The first 12 hours of a heart attack is most crucial: Senior Cardiologist

EOI, Kolkata, 4 Dec 2017: The first twelve hours after a person is struck by a heart attack is most crucial for recovery said Dr Debashish Ghosh, Senior Consultant, Cardiology Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals. Most people go by the myth that sudden chest pain occurs mostly due to gas attacks and do self medication by consuming antacids or at most a pain killer but hardly visit a doctor, he said. Visiting a doctor and opting for a ECG is a must and does not cost much but a life could be saved, he added.

Statistics show that 1 in 10 heart attack patients do not even get to reach to the hospital. In a heart attack there are two major ways the artery can be opened up urgently and the best way is an emergency angioplasty. This a golden standard which is being practiced in all over the world today,  however requires a lot of logistics like a bigger centre with a cath labs, expert cardiologists to be there 24 hours, 7 days which institutions  like Apollo and bigger tertiary care hospitals have. For a majority of people living in out-skirts of the city this kind of care is not available immediately so the way forward would be to give what is called a pharmacological treatment.

Indians are seen to have heart attacks almost a decade earlier than the people living in the West. This means people in their productive best that is in their forties and the fifties suffer from heart attacks, Dr Ghosh opined.

“If treatment doesn’t begin during the golden hour the damage is permanent. Hence, Pharmaco Invasive Therapy, which establishes blood flow temporarily is essential as an immediate support. Patient can then be brought in to bigger tertiary care centres for further treatment. Thus Pharmaco Invasive Therapy can be helpful and is being developed in India and in third world countries and treat the problem urgently in a smaller set-up even in rural areas.”EOI, Kolkata, 4 Dec 2017: The first twelve hours after a person is struck by a heart attack is most crucial for recovery said Dr Debashish Ghosh, Senior Consultant, Cardiology Apollo Gleneagles Hospitals. Most people go by the myth that sudden chest pain occurs mostly due to gas attacks and do self medication by consuming antacids or at most a pain killer but hardly visit a doctor, he said. Visiting a doctor and opting for a ECG is a must and does not cost much but a life could be saved, he added.

Statistics show that 1 in 10 heart attack patients do not even get to reach to the hospital. In a heart attack there are two major ways the artery can be opened up urgently and the best way is an emergency angioplasty. This a golden standard which is being practiced in all over the world today,  however requires a lot of logistics like a bigger centre with a cath labs, expert cardiologists to be there 24 hours, 7 days which institutions  like Apollo and bigger tertiary care hospitals have. For a majority of people living in out-skirts of the city this kind of care is not available immediately so the way forward would be to give what is called a pharmacological treatment.

Indians are seen to have heart attacks almost a decade earlier than the people living in the West. This means people in their productive best that is in their forties and the fifties suffer from heart attacks, Dr Ghosh opined.

“If treatment doesn’t begin during the golden hour the damage is permanent. Hence, Pharmaco Invasive Therapy, which establishes blood flow temporarily is essential as an immediate support. Patient can then be brought in to bigger tertiary care centres for further treatment. Thus Pharmaco Invasive Therapy can be helpful and is being developed in India and in third world countries and treat the problem urgently in a smaller set-up even in rural areas.”