Concern over heart attack among the young

PARAG BISWAS, SNS, SILIGURI, 11 SEPTEMBER 21 : There was a time when we believed that heart attacks can only happen to senior people. Age was almost always considered the biggest risk factor for heart-related ailments. But after the heart attack and subsequent angioplasty of the 49-year-old former Indian cricket captain Sourav Ganguly on 3 January and the recent deaths of Big Boss 13 winner Sidharth Shukla, 40, actor Amit Mistry, 47, and filmmaker Raj Kaushal, 49, due to heart attacks, it seems this does not hold true any longer.

An upsurge in cardiac arrests and a corresponding uptick in the number of heart-related deaths among youngsters over the past few years has indeed sent shock waves across north Bengal as in various parts of the country and have shaken people to the core, especially those suffering from heart ailments at an early age.

Statistics are proof that heart ailments and cardiac arrests are occurring in many people at an early age. According to a research conducted in 2018, the rate of heart attacks in patients aged between 35 and 54 has increased from 27 percent to 32 percent. A more recent study has found that a heart attack, known earlier as a disease of the old, is now strikingly common in people aged 40 and below.

According to Dr Indrajit Mandal, Associate Professor, Department of Cardiology, North Bengal Medical College and hospital, the proportion of people below 40 having a heart attack has been increasing, rising by 2 percent each year for the last ten years. "Twenty years ago, heart attacks would mostly happen to senior citizens. Today, age is really no bar. Even a few years back, it used to be incredibly rare to see anyone under age 40 come in with a heart attack and some of these people are now in their 20s and early 30s," he said.

Dr Mandal said that the most important factor that was responsible for the uptick in the number of deaths due to heart-related diseases among young people was the genetic factor. "Heart attacks can no doubt happen to people across age groups. But it must be remembered that if you have it in your genes, its likelihood naturally increases. Studies have shown that a high genetic risk for heart disease almost doubles the risk for a cardiovascular event," he said.

According to Dr Mandal some of the other factors were obesity, sedentary lifestyles, improper dietary habits and the increasing incidence of type 2 diabetes. "Lets face the facts- as a generation, our priorities are altogether different from the previous ones. We take a vehicle even to a place half a-kilometer away, we sit at our working tables for hours together, we eat out of packets and drink out of cans, we party like there's no tomorrow, and we sleep at unearthly hours. The pandemic has made our case worse, because the work-from-home culture has become even more pronounced today. That means we experience bucket loads of stress all the time but do not exercise at all. There's a lack of movement, and we've become more sedentary than ever. Our simple sugar in take has also increased over the years, which is a major reason for the rise in incidence of type 2 diabetes. Unfortunately this is a perfect recipe to invite doom and gloom into our lives," he pointed out.

The senior cardiologist felt that it was always better to arrest the risk factors, and make good habits a part of our lives early on. "Since genetic factors play a crucial role in high blood pressure, heart disease, and other related conditions, those who have a family history of cardiac arrest or death, should be doubly careful from childhood or at least adolescence. In such cases, primordial prevention is extremely important," he said.

Dr Mandal emphasized that even if the genetic risk factors did not apply to a person, primordial prevention was critical, in order to reduce the risk of cardiovascular diseases. " It is always better to be safe than sorry. That's exactly why it is essential to keep a check on obesity, poor diet, lack of exercise, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol. We should check our thyroid, Vitamin D, blood sugar, blood pressure, uric acid, cholesterol and triglyceride levels at regular intervals. We should strictly follow the advice of medical experts in this regard," he suggested.

The renowned cardiac expert maintained that regular physical exercise was the key to a healthy heart. "Regular physical exercise reduces your risk of having a heart attack or developing heart disease. One should start exercising regularly with simple isotonic exercises like walking, running, jogging, skipping and cycling for not more than five minutes every day and then gradually get into other cardio-vascular friendly isometric and mixed exercises such as squatting and push-ups under the guidance and advice of qualified experts. These exercises will strengthen the heart muscle, keep weight under control and ward off artery damage from high cholesterol, high blood sugar and high blood pressure that can lead to heart attack or stroke," he said.

Outlining the dietary modifications to keep our hearts healthy, Dr Mandal said that every person should follow a strict diet plan to prevent cardiac problems. 'We should not consume excess of salt and fried foods as well as simple carbohydrates which are found in foodstuffs such as fast foods, chips, biscuits, ice-creams, cold-drinks, packaged glucose powders, sugarcane juice, potatoes, yams, beets, carrots and taro roots. We should also avoid egg-yolk and red-meat and take chicken and other bird-meat only We should eat plenty of fruits, fishes and fish oils which contain a lot of Omega 3 fatty acids, which prevent the deposition of cholesterol and inflammation of arteries, which in turn, prevents heart attack. We should also, most importantly, give up smoking and drinking alcohol, which should be banned immediately in Asian countries, where people are more prone to heart diseases. The example of Bihar, where alcohol has been banned since April 1, 2016, should be emulated by other governments in India," he opined.

Dr Mandal concluded that the basic idea was to have less sodium and more potassium in our bodies and keep our arteries healthy. "The general public should follow the decades-old Bengali medical adage that is very popular among the medical fraternity in Bengal. It says: "Sangsar Valo Thake Ramonir Gune, Shorir Vale Thake Dhamonir Gune" (As a virtuous housewife keeps her house happy, a healthy system of arteries keeps a body healthy)," he said.