If not vaccine, what’s triggering heart attacks?

Now that an expert panel led by the Director of the Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences Dr KS Ravindranath has laid to rest any doubts about a link between the Covid-19 vaccines and rising heart attacks in districts like Hassan in Karnataka, the controversy should ideally be forgotten.

In the light of the rising cases, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah had hinted at a possible link between the attacks and the administration of the vaccine. His view was opposed by experts like Biocon founder Kiran Mazumdar Shaw who felt there was no such link.

Now, the expert panel formed by the Karnataka government itself to probe the rising deaths, has ruled out the possibility of a link and has instead pointed to a protective role the vaccines could have played in safe-guarding cardiac health of those it was administered to.

Yet the unexpected deaths due to heart attacks and related problems are really puzzling and more so because many of those who died are young people. According to reports, as many as 22 people died in Hassan district alone in a space of 40 days triggering fear and panic among the local population. Similar deaths are said to have occurred in other districts in Karnataka too.

The reason for the panic is understandable as almost everyone in the country had taken two or three shots of the Covid vaccine to keep the pandemic at bay in 2021-2022 when it was raging across the globe creating havoc and destroying lives.

In fact, it was widely considered to be the most apt protection against the dreaded pandemic.

Are there other reasons at play, which are playing havoc with the lives of these people and making them more vulnerable to heart attacks other than the Covid vaccine? Not surprisingly, the panel has also sought the establishment of a national registry and cardiac surveillance program to track sudden cardiac deaths among young adults besides advising the launch of routine heart screening in schools at 15 years to detect congenital and inherited heart conditions early.

The panel has also recommended public health campaigns to raise awareness about lifestyle-related risks and wants physical activity, smoking cessation, screen time reduction, sugar/salt intake control, adequate sleep, and stress management to be promoted to keep cardiac ailments at bay. In a competitive and fast-paced age, the urge to excel and come out on top for one, has forced the young to live in the fast lane 24/7.

Peer pressure, rising costs of living, work pressure and the tension to perform and outperform, are all critical factors which could be affecting cardiac health.

Dietary habits and sedentary lifestyles are also contributing factors to the increased incidence of heart attacks among youth, which has been happening even before the controversy arose and the vaccine was linked to cardiac health.

There is nothing more distressful and agonizing than a family losing a young adult in the prime of his or her youth and that is increasingly happening for which the reasons will have to be found and tackled now that the vaccine has been ruled out as the culprit.