In recent years, the month of March has become synonymous with the celebration of women. Companies and brands flout their empowered women status to all and sundry, in the hope of catching consumer attention. In fact, some would say the overkill of celebration has reduced the impact of this important day to a mere Hallmark greeting. Though annoying, this flood of women’s day rhetoric has sound reason to support it. After centuries of not having a voice, women should certainly be celebrated—not just one day but throughout the year. Further, it is important that every aspect of their lives is celebrated—not just their professional roles.
In this context, one pertinent area of women empowerment that is often overlooked is that of their health. As the frontrunners at home, women juggle many roles—they are meticulous homemakers, worried mothers, dutiful wives, dedicated professionals and glittering social queens. In all this, where do they get time to look after their health? Even if they are health conscious in terms of nutrition and weight, do they keep a check on their heart health? Very rarely!
The prestigious medical publication, The Lancet, published worrisome data in 2021 that showed that nearly 35% of women’s deaths globally are caused by heart disease. And in the case of Indian women specifically, heart health is very often relegated to the back burner. Renowned cardiologist Dr P.K. Hazra (MD, DNB, DM), Head of Department, Cardiology and Cath Lab, at AMRI Hospitals, Kolkata, says it best, “Most of the women in our country neglect their heart and their healthy life because they are engaged with children’s education, husband’s welfare etc. They are responsible for many social and family things and that is why their heart is neglected. But this should not be the case. Women must take care of their heart.”
He further explains, “Women suffer equally from diseases like heart problems, hypertension, obesity, sleep apnea, arthritis etc. For this, they need to incorporate lifestyle modifications, live a stress-free life and maintain good sleep hygiene. Exercise and diet are of utmost importance—regular health check-ups should also be done, and if there is a problem, they should consult their local doctor.”
To raise awareness on this important subject and answer the questions that women may have, Dr Hazra will be coming live on @omnykindia Facebook page at 4:00 PM on 8 March in a special program. This event is being organised by Omnyk, which is a unique remote patient monitoring solution aimed to help patients with heart disease. This unique solution is one that health practitioners prescribe to patients with heart disease, through a device that collects key body vitals along with other features. For the entire solution to work, remote monitoring must be done by incorporating all three pieces of the solution—the actual device, a mobile application and a cloud platform. They work in tandem to show the best results. The device itself provides a snap-shot of the patient’s key body vitals in ‘real-time’, which is then reflected in the app and is saved on the cloud platform. The data on the cloud then enables remote monitoring, by delivering alerts and reports with in-depth analysis.
The idea behind this unique solution was a simple one—to keep patients with heart disease safe in their homes by reducing their dependence on an already overburdened healthcare system. Hence, doctors and professionals in this space, have increasingly been prescribing the use of personal heart monitoring devices. This aligns with their overarching healthcare strategy of improving access to care at home, dealing with problems that frequently occur in the management of serious diseases and pushing forward innovations in treatment for higher quality and more advanced care at reduced costs.
In keeping with their promise of raising awareness and alleviating the lives of heart patients, the team at Omnyk is working to raise awareness about women’s heart issues. There seems no better time to do this than on International Women’s Day. Hence, they have roped in an expert in the field and that is the reason that this session should not be missed.
The writer pens lifestyle articles for various publications and her blog www.nooranandchawla.com. She can be reached on nooranand@gmail.com.