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The
Battle of Ideas contributes
to longevity
THE cardiology project being
developed in Cuba with respect to cardiovascular
surgery will mean increased longevity and quality of
life for patients.
Dr. Alberto Hernández
Cañedo, founding director of the Institute of
Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery in Cuba,
explains that with the type of transformations
taking place under the Battle of Ideas, important
services are more readily available to patients. As
an example, he cites primary care, where illnesses
may be detected at an earlier stage.
It creates conditions that
allow the family doctor to diagnose cardiovascular
disease in its initial stages.
Currently, polyclinics are
administering streptoquinase, a medication that may
be used at the first symptom of a heart attack. The
sooner it is administered, the more effective the
medicine is, given that it may prevent the
occurrence of heart attacks. Early diagnosis and
treatment are two ways to reduce the number of heart
attack cases.
He mentions the role that
cardiologists have in primary care, both as advisors
and through direct intervention in diagnosis and
treatment of patients.
Matters of primary care are
included in courses for cardiologists, specialists
who attain a high scientific level in Cuba.
The experience of Dr.
Hernández Cañedo, who has more than 50 years of
active practice in medicine and as a professor at
the University of Havana, as well as other
outstanding scientists, is extremely useful in
advancing this project, which raises public health
in Cuba to an even higher level.
Together with the remodeling
of polyclinics, now equipped with modern technology,
similar projects are being carried out in hospitals
and medical science institutes. New cardiac centers
are being created at the Finlay and Calixto García
hospitals, and are being planned for hospitals in
Holguín, Cienfuegos, Camagüey and Pinar del Río
where cardiovascular surgery and tertiary medical
care are practiced.
There, pacemakers are
implanted, complex arrhythmia is treated with radio
waves, and tiny, inflatable balloons at the end of
catheters are inserted into blood vessels in order
to protect them – a procedure known as angioplasty.
Currently, there are cardiac
centers in Santiago de Cuba, Santa Clara, the
Institute of Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery,
the Ameijeiras Hospital, the William Soler and the
CIMEQ. This makes it possible to operate in many
more cases of ischemic cardiopathy.
At the Institute of
Cardiology and Cardiovascular Surgery, more
postoperative beds will be available – double the
current capacity – the professor affirms, adding
that Cuba has advanced considerably in
interventional cardiology without surgery.
He also notes that all of
this progress guarantees efficient patient care and
contributes to them living longer.
However, scientific advances
alone are not enough to live 120 years. People need
to maintain a healthy lifestyle with an appropriate
diet, eat lots of vegetables, consume animal
proteins that contain less fat and avoid excess
carbohydrates and sugar. Instead of being sedentary,
it is necessary to have physical activity and
maintain an appropriate weight. All of these things
make for a longer and better life, he concluded. |
