The striking images of the plight of cancer patients on various media including television, movies and press have created a significant awareness about the link between smoking and cancer in India. But most Indians are still not aware that smoking also increases the risk of heart failure by 2 to 4 times.
With approximately 120 million smokers in India, raising awareness about its link to heart failure is the need of the hour!
Smoking leads to other comorbidities and fat deposition in blood vessels often resulting in heart failure. This life-threatening nature of heart failure makes it vital to start treatment early, follow medicine schedules and consult a cardiologist regularly to check the progress. Holistic management of heart failure with smoking cessation along and simple lifestyle modifications such as weight control, low salt & healthy diet, regular eating habits and exercise can help people live a longer and healthier life.
“Prevent heart failure – This is easier said than done. But there are a few obvious risk factors of heart failure that everyone needs to know. Smoking is one of them. Smoking puts an extra strain on your heart that can lead to permanent damage. Over time, the strain and damage to your heart muscle can result in heart failure. Continuing to smoke will worsen the damage and therefore, smoking cessation is important for healthy heart. Over the years, I have also observed that majority of my patients who quit smoking achieved better control over their blood pressure & pulse rate; reduced their cholesterol levels and cardiovascular risks.” says Dr. Prasant Kumar Sahoo, Director Interventional Cardiology, Apollo Hospital, Bhubaneshwar.
Concerned about the changing lifestyle in India, famous Cardiologist Dr. Satyanarayan Routray, Professor and Head Department of Cardiology, S C B Medical College, Odisha says, “High blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, obesity, low activity levels, high-stress jobs, and indiscipline in the diet increase the risk for developing heart problems. Almost every patient walking into my clinic has more than 2 of these risk factors. In addition to it, 2 out of 10 patients are smokers and are at an increased risk of heart failure. However, heart failure can be managed & there are a number of options to treat heart failure as per its severity status. My patients who adhere to treatment schedules, adopt a healthy lifestyle and most importantly quitting smoking have shown remarkable improvement in their heart condition.”