By Kouthar Sambo

Tygerberg Hospital in the Western Cape celebrated World Lung Day yesterday to promote awareness about the importance of lung health and how to prevent, diagnose, and treat lung conditions.
The theme was about making prevention and treatment accessible to everyone, therefore emphasizing the importance of preventing and treating lung disease.

Speaking to VOC news, Tygerberg Hospital’s Physician and pulmonology fellow at the Division of Pulmonology Dr Saadiq Moolla, said once lung disease occurs, treating these conditions as soon as possible is essential.

“Pulmonary hypertension can be thought of similarly to the better known as systemic hypertension of high blood pressure, which affects the left side of the heart and the body, therefore causing damage and leading to heart attacks, strokes, and other complications,” explained Moolla.

Pulmonary hypertension is similarly serious, explained Moolla, but affects the right side of the heart and lungs, causing shortness of breath and can lead to death after a few years.

“A Pulmonary endarterectomy (PEA) – a surgical procedure to clear the blood vessels from the lungs of clots and scar tissue, which were blocking the arteries and restricting blood flow. This is a major operation and needs to be performed on a heart-lung bypass machine. In recent years it has become available at Tgerbuerg Hospital,” added Moolla.

Photo: Tygerberg Hospital/Facebook