Lifestyle choices, increased stress levels, lack of sleep, nutritious food and exercise are the main causes of the increase in heart attack cases in relatively young people, experts say.
The recent case of comedian and actor Raju Srivastava (58) who suffered a heart attack has brought the issue back into the spotlight.
In May this year, prominent singer KK (53) died of cardiac arrest after a concert in Kolkata.
Last year, actors Siddharth Shukla (40), Puneeth Rajkumar (46), Amit Mistry (47) died due to cardiac arrest.
Dr. Nikhil Parchure, a cardiologist at Apollo Hospital in Navi Mumbai, told PTI that the rate of heart attacks has doubled in India in the last 20 years and that more young people are now prone to heart attacks.
He said that 25 percent of all heart attack cases are seen in people under the age of 40.
Smoking is the most important among other risk factors such as diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol. Lifestyle choices, lack of sleep, nutritious food and exercise, and increased stress levels are likely to blame for heart attacks in young people, she said.
In addition, COVID-19 has recently been responsible for an increase in heart attack cases among young people in India, he added.
Dr. Ajit Menon, a cardiac sciences consultant at the Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai, said India is becoming the “diabetes capital” of the world, saying this is also why young people are prone to heart attacks.
The number of young hypertensives is dynamically increasing and the factor causing it is stress, he said.
Menon also pointed to the physiology of the Indians as another factor.
“If you look at the average Indian, they have a much higher fat content than an average European with the same Body Mass Index (BMI), which means the same height and weight, and that difference is quite staggering,” he said. .
The fat content of an average European is seven to eight percent, while that of an Indian is about 12 to 23 percent in terms of visceral adiposity, he said.
Something that was promoted before and is still relevant, and that is called the fat and skinny Indian. This means that the person will look slim from the outside, but his visceral fat content, which ultimately determines that the patient will develop any atherosclerotic disease and blockages, etc., is much higher for Indians compared to Westerners who have a much better muscle mass than the Indians, he said.
Family history plays a very important role, and especially if the mother had a heart problem at a young age, the chances of the children having it are reasonably high as well. Genes are something you can’t alter, no matter what you do, Menon said.
Regardless of the lifestyle you lead, if your genetic tendencies are extremely high, there is a strong possibility that sooner or later you will develop blocks. Therefore, it should be evaluated periodically beyond a certain age, he said.
Dr. Ramakanta Panda, a prominent cardiac surgeon and director of the Asian Heart Institute in Mumbai, also pointed out that genetic tendencies are an important factor.
Other common reasons for heart problems in young people include a strong family history of heart disease, coexisting medical conditions such as diabetes and hypertension, lifestyle problems such as smoking, obesity, stress, lack of exercise and environmental pollution, he said.
He said that sudden death is more common in young people because their body has not developed an alternative circulation.
This is not so in older people, as they develop blockages over time and their bodies have enough time to get used to the change, he said.
Daily exercise of 30 to 45 minutes can keep the body fit and free from many diseases and health conditions such as diabetes, hypertension and obesity, Panda said.
This in turn helps prevent heart disease. But he also warned young people against not hydrating their bodies enough before strenuous exercise.
When you don’t stay hydrated but exercise a lot and sweat, your blood thickens and can develop a clot. Also, exercising beyond your ability causes stress, which can lead to a ruptured artery. Young people should beware of this, he said.
Panda said regular screening tests are needed to identify the problem early so that proper treatment can be given before there is significant damage to the heart.
Common screening tests include electrocardiogram (ECG), 2D echocardiogram, stress test, CT scan for coronary calcium.
Cardiac screening tests are recommended once a year or once every two years after age 40 in the general population or after age 30 in the high-risk population, Panda said.
Dr. Mohit Garg, a consultant and head of the accident and emergency department at Global Hospital in Mumbai, said that if cardiac arrest is left untreated, irreversible brain damage occurs within three to eight minutes and death quickly follows.
Even in patients who are resuscitated or revived from cardiac arrest, post-cardiac arrest brain injury is the leading cause of death and the leading cause of long-term disability in those who survive the acute phase, he said.
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