STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: In view of the increased prevalence of diabetes and India becoming the diabetes capital of world and its association with cardiovascular ailments Head Department of Cardiology GMCH Jammu, Dr Sushil Sharma held a day long cardiac awareness Cum health Check up camp at Shri Ram Mandir, Nanak Nagar Jammu with main concern to educate the masses about preventive measures for diabetes and how it affects the heart and blood vessels thereby increasing the morbidity and mortality.
While interacting with the people, Dr Sushil stated that the incidence of diabetes mellitus (DM) continues to rise and has quickly become one of the most prevalent and costly chronic diseases worldwide.
A close link exists between DM and cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is the most prevalent cause of morbidity and mortality in diabetic patients. Cardiovascular (CV) risk factors such as obesity, hypertension and dyslipidemia are common in patients with DM, placing them at increased risk for cardiac events.
In addition, many studies have found biological mechanisms associated with DM that independently increases the risk of CVD in diabetic patients.
Therefore, targeting CV risk factors in patients with DM is critical to minimize the long-term CV complications of the disease.
This increased risk of CVD mortality in diabetic patients is found in both men and women. The relative risk for CVD morbidity and mortality in adults with diabetes ranges from 1 to 3 in men and from 2 to 5 in women compared to those without DM.
He elaborated that both type 1 diabetes and type 2 diabetes are independent risk factors for cardiac ailments. Moreover, myocardial ischemia due to coronary atherosclerosis commonly occurs without symptoms in patients with diabetes.
As a result, multi vessel atherosclerosis often is present before ischemic symptoms occur and before treatment is instituted. A delayed recognition of various forms of CHD undoubtedly worsens the prognosis for survival for many diabetic patients.
One reason for the poor prognosis in patients with both diabetes and ischemic heart disease seems to be an enhanced myocardial dysfunction leading to accelerated heart failure (diabetic cardiomyopathy).
Thus, patients with diabetes are unusually prone to congestive heart failure. Several factors probably underlie diabetic cardiomyopathy: severe coronary atherosclerosis, prolonged hypertension, chronic hyperglycemia, microvascular disease, glycosylation of myocardial proteins, and autonomic neuropathy.
Improved glycemic control, better control of hypertension, and prevention of atherosclerosis with cholesterol-lowering therapy may prevent or mitigate diabetic cardiomyopathy.
He added that proper control and treatment of DM is critical as both the prevalence and economic burden of the disease continue to mount.
As CVD is the most prevalent cause of mortality and morbidity in patients with DM, a primary goal of diabetes treatment should be to improve the cardiovascular (CV) risk of diabetic patients.
As the prevalence of DM continues to rise, associated CVD – through both traditional CV risk factors and the direct effects of DM on CVD – can also be expected to rise. Accordingly, proper control and treatment of DM, along with aggressive treatment of associated CV risk factors is central to curbing the growing prevalence and progression of DM and CVD, he said.
Management Committee of the Shri Ram Mandir Surjeet Singh Choudhary (President), Guljari Lal, Sham Sunder, Ram Pal Sabharwal, Mohan Lal, Chajju Ram, Ashok Sharma and Diwan Chand appreciated the efforts of Dr Sushil and his team for conducting cardiac awareness cum health check up camp in their locality .
Others who were part of this Camp includes Dr Nasir Ali Choudhary and Dr Dhaneshwer Kapoor. Paramedics and volunteers includes Kamal Sharma, Raghav Rajput , Faizan Amin Akshay Singh, Rajinder Singh, Ranjeet Singh , Aman Gupta , Nirvair Singh Bali, Gourav Sharma, Arjun Ghuman, Mukesh Kumar, Jatin Bhasin, Vikas Kumar, Faisal Rashid, Rohit Nayyar and Paramveer Singh.
