However, in recent years, the onset of disease has migrated to earlier ages. Not only that, people who appear to be fit, individuals who take care of their physical condition, diet and exercise, and those who are in the prime of their life are suddenly dying due to a heart attack.
Recently, the death of actor Vikas Sethi, who was popular for playing Robbie in Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham, due to cardiac arrest has raised several questions. A few days ago, a 19-year-old bodybuilder died in Brazil of a heart attack. Matheus Pavlak was popular on social media after his massive transformation from an obese teenager to a fitness icon. He regularly participated in regional bodybuilding competitions.
This alarming migration of potentially fatal diseases to the younger population has been a topic of debate for several years.
What is causing young people's hearts to suddenly stop working? What are the triggers and risk factors hiding in plain sight? Is it difficult to lead a healthy lifestyle? What is pushing young adults towards death?
“In recent decades, trends have changed significantly. We are encountering more and more young people with heart attacks. Before, heart attacks “Blockages in the heart arteries used to be a disease of the elderly. According to a study, the first onset of heart disease in the Indian population occurs a decade earlier than in the Western population. In our practice, we see many patients between the ages of 30 and 40 with heart attacks,” he says.
Dr. Rahul Chhabria, MBBS, DNB – General Medicine, DNB – Cardiology – Jaslok Hospital and Research Centre, Mumbai.
“Lack of exercise, poor dietary habits, reduced consumption of salads, fruits and green leafy vegetables, bad habits like chewing tobacco, smoking etc., stress, inadequate medical check-ups, denial of the disease, high risk factors like diabetes, high cholesterol, hypertension and excessive screen usage like use of mobile phones, computers, tablets etc. contribute to early onset of heart diseases,” says Dr Chhabria and warns that “unfortunately, most of these risk factors are silent killers and do not cause any major symptoms. Therefore, until people get regular check-ups done, it is difficult to diagnose diseases like high cholesterol, high sugar levels, high blood pressure etc.”
Four C's to control cholesterol problems and reduce the occurrence of heart disease
According Dr. Maulik Parekh, Director, TAVR and Structural Cardiology Program, Coordinator, Section of Cardiac Sciences, Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital, MumbaiIt is important to make sure you do not fall prey to high cholesterol and the problems like heart attacks or strokes that come with it.
Dr. Parekh shares The four C's to prevent heart disease: monitor, consult, care and cure.
Heart failure in men and women: understanding the differences in symptoms
“Regular CHECKS They are very important. Once they are checked, I see many patients who make a blood package, the so-called package, which includes all the tests, a 20-page report every year from the nearby laboratory. But then they don't go to consult anyone. So that's of no use. So once the reports are checked, you have to CONSULT A doctor, preferably a cardiologist, on what steps should be taken and what else will be needed. Next comes CAREFULIf you have high cholesterol, you need to take care of your lifestyle. That care is exercise. That means at least 40 to 50 minutes of some amount of cardiovascular exercise every day, reaching ideal body weight, maintaining a healthy diet with less fried and greasy foods, basically avoiding a high-carb, high-fat diet, and definitely avoiding smoking. And fourth is CURE“The cure is in medication. Despite lifestyle control and all the other things, sometimes you will have to take medication to control your cholesterol and you will need to consult a doctor, take the appropriate medication and obviously follow up after a couple of months of medication after repeating the blood test to see how you are doing and whether you need to continue the medication or whether you can stop it or whether you can change the dosages,” explains Dr Chhabria.
Start health checkups from age 20
Experts recommend regular health checks starting at age 20.
“Cholesterol is not related to age. Even young people can have very, very high cholesterol levels. In fact, many young people have high cholesterol levels,” says Dr. Parekh.
“Do not ignore any warning signs in the body like chest pain, unusual burning in the chest, unexplained pain in the left shoulder or arm, unexplained sweating,” says Dr Chhabria adding, “Try to start doing some exercise daily, if you are too busy in daily life, try to walk more and try to walk 7500 steps daily which can reduce the risk of heart attack by 50%.”