Young people are also at risk of developing heart conditions: Experts

The recent death of a 26yearold man in Hyderabad who collapsed while playing badminton and succumbed to a suspected heart attack has once again drawn attention to the growing incidence of heartrelated issues among young peopleHealth experts advise young working professionals especially those in highstress sectors like IT to adopt healthier lifestyles from an early age and undergo regular preventive health checkups to reduce the riskSagar Bhuyar Senior Consultant Cardiologist at Kamineni Hospitals in Hyderabad on Sunday said the heart conditions that were once seen in individuals in their 60s are now increasingly being diagnosed in people as young as 30Slow narrowing of the blood vessels has shifted to third 30s and fourth decade 40s from 60s Reason is sedentary lifestyle food habits and stress he told PTIEven school students today are experiencing stress due to a highly competitive environment and the pressure to perform he pointed outIf a person is relaxed the impact of stress on the heart is less But if the person is stressed the heart bears the brunt he saidRadha Priya Consultant Interventional Cardiologist with Apollo Hospitals echoed similar concernsIn recent times she said people in their late 20s and early 30s are being found with significant blockages in blood vessels if not heart attacksThe heart issues are not any more a problem of elderly Priya told PTI on SundayShe noted that there are modifiable and nonmodifiable risk factors in heart problems The nonmodifiable factors include age of the patient and family history of heart problemsBut diabetes hypertension smoking alcohol intake sedentary lifestyle excess of junk and oily food stress these are modifiable risk factors Obesity is one of the major risk factors Each one of them are interdependentShe pointed out that a sedentary lifestyle stress and habits like smoking mdash common among employees in the IT sector mdash are major risk factorsWhen the body is under chronic stress it causes inflammation which would lead to changes inside the blood vessels she saidThe senior doctor suggested health check ups from the age of 20s physical activities like simple walking and eating in moderation as some of the ways to prevent heart problemsBut now we see a lot of people binging on whatever is available Because of the instant shopping apps everything is at your doorstep in five minutes You see a lot of biryani being sold around You dont know what oil they are using In the long term these things are going to be a trigger Radha Priya saidQuoting WHO Bhuyar said prevention of heart diseases should start in childhood itself Children in sixth or seventh standard should know that they should not eat unhealthy foodUnderscoring the importance of health education for kids he said Now children are not thinking much about the future health issues They have to think that they may get problems in the third age 30 and fourth decade age 40 Physical activity should be promoted among children Many of them are now addicted to gadgetsParents and teachers should train the children on facing problems and dealing with lifes situations he saidYoung working professionals especially those working late hours or in shifts should try to incorporate physical activity in their routine besides exposing themselves to sun and natural light to boost immunity he addedOn incidents where seemingly healthy young individuals suddenly collapse during intense physical activity such as playing sports Radha Priya said that some of these cases could be isolated incidentsHowever there could be an underlying heart condition which was not diagnosed among other reasons leading to incidents like sudden collapseNoting that being fit and being healthy are not the same she said basic health check ups should be conducted irrespective of the body structure even if a person is lean to know their health statusThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever