Understanding Congenital Heart Disease: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatments

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Congenital heart defects refer to defects in the heart that children are born with. These are one of the most common congenital defects globally. In India too, 200,000+ children are born with a congenital heart defect (CHD). These are the numbers of the cases that are recorded – there maybe many more which go undiagnosed and hence untreated. Only 25 per cent of the children diagnosed with a congenital heart defect are able to get the required treatment. A lack of awareness and access to resources are the biggest challenges in children getting timely treatment. Organisations like Genesis Foundation, a congenital heart foundation India has been taking steps to both build awareness and provide financial treatment to those who cannot afford the cost of treatment. The treatment for CHD is expensive and families that do not earn enough to meet their daily needs have to depend on funds they receive as a congenital heart disease donation to support the treatment. Symptoms of Congenital Heart
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What treatments are available for Congenital Heart Disease and how we as a society can help the underprivileged to afford this treatment?

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The birth of a child often brings happiness in the lives of parents as well as his near and dear ones, but this is not true for every child. This happiness is often taken away from the parents whose children are born with some birth defects such as Congenital Heart Disease (CHD).CHD is a common type of birth defect that affects the structure of a baby’s heart and how it functions. Congenital Heart Disease may vary from mild to severe and according to Centers For Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 1 in every 4 babies born with a heart defect has a critical congenital heart defect. The kids who suffer from a critical CHD need surgery or other procedures in the first year of life. 

However, one good thing related to this disease is that it can be treated, and that also in most cases for life. Sometimes the defect is diagnosed during pregnancy and it becomes easy for the doctors to treat the child. Over the past few years, the treatments and follow-up care for CHD have improved drastically which makes it possible for nearly all children with heart defects to survive and grow a healthy adult.

Congenital Heart Disease treatment is possible today and there are numerous ways through which you can help your kid live a healthy and happy life. The problem arises when children from lesser privileged families are diagnosed with a disease – their lack of awareness and ability to pay for such procedures means many, many lives are lost. 

Medications

Congenital Heart Disease treatment is possible with medications. There are numerous medications that help in the effective functioning of the heart.  Some medicines can also be used to prevent the formation of blood clots and can control an irregular heartbeat. 

Catheter Procedures

The process of Catheterization allows doctors to repair certain congenital heart defects without surgery. In this procedure, the doctor will insert a thin tube into a vein in the leg and guide it up to the heart. After inserting the catheter, the doctor will use small tools threaded through the catheter to repair the defect.

Implantable Heart Devices

Implantable Cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) and Pacemakers are some of the brilliant inventions of Medical Science. ICD may help in correcting the abnormal heartbeats. A pacemaker can help regulate an abnormal heart rate.  

Open-Heart Surgery

There are several cases that can’t be treated with medications or any other methods of CHD treatment. Therefore, the doctors may have to do the surgery to repair a congenital heart defect. In open-heart surgery, the holes in the heart are closed and heart valves, or widen blood vessels are repaired by the surgeons. 

Heart Transplant

There are certain cases in which a congenital heart defect is too complex to fix. In such cases, the doctors are left with no other option than a heart transplant. In this procedure, the child’s heart is replaced with a healthy heart from a donor. 

It is a good thing that there are options available for the treatment of a CHD but not every parent can afford to provide the treatment to his child. There are many people who are born in a poor family and when such things happen to them it becomes difficult for them to fight such critical situations. 

There is no bigger loss than the loss of a life so we must come together for the help of such people. At Genesis Foundation, our aim is to save the lives of critically ill, underprivileged children. We work with various doctors and hospitals to provide medical support to such children. As we all know that alone we can’t make this world a better place, therefore, we need your support in this noble cause. Your small donation can make a huge difference in the lives of such people. Every child deserves to live a normal life, so come forward and join us to help these people so that they can afford the CHD treatment. 

If this has inspired you in any sense you can donate us now. Visit our website to know more about us- https://www.genesis-foundation.net/Index.aspx#lnkourmission

Location: Gurugram, Haryana, India

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