Jamaica's Nationwide News Network
"Communicating the Non-communicable"
Radio Program: Healthline
Reporter: Camelia Guthrie, ACS Journalism Fellow
Script;
With each heartbeat, blood is sent throughout our bodies, carrying oxygen and nutrients to every cell. Each day, 2-thousand gallons of blood travel through about 60-thousand miles of blood vessels that branch and cross, linking the cells of our organs and body parts.The heart is associated with our well being and our emotions- the most powerful of which is love. So essential is our heart, we cannot live without it. No wonder there’s so much information about how to maintain a healthy heart. But what do you do when that heart becomes diseased?
SFX: Heart Beat –
Who do you turn to, where do you go and how do you treat not just a diseased heart, but a child with a diseased heart Stay with us in this the second part in our series on Non-Communicable Diseases dubbed “Communicating the Non-Communicable.”
PSA: Track 1 - SMOKING AROUND KIDS –
Music: music for healthline –
Heart disease has been and continues to be one of the leading causes of death in the Caribbean and no group, race, colour, creed, gender or status is exempt from it. Children are just as prone to heart disease as adults and so today we pay particular attention to our little hearts
CLIP: dr. knox on causes –
“There are a few conditions which will give rise to abnormal development of the heart in the feotus, one probably most well known cause is German measles. If the mother in the early stage of pregnancy has developed German measles, the virus which causes the illness gets into the feotus and impairs the development of the feotus in terms of development of the brain, the eyes, the heart and other tissues.”Dr. Knox says this can result in the development of various kinds of heart disease One such is congenital heart disease, which basically means heart disease that’s present at birth.
CLIP: dr. knox on hole in the heart –
“One type of heart disease which is probably most well known is the baby with the hole in the heart. That results from inadequate development of a structure we call the septum which divides the heart into right and left parts. But in addition to that, there are other abnormalities which will develop, which will present sometimes not very early, maybe first detected in the later childhood and even in adolescence and so of these may even persist into adulthood.”
SFX: Suspense effects –
It can be frightening to learn that your child has a congenital heart defect. What’s even more frightening is to learn that your child’s heart defect is as a result of a disease you may have or even worse, your lifestyle This as alcohol or drug abuse, exposure to industrial chemicals during pregnancy and uncontrolled diabetes can increase the risk of congenital heart malformations
CLIP: dr knox on diabetes and heart-
“ If the woman is diabetic and the prior to conception the blood sugar levels are not well controlled, chances are they will not be controlled in the early trimester so to speak then that will also give rise to heart disease. In addition to that, some drugs may, but the truth is, in a number of cases, we never can find the exact cause.”
Dr. Hadley Knox, Chairman of the Heart Foundation of Jamaica.
The other type of heart disease seen in childhood is one which is acquired and results from a condition called rheumatic fever. We tell you about this and the prevention and treatment for both types of heart disease in children in our next programme when we continue ‘Communicating the Non-Communicable.”
STINGER
That’s our program for today. Do join us again when we’ll take a further look at NCDS and how you can prevent or treat them. For more information you can visit our website at www.jis.gov.jm and become a fan of the JIS on Facebook or by following JISNEWS on twitter.
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