Rheumatic Heart Disease is not the end of the world, says USP student

Rheumatic Heart Disease (RHD) is not the end of the world, says a University of the South Pacific (USP) student who was diagnosed with the heart condition four years ago.

Maximillian Kirite, 20, who hails from Rabi Island, discovered he had RHD during a routine heart screening in Suva.

The second-year Bachelor of Commerce student said finding out something was wrong with his heart was shocking despite feeling perfectly fine.

RHD is a serious heart condition that can develop when the body’s immune system overreacts to a throat infection, damaging heart valves.

Today marks the celebration of World Heart Day.

"Finding out that something is wrong with your heart, even though you feel perfectly fine, kind of does something a bit to a young person," Mr Kirite said.

"With the help of the doctors, we're just glad that we got it early. That's the thing with many cases; they usually come up a bit too late."

His message to newly diagnosed patients is to focus on hope and early detection.

"RHD is not the end of the world. For some patients, they go into a mental state that they've got their ticking time bomb in their heart, in their chest," he said.

Mr Kirite encourages people to stay true to prescribed treatments and suggests lifestyle changes for prevention.

"My advice to people with RHD is just to be careful and stay true to the treatments that have been prescribed," he said.

"For those without it, I would suggest that they take a look at their lifestyle."

The USP student, who serves on Heart Heroes Fiji's youth committee, said parents should invest in testing despite initial costs.

"To the parents, I suggest getting your children tested. It may be expensive at first, but it's kind of worth the risk," he said.

"If you don't deal with it early, it could cause future problems and break families apart."

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