A cardiologist explains the reasons behind the increased heart attack cases among young people. He also suggests a few tests to check whether your heart is functioning properly.
Incidences of heart attack in India are rising among younger people. Many young people have died of heart attacks since the COVID-19 outbreak. A hospital in Mumbai has reported that heart attack cases in its emergency ward have gone up by 15 to 20 percent in the past 2 months. Concerningly, it is mainly affecting the younger generation, starting from around 25 years of age.
Dr. Ravi Gupta, Consultant Cardiologist at Wockhardt Hospitals, Mumbai Central, cited diabetes, a sedentary lifestyle, air pollution, stress, heavy workouts and steroid use as factors contributing to the rising number of heart attacks in young people.
According to him, Indians are genetically prone to heart attacks, and the adoption of a western lifestyle has increased the risk further.
Why Shouldn’t You Ignore Chest Pain?
Recently, a 28-year-old patient was diagnosed with a heart attack at the emergency ward of Wockhardt Hospitals, Mumbai Central. Before he was brought to the emergency room, he had complained of chest pain radiating to the left arm. According to Dr. Ravi Gupta, he had been under stress for the previous 3 to 4 days, which led to a myocardial infarction.
An ECG revealed an anterior wall myocardial infarction, and he was taken for a coronary angiography on the same day he was admitted. The angiography showed that the biggest artery, the LAD, was 100 percent blocked by a clot. The clot was removed and a stent was placed. The patient is stable, has recovered, and was discharged last week, the doctor said.
It’s a good reminder that a heart attack doesn’t wait for a convenient age. Stress, poor sleep and a packed schedule can quietly add up, and chest pain in a young person should never be brushed off as acidity or a pulled muscle.
What Does a Heart Attack Feel Like?
Most people picture a dramatic scene, but the real thing can be quieter. Common signs of a cardiac attack include:
- Pressure, tightness or heaviness in the center of the chest
- Pain that spreads to the left arm, shoulder, neck, jaw or back
- Shortness of breath, with or without chest discomfort
- Cold sweats, nausea or lightheadedness
- Unusual tiredness or a sense of doom
Symptoms can differ between people, and women, older adults and people with diabetes may have milder or less typical signs. If you suspect a heart attack, don’t drive yourself. Call for emergency help and get to a hospital right away, because every minute counts.
Can a Heart Attack Be Silent? Four Signs That Are Easy to Miss
Some heart attacks barely announce themselves. The symptoms are subtle, and they’re often put down to something else entirely.
1. Chest discomfort that doesn’t feel like pain
In a quiet heart attack the pain can be minimal or missing altogether. What people describe is more like tightness, a squeezing feeling, or a vague unease in the middle of the chest, and because it comes and goes it’s very easy to wave away. It rarely looks like the crushing pain people expect.
2. Breathlessness for no clear reason
Feeling winded while sitting still, or after climbing just a few stairs, can be a warning. Some patients also feel confused or disoriented. Most people blame a chest infection or plain tiredness, and that’s how the hours slip by.
3. Nausea or vomiting with no stomach cause
If you haven’t eaten anything odd and still feel sick, don’t assume it’s a stomach bug. Heart attacks are sometimes mistaken for gastric trouble or a viral illness, especially in women and people with diabetes.
4. A cold sweat out of nowhere
Breaking into a sweat when you haven’t exerted yourself, and when the room isn’t warm, deserves attention. It’s easy to blame the weather, but a sudden clammy sweat can be a sign that the heart is struggling.
So What’s Behind the Heart Attack Reason in India?
Doctors keep pointing to two big things: a sedentary lifestyle and poor nutrition. Young people living modern, desk-bound lives are hit hardest, and the list below shows how the pieces add up.
- Food choices. Fast food, packaged snacks and sugary drinks are everywhere now, and a diet built on them pushes up weight and cholesterol.
- Too little movement. Long hours at a desk and no real exercise are linked with coronary artery disease (CAD).
- Tobacco. Cigarettes, beedis and chewing tobacco all raise the odds, and plenty of people don’t count the smokeless kind.
- Stress and anxiety. Deadlines, long commutes and money worries keep the body on high alert for years.
- Family history. If a parent or sibling had heart disease early, your own risk is higher.
- Diabetes. When the body can’t make enough insulin, or can’t use it properly, sugar builds up in the blood and the arteries pay for it.
- High blood pressure. It’s very common, it often has no symptoms, and it’s closely tied to what and how we live.
- Delayed care. When people can’t get quick, decent medical help, small heart problems turn into big ones.
Heart Attack or Cardiac Arrest, Is There a Difference?
Yes, even though many people mix them up. A heart attack (some call it a cardiac attack) happens when a blocked artery cuts off blood to part of the heart muscle. Cardiac arrest is when the heart suddenly stops beating properly, usually because of an electrical fault. One can lead to the other, which is exactly why fast treatment matters.
How Can You Lower Your Risk of a Heart Attack?
