365Telugu.com online news,August 23rd, 2023: Four crore people worldwide are affected by rheumatic heart disease (RHD). Three lakh people die every year due to this disease. According to the World Heart Federation, it is a childhood disease. This disease can cause death or disability.
According to the World Health Organization, the disease is more common in underdeveloped and developing countries. According to the Global Burden of Disease (2019) report, more than 1.5 lakh cases of RHD are reported among children aged 5 to 14 years. But the number of children suffering from it is more than seven lakh.
Recently, doctors of All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Ram Manohar Lohia conducted research on this disease. He said that 30 children who came to him from different parts of North India for treatment of the same disease were taken for research.
What does the research say..?
“We wanted to know why 20-25 percent of the world’s cases are coming from India. Is it because of our genes? Our research sample size is small but it is important in rheumatic vision,” say the scientists.
“We found that the children they included in the research had some HLA (human leukocyte antigen) in common, suggesting that those with these HLA (genes) are more likely to develop rheumatic fever or RHD.” say the researchers.
The disease mostly affects children aged between five and 18 years. If this disease progresses, the heart valve will be damaged,” said the doctors.
“A special type of bacteria (streptococcal pharyngitis) is responsible for affecting children with this disease. In this disease, a child or teenager develops fever. After that, rheumatic fever starts,” medical experts say.
RHD symtoms..
sore throat
fever
Pain in knees, elbows, wrists
tiredness
Breathing
cough
Chest pain
joint pain
Swelling of abdomen, arms and legs
Rapid breathing.