Believe Heart Attacks Are Just For Old People? Tis Time To Think Again!

Health

- Dr. Manish Hinduja

Many young people, including celebrities like Siddharth Shukla, Puneeth Rajkumar and Inder Kumar, succumbed to heart attacks. This worrying trend is difficult to ignore because heart attacks were primarily a problem faced by the older generation a few years ago. It was a disease that rarely affected anyone less than 40yrs – now, one in five patients suffering from heart attacks is below 40!

Add to the above fact – suffering from a heart attack in your 20s or early 30s is more common than ever before. Between the years 2000-2016, the heart attack rate increased by 2% every year in this young age group. This also does not mean that suffering from a heart attack at a young age will have faster improvement outcomes. If you are in your 20s or 30s and have suffered a heart attack, the chances of you dying from a second major heart attack or Stroke is high, which is why this is a concerning fact. Ahead, we look at some risk factors that put individuals at risk of heart attacks, irrespective of their age.

Diabetes is a Critical Factor for Early Heart Attack

If a person has diabetes, they are 2-4 times more likely to die from heart disease than people who don›t have Diabetes. This is especially dangerous when the blood sugar is not controlled and kept within a healthy range. Since high blood sugar damages the blood vessels, and increases the chances of fats building up in the person›s arteries, the risk of Atherosclerosis and heart attacks also increase significantly. In addition, people with Diabetes also suffer from chronic health conditions like Hypertension and Cholesterol, which can also lead to coronary issues, including heart attacks. All these chronic conditions are increasing dramatically in young people, which is another grave cause of concern