4^th Global Summit on Heart Diseases March 15-16, 2019 | Singapore

The Cardiovascular diseases affecting the developed world have at their core atherosclerosis and hypertension, both of which are profoundly affected by diet and can be approached, at least in part, from a nutritional point of view, as can the increasing “epidemic” of obesity. Diet is a multi-component mixture of many nutrients, which may interact with one another. The definitive study of nutrients and their impact on cardiovascular disease can be a daunting enterprise. Many dietary risk factors contribute to these diseases in various environmental and ethnic settings. These risk factors are often in evidence in youth so that preventive measures must be initiated early in life.

Critical cardiac care (CIC) which is also known as coronary care unit (CCU)  is a hospital ward specialized in the care of patients with heart attacks, unstable angina, cardiac dysrhythmia and (in practice) various other cardiac conditions that require continuous monitoring and treatment or first aid treatment till the doctor comes. There are also units available in the hospitals to take care of the emergency situation. The Cardiac intensive care unit (CICU) is a specialized ICU dealing with cardiac patients and is usually staffed by cardiologists. It offers critical care staff especially trained in acute coronary syndromes and has additional technology such as intra-aortic balloon pumps, etc.

An arrhythmia is a problem with the rate or rhythm heartbeat. It means that heart beats too quickly, too slowly, or with an irregular pattern. Many factors can affect heart's rhythm, such as having had a heart attack, smoking, congenital heart defects, and stress. Some substances or medicines may also cause arrhythmias. There are four main types of arrhythmia: extra beats, supraventricular tachycardias, ventricular arrhythmias, and brady arrhythmias Most arrhythmias can be effectively treated. Treatments may include medications, medical procedures such as a pacemaker, and surgery. Medications for a fast heart rate may include beta blockers or agents that attempt to restore a normal heart rhythm such as procainamide.

Pediatric Cardiology is responsible for the diagnosis of congenital heart defects, performing diagnostic procedures such as echocardiograms, cardiac catheterizations, and electrophysiology studies, and for the ongoing management of the sequelae of heart disease in infants, children and adolescents.

Damage to the heart muscle most often develops from coronary artery disease (CAD) related myocardial infarction, usually in people in their middle or later decades. Inherited forms of heart muscle disease (Cardiomyopathies) are the most prominent cause of myocardial disease in the young. Myocardial infarction and cardiomyopathies are the major causes of heart failure and arrhythmic sudden death.

Pericardial disease or pericarditis is an inflammation of the pericardium. Pericarditis is characterised by pericardial friction rub (an audible sound of rubbing heard along with the heart beat), chest pain and changes in an electrocardiogram (ECG, test to evaluate the heart function). It is seen more commonly in men than in women. Chronic pericarditis may occur due to the recurrence of acute pericarditis or due to a chronic infection such as tuberculosis.

Vascular heart disease is characterized by damage to or a defect in one of the four heart valves: the mitral, aortic, tricuspid or pulmonary. In vascular heart disease, the valves become too narrow and hardened (stenosis) to open fully, or are unable to close completely (incompetent). Valve disease symptoms can occur suddenly, depending upon how quickly the disease develops. Many of the symptoms are similar to those associated with congestive heart failure, such as shortness of breath and wheezing after limited physical exertion and swelling of the feet, ankles, hands or abdomen (edema). The severity of vascular heart disease varies. In mild cases there may be no symptoms, while in advanced cases, vascular heart disease may lead to congestive heart failure and other complications. Treatment depends upon the extent of the disease.

 Molecular cardiology is a new area of cardiovascular medicine that aims to apply molecular biological techniques for the mechanistic investigation, diagnosis, prevention, and treatment of cardiovascular disease. As an emerging discipline, it has changed our conceptual thinking of cardiovascular development, disease etiology, and pathophysiology. Although molecular cardiology is still at a very early stage, it has opened a promising avenue for understanding and controlling cardiovascular disease. A great interest of the laboratory is the identification of novel circulating factors that regulate cardiac biology, including aging and hypertrophy.

