Quadragenarian heart patient aces Hyderabad Marathon

HYDERABAD: Refusing to be disheartened by the ailment he suffered, a 42-year-old heart patient aced the Hyderabad Marathon here on Sunday. Lingam, who is undergoing treatment under the cardiac rehabilitation programme being conducted by the Employee State Insurance Corporation (ESIC) Hospital, covered 21 km in the keenly contested marathon organised by the National Mineral Development Corporation, there by setting an example for other cardiac patients to follow.

Lingam, who works as a welder, was diagnosed with a heart ailment last year with 18 per cent heart pumping capacity. However, his lungs were working perfectly.“Lingam was taking two types of Diuretics, tablets that send out water in the form of urine and two types of Beta blockers that help reduce the heart rate and Angiotensin receptor blockers, tablets that decreases blood pressure,” said Dr Muralidhar Babi, Assistant Professor and cardiac rehab specialist at ESIC Hospital.

“Regular exercise and diet provided by cardiac rehab centre, improved the pumping capacity of the patient to 53 per cent. The patient is now taking only two tablets,” he added.Just like Lingam, several other patients who are undergoing treatment under the cardiac rehabilitation programme covered at least 10 km each during the marathon.The other patients who ran 10 km include Lokith, a patient of Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension and Durgiah who is suffering from Dilated Cardiomyopathy. Another patient who had Angioplasty stenting also covered 10 km.