Wockhardt Hospitals Blog

Heart disease threatens all women, even those as young as 30 and 40. Women in their 30s and 40s are now having more Cardiac Related problems and is increasing much faster than in men their same age—rising 30 percent in the last decade. Of those who survive heart attacks, 35 percent of women will have a second heart attack compared to 18 percent of men. Women with diabetes are two-to-three times more likely to have heart attacks. Women who smoke have heart attacks nearly 20 years earlier than non-smoking women. However, a majority of women between the ages of 25 to 34 years believe that cancer is their greatest health threat.


We talked to our leading cardiologist and Heart Consultants at Wockhardt Hospitals,Heart Care Center of Excellence, and tried to figure our what does a Women need to know to prevent heart disease and more importantly how do they they protect themselves from sudden cardiac attacks

Here are some of ethe excerpts with our Doctors

Women are at risk for heart disease and heart attacks, just like men. In fact, heart disease is the leading cause of death among women over 65. American (Indian Data) women are 4 to 6 times more likely to die of heart disease than of breast cancer. Heart disease kills more women over 65 than all cancers combined. Women develop heart problems later in life than men -- typically 7 or 8 years later. However, by about age 65, a woman's risk is almost the same as a man's.

For both men and women, the biggest factors that contribute to heart disease are smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, family history and age. Take a moment to look at your lifestyle, family history and your general health. With this information, you and your family doctor can assess your risk and make a plan to avoid potential problems. Although you can't do much about your family history or your age, you can make lifestyle changes to avoid many of the other risk factors.

Don’t smoke. Smoking is a major risk factor for heart disease in women. More than half of the heart attacks in women under 50 are related to smoking. If you stop smoking, you can lower your risk of heart attack by one third within 2 years. Women who smoke and use birth control pills increase their risk even more. There are a variety of products to help you quit smoking. You may want to try using nicotine skin patches or nicotine gum: these types of medicines are available over the counter. There are also prescription medicines available that can help you stop smoking. Talk to your doctor about the best way for you to quit smoking. Breathing smoke from someone else's cigarettes is also bad for your heart and lungs. If you live with someone who smokes, encourage him or her to quit.

Control your blood pressure. Treating high blood pressure can lower your risk of heart attack and stroke. Losing weight, exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet are all ways to help control high blood pressure. Reducing how much salt you consume can also help. If these steps don't lower your blood pressure, your doctor may recommend medicine for you to take.

Control your cholesterol level. If you don't know your level, ask your doctor to check it. Diet is a key part of lowering high cholesterol levels. However, some people may need to take medicine in addition to diet and exercise.

Maintain a healthy weight. Extra weight puts strain on your heart and arteries. Exercise and a low-fat diet can help you lose weight. Being overweight means you have a higher risk for many other health problems, especially diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. If you're overweight, talk to your doctor about a safe and effective way to lose weight.

Exercise regularly. Remember, your heart is a muscle. It needs regular exercise to stay in shape. Aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, swimming, jogging or biking, gives your heart the best workout. You can also use fitness equipment like exercise bicycles, treadmills and ski machines when exercising indoors. Finding an exercise partner may make it easier and safer for you to exercise often. You should exercise at least 30 to 60 minutes, 4 to 6 times a week. Talk to your doctor before starting an exercise program.

Eat a low-fat diet. Keep fat calories to 30% or less of the total calories you eat during a day and avoid saturated fat (the fat in meats and coconut oil). Information is available to help you make healthy choices. For example, food labels list nutrition information, including fat calories, many cookbooks have heart-healthy recipes, and some restaurants serve low-fat dishes.
Take care of diabetes. If you have diabetes, regular exercise, weight control, a low-fat diet and regular doctor visits are important. If you need to take medicine for diabetes, be sure to take it exactly as your doctor tells you to.

Be aware of chest pain. Be sure to contact your doctor immediately if you suffer from pain in your chest, shoulder, neck or jaw. Also notify your doctor if you experience shortness of breath or nausea that comes on quickly. If you are having a heart attack, the faster you can get to the hospital, the less damage will happen to your heart. Every second counts.

Know your family history. Having a father or brother with heart disease before age 55, or a mother or sister with heart disease before age 65, are factors that contribute to heart disease. Inform your doctor about your family history.

Cholesterol-lowering medicines lower the risk of heart attacks in men. However, there is not enough evidence to show that these medicines work as well in women who have never had a heart attack. If you have already had a heart attack, cholesterol-lowering medicines can lower your risk of another attack.

Taking an aspirin every day may lower your risk of problems if you have coronary artery disease, a heart attack or angina. Aspirin makes your blood thinner, so it is less likely to make a blood clot. However, aspirin can cause gastrointestinal bleeding and other problems. Talk to your doctor about your risk factors for heart disease and whether you should consider taking aspirin.

