Three factors leading to spike in heart attacks among young people: Doctor

Faridabad, September 27, 2023:  Three lifestyle related factors – smoking, stress and high cholesterol – are leading to a spate of heart attacks among young people who are still in their twenties and thirties. This was said by Dr. Ranjan Modi, Senior Consultant – Interventional Cardiology at Sarvodaya Hospital, Sector-8, Faridabad, ahead of the World Heart Day.

“Any person who leads a sedentary lifestyle involving smoking and high levels of stress and cholesterol in the blood vessels has very high chances of sudden cardiac arrest or heart attack at a far younger age. These three are the most common causes of poor heart health in people below 35 years. Due to this, the incidence of heart problems in young people has gone up drastically, and we are seeing more and more patients in their twenties and thirties,” he said.

Said Dr. Ranjan Modi, who is a well-known structural heart disease expert: “A sedentary lifestyle can contribute to obesity, high blood pressure, and other risk factors for heart attacks. Elevated levels of LDL cholesterol can lead to the buildup of plaque in the arteries, increasing the chances of a heart attack. Chronic stress and high levels of anxiety can contribute to heart disease in young people by increasing inflammation and raising blood pressure. However, the good news is that lifestyle-related heart diseases are easily preventable if modifications in one daily habits and routine are done early. We are today finding that large number of people coming for routine health checkups are having very high cholesterol levels. Worse, they are totally unaware of the danger. It is strongly suggested that young people should get their cholesterol checked every year and take preventive steps to avoid clogging their heart arteries.”

He added: “Heart checkup is even more important for a subset of people whose parents themselves had heart problems before they had turned old – typically, father below 55 years and mother below 45 years. These individuals have very high chances of excessive level of cholesterol in their blood stream. It is recommended that they should start getting their cholesterol checkup done once a year typically from 20 years of age. They need to reduce their cholesterol rapidly to a level where it will not affect the heart, even if they have to take medications.”

The doctor said that people who smoke and have high cholesterol levels must be very careful of strenuous exercise, such as at the gym. “Individuals with risk factors for heart disease, such as a history of heart disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, smoking, or a family history of heart problems, have a higher risk of experiencing a heart attack during exercise. Such people should have a heart check up done before they join a gym or take up moderate intensity exercises like running , cycling , jogging or swimming instead of high intensity exercises to keep themselves cardiac healthy. In many countries, medical clearance, especially a cardiac checkup, is necessary before joining a gym, unlike in India where we keep coming across instances of young people collapsing in gym due to sudden cardiac arrest.”

Corporate Comm India (CCI Newswire)