Experts Worry over Increased Heart Failure Cases, Brainstorm Interventions
Ayodeji Ake
Medical experts composed of international and Nigerian professors who conveyed in Lagos State recently expressed concern over increased cases of heart failure in Africa and urged Nigerians to be conscious about cholesterol-concentrated foods and lifestyle.
Speaking at the International Symposium Cardiology Chapter 1, by Hetero Labs Nigeria Limited, with the theme; Revolutionising Heart Failure Care in Africa, Unveiling the Gold Standard ARNI Therapy, Prof Aman Mbakwem, Consultant Cardiologist to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), who spoke on therapeutic option, said heart failure is the consequence of what people consume and what the body produces.
“We are looking at controlling or reducing the amount of fat in the blood. We don’t talk only about cholesterol, so it’s fat and the blood and it comes from two sources – what you eat and then what your body makes.
“Because a lot of people want to talk about fat, people will say fat and blood but it’s different from what you know.
“The fat that accumulates in the body is fat that clogs up the arteries. It lines up the inner part, and you know, that’s the bad fat. It is like when your kitchen sink gets clogged and you get a plumber to unclog it, you see those yellow things so, that’s how the fat eats out the arteries.
“Once it happens like that, it can grow and grow and grow and once it covers the whole artery, it means there is no blood supply beyond that point, and we’re saying we need to control that. Even then it’s not just the fat. If you have fat you have high blood pressure and you have diabetes, the risk for cardiac damage is multiplied. “
She urged that physicians should “put people in a risk profile. Are they low or high-risk? Are they at moderate risk? And determine the amount of medication and how aggressively they will be treated. Because when people are at high risk, it means that the possibility of them dying or having an event within the next 10 years is quite high.”
Speaking on treatment, Prof Robert Chilton from the University of Texas, stressed on early detection of management of chronic stable Angina and the use of ARNI (Angiotensin Receptor/Neprilysin Inhibitor) therapy.
“My presentation was looking at the use of ARNI and heart failure and the benefits it has as one of the most powerful heart failure agents that we have. There are four pillars of heart failure treatment and this is one of the major parts of those things. All of them are important, but this especially has a lot of support and actual proof.
“My recommendation to physicians when they are confronted with cases like this is, number one would be someone who has a reduced ejection fraction, a low ejection fraction that’s again having heart failure, then they would be recommended to their regimen to be sure that they’re taking an angiotensin receptor called ARNI. This improves the actual reduction in mortality for the patient.
“The second one has to do with the channel in patients that have heart failure or chronic syndromes, not so much heart failure but coronary syndromes. If they need a reduction in the heart rate, this would be a drug that can do that but it will not depress the pump,” he said.
Country Manager, Hetero Labs Nigeria Limited, Biswaksen Nayak, while introducing its new product, emphasized food and lifestyle causing heart failure.
“There is a lot of uncertainty because of food, lifestyle, everything. So we are where this will make a real impact and we are looking for that impact, we are believing, inspiring human belief in a healthier world. So definitely we want to serve a healthier Nigeria.
“This event is an international symposium where we are joining hands with the local cardiologists of Nigeria plus an internal speaker, it’s all about sharing the knowledge and asking the questions and getting to understand each other in what type of structure about how we can improve health and create a healthier world. That is the motto behind the symposium Hetero-Edge.
“We are coming with a lot of products, new launches will come which will make us penetrate the market with available drugs like now we are launching the one product like Sacuvan, Nizacard, and other branded generics. We are just launching the product and it is for heart failure and when there is angina, unstable, severe angina. We have a brand of niche drug which is taking care of both cardio,” he said.
