On the 4th of September we, the students of Aryaan Study Circle enjoyed a brief tour of the heart and were stunned to know the many complications a heart could possibly encounter and be affected by, thus endangering our lives. And we privileged enough to enter the domain of Heart pathology guided by Dr. Guruprasad Naik who is an exceptional Cardiologist with supreme knowledge and experience.
As we embarked upon this brief journey, we were delighted to learn that the human heart is a very interesting and a unique organ- right from beating tirelessly day and night, beating rhythmically powered by the electrical impulses, originating from the heart itself. Then, Doctor told us that the cardiac diseases are present in a wide array – from artery blocks related diseases to those concerning the conduction system of the heart. Doctor mainly focused on the heart attack that has claimed innumerable lives and that continues to wreak a havoc in the world today. The main cause of the heart attack he said was the constriction of coronary artery resulting in reduced blood flow to the heart causing heart muscle to run out of oxygen and get irritated. The irritation of the heart muscle may or may not cause angina which is typically a chest pain that is characterized by a squeezing sensation typically on the left side of the chest. Other symptoms could be palpitations arrythmia etc. but patients do even show some atypical symptoms. An angina was like a warning sign giving us a chance at averting our own death, Doctor said. Then, Doctor conveyed the various risk factors that affected the probability of a heart attack in an individual. He categorized the risk factors into 2 types the reversible ones and the irreversible ones, the former he said, comprised the unhealthy lifestyle related habits such as smoking drinking a sedentary lifestyle coupled with a bad diet and also comorbidities like diabetes and hypertension increased the risk; the latter on the other hand has genetic factors, increasing age, being a man and menopause in women increasing the risk of a heart attack. The effects of reversible risk-factors are the ones that can be undone and the quitting such unhealthy activities can reduce our risks of being affected by the horrors of the heart diseases; the latter are irreversible and we can only maintain our health and expect a good health, Doctor said.
In the latter half of the session, Dr. Guruprasad Naik discussed the diagnostic tools and effective treatment options for the cardiac diseases. An echocardiogram, an MRI, exercise stress test and many others. Treatment of the heart attack includes angioplasty, stenting, bypass surgery and the meds like aspirin and nitroglycerine tablet for the angina, Doctor said. With this we to came an end of the presentation. And we then we heard him answer all our questions efficiently and effectively leaving no doubts in our minds.
In conclusion to session, I had the honor and privilege to propose the Vote of Thanks to Dr. Guruprasad Naik.
The privilege that we Aryaanites get of meeting such dynamically exceptional personalities thus, keeping us motivated throughout is entirely credited to our very own and father-like director Sir VPD and we are obliged to all his efforts in pushing beyond our limits and helping us become better everyday.
Nandini S. Rangnekar
11th REG.