Covid-19 has created general health concerns in India and around the world. The virus has imparted fear in patients who need to visit the hospital for regular checkups.
It’s not simply the emergency cases that are a worry. Individuals in general effectively tend to disregard their symptoms, regardless of whether out of fear, absence of understanding or due to the fact that they are willfully ignorant. In excess of 30% of individuals learn they have coronary artery disease when they have their first heart attack and die abruptly.
But, as the nation advances toward a careful reopening and more medical procedures are planned, it’s the ideal opportunity for patients to continue treatment for heart diseases and schedule any heart procedures that may have been deferred due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
As much as many people wish it were true, heart illness doesn’t simply vanish. Overlooking side effects, staying away from the doctor, or deferring treatment can have dire outcomes.
Heart cases are classified into three categories: elective, urgent, and emergent. About half of the coronary cases are either urgent or emergent. They should be dealt with right away. The other half including coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) or valve repair/replacement patients are elective and can be scheduled. A portion of these patients are followed medically for quite a long time before they have a procedure. The elective classification has significantly affected patients who need these surgeries but have postponed it due to the fear of getting contaminated with COVID. Being selective doesn’t mean the cases don’t need intervention; their diseases still exist and they’ll eventually need an operation, just that it can be booked for a later date. However, doing so can be perilous for the patients and they may likewise develop difficulties while on the waitlist for the medical procedure.
That is the reason, specialists around the globe are encouraging patients to return to dealing with their medical issues because if not, elective things will become urgent, and urgent things will get emergent. Whenever the patient moves from urgent to emergent, the danger gets higher and the medical procedure turns out to be more difficult. If individuals delay their care, it’ll lead to terrible outcomes.
While it is justifiable, a few patients might be apprehensive about seeking treatment on account of COVID, they put themselves at far more serious danger by disregarding heart symptoms than by visiting a hospital, particularly, considering all the safety measures at the place to limit the chance of exposure.
Hospitals are taking additional measures during this pandemic time. Everything is being cleaned continually, disinfected with chemicals. Any individual who may have COVID-19 is isolated from other patients. Those patients go into the section of the hospital which is away — quite a bit away — from where the standard stuff is going on. Patients who have COVID, or suspected COVID, are not even close to where the heart surgery patients are by a long shot.
Indeed, even among patients with mild symptoms who don’t need emergency bypass procedures or stenting, long delays are not acknowledged. Cases that would profit by preventive care can become emergencies. Heart problems can occur anytime. In the event that a patient has insignificant symptoms, they can hold up seven days, fourteen days, possibly three weeks to get their medical procedure. But, waiting over three weeks is risky.
Keeping these things in mind, it’s recommended that patients with heart diseases or symptoms start their care program without further delays. Hospitals are running around the clock to make sure all the preventive measures are at place for the safety of the patients.
Dr. Balasubramani R | Cardiac Thoracic Vascular Surgeon | Sahyadri Narayana Multispeciality Hospital, Shimoga