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Covid-19 is heart of the matter, says Dr VK Srinivas

The Bengaluru cardiologist talks of the new initiative of Sports Ministry that helps in preventing injuries and solving other health issues

By N Jagannath Das

Published Date - 14 June 2021, 08:22 PM

Covid-19 is heart of the matter, says Dr VK Srinivas

Hyderabad: “Covid-19 is a big worrying factor as it will have an effect on the heart,” cautioned Dr VK Srinivas, who is one of the doctors in the Athlete Wellness Cell (AWC). This new initiative of the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports is created to streamline the sports medicine and rehabilitation support offered to the athletes. It will provide best of the best Sports Injury Management support near the athlete’s geographical location. This system is expected to revolutionise the way athlete injuries are managed and further treated.

Dr Srinivas, who is a cardiologist and head of the Mallya Hospital in Bengaluru, will take care of all the heart-related issues. “The Covid-19 comes as an infection and goes but it can cause long lasting damage to the heart. Sports persons affected by symptomatic or asymptomatic Covid-19 can have Arrhythmias heart failures or heart attacks. Therefore it is necessary for sports persons to have proper tests for the Covid-19 related heart issues,” he said.

Lauding the new programme, Dr Srinivas said this scheme is a big drive to prevent injuries or anyone having other issues like the heart-related ones. “The collapse of the Danish footballer Christian Eriksen is a classic example. The player had a problem in his heart. Basically the cardiac issues are main reason for sudden death occurring on the field. It may be due to cardiomyopathy or congenital heart issues. These all come because of stress factor which is common among the sportsperson because of their anxiety to perform well and win,” he said.

As a panelist, it will be his duty to identify this type of sportsperson who has heart-related issues. “My aim will be to diagnose cardiac related cases early. The majority of heart failures happen because of blocks, congenital heart disease, holes in the heart etc. Many of them are unaware of their problem and take part in the tournaments. They get the attack because of the extra stress. These things can be identified by simple questionnaire, ECG and clinical examination.”

Dr Srinivas stated that he has been involved with Sports Authority of India, Bengaluru. “For instance we will screen the Tokyo-bound hockey team. It will help in dealing any heart-related issues.”

Saying that the sports scheme was a good start, Dr Srinivas said Italy had started this type of initiative long time ago where they have the pre-participation screening. At different levels, the people in Italy are put to different tests. They are then put in different games so that they don’t develop heart problems. Here in India, the screening of the sportspersons at start of their career can help their careers.”

The AWC consists of a high-level Core Team of Experts for immediate action and referral co-ordination of an injured or ill athlete and also serves as the apex body at Central Athlete Injury Management System.