Tie the knot and reduce the risk of heart diseases; singles take note

In matters of the heart, the married seem to be enjoying a higher degree of safety compared to the single or divorced.

According to studies correlating marital status to heart diseases in the UK, the married enjoyed a 14 per cent reduced risk, says Rahul Potluri, founder of Algorithm for Comorbidities, Associations, Length of Stay and Mortality (ACALM), and Cardiologist with the Aston Medical School, UK.

The study covering 25,000 people, including Indians in the UK, stretched for over 13 years. The physical and mental support that the married get seems to be one strong reason for this advantage, the study cited.

The ACALM has been focussing on big data analysis.

In several hospitals data are collected routinely. This data can be analysed and used in research studies by applying an algorithm, he told media on the sidelines of the ACVS (Advanced Cardiovascular Techniques and Solutions) India 2017 here on Saturday.

Big data analysis will throw up exciting results in India, as little work has been done now, though individual hospitals collect data, Pothuri said.

Data from the UK indicated that the Indian population there has 20 per cent greater chronic total occlusion of heart blood vessels than the locals and much younger patients are afflicted with the disease.

There is also a 30 per cent higher chance of diabetes than the Caucasian population. “We have double the rate of incidence of heart attacks in the 40-60 years age group as against the Caucasian population.

“In the West, we see 70-year-old patients coming with heart attack but in India, we are increasingly seeing 30-40 year old patients which is dangerous as it afflicts in the prime age.”

At present, Indian patients are treated on the basis of data collected abroad from Caucasiun populations.

“With data from our own populations we can administer the right therapy to the right patients,” Potluri, who is among the first in the UK to use big data in medical research, said.

The current drugs from Europe and the US may not work well on patients in India. To get the correct medicines and dietary regimen, we need to have the infrastructure to analyse the disease pattern which helps understand the problem.

The reasons for higher incidence in India is the rapid adoption to Western habits, in addition to the known predisposition of Indians to heart disease. In the near future, we will collate data from individual hospitals here and analyse it. Currently in India, ‘treat policy’ rather than prevent policy, is more prevalent unlike in the Western countries. The society, as a whole, has to address the issues of health here, through a collaborative effort.

A Sreenivas Kumar — founder Director, FACTS Foundation, and Chairman of Citizens Hospital — said diseases which hitherto did not have treatment, and diseases which needed surgery to treat, were the focus of the conference.

Heart disease can be prevented in 80 per cent of our patients, if they follow healthy lifestyles with regular exercise, healthy diet habits, by controlling BP, cholesterol, etc. Susheel K Kodali, Director, Structural Heart & Valve Center, Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC), said: “We have also deliberated about advanced devices being used in the West and not yet available in India for improving heart pumping for patients of heart failure and those with weak pumping of heart.”

The CUMC is conducting research on pregnant women having rheumatic heart disease with narrowing valve.

Reserchers will collaborate with Gandhi Medical College & Hospital, Osmania, and Citizens Hospital, Hyderabad. Identifed women will be offered free treatment, Kodali said.