Sai Surineni

 In 2020, the World Health Organization declared that the leading cause of death between 2009 and 2019 was heart disease, taking nine million lives in 2019 alone, a seven million person increase since 2000’s two million heart-disease related deaths. Due to the world’s aging population, changes in lifestyle, and uptick in diabetes and obesity, its prevalence is only increasing. Fortunately, the one beacon of hope, which is medical technology allowing diagnosis and treatment of heart disease, is growing rapidly and is more effective than ever. When it comes to diagnosis, the increased access to imaging techniques, blood tests, and wearable technology has been immeasurably beneficial; in the field of treatment, medications, stem cell therapy, and cardiac rehabilitation have helped flatten the growing curve of yearly heart-disease related deaths. 

Increased access to diagnostic technologies is the first step to worldwide awareness and prevention of heart disease. Magnetic resonance imaging, or MRI, uses a combination of electromagnets and radio waves to generate detailed images of the body and is not at all invasive, making it one of the most preferred methods of diagnosis worldwide. MRI machines produce high-quality depictions of the shape of the heart, the thickness of the walls of the heart, and the flow of blood, providing valuable information about the structure of the heart and the progression of heart disease over time. Another common diagnosis method is the implementation of blood tests, which draw a sample of blood from the patient and analyze it for biomarkers – [Surineni 2]

indicating heart health. Two usual blood tests include cardiac enzyme tests and homocysteine tests; the former measures levels of enzymes released after heart attacks, while the latter gets its namesake from the biomarker homocysteine, which it measures as an indicator of inflammation. Additionally, wearable technology that measures heart activity has been integral to increased diagnoses of heart disease because it enables patients to take an active role in tracking and managing their own health. These devices include smartwatches and fitness trackers that have virtually none of the risks of pacemakers while still being able to monitor physical activity, stress levels, heart rate, and breathing patterns. 

Another field engaging against heart disease that is constantly in development and improvement is the branch of technologies dedicated to cardiovascular treatment. Higher attainability of medications has been the most vital, with some heart medications even leading to a thirty-three percent decrease in mortality. These drugs often work to reduce blood pressure by inhibiting the production and release of certain substances into the blood, significantly lowering chances of heart attack and stroke. More recent yet promising regenerative medicine includes the research into stem cell therapy, which involves the injection of differentiable body cells that were harvested from the donor into heart tissue. Early clinical trials displayed promising results after the injected stem cells were able to develop into the cells of the heart and repair damaged tissue. However, a simpler program for treatment is the integration of cardiac rehabilitation into the patient’s recovery plan. Typically, cardiac rehabilitation involves exercise training, healthy lifestyle advice, counseling, and education about the diseases themselves; the exercise is first tailored to the patient’s needs, then increased in intensity in order to improve cardiovascular health. Counseling often helps with the mental pressure of life-changing disease. [Surineni 3] 

Overall, the ongoing advances in and widespread attainment of technology focused to diagnose and treat cardiovascular disease pull from a variety of scientific fields in order to supplement the global fight against heart disease. As access to technology and the technology itself improve, one can hope that the future will embrace a world where heart disease is nothing more than a passing concern.