southeast asians genetically are predisposed to cardiac diseases besides other risk factors the major causes for cardiac diseases include heart attack and heart muscle infection hypertension or other risk factors for cardiac disease includes obesity diabetes and sedentary lifestyle india is poised to become the diabetic capital of the world rued dr chopraterm heart failure is often misinterpreted and people remark that heart has failed medically we need to understand that heart failure is a progressive disease and often happens at a late stage averred dr singh the three cardinal symptoms of heart failure include gradually increasing of breathlessness during exertion like walking and climbing stairs swelling on the feet and inability to lie down straight majority of patients attribute these signs to weakness and acidity ignoring other aspects like diabetes and hypertension these signs indicate beginning of heart failure the diagnosis heart failure by physician can be done easily by looking at the three parameters ie ecg blood biomarker and the patients clinical symptoms dr chopra insisted on early recognition of the disease patients with diabetes hypertension and family history of cardiovascular diseases should be investigated early and regularly he added that many indians having coronary artery disease and heart attack are at least ten years younger as compared to western counterparts patients with diabetes are vulnerable to silent heart attack their arteries may be alright but heart muscles might have become weak in india a rise in heart failure cases in the younger population is a great concern and major attributed factors are poor lifestyle consumption of junk food smoking lack of exercise and alcohol heart failure is the price paid for choosing an unhealthy way of life people diagnosed with heart failure must be counseled and explained about the available treatment and selfmanagement tips to improve their life dr singh while emphasizing on early diagnosis said that low pumping efficiency of the heart can lead to sudden cardiac arrest resulting in instant death only one or two patients are able to reach the hospital for timely management dr singh apprised that the global research project to improve sca sudden cardiac arrest highlights three significant risk factors for developing sudden cardiac arrest one reduced ejection fraction complication resulting from low pumping efficiency second missing ecg beats or a history of syncope fainting spells where the patient was woken up with a pressure on the chest and third is data from such studies can be used to identify patients so that treatment can begin on timedr malhotra emphasized that this is important to treat the cause of heart failure to prevent progression of the disease the patient is first given medications which are the pillars of heart failure management if the patient does not improve with these medications then he is a candidate for crtd or cardiac resynchronization therapy devices that are like a pacemaker device to regulate the pumping efficiency of the heart even after exhausting these options if patient does not show improvement then he is