back into the heart. Like any other part of the body aorta too is prone to under perform for various reasons and defects can occur in the aorta. Often, treatment of defects in the aorta is through surgery. Bentall surgery is a cardiac surgery performed to correct defects in the aorta. Hugh Bentall and Antony De Bono performed this surgery first in the year 1968.

When is Bentall Surgery Required

The four sections of the aorta comprise the ascending aorta, aortic arch, descending thoracic aorta and abdominal aorta. While the ascending aorta rises from the heart, the aortic arch bends over the heart, the descending aorta moves down the chest area and the abdominal aorta starts at the diaphragm. Bentall surgery helps to set right any defects noticed in the four sections of the aorta.

What Defects Manifest in the Aorta

The main defects noticed in the aorta include

• Leak in the aortic valve – aortic regurgitation
• Weakness in aortic wall caused by Marfan’s syndrome
• Segregation of the aortic valve layers – aortic dissection
• Enlarged aorta – aortic aneurysm

What are the Symptoms of Defective Aorta

Most defects in the aorta don’t manifest immediately but build over time. But, they can appear in quick time. Symptoms of defective aorta include

• Fluttering and fast pulse
• Shortness of breath and fatigue
• Swelling in ankles
• Chest pain

These symptoms show the heart is working overtime to counter the defective aorta. Not treating defects in the aorta is not an option as it can lead to heart failure.

What gets done in Bentall Surgery

In Bentall surgery the surgeon performs the procedure under general anesthesia. He replaces defective aortic root and valve. He also re-implants coronary arteries.
The surgeon removes the defective part of the aorta and examines the valve. The valve consists of three flaps that allow blood to flow out of the heart into the aorta. He removes the defective valve. He also removes the coronary arteries along with the button of the aorta’s surrounding wall and dissects them. He replaces the defective valve with an artificial graft that holds mechanical or biological valve prosthesis built into it. He re-attaches the coronary arteries to the graft by suturing them to the cut ends of the aorta.

Bentall surgery in Delhi is State-of-the-art

Bentall surgery in Delhi adopts the latest stat-of-the-art technology to correct defects of the aorta.

Heart Surgery In Delhi, India

After Heart surgery - Recovery time from Heart Surgery (A day-to-day description)

There has always been a widespread perception that one of the scariest parts of any surgical experience is the pain and discomfort following surgery. Well, here is the good news. Things have radically changed thanks to the adoption of advanced minimally invasive techniques in most of our open heart patients. Even the sickest, elderly and frail patients can now enjoy a fast and uneventful recovery. What follows is a description of an average timeline and routine surgical recovery following open heart surgery. Please feel free to contact to me or my secretary with any questions or comments.

Day Zero (the day of surgery)

Operation Theatre

 

Most minimally invasive procedures are performed through a tiny 2" incision between the ribs without breaking any bone. In women a tiny heart surgery scar can be often hidden in the skin fold underneath the breast. This scar becomes therefore virtually invisible over time and that is why these techniques are often described as scar-less heart surgery. At the end of the procedure a local anesthetic is injected in between the ribs and makes the surgical incision completely numb for a while.

After the surgical procedure is completed, the patient is transferred back to the ICU still sleeping and breathing through a ventilator. All monitoring lines, chest tubes and bladder catheter are kept in. Within the following six hours he/she is allowed to slowly wake up and the breathing tube is removed. We want our patients to wake up slowly and in a drowsy and stress-free state. It is good for the heart and it avoids big swings in blood pressure. Most patients overnight in the ICU and have a specialized nurse assigned to constant bedside management under the direction of the treating surgeon. Heart surgery recovery in this set up is safe and reliable.

CTVS-ICU

 

 

 

Cardiac HDU Ward

The morning after surgery most patients are very comfortable and wide awake. Not much of an appetite, maybe some occasional bloating and constipation. These are minor side effects of the anesthesia drugs that resolve uneventfully in a day or two. The chest tubes, bladder catheters and monitoring lines are removed and our patients are allowed to stand up and sit out of bed in a chair. Later on in the day they are transferred to a private room in our adjacent Step Down Unit, staffed by the same group of specialized ICU nurses. The room is spacious and has a convertible sofa that can be used if a friend or a relative wants to stay with the patient overnight.

