About:
Seven years ago, my father had 3 silent heart attacks and needed an emergency
bypass operation. The first thing he asked me after waking up from surgery was “how
could this happen to me?” I have been an anesthesiologist for 10 years and I have
noticed that a vast majority of patients who come to hospitals for surgery have at
least 1 or 2 not well controlled chronic diseases about which they are not aware. Due
to which risk of complications increases; even with simple surgical procedures (like
an increased length of hospital stay, delayed wound healing, infections, critical
emergencies etc.). I found that there exists a significant lack of health risk awareness
amongst the public. It is very important to accept that health risks exist and to
understand that they can be prevented.
The only way we can hope to change this scenario is by imparting preventive health
education to all.