You can’t change your genes, but a lot is in your hands. Here’s what actually helps:
- Healthy diet. Eat less saturated and trans fat, less salt, and fewer refined sugars.
- Healthy weight. Carrying extra kilos makes the heart work harder every single day.
- Regular exercise. Moving most days brings cholesterol down, keeps blood flowing well and helps keep blood pressure normal.
- Quit smoking. Smoking thickens and hardens the arteries (atherosclerosis). Stop, and heart disease risk starts falling.
- Go easy on alcohol. A little is one thing, but heavy drinking is hard on the heart.
- Manage stress. Yoga, meditation or slow deep breathing can take the edge off.
- Sleep properly. Poor or short sleep has been tied to heart problems.
- Control blood pressure. Food, exercise and, when needed, tablets can keep it in range.
- Get regular check-ups. Cholesterol, sugar and heart health should be checked from time to time.
What Happens in the Hospital When Someone Has a Heart Attack?
It depends on whether the artery is blocked completely or only partly.
Medicines come first. Doctors may use antiplatelets, beta-blockers and statins to stop clots, ease the heart’s workload and bring cholesterol down.
- Aspirin. Often given straight away so the clot doesn’t grow and the heart muscle is protected.
- Beta-blockers. Drugs like metoprolol or carvedilol slow the heart, lower pressure and cut the chance of rhythm problems.
- ACE inhibitors. They relax blood vessels.
- Statins. They lower the bad cholesterol that clogs arteries.
- Nitroglycerin. It allows more blood to reach the heart.
If an artery needs to be opened, there are two main routes.
- Angioplasty. A thin tube (catheter) is threaded to the blocked artery and the narrowing is opened up.
- Bypass surgery (CABG). Surgeons take a blood vessel from elsewhere in the body and use it to route blood around the blockage.
Do You Know Your Sugar and BP Numbers?
You should. Dr. Ravi Gupta advises that we should check blood sugar and blood pressure regularly, even if we don’t have any symptoms. You could have high sugar or high blood pressure without knowing it, because these two conditions often show no early symptoms.
The cardiologist also recommends a stress test, a 2D echo, a cholesterol test and an ECG to make sure the heart is functioning correctly.
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) killed more than 17 million people in 2019, and 85 percent of those deaths were due to heart attack and stroke, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). More than three quarters of all CVD deaths occur in low- and middle-income countries, it said.
When Should You See a Cardiologist in Mumbai?
Book a visit if you have chest discomfort, breathlessness on mild effort, unexplained fatigue, or palpitations. It’s also worth going if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, a family history of heart disease, or you smoke, even if you feel fine. If you’re looking for a cardiologist in Mumbai, the cardiology team at Wockhardt Hospitals can examine you and suggest the right tests.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is one rule for surviving a heart attack?
Get to a hospital as fast as you can and don’t wait for the pain to pass. During a heart attack, taking an aspirin may be beneficial because it keeps the clot from becoming larger, allowing the body to break down the blood clot. Don’t take aspirin if you are allergic to it or have been told to avoid it, and follow the emergency team’s advice.
2. Why are heart attacks increasing these days?
Heart attacks can occur due to factors such as a sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy dietary habits and high blood pressure. Stress, smoking, diabetes and air pollution add to the picture. Because many of these habits are common among younger people, the heart attack numbers keep creeping up in that age group too.
3. Why are young people having heart attacks?
Young individuals are more likely to suffer heart attacks due to sedentary lifestyles, inadequate nutrition, elevated stress, smoking and underlying medical issues. Indians may also be genetically more prone to heart disease. Prevention counts for a lot here, so regular check-ups make sense even when you feel perfectly fine.
4. Can a 25-year-old really have a heart attack?
It’s uncommon, but yes. Genes, an unhealthy lifestyle, drug or substance abuse and underlying medical conditions can all play a part, even at that age. So if a young person has chest pain or gets breathless for no reason, don’t wait and see. Get it checked.
5. Are heart attacks always painful?
Most of the time, yes. The usual picture is pain on the left or in the middle of the chest that lasts several minutes or keeps returning, often described as pressure, squeezing or heaviness. But some people feel little or no pain and only notice breathlessness, nausea or cold sweats, which is why silent heart attacks get missed.
5. Can I check for a blocked heart artery at home?
No. A blockage can’t be found at home, and doctors need tests such as angiography, a CT scan or an echocardiogram to see what’s going on. Home devices can track blood pressure and sugar, which is useful, but they can’t show whether an artery is blocked.
6. What is the main heart attack reason in India?
A sedentary lifestyle and poor nutrition are widely seen as the main reasons. Smoking, stress, diabetes, high blood pressure and genetics all contribute as well. Heart attack in India also tends to strike earlier than in many other countries, which makes prevention and early screening especially important.
7. When should I see a cardiologist?
See one if you have chest pain, breathlessness, palpitations or unexplained tiredness. Check-ups are also worth it if you have diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol or a family history of heart disease. A cardiologist in Mumbai or your own city can recommend tests such as an ECG, 2D echo or stress test.