At this point most patients can start walking up and down the corridor with family members or a physical therapist. A mild soreness at the surgical site is present and it can be easily managed with pain pills. Patients are encouraged to walk as much as they are comfortable with and to carry out deep breathing exercises to clear up their lungs.

Day Two or Three

Still pretty comfortable and wide awake. Appetite is better and stomach feels fine. It gets easier to walk up and down the corridor or to the lobby. Most patients can be discharged home or to a rehab facility in two to three days after surgery. All instructions and prescriptions are given to them and an appointment for a follow up visit is set up.

Step Down Corridor

Following one to two weeks

Cardiovascular Lobby

 

Once he/she is home or at the rehab facility, a gradual increase in physical activity is recommended. By the end of these three or four weeks most patients have resumed their routine daily activities, including driving and going out (weather permitting). Most out-of-state patients are allowed to travel back home within the first seven days after surgery (day 7). After a successful postoperative visit in our office most patients can follow up with their primary care physician and/or cardiologist.

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Dr. Rajneesh Malhotra - Heart surgeon in delhi/ncr

Chief-CTVS, Max Delhi & NCR Hospital

Dr. Rajneesh Malhotra is the Chief of Cardiac Surgery at Max Super Speciality Hospital, New Delhi. He also offers a consultation at Dharm Clinic, Kalkaji, New Delhi. He is an expert in Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery, Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Replacement, and repairs, Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting (CABG), Aortic Valve Replacement and Repair, Atrial Septal Defects (ASD's), Robotic Cardiac Surgery.

Education

• MBBS from King George Medical College, Lucknow
• MS(General Surgery) from King George Medical College, Lucknow
• M.Ch Cardio Thoracic Surgery from Laxmipat Singhania Institute of Cardiology, Kanpur
• Fellowship in Cardiac Surgery from Department of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Hospital, Uppsala, Sweden
• Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery : Medtronic Inc.Minneapolis, USA

Experience

• 25 years of rich experience in Cardiac Surgery
• Work as Director - Cardiac Surgery, Medanta: The Medicity, Gurgaon 2009-2012
• Work as Senior Consultant - Cardiac Surgeon, Escorts Heart Institution and Research Centre, Delhi
• Work as Chief Consultant - Cardiac Surgeon, Durden's Heart Surgical Centre, Colombo, Srilanka

Awards

• More than 50 publications in various International and National Journals and presented more than 50 papers in various International and National Scientific Meetings
• Chapters in Books: Asia Pacific Cardiology: Developments in Total Arterial Myocardial Revascularisation
• Chapters in Books: Elsevier Educational Series In Cardiology: History of Cardiac Transplant
• Chapters in Books: International Travel Awards Recipient - Asian Society of Cardio-Vascular Surgery, Fukuoka, Japan
• Chapters in Books: Best Oral Presentation at Annual Scientific Meeting of International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery at San Francisco, USA
• dr. j. j. Sood Oration Award 2013

Membership

• Member of Southern Thoracic and Cardiovascular Society, USA
• Member of European Association for Cardio-Thoracic Surgery, London, UK
• Member of International Society of Minimally Invasive Cardiac Surgery (ISMICS)
• Life Membership and Fellowship of Indian Association of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons of India (IACTS)
• Member of Indian Association of Surgeons of India
• Member of Cardio-Thoracic Surgery NET (CFS NET)
• Member of Indian College of Cardiology
• Member of Indian College of Indian Medical Association Delhi Branch
• European Association of Cardiothoracic Surgery (EACTS)

Area of Interest

• Expert in Minimally Invasive Cardiac Survey i.e. Minimally Invasive Mitral Valve Replacement, Repairs, Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting(CABG), Aortic Valve Replacement & Repair, Atrial Septal Defects(ASD)
• Robotic Cardiac Surgery
• ECMO - Extracorporeal membrane oxygenation
• Surgical treatment of heart failure and ventricular assist devices (VAD)

Location and Duration of OPD

MAX SUPER SPECIALITY HOSPITAL, SAKET
Monday to Sunday - 9.00 am - 6.00 pm

FOR MORE DETAIL http://www.bestheartsurgeoninindia.com

 

Success Rate of Bypass Surgery in India

To know the success rate of bypass surgery in India, we need to first find out what a heart bypass is, as well as how the surgery is done and how successful it is.

