Indian Medical Association raises awareness among doctors in New Delhi on the increasing incidence of #cardiovascular diseases

Indian Medical Association raises awareness among doctors in New Delhi on the increasing incidence of cardiovascular diseases
Lay emphasis on raising patient awareness about the importance of leading a healthy lifestyle and undergoing regular preventive check-ups

New Delhi, 13th September 2016: The Indian Medical Association organized a continued medical education (CME) program in New Delhi to discuss the growing epidemic of heart disease amongst the Indian population and importance of achieving goals in cardiology practice. The “Get to Goal” CME was attended by leading doctors in the city.

Cardiovascular diseases are expected to be the leading cause of death in Western and Asian countries including India by 2020. Presently they account for close to a quarter of the deaths in India making them a one of the leading causes of morbidity and premature mortality. The major problem area lies in the fact that that a large section of the population is not aware of the causes and symptoms of the condition.

IMA will be organsing a series of such workshops pan India under an unconditional educational grant from USV. The aim being to create sensitivity amongst its 2.5-lakh members across 30 states and 1700 branches over a period of six months about the need to raise awareness regarding the rise in the number of heart related cases.

Addressing the CME, Dr. Sanjeev Gupta, Senior Consultant Cardiologist, Max Patparganj and Dr. Vivek Mittal, Senior Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, Max Patparganj in a joint statement said, “Stress and a sedentary lifestyle are the contributing factors for the high incidence of heart disease. Given its long-term negative effects on a person’s health and well-being, the growing number of heart patients is a major cause of concern for the medical fraternity. Symptoms include discomfort, heaviness, pressure, aching, burning, fullness, squeezing, shortness of breath, palpitations (irregular heartbeats, or a “flip-flop” feeling in your chest), faster heartbeat, weakness or dizziness, nausea, sweating or painful feeling in the chest. Given that most of these symptoms are extremely vague, the disease often goes undiagnosed. Both men and women suffer from cardiovascular disorders with more youngsters now being prone to heart problems as well. Doctors must advice their patients to take these symptoms seriously and immediately seek medical advice for the same.”

Adding to this, Dr. S.S Agarwal – National President and Padma Shri Awardee Dr. KK Aggarwal President elect of the Indian Medical Association in a joint statement said, “One of the causes of cardiovascular diseases is hypertension which is most commonly known as high blood pressure and is estimated to affect more than one in three adults aged 25 and above, or about one billion people globally. It is one of the most important precipitators of heart disease and stroke – thereby making it the number one cause of premature death. Lack of awareness and negligence of the initial symptoms by the seemingly healthy patients and shortage of proper medical infrastructures and experienced medical persons are some of the challenges that hinder India from becoming a heart disease free country.”

Dr S Kamat, Principal Advisor Indian Medical Association and Dr V K Monga Dean IMACGP in a joint statement said, “The key to preventing cardiovascular disease is managing risk factors, such as high blood pressure, high total cholesterol or high blood glucose. Factors such as smoking, raised ApoB/ApoA1 ratio, history of hypertension, diabetes, abdominal obesity, psychosocial factors and regular alcohol consumption are responsible for the rise in cardiovascular disorders. I am extremely happy that this initiative has been taken by the IMA National body to educate doctors and the public about this issue for early diagnosis and treatment can help save numerous lives.”

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Disclaimer: This project is undertaken by the IMA under an unconditional education grant from USV Ltd. Contents of this program are a copyright of IMA and are not influenced by USV Ltd

About IMA: Indian Medical Association is the only representative, national voluntary organization of Doctors of Modern Scientific System of Medicine, which looks after the interest of doctors, as well as the well-being of the community at large. It has its Headquarters in Delhi and State / Terr. Branches in 29 States and Union Territories. It has over 2, 53, 000 doctors as its members through more than 1650 active local branches spread across the country.