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By:

Quaid Najmi

4 January 2025 at 3:26:24 pm

Cold wave triggers spike in cardiac arrests

Mumbai : As winter temperatures go for a spin across the country, hospitals are witnessing a significant surge of around 25-30 pc in cardiac emergencies, a top cardiologist said.   According to Interventional Cardiologist Dr. Hemant Khemani of Apex Group of Hospitals, cold air directly affects how the heart functions.   “Low temperatures make blood vessels tighten. When the arteries narrow, blood pressure shoots up and the heart has to work harder to push the blood through the stiffened...

Cold wave triggers spike in cardiac arrests

Mumbai : As winter temperatures go for a spin across the country, hospitals are witnessing a significant surge of around 25-30 pc in cardiac emergencies, a top cardiologist said.   According to Interventional Cardiologist Dr. Hemant Khemani of Apex Group of Hospitals, cold air directly affects how the heart functions.   “Low temperatures make blood vessels tighten. When the arteries narrow, blood pressure shoots up and the heart has to work harder to push the blood through the stiffened vessels,” said Dr. Khemani.   Elaborating on the direct effects of cold air on heart functioning, he said that low temperatures make blood vessels tighten, when arteries narrow, blood pressure shoots up and the heart must work harder to push blood through stiffened vessels.   Winter also thickens the blood, increasing the likelihood of clot formation and these combined effects create a dangerous ‘demand-supply mismatch’ for oxygen, especially in people with existing heart conditions.   This trend has caused concern among cardiologists as it adds to India’s already heavy cardiovascular diseases burden – with nearly one in four deaths linked to heart and blood vessel problems.   Dr. Khemani said that sudden temperature transitions - from warm rooms to chilly outdoors - can put additional strain on the heart and risks. “This abrupt shift loads the cardiovascular system quickly, raising the risk of a sudden (cardiac) event among vulnerable individuals.”   Lifestyle Patterns Added to these are the changes in lifestyle patterns during winter month that further amplify the danger. Most people reduce physical activities, eat richer foods, and often gain weight all of which combine to raise cholesterol levels, disrupt blood-sugar balance and push up blood pressure.   Complicating matters for the heart are the social gatherings during the cold season that tends to bring higher intake of smoking and alcohol, said Dr. Khemani.   Recommending basic preventive measures, Dr. Khemani said the chest, neck and hands must be kept warm to prevent heat loss, maintain a steady body temperature and reduce the chances of sudden blood pressure spikes, a low-salt diet, home-cooked meals, shot indoor walks post-eating, adequate hydration and at least seven hours of sleep.   He warns against ignoring warning signals such as chest discomfort, breathlessness, unexplained fatigue, or sudden sweating, pointing out that “early medical care can significantly limit heart damage and improve survival.”   The rise in winter heart risks is not unique to India and even global health agencies like World Health Federation and World Health Organisation report similar patterns.   The WHF estimates that more than 20 million people die of heart-related causes each year - equal to one life lost every 1.5 seconds, and the WHO has listed heart disease as the world’s leading cause of death for five consecutive years.   Seniors affected more by winter chills  Cold weather can hit the heart at any age, but the risk is noticeably higher for men aged above  45 and in women after 55, with the highest danger curve in people over 60, and elders with co-morbidities and history of heart diseases.   “People with existing cardiac problems face greater trouble in winter as the heart has to work harder. Even those without known heart disease can sometimes experience winter heart attacks, as chilly conditions may expose hidden blockages or trigger problems due to sudden exertion, heavy meals, smoking or dehydration,” Dr. Khemani told  ‘ The Perfect Voice’ .   However, contrary to perceptions, cold-weather heart issues have no connection to the COVID-19 vaccine, nor is there any scientific evidence linking the two, he assured.

Bigoted Modernity

In their quest to appear radical, politicians like Makkal Needhi Maiyam leader and MP Kamal Haasan and NCP (SP) legislator Jitendra Awhad have shown a disdain for Hinduism and Sanatan dharma that borders on fanaticism. At a time when India’s democracy is tested daily by cheap populism and religious sectarianism, the two men - one a fading film star in Tamil Nadu’s political circus, the other a foot soldier in Maharashtra’s ideological skirmishes - have chosen to indulge in what can only be called fashionable Hinduphobia.

 

Their target has long been the Sanatan Dharma itself - an ancient, evolving philosophy that has for millennia offered space for debate, introspection and pluralism. But in the eyes of Haasan and Awhad, it is a monolith of ‘tyranny’ and a convenient scapegoat for every historical wrong and contemporary grievance.

 

Haasan’s latest outburst came during an event hosted by the Agaram Foundation, where he declared that education was the only weapon that can break the chains of dictatorship and Sanatan. The casual conflation of Sanatan Dharma (which literally means ‘the eternal path’) with dictatorship, betrays a staggering ignorance of both religion and history. Sanatan is not a dogma but a civilizational ethos. To reduce it to a chain of oppression is not only absurd, but wantonly malicious.

 

It is telling that Haasan, an avowed atheist who once expressed admiration for the message of Christ, does not direct his polemics against Abrahamic faiths that admit no dissent. One wonders if he would have the courage to call the Vatican a dictatorship, or to characterise the Prophet Mohammad’s revelations as chains in need of breaking. The answer, of course, is no. Haasan knows Sanatan will not behead him for his insolence. It will merely ignore him, as it has countless charlatans before.

 

But what makes Haasan’s remarks particularly loathsome is the dishonesty behind them. In Tamil Nadu’s Dravidian polity, bashing Brahmins and bashing Hinduism are rites of passage. That Haasan has indulged in both is hardly surprising. What is galling is his pretence that it is done in the name of ‘progress.’ There is nothing progressive about caricaturing a complex tradition with 5,000 years of intellectual and spiritual ferment as a dictatorship.

 

Jitendra Awhad is a lesser figure but no less toxic. His recent declaration after the court’s acquittal of the accused in the 2008 Malegaon blast that Sanatan Dharma had ruined India is a gross insult. His claims that it denied Shivaji a coronation, defamed Sambhaji, or conspired to assassinate Phule are historical fictions of the worst kind.

 

Haasan and Awhad ought to realize that the Hinduism they rail against so insouciantly will never retaliate against them. That is both the strength and tragedy of Sanatan Dharma that it tolerates such detractors even when they cross the line from criticism to calumny.

 

Yet tolerance must not be confused with timidity. It is time Hindu society, in all its diversity, called out such venom for what it is.

 

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