Friday, April 4, 2014

High incidence of heart disease in Doaba Region-Dr Bedi

Fri, Apr 4, 2014 at 1:08 PM
About 35% of his  heart patients are from the Doaba 
Ludhiana, 4th April, 2014 2014: (Shalu Arora//Punjab Screen):
“Punjab – both rural and urban - reports a very high incidence of diabetes, high-blood cholesterol level and obesity. These, in turn, manifest as cardiac problems”. Dr Harinder Singh Bedi, head of Cardio Vascular and Thoracic Surgery at the Christian Medical College and Hospital, Ludhiana, made the above observations at the free cardio-vascular counselling, detection and prevention camp Phagwara.
The camp was jointly organised by the Christian Medical College and Hospital and the Senior Citizen’s Council Phagwara as part of a yearly outreach programme. Free consultations by super-specialists , free tests and medications was done and besides blood sugar and ECG – a  special test for bleeding disorders  – The PT/INR test – was done for all patients where indicated.
A very high incidence of heart and vascular disease was noted in this area. Dr  Bedi said that about 35 per cent of his  heart patients are from the Doaba region  . The camp was held to try and look at the reasons for this high incidence. 150 patients were examined at a very well organized camp at the Guru Ram Das Bhavan. About 45% of the people checked were detected to have significant heart disease. Besides treatment, all aspects relating to prevention of heart disease and maintenance of a healthy lifestyle were taught to the people present. What was disturbing was the high incidence of diabetes and obesity.
Though it is true that the Doaba belt has a relatively non-polluted environment and the pace of life is generally relaxed but at the same time there has been a gradual change in lifestyle. The hard manual labour is now being done mostly by migrant workers while the cholesterol rich diet remains as before. Consequently, the body is unable to metabolise all the calories consumed leading to deposits in the arteries. Also urbanisation of rural areas is taking place, and so the urban-rural difference is decreasing and more and more rural people are getting this disease, observed Dr Bedi.
The analytical study during the camp revealed that people with heart disease in Phagwara  and in the adjoining rural Punjab received slower care than people in the cities and were more likely to die before reaching a hospital. Heart attack rural patients head to hospitals in buses or tractors rather than ambulances, and pay for the treatment out of their own pockets because of ignorance regarding the health insurance.

Dr Bedi stressed on the benefits of addressing the root cause of heart disease in Punjab. Punjabi diet is very rich compared to that of the population living in the southern part of the country. It is for this reason that we are witnessing people at young age getting heart attacks, the expert said.
Eat less fried food, less butter and ghee. Exercise daily for around 45 minutes and reduce stress in life, suggested the cardiac surgeon.
The team included Dr Amy Verghese, Dr Nirmala, Dr Febin, Dr Cynthia ,  Dietitians Dt Aruneeta  and Dt Navneet  , Yoga Acharya Nirmal Singh staff nurses headed by ICU Incharge sister Balwinder Kaur and Mrs Reeta Vashisht  and Mr William Prem and Mr Mathews .
Dr Abraham G Thomas, director of CMC and Hospital said that the outreach programmes were an integral and important part of the basic philosophy of CMC so that medical care could reach one and all in this region  .
 Dr Bedi can be contacted at 98140-60480 for any clarification
Photo: Dr HS Bedi examining patient  at the camp

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