(From left) Cardiologists Dr KK Barun, Dr SS Chatterjee, Dr BN Jha and Dr SN Mishra at Cardicon 2012 in Patna on Sunday. Picture by Jai Prakash

Patna, Feb. 5: India is on the brink of becoming the heart disease capital of the world and a traditional lifestyle is the best remedy for the quandary, said senior cardiologists in the state capital.

The senior medics had come to the city to attend Cardicon 2012 — a two-day national-level conference that concluded today. Most of them claimed that preventive cardiology is the best way forward and a scientific, logical and practical solution should be found to deal with heart diseases.

Dr K.K. Barun, deputy director, Indira Gandhi Institute of Cardiac Care, Patna, and organising secretary of the conference, said: “There has been an extraordinary increase in the number of heart disease cases in the country and the state because of major lifestyle changes.”

He added: “India will soon become the heart disease capital of the world. It is estimated that in the next two years, our country will have 60 per cent of heart patients of the world. The number of young heart patients is also growing rapidly.

“According to a recent study, there will be an 137 per cent increase in the number of men suffering heart diseases in developing countries by 2020. For women, the increase will be 120 per cent. Unfortunately, most of the patients will be between the age of 15 and 69. Women constitute 53.1 per cent of heart disease-related deaths across the world. The mortality rate among Indian women is higher than other countries.”

“Almost 80 per cent premature deaths can be prevented with a balanced diet, regular physical activity, avoiding tobacco and taking steps to reduce stress at work,” said Dr Barun.

Dr Savitri Srivastava, paediatric cardiologist at Escorts Hospital, New Delhi, told The Telegraph that Bihar still lacks proper infrastructure and trained personnel in private and government hospitals to carry out advanced heart surgeries, even as the number of patients keeps rising continuously.

“The situation is particularly disheartening in paediatric cases. One out of every 100 babies suffers from serious heart-related birth defects,” she said.

Dr Krishna Iyer from the same hospital said heart experts should pay more attention on preventive cardiology whose primary focus is to evaluate risk and provide the patients with the most effective measures to slow or stop the progression of atherosclerosis or the hardening of arteries.

Specialists, at the meet organised by the Bihar chapter of Cardiological Society of India, also spoke on how heart failure can be prevented by implanting modern instruments like combo device and left ventricular assist device.