Heart Bypass Surgery or CABG Surgery

The heart bypass surgery is defined as a common procedure of surgery which incorporates diverting blood around the clogged arteries of the heart. This Surgery is also known as CABG which stands for; Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery also pronounced as “Cabbage”. CABG is known as a Gold standard surgical treatment for coronary artery disease. The success rate for this is said to be of 98 percent.

The coronary arteries, these are the arteries that bring blood to the heart muscles, they become clogged due to the plaque formation. Plaque formation is the building up of fat or cholesterol. This can slow down or even stop blood flow from flowing through blood vessels, which would then result in chest pain or a heart attack. When there is an increased amount of blood flow to the heart muscle, the chest pain and the risk of heart attacks could be reduced. This is the main reason, CABG surgery is done.

How is Surgery Done?

Down the center of the chest along the chest bone, an incision is made, which opens the rib cage apart so the heart is exposed. When the heart is exposed, it stops. The pumping and blood circulation function is then taken over by the heart-lung machine. A segment of a healthy blood vessel is taken from another part of the body which detours the blocked coronary artery.

A patient can undergo around three or more bypass grafts, this depends on the number of arteries that are blocked. There are many new surgical procedures. Some of them remove the use of the heart-lung machine or the need for making a larger incision. Others include the off-pump or beating heart surgery and the Minimally Invasive Surgery etc.

The Success Rate of Bypass Surgery in India

The success rate depends on the factors that should be considered while selecting the surgery procedure according to the individual. The success rate for bypass surgery is 98%. Studies show that after the surgery, the patients with the risk of heart attacks due to poor heart muscle functions have seen improvement in the function and the risk is reduced.

The success rate is also based on patients kidney problems, diabetes or hypertension, the lower the risk factors, the higher success. It also helps with reduced memory loss or thinking skills, lower death rates, low injury to the heart, few heart rhythm problems, etc.

India offers treatments at very reasonable costs and this makes it the healthcare hub even for international patients. They also provide the latest medical treatment facilities and offer the best of services as per the patients' comfort. The bypass surgery is available in major cities of India, like Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Kolkata, and Hyderabad.

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A Medical Miracle Called Beating-Heart Surgery

Thousands of people go for Coronary Artery Bypass Graft (CABG) each year. This is referred to as Bypass Surgery or Open-Heart Surgery and is performed by the top heart surgeons in Delhi if the blockage in the coronary arteries is severe. CABG used to be performed with the assistance of the heart lung machine on Cardio Pulmonary Bypass (CPB) traditionally. This medical practice is in trends nowadays as well. This open-heart surgery allows doctors to operate on a surface which is still and blood-free.

Unlike CABG, in beating-heart surgery the heart beat is not stopped and the heart lung machine is not used. This treatment is known as Off-Pump Coronary Artery Bypass Surgery (OPCAB). Beating-heart surgery has to be performed in a highly stabilized environment as heart is still functioning to pump blood to the body parts.

Who needs to undergo OPCAB?

OPCAB offers a reliable option for a healthy heart for below mentioned category of high risk patients:

• Severe left ventricular dysfunction
• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder (COPD)
• Chronic renal failure
• Advanced age
• Stroke
• when hybrid procedures are required, like, a combination of stenting and bypass surgery or some other surgical correction.

Understanding the Surgical Procedure

• Proper anesthesia will be given to you before performing the beating-heart surgery.
• Then your cardiac surgeon in India will remove a portion of a healthy vein for grafting from your own body.
• This graft will be used to bypass the blockage of the coronary artery. This helps in restoring the blood flow to the heart.
• Heart positioner is used for the proper positioning of heart. The plaque is removed from the blocked arteries while the rest of the heart beats normally.
• Tissue stabilizer helps to make heart steady and continue its normal beating process during OPCAB.
• It is also important to note that at times off-pump surgery may need to be converted to on-pump surgery. This situation arises when there is hemodynamic instability or improper exposure of the vessels that are targeted during operation, or when there is global ventricular ischemia. This condition is a high risk and complicated one.
• But, our top heart surgeons in Delhi who are globally trained and have decades of experience in handling most complicated cases, are easily able to handle such cases successfully.

