'Don't miss a beat' this Heart Awareness Month

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Cardiovascular disease remains the leading cause of death and disability globally. September is observed as Heart Awareness Month, and most cardiovascular diseases can be prevented by addressing modifiable risk factors such as tobacco use, unhealthy diet, physical inactivity, and air pollution.

PHOTO: Bush Radio intern gets a health screening [blood pressure, glucose, BMI]


Speaking on Bush Radio on Thursday, Heart & Stroke Foundation’s Health Promotion and Risk Assessment officer, Sister Zandile Tele, says early detection enables timely management with counselling for further prevention and treatment regimens

‘’Our numbers in South Africa are getting higher and higher for people aged 35 to 44, who are getting stroke. The Heart & Stroke Foundation has, for the entire year, run campaigns to create awareness to teach people about cardiovascular diseases because we need to feel that if people are educated they will be able to prevent the untimely deaths.’’

‘’Even though it was mostly an misconception that mostly adult people were more at risk for strokes as in your elderly people from 55 and above, we are seeing from the age of 35 to 44, more people are getting strokes especially our young women, and the numbers have been up from 15 to 20 percent, than it is regular and low and middle-income countries are suffering the effects more than our first world countries,’’ added Sr. Tele.

For September, the foundation is focussing on various themes relating to CVD. Sr. Tele reflected on week 3 – the role of Multidisciplinary team before and after surgery.

‘’We want people to know what happens during the pre-surgery assessments, post-op rehab, all the way and who gets involved, because this team creates a coordinated approach in order to improve outcomes, lower rate admissions and to boost the quality of life of people who get through these procedures. It is all about a holistic patient-centred strategy and we want to make sure people know what they are to expect when they go for these surgeries - So you would have your cardiologist who is the one who diagnoses and manages heart conditions. You've got your cardiothoracic surgeons who are responsible for heart lung and any chest surgeries and then you've got your anesthesiologist who are the ones who manage anesthesia during each and every surgery that happens and then we have the nurses who are entirely responsible for a patient 24-7 to give direct patient care and education. Then we've got the allied health workers which is your physios, your occupational therapist, dieticians and also your psychologist who are also involved in order to make sure our patient leaves the hospital able to take care of themselves post-surgery.’’

Sr. Tele says when a person has a surgery, manual nutrition affects their rate of recovery. About 70% of hospitalized cardiac patients suffer from manual nutrition and it is linked to delayed recovery in higher mortality.

‘’Dieticians are there to optimize nutritional status before and after surgery and they create a cardio protective diet which is low insult, low insugar, low insaturated and rich in foods, vegetables and omega-3 fatty acids and then we make sure that this patient gets at least 30% total energy and then they eat a diet that is low at least having 10% saturated fat. Dieticians are the ones who are able to make sure that our patients get adequate protein which is critical for lung function and immunity and also this is more special for thoracic patients. Nutrition screening it must happen and then we must adopt a Mediterranean style diet and prove to support better recovery and lower any complications that might happen after the surgery.’’

‘’We have adopted the Westernised diets and remember the West Side was the one that was leading in obesity numbers but now, the World Health Organization in 2022 reported that 1.8 billion in the world of people were obese and not meeting their physical activity and South Africa's obesity numbers are going higher and higher and it is the leading cause of heart diseases,’’ she added.

Sr. Tele explained the importance of early cardiac rehabilitation.

‘’It helps the patient to recover faster, regain their strengths and reduce complications and readmissions. Now what we want to prevent is to make sure when our patient reaches home they do not complicate and be re-admitted. It also improves their long-term health by encouraging lifestyle change and also it supports the mental wellbeing especially for patient experiencing anxiety or depression. Cardiac is also linked to issues of transplants, so some people might take some time to deal with the fact that I've got someone's heart beating inside me that's where the mental state has comes in. We need to make sure that our people are psychologically prepared to deal with the effects of post-transplant. So the multidisciplinary team ensures that patients receive physical, emotional and lifestyle support during recovery to improve their quality of life and their prospects of going forward without needing surgery again.’’

For more information on heart-related matters, visit Heart & Stroke Foundation.

 

Done By: Mitchum George

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