CHENNAI: Diseases affecting the heart are so deceptive that the sufferer may not know of the attack before it is too late. Lack of awareness and unwillingness to spend a few thousands on a health check up could prove dangerous considering that by the year 2012 India will be the capital of heart diseases. It is estimated that by 2015, as much as 60 per cent of young Indians will suffer from it.

"The disease threatens the survival of the economy," but there is little awareness, says Prathap C. Reddy, chairman of Apollo Hospitals. Though the first symptom of an attack is chest pain in diabetics the pain is absent because nerve ends have become numb. Patients with 600 blood sugar may suffer chest pain and there may be those with 180 blood sugar who succumb to painless attacks.

Heart check up

At Apollo Hospitals in Hyderabad, Delhi and Chennai, 1,150 people have undergone a heart check up using the state of art non-invasive 64 slice CT scan, which gives a four-dimensional report of the heart and the status of blood vessels. "Normal vessels appear normal," assures Dr. Reddy. The test takes only 10 seconds and the results may be available in less than two hours. Sometimes it may save lives, says radiologist Rachita Venkataramanan.

Eighty per cent of the 600 people who came for routine scan at Chennai branch of the hospital never thought they had a heart problem. The hospital has planned a campaign.

Major campaign

"We are planning a major campaign to save families. You would spend on expensive silk saris and jewellery but not on your body, which is priced at three trillion dollars? One time spending on a health check up is better than spending on stents costing Rs. 5 lakhs," says Dr. Reddy.

The scan costs Rs. 9,500 and a comprehensive check including a test for disorders such as diabetes will cost Rs. 12,500. The hospital proposes to embark on an awareness, screening, angiography and lifestyle change to reverse heart disease programme.

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