Angina is chest pain caused by a sudden decrease in the blood supply to the heart. Medicines called statins, beta-blockers and ACE inhibitors may also help if you have heart problems. Ask your doctor if any of these medicines are right for you.

No. Estrogen replacement therapy, also called hormone replacement therapy, can help minimize the symptoms of menopause (such as hot flashes) and to reduce the risk of osteoporosis (weakening of the bones). It was once thought that HRT could also help protect against heart disease. New studies have shown that when it comes to heart health, HRT actually does more harm than good. If you’re taking HRT to help prevent heart disease, talk to your doctor about whether you should stop.

5. How much exercise do I need to help protect my heart?
6. Should I take aspirin to help prevent a heart attack? If so, how much and how often?
7. Am I at high risk for heart-related complications if I take birth control pills?
8. I’ve heard the warning signs of a heart attack can be different in women. What should I look for?

Heart Specialists at Wockhardt Hospitals have found an extremely advantageous surgical procedures which will offer a permanent solution during "Atrial fibrillation"-An Abnormal fast beating of the heart caused by disturbed electrical discharges.The surgery uses the technique of irrigated radio frequency modified maze procedure,which is performed to treat trial fibrillation along with an open heart surgery for valve replacement

Wockhardt Hospitals is the 1st hospital chain in India to treat Chronic Atrial Fibrillation using Maze III procedure.

Atrial fibrillation is usually accompanied by symptoms related to a rapid heart rate. Rapid and irregular heart rates may be perceived as palpitations, exercise intolerance, and occasionally produce angina .

To know more about Wockhardt Hospitals expertise in cardiac and heart care,log onto http://www.wockhardthospitals.net

Minimally Invasive procedure or Minimal Access Surgery involved doing surgery with minimum incision on the affected areas of the body.This kind of surgery which is also sometimes reffered to as 'Keyhole Surgery' is fairly a recent development.

The Wockhart Minimal Access Surgery Department is equipped with High-end technology to perform precision and targeted surgery which until recently required large incisions Minimally Invasive techniques encompasses operative procedures for the Heart, abdomen, urinary tract, reproductive system and joints. This technology not only minimizes surgical trauma, pain and blood loss but also shortens hospitalization stay and recovery time, since the trauma due to blood loss and wound is less which helps a patient to recover faster.

Wockhardt Center for Minimal Access Surgery has acquired the complete range of Endoscopic technology required to carry out Minimal Access Surgery with a complete range of high precision hand instruments.

For more information on Wockhardt Hospitals Minimally Invasive Surgery Techniques log onto http://www.wockhardthospitals.net

Nobody wanted to treat a 12 year old girl with a congenital cardiac defect of criss-crossed ventricles and arteries. Medication could only do much and a temporary fix of the valves would only buy time.However our clinical team at Wockhardt Hospitals wanted more for that girl,we wanted to give back her life.It took a whole year of tests and scans and high risk surgeries to re arrange the girls heart; but in the end we challenged the odds and emerged successful.

A 13-year-old girl from Coorg went through a series of surgeries to correct the wrong positioning of ventricles and arteries in her heart. Congenital cardiac defects of this nature, called congenitally corrected transposition of the great arteries, affects not more than one per cent of children born with heart problems. She also had situs inversus, which means all her organs are positioned on the opposite side, including the heart.

In the latest and the most complicated surgery so far, this second child of a farmer couple underwent the double switch operation after left ventricular ‘retraining’ at Wockhardt Hospitals. The pumping chambers and the great arteries, both are inter-changed. That has set right the anomalies in the circulation in her body.The left-sided organs are in the right and vice versa. Her heart is on the right side.” In such patients, the risks are doubled. The heart may start failing as it cannot cope with the body’s requirement of blood circulation with swapped ventricles. Or the heart could develop blocks as the electrical systems of the heart are abnormal. Click here to know more .

However at Wockhardt Hospitals, we dont merely save lives.. we help create and give meaning to India's new generation.

To know more more our pediatric cardiac surgery department and Cardiac Super Specialty Services visit our website at http://www.wockhardthospitals.net/

At Wockhardt Hospitals we believe that a heart ailment is not cured until the patient walks out feeling as good as new.Which is why our 360 degree heart care is a combination of state of art surgery and world class port operative facilities. From Cardio workouts to monitoring we help you to get back on your feet as soon as possible. Because we don’t just perform surgeries, we put people back in their lives.

The Wockhardt Cardiac Rehabilitation center is exclusively meant for post operative care to heart patients. We believe in exercise programs that are tailor made to suit the patients’ medical conditions. You are requested to contact doctors at wockhardt or your GP before beginning any exercise program.