Advantages of OPCAB procedure

• Beating-heart surgery allows for a faster recovery of the patient after the surgery at a relatively less cost of treatment than CABG.
• This surgery also reduces the need for blood transfusions and the time of hospitalization.
• This surgical technique is also free from negative effects like fluid imbalance, inactivation of certain blood cells, damage to the platelets, affecting the function of heart, etc. These complications are otherwise more likely to happen in the traditional CABG technique.

However, it is important to note that OPCAB is not always used as a replacement for CABG. The decision regarding the same is taken by treating doctor, depending upon patient’s medical condition. Moreover, intra myocardial vessels and target vessels that are small and diffusely diseased cannot be operated through beating heart surgery technique.

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5 Essential Tips for the Care of a Pediatric Cardiac Patient

Coronary illness is sufficiently troublesome when it strikes grown-ups; however, it can be particularly more severe in kids. A wide range of heart issues can influence youngsters. These include congenital heart defects, atherosclerosis, viral infections that affect the heart, and even heart disease acquired later in childhood due to sicknesses or hereditary disorders. Fortunately, with medical advancements and expertise of cardiology specialists in Delhi, numerous kids with coronary illness go ahead to live dynamic and active lives.

Here are the 5 essential tips suggested by the best cardiologist specialists in Delhi that may prove vital in the care of pediatric cardiac patients and help them stay as healthy and comfortable as possible:

Oxygen Therapy

The child suffering from cardiac problems requires extra oxygen supply at home. A small tube that rests at the entrance of the child’s nose helps to stabilize the supply of oxygen. The amount of oxygen as prescribed by physician should only be given through oxygen therapy.

Be patient and control your emotions

It is your attitude towards the patient that helps in the early revival than the magic of the medicines. Parents dealing with their child must show empathy and compassion. This will motivate the child and will be helpful in his early recovery. Don’t get irritated by abnormal behavior of the child during the treatment procedure.

Give medicines on time

Parents should be aware about the correct dosage and proper method to provide medicines to their children.You may even hire a professional nurse to take care of your child. Being strong, heart medicines can be hazardous if not given accurately. We also suggest that you maintain a written chart/record of your child’s medication.

Avoid external infections

The immunity of a child who suffers from a congenital heart disease is usually weak. So, parents have to take special care of their child. This is the reason that many cardiac patients are given antibiotic before surgical procedures. Strictly follow hygiene instructions given by the doctor and make it a habit for the child also.

Maintaining your child’s dental health and keeping him or her away from tooth infections is also very important in this regard. Any signs of skin infection or infection at the site of wound should immediately be reported to the treating doctor.

Take care of child’s nutritional needs

Infants affected by cardiac diseases have a higher metabolic rate and hence consume more calories. Proper care of their nutrition is must for keeping them in sound state. Being child, he or she may insist on having food items that may not be good for his or her health. When made to stay away from such stuff, they tend to get agitated, so handle them with utmost patience as this is bound to happen with anyone.

Make sure you always have something or the other to offer them as a healthy choice. Give small and frequent meals that are easy to digest and given them enough energy.

We also suggest you to keep a list of cardiology specialists in Delhi , particularly those handling pediatric cases, handy so that during emergency you can reach out to them.

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Symptoms which indicate your child might have a heart problem.

Heart disease can affect us at any age, but it can be especially tragic when it does occur in children. But it is important form us to know that there are certain heart conditions with which children can be born, also called congenital heart disease. These heart conditions, most of the time go unnoticed because the symptoms that they cause do not become very obvious until later on in life when the child is a little older and becomes more active. But if the condition is very severe, symptoms may manifest early in childhood, and this is the reason doctors do a complete physical examination of the newborn, including listening to the heart with the stethoscope, which will help them to detect these abnormalities as early as just after birth. Therefore this increased awareness that the so called ‘’heart diseases’’ which people assumed affected only adults, can be present in children as well, is very important, because it is only the parent who spend the entire day with their babies, who can tell these subtle changes and abnormalities which need to be further investigated.