Hypertension is the single most important risk factor for stroke. It causes about 50 per cent of ischemic strokes and also increases the risk of hemorrhagic stroke. The damage that hypertension causes happens over time and is often only diagnosed when considerable damage has already happened to the body’s blood vessels. The increase in cardiovascular risk has primarily been described in terms of elevated systolic pressure in those over age 60 years and elevation in diastolic pressure in younger individuals.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the western world. Each year in the U.S.A, more than 500,000 men and women die from coronary artery disease. During the past two decades, major strides have been made in the diagnosis and treatment of heart disease. Nuclear Cardiology has played a pivotal role in establishing the diagnosis of heart disease and in the assessment of disease extent and the prediction of outcomes in the setting of coronary artery disease. Nuclear cardiology studies use noninvasive techniques to assess myocardial blood flow, evaluate the pumping function of the heart as well as visualize the size and location of a heart attack. Among the techniques of nuclear cardiology, myocardial perfusion imaging is the most widely used.

A cardiac CT scan is a painless imaging test that uses x rays to take many detailed pictures of your heart and its blood vessels. Different CT scanners are used for different purposes. A multi detector CT is a very fast type of CT scanner that can produce high-quality pictures of the beating heart and can detect calcium or blockages in the coronary arteries. An electron beam CT scanner also can show calcium in coronary arteries. The information obtained can help evaluate whether you are at increased risk for heart attack.

 Cardiovascular Engineering stimulates innovative methods and technological advancements in the basic understanding of the cardiovascular system and in cardiovascular diagnosis and treatment applications. Original Contributions outline new concepts and applications in cardiovascular mechanics, cardiology applications and diagnostic methods, cardiac and vascular imaging, devices and instrumentation, hemodynamic monitoring and measurements, cardiac assistance, vascular grafts and artificial hearts, cardiac electrophysiology techniques, computer modeling and drug delivery systems.

Medical diagnosis is based on information from sources such as findings from a physical examination, interview with the patient or family or both, medical history of the patient and family, and clinical findings as reported by laboratory tests and radiologic studies. The diagnosis of heart can be carried out by various methods such as by Imaging techniques, Surgeries, electrophysiology, angiography, radiography etc. Medical care is very essential once the heart disease is diagnosed. The aim of treatment are stabilizing the condition, controlling symptoms over the long term, and providing a cure when possible. Stress reduction, diet, and lifestyle changes are key in managing heart disease, but the main stays of conventional care are drugs and surgery.

Heart Devices are electronic devices for assisting cardiac circulation, which is used either to partially or to completely replace the function of a failing heart. The evolution of these wireless cardiac monitoring devices is marking a new era in medicine and a transition from population-level health care to individualized medicine in which suitable patients are equipped with advanced biosensors that, in turn, have their data processed through sophisticated algorithms to predict events before they occur. The pacemaker, defibrillators, biosensors are the heart devices used in treatment of heart diseases.

Cardiology concerns with diseases and disorders of the heart, such as coronary artery disease and congestive heart failure. The field includes medical diagnosis and treatment of congenital heart defects, coronary artery disease, heart failure, vascular heart disease and electrophysiology. Although the heart and circulatory system make up your cardiovascular system. Heart works as a pump that pushes blood to the organs, tissues, and cells of your body. Blood delivers oxygen and nutrients to every cell and removes the carbon dioxide and waste products made by those cells.

People with a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or higher are considered obese. The term obesity is used to describe the health condition of anyone significantly above his or her ideal healthy weight. Obesity increases the risk for heart disease and stroke. But it harms more than just the heart and blood vessel system. It's also a major cause of gallstones, osteoarthritis and respiratory problems. Obesity is intimately intertwined with multiple health conditions that underlie cardiovascular disease including high blood pressure, diabetes, and abnormal blood cholesterol. In addition, weight gain is a frequent consequence of heart-damaging lifestyle choices such as lack of exercise and a fat-laden diet. Obesity also can lead to heart failure. This is a serious condition in which your heart can't pump enough blood to meet your body's needs

