Bhubaneswar: The outbreak of COVID-19 has made the lives of other non-COVID-19 patients, particularly those who are suffering from heart-related diseases, all the more vulnerable.
According to health experts, the number of heart patients in the state has increased by 10 to 20 per cent since the outbreak of the pandemic.
If more heart patients are dying it is only because of them being negligent to their treatment and delayed diagnosis. Had they received in time treatment, their lives could have been saved, they maintained.
According to senior consultants, Care Hospital, Dr Mahendra Prasad Tripathy and Dr Giridhar Jena, the heart patients should not ignore their health issues and delay their treatment due to COVID-19.
“Instead of being negligent, they should be more careful, mentally as well as physically. If they somehow get infected, they should follow protocols. Heart patients can keep themselves healthy if they do yoga, exercises, follow a healthy diet, take adequate sleep, have medicine regularly, wear masks, use sanitiser, maintain social distancing and last but not the least have a positive attitude,” observed Dr Tripathy.
Similarly, Dr Jena, who is an interventional cardiologist, said, about half of the patients suffering from heart-related diseases are not able to get proper medical attention or reluctant to go to hospitals. This is the reason why the hospitals are receiving comparatively less numbers of patients, resulting in such patients succumbing at their houses.
“The cause of great concern is that the patients despite having chronic heart ailments are delaying their visits to hospitals. This way, they have caused more damage to their health conditions. So patients suffering from heart-related diseases should never delay in availing medical attention,” Dr. Jena said.
PNN