Most of the time with cardiac diseases the commonest mistake which people make is that they assume the symptoms of thedisease to be natural reaction of the child and dismiss it easily. Therefore not a lot of attention is paid to it, until the symptoms become so bad and the condition has almost reached a point of fatality.  People fail to relate these symptoms with that of a cardiac challenge, of a child who is having a difficult time keeping up the demand of increasing activity. This is why we need to educate the parents of the possibility that their child might be affected with a heart condition, and that they have to be observant in order to detect the symptoms as early as possible, so that prompt medical attention can be given.

The symptoms of heart diseases will vary depending on the child’s age. Because the symptoms in babies who are less active, will be different to those in older children who are more active. So let’s take a look at the possible symptoms depending on the age of children:

Neonates and infants

This age group includes babies up until their first year of life. In this age group it becomes very important that we pay close attention to the physical differences because they can be missed very easily. These include unusual drowsiness in the baby, where you might notice that you baby is even refusing feeds because of this increased drowsiness. Or you might notice that your baby is sweating unusually or your baby’s skin is turning blue when he/she gets tired or when they have to exert themselves such as when they breastfeeding and suckling or when they crying. You also might notice that your baby is having a hard time breathing and it might look to you like you baby is breathing very rapidly. Other than this, the only symptom of heart disease might be that you baby fails to thrive and does not have the required weight gain and growth pattern. And this can be very easily ignored. All of these indicate that there is a possible underlying heart disease, and you should think about having your baby checked by a doctor immediately.

Toddlers

This is the age group when your child starts to walk and explore everything around them. Again if they are not performing activities as any other child in the same age group, then this should get you worried as to why your child cannot keep up. If you observe that you child starts to tire easily or gets breathless after taking a few steps, or starts to sweat excessively when involved in some activity, this again should cause some concern. If their lips or tongue goes blue while they are exerting themselves or if they have fainting spells as well as uncoordinated jerky movements, then again it might indicate towards an underlying heart condition. This age group is where you have to always compare your child with other children and if they are able to keep up with the rest and perform in a similar manner.

Older children and teenagers

Again the symptoms experienced by older children are very similar with easy fatigability and breathlessness, as well as fainting attacks. But the difference is that these children are able to communicate changes that they feel better than younger kids, and they may sometimes come and tell you that they can feel their heart beating very fast and loud. Again the most important thing to do when they do complain of such symptoms is to pay attention to this without dismissing them easily.

When it comes to congenital heart disease, there might be conditions which to not need any treatment at all and will resolve on their own. But there might be more fatal conditions which need prompt attention, and the correct intervention at the right time might mean the difference between the complete reversal of the condition or your child having to live with the condition lifelong.

And if your child is indeed diagnosed with such a heart condition, then you need to make sure that your child, their teachers at school as well as their caretakers are made aware of the warning signs of the condition, so that the necessary prompt action can be taken, to bring the condition under control and prevent greater damage from happening. 

The commonest heart conditions which affect us

When you say the word heart disease or cardiac disease, the first thing that comes to mind is blocked arteries and reduced blood flow to the heart. People know this more commonly as a heart attack, and in medical terms it is called a myocardial infarction. Although a myocardial is the most common cardiac condition which affects the population world over, there are other heart conditions which equally important because even they can be life threatening if not detected early and treated or brought under control. And it is important that people are aware that these conditions exist and how it can manifest and affect their lives. All of these conditions, collectively are known as cardiovascular diseases.

