At the Advanced Cardiac Centre OPD of the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research in Chandigarh, Dr Neelam Dahiya urges several attendants accompanying patients to undergo simple tests to see the risk of heart disease, especially if they are overweight and have a family history. Some like it, some don’t.
“As a cardiologist, it is my responsibility to make people aware, and not everyone likes my advice, but I do it anyway,” said Dr Dahiya, assistant professor at the Department of Cardiology and the in-charge of the Preventive Heart Clinic inaugurated at the Cardiology Outpatient Department Complex, PGI — a first in a tertiary care public hospital in the country — to offer guidance and targeted interventions to health-conscious adults keen to minimise their risk of heart disease.
“I remember a young woman accompanying her father, with whom I spoke at length about exercise, better diet, and regular check-ups for prevention, for as a cardiologist I felt she could be at risk,” she said.
The rising number of patients in the cardiology OPD of the institute — till August 70,000 compared to nearly one lakh last year — and the urgent need to prevent coronary artery disease (CAD) was the genesis of the all-new dedicated Preventive Heart Clinic, she said, adding: “Till August this year, over 6,000 coronary angiographies, 3,500 angioplasties and 700 cardiac implantable devices have been performed at the PGI.”
Inaugurating the clinic, PGI Director Professor Vivek Lal shared his journey toward better health, emphasising the impact of preventive measures. “By focusing on weight management, physical activity like cycling, and practices like yoga, we can prevent many lifestyle diseases. Health is a lifelong journey, and I encourage everyone to prioritize it,” he said.
Dr Yash Paul Sharma, professor and head of the Department of Cardiology, PGI, said, “There is a rapid rise in the number of patients presenting with structural heart diseases, and an increase in incidences of CAD among the young population aged above 40 years may be related to poor dietary habits, increased work stress and a sedentary lifestyle. So, the prevention, including improvement in physical and mental well-being and reducing hypertension, diabetes and dyslipidemia, is the way forward.”
“The clinic will be run from 9 am to 10 am every Wednesday and Saturday. Anyone above 18 can seek consultation. We will assess what is modifiable, and if need be, based on weight and family history do tests to assess risks, and then clinicians from dietetics, psychiatry and community medicine and cardiology will offer interventions. Apart from the social media, we will have an app to make people aware of the clinic, and awareness will also be created at OPDs. We will record all information, and use this to bring awareness about the prevention of heart disease to the community level,” said Dr Dahiya.
Highlighting the link between mental health and heart disease, Dr Krishan from the Department of Psychiatry said, “Stress and psychological challenges often contribute to heart disease. Our clinic will work to address these issues proactively,” he said.
Chief Dietician at the PGI Dr Nancy Sahni spoke about the dietary factors contributing to heart disease and the clinic’s role in managing these through personalized nutrition plans. “Heart health is greatly influenced by diet. We will guide patients on making sustainable dietary changes that support a healthy heart,” she said.
“To enhance awareness, an information booklet on heart disease prevention will be provided to patients and caregivers, covering essential tips on lifestyle changes, diet, and mental wellness,” Dr Neelam said.
Professor Rajesh Vijayvergiya, Advanced Cardiac Centre, PGI, said, “Cardiovascular diseases is the single largest cause of death and illness worldwide. Unlike many other chronic illnesses, cardiac diseases can be well prevented largely by simply incorporating a couple of healthy lifestyle-related changes like having a balanced diet to restrict calories, regular exercise, avoiding undue psychological and physical stress and routine screening for underlying silent heart disease.
Certain cardiac risk factors such as smoking, strenuous physical exercise, excess mental stress and a family history of heart disease can lead to acute cardiac events such as death or heart attack in a seemingly healthy individual.”
“Other risk factors are diabetes, hypertension, and substance abuse. Other than heart attacks, which are due to blockage in coronary arteries supplying blood to the heart, diseases of cardiac muscles such as cardiomyopathy, a viral infection of the heart known as myocarditis, and cardiac arrhythmias – the electrical abnormalities of the heart are the frequent causes of sudden death in young individuals which remained undiagnosed due to lack of medical attention/advice,” Prof Vijayvergiya said.
“Routine screening for underlying silent heart disease in all healthy individuals of more than 40 years of age is recommended. Those with certain risk factors such as being overweight, smoking, diabetes and hypertension or having symptoms of cardiac illness require screening even earlier, which might be from the age of 30 years. The screening for heart disease should be repeated every 2-5 years, and those with risk factors such as smoking, diabetes, obesity, or having symptoms of heart pain should be screened from the age of 30 years,” Prof Vijayvergiya added.
