Heart Disease

The term heart disease actually applies to a number of illnesses that affect the circulatory system, which consists of heart and blood vessels. It is intended to deal here only with the condition commonly called "Heart Attack" and the factors, which lead to such condition.

Heart attack is the popular term for sudden pain in chest with breathing difficulty arising out of certain heart conditions. Heart attacks can be suddenly fatal, but the great majority- an estimated 85 percent are not. The patient recovers under proper treatment and goes on to live many useful years.

Like all muscles and organs of the body, the heart also needs nourishment and food which it gets thorough its own arterial system. The arteries, which supply blood to the heart muscle, may lead to impairment of its function. The sudden narrowing of the artery may result in the sudden stoppage of blood supply to the heart muscle. Such attacks of narrowing of arteries are called angina. If the damage takes place it is called infarction.

Infarction can also occur because of a blood clot, big enough to interfere with blood supply, is formed in the coronary artery. This formation of blood clot is called trombosis and the clot itself is known a thrombus. The term coronary heart disease is usually applied to diseases of the heart secondary to defective or interrupted supply of blood to the heart muscles through the coronary arteries.

Besides the sudden narrowing of coronary arteries such as in anginal attacks or thrombosis the blood supply to heart muscle could also be impaired by certain long term and (chronic) conditions like arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis.

Arteriosclerosis is a condition when certain arteries (may be all) start losing their elasticity and their walls, due to some unknown factors, become thickened and hardened. When this happens. Blood pressure inside the arteries tends to become high and which in its wake puts more stress and strain on heart.

Recent researches in connection with heart diseases have demonstrated a high correlation between fats in the diet, cholesterol level and atherosclerosis. Cholesterol is fat like substance found in animal fats, oils and some tissues of the human body.

Heart Attack Signs
It has been said by healthcare specialists earlier that any disturbance in the supply of blood to heart muscle leads to its functional impairment. There are also other heart attack symptoms which need to be observed on time to take required measures for heart attack prevention.

It will be useful to discuss for healthcare that symptoms of heart attacks, which may lead to disturbances in the supply of blood to heart muscles. Certain conditions increase the strains on the heart. Among these are lack of rest, over exertion or prolonged hard labor which create an excessive body demand for oxygen that the heart, muscle must supply through pumping more blood. If the blood vessels are inelastic on account of arteriosclerosis fibrous thickening or narrowing of passage (atherosclerosis) additional work on the part of the heart will be needed to push blood through these vessels. Other indirect factors that may result in causing disturbance in blood supply are indigestion of food, anger and other emotional excitements.

There are some early heart attack symptoms, which may be important to watch for. Their appearance calls for a visit to the doctor for a check up. The heart attack symptoms are:

• Dizzy spell or fainting fits
• Discomfort following meals, especially if long continued.
• Shortness of breath, after slight exertion.
• Fatigue with out otherwise explained origin.
• Pain or tightness in the chest a common sign of coronary insufficiency is usually constrictive in nature and is located behind the chest bone with radiation into the arms or a sense of numbness or a severe pain in the center of the chest
• Palpitation

These symptoms of heart attack should be observed minuetly and should be taken care of as and when required.

Cancer Treatment in India Attracting Patients from Overseas

Medical advancement in cancer treatment in India has developed to such an extent that it has attracted over a million patients in past few years. The success rates of high end cancer surgeries in select Indian hospitals are far better than the success rates of the same surgeries in other parts of the globe.

Most cancer surgeons in Indian hospitals are certified and have more than a decade of experience. Also the medical staff is well trained professionally. The doctors and cancer surgeons in India at these hospitals are adept in dealing with most complicated cases. The advanced and cutting edge medical facilities available at Cervical cancer surgery hospitals in India makes them a reliable global destination for patients who are seeking a suitable and less cost option for recovery from Cervical cancer.

Head and neck reconstruction after cancer surgery. Breast and nipple reconstruction after cancer surgery. Skull base cancer surgery and reconstruction.

Indian wins US cash grant for cancer treatment device

Cytotron, a therapeutic device to treat cancer , has been awarded a cash grant of a quarter million dollars by the US government.

The device known as Cytotron, developed by Indian scientist Dr Rajah Vijay Kumar, received the funding under the US Government’s Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project, which targets activities to treat cancer and improve drug targeting and delivery.

The device helps a protein called p53 to kill the potential cancer-causing cells at the right time and no side effects has been found in conventional treatments for cancer.

“Cancer is like a terrorist. Earlier , they were normal cells, which go haywire. All cells are programmed to die after some period . And when this doesn’t happen , we call it Cancer,” Dr Rajah Vijay Kumar, chief scientific officer at Scalene Cybernetics, an Indian Technology company, said.

Mr Kumar said that Cytotron can not only treat cancer, but also has the potential to treat diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. “Currently, there is no stand alone, whole body, multi-organ suitable therapeutic device in the market,” he said.

The device is also registered with ClinicalTrials.gov for a clinical trial of multiple Sclerosis. The clinical trials for Cancer and Osteoarthritis have been successfully completed at the Centre for Advanced Research and Development (CARD), the research and development wing of Scalene Cybernetics.

“The commercialisation potential of this technology which I have got patented runs into millions of dollars in markets such as the Europe and America,” said Mr Kumar, who started to work on Cytotron in 1987, but had to slow down due to lack of resources.