Coronary Artery Disease

Coronary artery refers to the vessels which supply blood top the heart muscle. Our heart is basically a muscular pump, which enables oxygenated blood to flow out with increased pressure and velocity to all the vessels in our body, thereby supplying all the tissue in our body with oxygen. In order to function well, the heart muscle itself requires oxygen, and the coronary vessels only help with delivering oxygenated blood to the heart muscle. With age and our diet, there may be buildup of cholesterol within these vessels causing them to become narrowed, thereby reducing the flow of blood within them and to the part of the heart which they supply. This buildup of fatty plaques is known as Atherosclerosis. With continuous buildup of cholesterol, it might end up with complete occlusion of the vessel, thereby cutting off the blood supply to the tissue also completely. Causing that part of the heart muscle to die due to lack of oxygen. This is known as a myocardial infarction.When you experience this blockage only in one vessel, it affects only a small area of your heart, and this means that your heart will be able to compensate for this lost tissue and continue to function normally. But if it occurs in multiple vessels at the same time, then the heart cannot compensate, and it can end up being fatal. Therefore it is important, that you bring in changes to your lifestyle and diet, following your first myocardial infarction, so that we can further prevent buildup of fatty plaques.

Heart Failure

Is a condition, where the heart cannot meet the demand for oxygen in other parts of the body as it cannot pump out blood at the needed rate, with the necessary amount of force. As a result, even though the heart continues to beat and pump out blood, it cannot do so to meet the requirements of the body. And as it continues to try to keep up and work harder, it only further regresses in its functionas a pump, until one day it stops working altogether. This continuous process of deterioration in function is called heart failure, and it can develop following a myocardial infarction, where some part of the heart muscle has died and the rest of the tissue is working twice as hard to compensate for this tissue loss and maintain the same function, or even in instances where the heart has to pump blood into vessels which have high resistance for prolonged periods of time, such as in people with poorly controlled high blood pressure. All this will cause the heart muscle to work under great stress, until one day it gives in and starts to fail.

Cardiac Arrhythmia

A normally functioning heart has a regular rhythm, which is important to maintain the filling time of the heart as well as the output of blood from the heart. The rhythm determines how much of time is given for the heart to fill up with enough blood and how much of time the heart takes to contract and pump out the necessary amount of blood. When this rhythm becomes too fast or too slow then the efficiency of the heart is affected, as it cannot meet the demands of the body as required. The irregularity of the beating heart will affect its output and reduce the amount of blood and oxygen reaching all parts of the body.

Problems with heart valves

The heart consists of four chambers and two outflow tracts, and at the entrance of each of this there are one way valves, which make sure that blood flows only in one direction. But when these valves fail to function properly it can lead to the following conditions:

• Valve stenosis – where the valves do not open up completely causing the blood to flow through a narrowed space, limiting the amount of blood that can flow through. This can be caused by stiffening or thickening of the valve leaflets.
• Valve regurgitation – in this condition the valves fail to close properly, as a result of which there is backflow of blood when the heart muscle is contracting, and this commonly occurs when there is deposition of various substances on the valve leaflets.

Congenital Heart Disease

The term Congenital refers to the time of birth. Certain disease conditions of the heart are present at the time of birth itself, even though they fail to manifest at that time. Most congenital heart conditions only start to show symptoms when the child is a little older, or only when they grow up to be adults. Such conditions include septal defects commonly called ‘’hole in the heart’’. If they are very small and not causing any difficulty to the baby, then they can be left alone and will most probably close up on their own. If they don’t or I they too large and threatening the life of the baby, then surgical intervention to close the defect may be required.

Cardiomyopathy

This is condition where there is an abnormality in the structure of the heart muscle itself, causing the heart to function poorly. The muscle can be abnormally thick and stiffened, making it unable for the muscle to contract and relax efficiently thereby weakening it, even though it appears bulky. If this condition goes on for long periods of time, then it may lead to rhythm abnormalities and even a myocardial infarction.

Pericarditis

The heart is surrounded by a thin serosal lining called the pericardium, and this condition is related to the inflammation and irritation of this lining, which can again lead to problems with the contraction and relaxation of the heart. It is a very rare condition.

All of these constitute the diseases which can affect the heart. And all of the above mentioned conditions if not treated in the correct manner at the correct time, will be fatal. This is the reason that we should work towards maintaining healthy heart. And this can be achieved with incorporating brisk exercises as well as a well-balanced diet into our lifestyle.

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