The Red Crescent Society has registered 24,743 children with heart holes for treatment in the last 12 years.
Irfanullah Sharafzoi, the spokesman of the Red Crescent, said that 12,307 children have been treated inside and outside the country, and thousands of others are undergoing treatment.
“Currently, 10,000 children with a hole in the heart are registered with us and are waiting for treatment. This year, we introduced 759 patients to different hospitals in Kabul for treatment, 500 of them have recovered and the remaining people are still undergoing treatment.”
Meanwhile, Red Crescent officials said that this institution is trying to attract international aid to treat children with heart holes in Afghanistan.
Causes of heart perforation
The large number of children suffering from heart perforation in Afghanistan is worrying and the number of children suffering from this disease is increasing day by day.
The question is, why do children get this disease and what is the main problem?
In this regard, Dr. Kalimullah Arshad Rahimi, an internist, says that babies are most affected by heart disease.
According to him, children are affected by this disease because sometimes there is a hole in the membrane between the ventricle and the atrium of the child’s heart, and this hole makes the heart unable to perform its main task and the child faces problems.
“The heart has four parts, the upper part is called the atrium and the lower part is called the ventricle. These parts are separated by a membrane. When the child is in the mother’s womb, this membrane is open and when it is born, this membrane is closed by itself. But if this curtain is not closed, we call it a heart hole. This hole sometimes closes by itself until the age of five.”
People’s definition of heart hole
In addition to medical opinions and factors, people also have different definitions and opinions about the causes and factors of a hole in the heart, and we have collected the opinions of several people through social media in this regard.
One of the Facebook users named Haji Kalakani commented on Killid’s post about the causes of heart perforation: “Children whose telecommunication antennas are close to their homes are more likely to suffer from heart perforation.”
Another user named Mahia Rahimi wrote in this regard: “Mental stress or excessive stress during pregnancy, self-inflicted use of drugs, improper nutrition and lack of vitamins are the biggest causes of heart hole disease.”
Another user with a pseudonym posted: “Talking a lot on the phone during pregnancy causes the child to get a hole in the heart. During pregnancy, the mother should stay one meter away from the phone. Another reason for heart-hole disease is the proximity of telecommunication antennas to residential houses and the emission of radiation. Also, self-inflicted drug use during pregnancy is another cause of heart disease in children.”
Mumtaz Malik also wrote about this: “Polluted air is the main cause of heart disease in children.”
Doctor’s argument
Doctors argue that medical research has not determined the main reasons why children suffer from a hole in the heart yet, but some carelessness during pregnancy causes children to get this disease.
Dr. Kalimullah Arshad Rahimi, an internist, says: “Women use pain relievers or arbitrary drugs during pregnancy, which harms the child. Another reason is that women take television examinations and photographs, and X-rays may also cause Heart perforation in children.”
Abdul Sattar Zardad, another internist, says that the use of certain drugs during pregnancy may cause a hole in the heart of the child.
“Research on heart hole disease in children continues, but one of the known reasons is the use of certain drugs by some mothers during pregnancy. Also, mothers who have diabetes, their children may be born with heart hole disease“.
Diagnosis of the patient
Diagnosing a hole in the heart is another problem that confuses mothers and fathers, also doctors, and many questions are raised about its signs and symptoms. But Dr. Kalimullah Arshad Rahimi says that now this disease can be diagnosed at home.
“A child with a hole in the heart does not grow well, his color is yellow, his eyes are out of their sockets, and when he is milked, he cries, gets tired and sweats, stops feeding, does not feed well, and sometimes his heart rate increases.”
It is mentionable that in the past, most children with a hole in the heart were taken abroad for treatment, but now it is a matter of happiness that the diagnosis and treatment of this disease have become possible inside the country. According to the information of the Red Crescent Society, more than 12 thousand children have been treated in the last 12 years.
Translated by: Sadaf Yarmal
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