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Early Diagnosis Caps Cardiac Mortality

Timely intervention and prevention can save lives as well as costs

"Women with diabetes run a greater risk of heart failure than men with diabetes" - Dr Bhuwnesh Agrawal Chairman & Managing Director Roche Diagnostics (India)

India is catching up with the west on multiple parameters. Unfortunately, it is also steadily overtaking the US and other western countries in an ignominious race with ominous tidings - being declared the cardiac diseases capital of the world. With India already dubbed the diabetes capital of the world, this will be a double ignominy that should be avoided at all costs.

Some World Health Organisation statistics are telling: in 2005, Cardiovascular Diseases (CVD) killed around 17.5 people worldwide - that's 30 per cent of all global deaths - making CVD the largest global annual killer. From these numbers, an estimated 7.6 million deaths were due to coronary heart disease and 5.7 million due to stroke. Significantly, more than 80 per cent deaths occurred in the emerging economies.

Coming to India, about five million suffer first-time heart attacks annually. And around 50 to 100 million Indians are estimated to be suffering from heart problems. According to WHO studies, heart problems in India leapt from one per cent in the 1960s to 14 per cent in 2005. If timely corrective measures aren't initiated, WHO predicts the figure may double to nearly 30 per cent by 2015, killing 10 million Indians annually. WHO estimates that by 2010, around 60 per cent of all cardiac patients will hail from India. By 2020, CVD will cause the largest number of deaths and disabilities in India.

Multiple Reasons

What accounts for the disconcerting explosion in cardiac cases? The reasons are manifold: genetic predisposition, increasingly sedentary lifestyles, unhealthy diets and eating habits, growing obesity, smoking, alcohol and tobacco abuse, larger numbers ageing due to higher life expectancy, as well as rising risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes and strokes. Combined with our notorious reluctance to exercise, deskbound jobs, and the daily stress of modern existence, it is hardly surprisingly that heart diseases have hit all sections of Indian society equally - rich and poor, male and female.

Risk Factors

Among the major risk factors, hypertension and diabetes are particularly dangerous. Uncontrolled hypertension increases the risk of heart failure by 200 per cent. Moreover, the degree of risk appears directly proportional to the severity of the blood pressure.

Diabetic patients have a two to eightfold greater risk of heart failure. Women with diabetes run a greater risk of heart failure than men with diabetes. The risk partly arises from diabetes' association with other heart failure risks: high blood pressure, obesity and high cholesterol levels. The disease progression in diabetes also harms the heart muscle.

Compared to working women, housewives run a higher risk of heart disease (and stroke). This is largely due to their sedentary lifestyles and other contributory factors such as eating and drinking more and being prone to depression.

Amid all these dire statistics, combating heart disease might seem like a losing battle. Yet the war on heart disease can be won if prevention is the mantra. Early diagnosis of heart failure risks can promote prevention, followed by timely intervention with therapeutics and lifestyle changes, and proactive disease management. All these measures can ensure improved patient outcomes and enormous cost savings.

NT-proBNP

By far, the most crucial measure is early, accurate diagnosis to ensure positive healthcare outcomes. This can be achieved with the heart disease biomarker NT-proBNP via which one can easily diagnose the condition earlier and more accurately - right up to the early stages of heart failure.

NT-proBNP is approved by the US FDA for diagnosis, assessment of heart failure and risk assessment in patients with acute coronary syndrome. It also has proven prognostic value to assess increased risk of cardiovascular events and mortality in patients with stable coronary artery disease. If you fall within the high-risk categories, don't delay any longer. Contact your family physician or heart specialist today for timely detection, quick intervention and proactive disease management.