Havana, Cuba: Health authorities promote early prevention of congenital heart disease, as World Day of this disease, which affects around eight out of every thousand children born alive, is celebrated today, Prensa Latina publishes.
Congenital heart diseases are defined as alterations in the structure of the cardiovascular system, a consequence of abnormal embryonic development of the heart before birth, and constitute anatomical lesions of one or more of the four cardiac chambers, of the septa that separate them, or of the valves or outflow tracts.
According to reports from the Ministry of Public Health, nearly 300 children with congenital heart disease are born in Cuba each year, their prevalence at birth is estimated to be between two to three per thousand live newborns.
Most have a slight health risk, but the wide representation of symptoms and possible complications means that 50 percent of cases require some type of intervention within the first month of life.
The most complex congenital heart diseases usually have a serious repercussion with fatal consequences in the pediatric age and represent the first cause of infant mortality due to congenital defects.
According to experts, 85 percent of congenital heart malformations involve genetic and environmental factors, that is, multifactorial factors, while the remaining 15 percent have a monogenic inheritance (condition of a specific gene) or an anomaly chromosome, usually accompanying a genetic syndrome.
The primary prevention of these defects is an important pillar to considerably reduce the risk of their occurrence and is mainly aimed at the female population of childbearing age (pre-conceptional) or at early gestational ages.
Specialists say that the couple can take some steps before and during pregnancy to help reduce the risk of having a child with congenital heart disease.
Among them, they mention that pregnancies should be planned at appropriate ages ?avoid them in adolescence and after the age of 35?, the couple should consume one milligram of Folic Acid at least three months before conception, and follow a healthy and balanced diet.
In addition, do not drink alcoholic beverages, smoke, or consume other types of drugs, avoid exposure to toxic chemical substances, extreme prevention standards in the workplace, and consult a doctor in the event of the need for treatment with any medication.
They emphasize that every woman with a chronic non-communicable disease (Diabetes Mellitus, Epilepsy, Phenylketonuria or Obesity), should see her doctor to compensate and make the necessary modifications to the treatment, determining the drug that effectively controls the maternal disease and that represents the least risk to the future baby.
When this condition is detected early in pregnancy or during the early stages of life, the possibility of offering better genetic counseling to the couple and providing timely specialized care to these children increases.
Technological advances have favored an increase in prenatal and postnatal diagnosis rates.
In Cuba, the number of prenatal detection of complex congenital heart diseases exceeds 85 percent, an element that acquires inestimable value for those cases that require immediate intervention once the birth occurs.
