Dear youngsters, take care of your heart

Kumaran P | NT

Shane Warne and Puneeth Rajkumar died young because of young coronary artery disease, which generally occurs to people who are less than 45 years old. There is a rise in such cases in India, especially among those with a family history of the disease. The early warning signs could be chest pain and breathlessness while walking. However, doctors also warn that some patients may not show any symptoms. Regular exercise, periodic health check-ups, a healthy diet, good work-life balance and adequate sleep is needed to keep your heart healthy and ticking, Kumaran P. reports.

Healthcare experts are worried over a rise in young people falling prey to heart attacks. Coronary artery disease (CAD) that occurs in people aged less than 45 years, also known as young CAD, is on the rise.

Cricketer Shane Warne’s untimely death has once again put the spotlight on young CAD. The recent loss of the sandalwood movie star Puneeth Rajkumar, was also due to young CAD.

Recent studies have revealed that there is a prevalence of 1.2 per cent of CAD cases among those aged below 45 years. If we look at the ethnicity-wise vulnerability, South Asians especially Indians are more vulnerable to have young CAD and the prevalence is 5-10 per cent.

Dr Jagadish Hiremath, Chairman, Aasra Hospital said, “Just as older CAD subjects, conventional risk factors such as smoking, diabetes, hypertension, obesity and family history seem to play an equal role in causing young CAD. Among all, the most commonly associated risk factor is smoking in young CAD. Several genes associated with lipoprotein metabolism are now found to be associated with young CAD-like cholesteryl ester transfer protein (CETP) gene, hepatic lipase gene, etc., biomarkers such as lipoprotein, gamma-glutamyl transferase, vitamin D2 etc… seem to be associated with premature CAD in some newer studies.”

If properly treated, CAD in the younger population has better outcomes. In terms of prognosis two risk factors, obesity and current smoking are associated with poorer outcomes. Angiographic studies show a predominance of single-vessel disease in young CAD patients.

Although taking necessary precautionary measures is recommended to prevent new CAD, secondary prevention is shown to play an important role in the prevention of further attacks. It is high time that we start screening all individuals at 40 regularly and earlier in symptomatic patients. The most important thing is that it is treatable in all diagnosed cases and preventable in most.

Early onset of diabetes
“There is a definite change in the epidemiology of heart disease or other vascular events in recent years. This is especially true in Indians where we see heart disease at least a decade earlier than before. This can be directly attributed to an increase in the incidence of risk factors and changes in lifestyle. Incidence diabetes, hypertension and high cholesterol are on the rise as compared to the past. We also have seen a much earlier onset of such risk factors in recent times as compared to the past. These conditions mostly remain asymptomatic which makes it harder to diagnose without screening, and often remain untreated for a long time. Obesity is also more prevalent compared to the olden days, which is again a very important cause of heart diseases. With globalisation, citizens’ lifestyle has taken a bad turn with very limited physical activity, increase consumption of non-nutritious unhealthy food and smoking. The pandemic has contributed immensely to these changes in lifestyle which have again increased incidence of risk factors,” Dr Naveen Chandra Consultant Cardiologist, Manipal Hospital Varthur road.

Role of genes
Dr Sreekanth B. Shetty, Senior Consultant & Head - Interventional Cardiology, Sakra World Hospital said, “Some youngsters might get premature coronary artery disease due to genetic history of familial cholesterol and hypercholesterolemia and this issue runs in the family line and young individuals might get heart-related issues. Apart from this, young - sters generally succumb to heart attacks due to poor lifestyle, which includes lack of exercise, obesity, bad diet and stress. Smoking and lack of good sleep is the major contributor to heart attacks in individuals.”

Everyone needs to be aware that heart attacks are not a disease pertaining to the aged and it can occur to young people as well. They need to strike a good worklife balance and they need to spend sufficient time for themselves and the family. They need to take a generous amount of time for exercising and keeping their body fit and completely avoid smoking and binge drinking alcohol. Following a strict diet and maintaining good body weight will eradicate the risk of heart attacks in youngsters,” added Dr Shetty.