Dr. Naresh Trehan’s column – Heart disease is a silent time-bomb, early alertness is necessary | डॉ. नरेश त्रेहान का कॉलम: हृदय रोग साइलेंट टाइम-बम, समय से पहले सजगता जरूरी

Dr. Naresh Trehan CMD, Medanta Hospitals

Cardiovascular disease or CVD is the biggest health challenge today. Preventive medicine is emerging as the most important tool in the fight against this epidemic. This ranges from health programs to early disease detection and AI-powered personalized and prediction-based medicine.

CVD is a silent time bomb that often goes unnoticed until it’s too late. Imagine you are celebrating your 53rd birthday, completely healthy and in your prime, and suddenly you have a heart attack. This is 10 years ahead of the global average. But this scenario is all too common in India today, where CVD is responsible for 28% of deaths.

The tragedy lies not just in the loss of a life, but also in its effects, as families are torn apart, livelihoods are lost, and countless dreams are shattered as this disease kills people at their most productive ages. The economic damage it causes is staggering – an estimated $2.7 trillion from 2012 to 2030.

Whereas 80% of deaths due to CVD can be avoided. At the root of India’s heart disease crisis is a complex mix of genetics, lifestyle and environmental factors. Indians have a genetic predisposition that makes them more susceptible to coronary artery disease than other ethnic groups.

There is excess of carbohydrates in our diet, which increases this risk. Rapid urbanization has further changed our cardiovascular landscape. Inactive lifestyle affects more than 54% of Indians.

Work-related stress is a common feature of the increasingly urban life. Then 22 of the world’s 30 most polluted cities are in India, which adds another layer of risk. Addressing these multiple risks through targeted prevention strategies is critical to slowing CVD-related mortality in India.

It is important to take advantage of technology for heart health management. At its center is predictive precision medicine. It combines genetic information, lifestyle factors, environmental data and advanced analytics to predict a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease.

Trying the same solution on all people will no longer work. By applying AI-powered prediction models, healthcare-providers can create personalized risk-profiles with 80% to 90% accuracy. These analyze data including genetic markers, blood pressure trends, cholesterol levels and lifestyle habits to identify high-risk individuals before symptoms appear.

A better solution for heart health can be achieved by harnessing India’s vast network of 1.15 billion mobile users – including 68 crore smartphone users. Like government initiatives like Aarogya Setu, creating a mobile app for CVD risk assessment could enable people to assess their heart disease risk. These digital-tools can provide personalized insights and with their help the doctor can provide consultation or suggest lifestyle changes as needed.

Empowering local communities is also important in this perspective. Strengthening the network of ASHA-workers and NGOs for heart-health awareness can help reach the urban destitute population as well as people living in tier-2 and tier-3 cities and villages.

Conducting large-scale NCD screening programs in both urban and rural areas is necessary to identify at-risk individuals. Implementing targeted interventions based on community-needs can ensure that preventive measures are culturally appropriate and effective. By focusing on these preventive strategies, we can work towards protecting India’s heart health on a large scale. (These are the author’s own views)