Cardio-oncology is the intersection of heart conditions in patients who have been treated for cancer. New insights into how cancer therapies impact cardiovascular homeostasis and long-term effects on cancer survivors. In view of trends, as well as the cardiovascular toxicity potential of radiation and chemotherapy, cancer patients are exposed to cardiovascular morbidity and mortality more than ever before. Anticancer therapies can cause significant injury to the vasculature, resulting in angina, acute coronary syndromes (ACS), stroke, critical limb ischemia, arrhythmias, and heart failure (HF), independently from the direct myocardial or pericardial damage that might occur. Moreover, cancer is generally associated with a hypercoagulable state, which increases the risk of acute thrombotic events.

Cardiovascular pharmacology focuses on the fundamental mechanisms of cardiovascular cells and how drugs influence the heart and vascular system and those parts of the nervous and endocrine systems that participate in regulating cardiovascular function. Researchers observe the effects of drugs on arterial pressure, blood flow in specific vascular beds, release of physiological mediators, and neural activity arising from central nervous systemstructures.

Cardiovascular toxicology is concerned with the adverse effects of extrinsic and intrinsic stresses on the heart and vascular system. Extrinsic stress involves exposure to therapeutic drugs, natural products, and environmental toxicants. Intrinsic stress refers to exposure to toxic metabolites derived from nontoxic compounds such as those found in food additives and supplements. The intrinsic exposures also include secondary neurohormonal disturbance such as overproduction of inflammatory cytokines derived from pressure overload of the heart and counter-regulatory responses to hypertension. These toxic exposures result in alterations in biochemical pathways, defects in cellular structure and function, and pathogenesis of the affected cardiovascular system.

A cardiologist is a doctor who specializes in the studies of heart & its functions & also diagnosis, treatment and preventing diseases related to heart and blood vessels. You might also visit a cardiologist so you can learn about your risk factors for heart disease and find out what measures you can take for better heart health. Cardiology is a field which is changing rapidly, New technologies as drug-eluting stents, assist devices for left ventricle, and novel inflammatory markers, and imaging modalities such as magnetic resonance imaging and 3D echocardiography.

Cardiac surgery will be surgery on the heart performed by cardiac surgeons. Every now and again, it is done to treat inconveniences of ischemic coronary illness, amend inherent coronary illness, or treat valvular coronary illness from different causes including endocarditis, rheumatic coronary illness and atherosclerosis. It also includes heart transplantation. The advancement of cardiac surgery and cardiopulmonary bypass techniques has diminished the mortality rates of these surgeries to generally low positions. For instance, repairs of are currently assessed to have 4–6% death rates.

Pediatric Cardiology concern all aspects of heart disease in infants, children, and adolescents, including embryology and anatomy, physiology and pharmacology, biochemistry, pathology, genetics, radiology, clinical aspects, investigative cardiology, electrophysiology and echocardiography, and cardiac surgery. Pediatric Cardiology is responsible for the diagnosis of congenital heart defects, performing diagnostic procedures such as echocardiograms, cardiac catheterizations and electrophysiology studies. The increasing number of neonates with congenital heart defects referred to the neonatal intensive care unit reflects the increasing awareness that the defects may be present. Chest radiography and ECG rarely assist in the neonatal diagnosis.

Cardiac nursing is a registered nurse who specializes to work with patients who suffer from various conditions of the cardiovascular system. Cardiac nurses help to treat conditions such as unstable angina, cardiomyopathy, coronary artery disease, congestive heart failure, myocardial infarction and cardiac dysrhythmia under the direction of a cardiologist. Cardiac nurses also perform postoperative care on a surgical unit, stress test evaluations, cardiac monitoring, vascular monitoring, and health assessments. Cardiac nurses work in many different environments, including coronary care units (CCU), cardiac catheterization, intensive care units (ICU), operating theatres, cardiac rehabilitation centres, clinical research, cardiac surgery wards, cardiovascular intensive care units (CVICU), and cardiac medical wards.