Poor breathing robs energy and negatively affects mental alertness. Unless breathing is exercised, aging affects the respiratory system as follows:

Stiffness: The rib cage and surrounding muscles get stiff causing inhalation to become difficult.

Less elasticity and weak muscles leave stale air in the tissues of the lungs and prevents fresh oxygen from reaching the blood stream.

Rapid, Shallow Breathing: This type of breathing, often caused by poor posture and weak or stiff muscles, leads to poor oxygen supply, respiratory disease, sluggishness, or heart disease.

The following exercises are simple ways to deepen breathing and to cleanse the lungs. These exercises will also increase energy and decrease tension.

Lie flat on your back on a reclined bed and get a proper sense of deep breathing. (You can use pillows ) You also need to support the site of surgery with a cushion. The natural course of breathing in that position will create a slight rise in the stomach upon inhaling and a slight fall upon exhaling.)

In a life affirming incident that renews hope and faith among millions of patients requiring organ transplants, Wockhardt Hospitals,Mulund successfully performed city’s first cadaver liver transplant for the year 2009.The liver surgery was performed at Wockhardt Hospitals,Mumbai led by Dr. S K Mathur, Senior Consultant Surgeon, HPB Surgery & Liver Transplantation, Wockhardt Hospitals.

Mr. Kathuria, 62-year old man who was suffering from advanced liver cirrhosis got a new life by a liver transplant from a 57-year old brain dead patient. This is a successfully completed cadaver liver transplant which has proved once again these kind of complex and delicate, complex can be successfully conducted if the procedure is done within the ‘golden hour’.

Most commonly used Liver transplant technique is orthotopic transplantation, where the original liver is removed and the donor organ is placed in the same location as the original liver.

Liver transplantation is now used in any acute and chronic condition in irreversible liver dysfunction,provided the organ donor do not have conditions to impede liver transplant. A good donor is someone who is in good physical and mental health, older than the age of 18 and free from:

• HIV infection
• Known viral hepatitis
• Active alcoholism with frequent and heavy alcohol intake
• Psychiatric illness under treatment
• History of malignancy
• Heart and lung disease requiring medications
• Diabetes mellitus of greater than 7 years duration

Most Liver transplant are rejected by the recipient unless immunosuppressive drugs are used.Most recipients receive corticosteroids plus a calcinuerin inhibitor such as tacrolimus or Cyclosporin plus a antimetabolite such as Mycophenolate Mofetil.

However Liver transplantation is unique in that the risk of chronic rejection also decreases over time, although recipients need to take immunosuppresive medication for the rest of their lives.

To know more about Wockhardt Hospitals Medical Breakthroughs in Liver Transplant and Digestive Disease Click here

A team of 10 doctors at Wockhardt Hospitals Bangalore led by Dr. Shabeer Ahmed, Minimal Access Surgeon, Wockhardt Hospitals, successfully removed a cancerous tumor involving the abdominal aorta of a 19 year old girl, after a 7 hour long surgery. Saleema (name changed) travelled all the way from Jaipur to undergo the surgery at Wockhardt Hospitals,Bangalore to remove Primitive Neuroectodermal Tumour (PNET), a tumor that originates in cells from the Primitive Neural Crest. This cancerous tumor which involving abdominal aorta is a rare case in the medical history and there have been no reports found on such a rare tumor in the medical literature (reference – Cochrane Library –an international medical library, a collection of databases in medicine and other healthcare specialties provided by the Cochrane Collaboration and other organizations).

Most PNET’s occurs in the brain, extremities, pelvis, chest wall and mediastinum. This is the first quoted instance where a PNET was found in the abdomen involving the Bifurcation Abdominal Aorta. Surgical removal is usually a big challenge and it becomes more when it involves big vessels like the aorta – the big vessel which carries purified blood from heart to other organs.

Generally PNET is a rare tumor, usually occurring in children under 10 years old belongs to the Ewing family of tumors.The Ewing family of tumors is a group of cancers that includes Ewing tumor of bone (ETB or Ewing sarcoma of bone), extraosseous Ewing tumors (EOE tumors), primitive neuroectodermal tumors (PNET or peripheral neuroepithelioma), and Askin tumors (PNET of the chest wall). These tumors all come from the same type of stem cell.

During the surgery it was observed that the tumor had spread through the left-ureter, common aorta, bifurcation and the tumor was excised en-bloc along with the aorta.

According to Dr. Shabeer Ahmed, Minimal Access Surgeon, Wockhardt Hospitals, “Most PNET’s occurs in the brain, extremities, pelvis, chest wall and mediastinum. This is the first quoted instance where a PNET was found in the abdomen involving the Bifurcation Abdominal Aorta. Surgical removal is usually a big challenge and it becomes more when it involves big vessels like the aorta – the big vessel which carries purified blood from heart to other organs.”