September 2021 – Desun Hospital

COPD and HEART FAILURE

COPD and heart failure are different problem and in different organs of the body but has some common symptom like feeling breathless with regular physical activities like climbing stairs, walking a little faster or little longer distance, workout etc.

COPD is Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disorder and Heart Failure is the heart is not pumping enough blood within the body.

COMMON SYMPTOMS – COPD and HEART FAILURE

People with lungs disease like COPD feels respiration problem mostly during activity as the breathing is faster than the last exchange of air in lungs and so one feels shortness of breath. In case of heart failure with little activity in most cases or even during rest the heart is not able to pump enough blood or more blood during activity and so there is breathing trouble as blood backs-up into the lungs and there is some kind of fluid congestion.

COPD and LEFT-SIDE HEART FAILURE

COPD is not directly connected with left-side heart failure and left-side heart failure is mostly caused by high blood pressure (hypertension) or coronary artery disease.

COPD and RIGHT-SIDE HEART FAILURE

Lungs problem like COPD can be a cause of right-side heart failure, particularly in the lower right chamber of the heart or ventricle. Severe COPD mostly impacts right-side heart failure.

LUNGS or CARDIAC – CARDIOLOGIST or PULMONOLOGIST

Anyone experiencing breathing trouble needs to consult the specialist doctor either cardiologist (heart specialist) or pulmonologist (specialist for lungs related problem) without delay and the specialist doctor on diagnosis will decide the source of the problem and refer to appropriate specialist doctor if required.

Cardiologist – Heart or Pulmonologist – Lungs

STAY AWARE – GET HEART and LUNGS CHECK DONE

People who are experiencing breathing trouble at times or in their mid-thirties (30s) needs to stay alert as due to stress, work pressure, environmental pollution, overweight and obesity, disproportion waist and shoulder size ratio, sedentary life style, sitting at desk jobs for long hours, smoking, frequent alcohol consumption, high cholesterol, blood sugar or diabetes, hypertension or high blood pressure may have some damaging effect on cardiac system and lungs.

Self Check and Health Check Up at Hospital

EARLIER is BETTER – START TREATMENT EARLY

Earlier one gets to know the condition of cardiac system and lungs can take measures like lifestyle changes, medicine management as per doctor prescription and can avoid further or continued damage of cardiac system and lungs.

Famous Footballer Christian Eriksen, Denmark’s midfielder, suffered a heart attack and collapsed during the Euro 2020 football match against Finland in Copenhagen on June 12, 2021. This incident raised the eyebrows of the whole world. The fact that a finely tuned high performing athlete can have a heart attack, shook the world.

Eriksen had a cardiac arrest in his late 20s. Hence, if you think you are not at risk for heart diseases because you don’t fit the stereotype of an older man experiencing a massive heart attack, then you may have a false sense of security. Fitness and good health are not enough to ward off cardiac problems.
It is not yet known what caused Eriksen to collapse and his heart to stop. However, the doctors said that maybe he has a congenital condition that has not been picked up till now. Congenital heart disease is a general term for a range of birth defects that affect the heart’s normal working process. “Congenital” means the condition is present from birth. Congenital heart disease is one of the most common types of birth defect.

Most Common Heart Disease Among Young Adults

Cardiovascular diseases would be the largest cause of death and disability in India by 2020 as per a World Health Organisation (WHO) report. The average age of people with heart ailments is coming down.
Common heart disease among young adults is Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) occurs at a younger age with over 50% of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) mortality occurring in individuals aged less than 50 years.
Conventional Coronary Artery Disease predominates the number of heart attacks in young adults. About 80% of heart attacks in young adults happens because of CAD, and nearly 60% of these patients suffer from a disease of just one Coronary Artery. The number of arteries increases in the case of older patients.
Though CAD deserves most of our attention, other causes of heart attacks should also be paid attention to. Nearly 4% of heart attacks in young adults are caused by inborn abnormalities while another 5% are triggered by blood clots, originated somewhere else and carried in the bloodstream to normal Coronary Arteries to create a blockage. Various disorders of the blood clotting system increase the risk of clot formation throughout the circulatory system by another 5%. Another 6% includes a wide range of problems like spasm or inflammation, radiation therapy for chest tumours, chest trauma or abuse of drugs like cocaine and others.

Most young adults are affected by high rates of diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hypertension and smoking. These major risk factors tend to bring a heart attack almost 33% earlier than the usual age and often without a prior warning. Each of these problems is tragic in itself, but it is both common and preventable through some precaution.

Some different types of heart disease
• Coronary heart disease
• Arrhythmia
• Heart failure
• Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy
• Myocardial infarction

Factors that cause Heart Disease
•Diabetes
•Hypertension
•Smoking
•Family history of premature heart disease
•Alcohol consumption
•Physical inactivity.

Symptoms- One may feel pain in the chest along with gastrointestinal indigestion or nausea. Another symptom is light-headedness or sweating, the most commonly seen symptom is fast heart rate or shortness of breath. One can also have no symptoms apart from a little discomfort.

When to See a Doctor
In any case of chest discomfort or chest pain, even if there is a little shortness of breath or any incident of fainting one should immediately consult the doctor.