The recent death of a 26-year-old man in Hyderabad, who collapsed while playing badminton and succumbed to a suspected heart attack, has once again drawn attention to the growing incidence of heart-related issues among young people.
Health experts advise young working professionals, especially those in high-stress sectors like IT, to adopt healthier lifestyles from an early age and undergo regular preventive health check-ups to reduce the risk.
Sagar Bhuyar, Senior Consultant Cardiologist at Kamineni Hospitals in Hyderabad, on Sunday said the heart conditions that were once seen in individuals in their 60s are now increasingly being diagnosed in people as young as 30.
“Slow narrowing of the blood vessels has shifted to third (30s) and fourth decade (40s) from 60s. Reason is sedentary lifestyle, food habits and stress,” he told PTI.
Even school students today are experiencing stress due to a highly competitive environment and the pressure to perform, he pointed out.
“If a person is relaxed , the impact of stress on the heart is less. But, if the person is stressed, the heart bears the brunt,” he said.
Radha Priya, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist with Apollo Hospitals, echoed similar concerns.
In recent times, she said people in their late 20s and early 30s are being found with significant blockages in blood vessels if not heart attacks.
“The heart issues are not any more a problem of elderly,” Priya told PTI on Sunday.
She noted that there are modifiable and non-modifiable risk factors in heart problems. The non-modifiable factors, include age of the patient and family history of heart problems.
“But, diabetes, hypertension, smoking, alcohol intake, sedentary lifestyle, excess of junk and oily food, stress, these are modifiable risk factors. Obesity is one of the major risk factors. Each one of them are interdependent.”
She pointed out that a sedentary lifestyle, stress, and habits like smoking — common among employees in the IT sector — are major risk factors.
When the body is under chronic stress, it causes inflammation which would lead to changes inside the blood vessels, she said.
The senior doctor suggested health check ups from the age of 20s, physical activities like simple walking and eating in moderation as some of the ways to prevent heart problems.
“But, now we see a lot of people binging on whatever is available. Because of the instant shopping apps, everything is at your doorstep in five minutes. You see a lot of biryani being sold around. You don`t know what oil they are using. In the long term, these things are going to be a trigger,” Radha Priya said.
Quoting WHO, Bhuyar said prevention of heart diseases should start in childhood itself. Children in sixth or seventh standard should know that they should not eat unhealthy food.
Underscoring the importance of health education for kids, he said, “Now, children are not thinking much about the future (health issues). They have to think that they may get problems in the third (age 30) and fourth decade (age 40). Physical activity should be promoted among children. Many of them are now addicted to gadgets.”
Parents and teachers should train the children on facing problems and dealing with life`s situations, he said.
Young working professionals, especially those working late hours or in shifts should try to incorporate physical activity in their routine besides exposing themselves to sun and natural light to boost immunity, he added.
On incidents where seemingly healthy young individuals suddenly collapse during intense physical activity, such as playing sports, Radha Priya said that some of these cases could be isolated incidents.
However, there could be an underlying heart condition which was not diagnosed, among other reasons, leading to incidents like sudden collapse.
Noting that being fit and being healthy are not the same, she said basic health check ups should be conducted irrespective of the body structure (even if a person is lean) to know their health status.
This story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed, agencies. Mid-day accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability, trustworthiness, reliability and data of the text. Mid-day management/mid-day.com reserves the sole right to alter, delete or remove (without notice) the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever
