PHA News:

Guest author:

By GYNNA GAGELONIA, Media Relations Officer, Philippine Heart Association

Short link: https://wp.me/paaccn-ecc

Getting sick is the last thing that you need nowadays. The hospital cost can trigger a heart attack.

Bawal magkasakit. Mahal! Lalo ako maha-heart attack.
At ang mga ospital puno. Sasabay ka pa sa may Covid di ka priority!
Ayaw ko sa ospital baka ako ma-Covid.
May sakit sa puso, high blood, diabetic! Gustong-gusto yan ng corona virus.
Ayaw ko ng major, major health issues – CVD at Covid combo OMG!

(Heart, hypertensive and diabetics. They are the patients that the pandemic preys on.
All the hospitals are full. I refused to be admitted because I might end up catching Covid.
The CVD and Covid combo is a double whammy. OMG)

You've heard these familiar lines again and again.

Justifiably enough because Covid-19 has been pounding hard on the country's economy, health system on and Juan dela Cruz' pocket.

Maintenance medicines, invasive and interventional procedures, doctors' fees and hospital bills can deplete the family's resources.

But actually, long before Covid came, cardiovascular disease (CVD) has been a worldwide burden.

Since the 1980s, pillars of the Philippine Heart Association (PHA) have embarked on the relentless campaign to curb CVD, harping on the advantages of preventive cardiology and co-managing your cardiac issues with a heart health expert. They saw the CVD upsurge coming. Poor lifestyle and bad health genes contribute to the progression of heart disease, high blood pressure and stroke which are all classified as CVDs and lifestyle diseases.

The Nov. 10, 2021 edition of the PHA "Usapang Puso sa Puso" (UPP) tackled Covid-19's impact on the CVD healthcare delivery system; and aptly titled: "Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) and Covid: A Toxic Mix and ensuring efficient emergency hospital preparedness and CVD care amid the pandemic.

This UPP edition was moderated by Dr. Luigi Pierre Segundo, co-chair, PHA Communications Committee, head, Electrophysiology, The Medical City. He is also a professor at the Ateneo School of Medicine.

The guests – Dr. Eric Oliver Sison and Dr. John Daniel Ramos, both PHA members from the National Capital Region (NCR) and Northwestern Mindanao chapters, ably represented government and private hospitals that are equipped with Catheterization Labs (Cathlab).

Sison, head of the University of the Philippines-Philippine General Hospital (UP-PGH) Cardiac Catheterization Laboratory, is the current secretary of the Philippine Society of Cardiac Catherization and Interventions and chairs its STEMI Committee.

Interventional procedures like angiogram (X-ray of an artery using iodine to check the extent of the blockage) and angioplasty (unblocking a clogged vessel or artery with a balloon catheter) are performed in the Cathlab.

Ramos is a consultant at the Mercy Community Hospital and Iligan City Covid-19 Quarantine Treatment Facility. He also sees patients at the Cagayan de Oro Polymedic Medical Plaza in Cagayan de Oro City which is 91 kms. away from Iligan.

The doctors allayed most people's fears about hospital's not being ready to treat and admit emergency CVD patients because they are either full or a breeding ground for the corona virus.

CVD remans the number one killer in the world. Three times bigger than Covid.
"Time is of the essence. Kung emergency at kinakailangan mag-attend sa pasyente, kahit hindi pa identified kung Covid or non-Covid may ibang paraan pa para hindi ma-delay ang treatment," Segundo said.

COMPETENT EMERGENCY CARDIOVASCULAR CARE

Most hospitals have enough full beds. The country has a total of 48 hospitals that are equipped with a Cath lab and other cardiac facilities. "We have 48 Cathlabs (in the country) and we're continuing to update, Sison said.

COVID CASES ARE DOWN

The number of doctors, nurses and hospital staff infected with the corona virus has dramatically dwindled and those who got it were mild cases and most were asymptomatic because they had been vaccinated. Even the number of admitted patients has significantly gone down.

Systems have been in place. Triaging in hospitals, having separate emergency rooms and wings for Non-Covid and Covid cases are still practiced to this day. Hospital staff are in full protective gear.

""Marami na tayong natutunan para protektahan ang mga staff and ang patients natin. medyo malaki na rin ang pagbabago. In-increase din natin ang ating healthcare capacity. Lahat ng ospital, PGH man or mga private hospitals. Nagdagdag tayo ng tao, ng protocols para pwede pa din natin maalagaan ang mga patients natin na non-Covid na may mga emergency situations, such as heart attack and stroke," said Sison. Aside from PGH, he also holds clinic at the Manila Doctors Hospital and Perpetual Help Medical Center.

According to Ramos,"100 percent of Iligan Citiy Health Workers are safe and vaccinated."

Heart attack comes like a thief in the night.
Sison said that "one of the most common and serious cases of heart disease is heart attack. A myocardial infarction heart attack can be classified as an acute MI (AMI) or an ST-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) type. AMI is the death of a myocardial tissue when some parts of your body don't get sufficient blood. While STEMI is a total or nearly total blockage of a coronary artery.

The heart doctors stressed that CVD, specially a damaged heart muscle or blocked heart arteries increases your risk of severe Covid-19. With this condition, the body is weak to survive the stress of the illness.

An ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. You don't catch the heart menace overnight.

Segundo said "it pays to know your numbers. Go for regular check-ups. If you are due for an elective procedure, don't keep on rescheduling it. Have it done now that it is much safer to go to the hospital before it's too late."

52100 IS GOOD THE FOR THE YOUNG AND OLD

"It can take years before you suffer the consequences. But I have one patient who has high cholesterol levels at 21 years old. That is why the PHA 52100 (5 servings of vegetables/fruits; not more than 2 hours of video time/not more than 2 gms of added salt; 1 hour of physical activity; 0 sugared drinks and 0 smoking) formula should be a daily habit to prevent the risk factors of CVD," said Ramos.

There is more good news.

BIGGER PHILHEALTH SUBSIDY FOR STEMI PATIENTS

"The expanded Philhealth STEMI package, particularly the cost of coverage, is being fine-tuned by a team of interventionalists from different hospitals with Catheterization labs around the country. Hopefully, it will be pilot tested next year., " according to Sison.

A Cathlab is where a heart attack patient is being brought to undergo emergency angiogram and angioplasty to prevent another heart attack.

With GPS-based STEMI-APP for heart patients, you can let the GPS do the walking.

Using the free STEMICONSULT APP, heart attack patients can be directed to a hospital with a Cathlab nearest them wherever they are in the country because of its GPS-based functionality.

"In case of a heart attack, early recognition and prompt and effective treatment can mean the difference between life and death. The STEMI Consult app is a free application for Android and iOS that people can use to learn to recognize if they or their loved ones are having a heart attack," according to Sison.

It is a mobile consult application for remote referral and diagnosis of patients with suspected STEMI. There are three steps to using the STEMIConsult app: registration, referral and diagnosis. You can watch PHA STEMIConsult App video on Youtube. (✓)