With the rise in the number of deaths due to heart attacks and other cardiovascular diseases, it has become evident that people are now more prone to such illnesses especially in India. Days ago, people were taken aback by the death of news reporter Kamal Khan, who reportedly died of a heart attack.
Earlier, it was believed that heart-related issues bother only the elderly and that youngsters were not that susceptible to heart attacks. However, this belief now seems to be fading away as more and more youngsters are falling prey to this illness. For instance, a young entrepreneur and founder of Grabhouse, Pankhuri Shrivastava died due to cardiac arrest last December. She was just 32. And before this, actors Amit Mistry and Siddharth Shukla had both died due to the same reason.
In most of these cases where a person suffers a cardiac arrest, some things are found to be common. First, families of the patient find themselves helpless as it takes mere minutes for someone to die of a heart attack and it gets difficult to get medical aid in time. Second, most of the victims are under the age of 45 years.
According to Dr Manjinder Sandhu, cardiologist and angioplasty heart Surgeon at Gurgaon’s Artemis Hospital, 30% of people who have experienced cardiac arrest were found to be under the age of 45 years. Dr Sandhu claimed that cardiac arrest is the reason for the deaths of around 12 lakh youngsters in India. He further said that this figure has only been increasing in recent years.
What is cardiac arrest?
According to Dr Amit Mittal, senior cardiologist at Apollo Hospital, cardiac arrest occurs when our heart stops functioning completely. He further attributed this condition to the imbalance between channels of sodium, potassium and calcium in the heart. Dr Mittal even said that electric shock can be an option to save a patient’s life during an arrest.
Dr Mittal further explained that the blood requires oxygenated blood which is transported through the coronary arteries. When there is a blockage in this artery, it fails to supply the heart with an adequate amount of oxygen and thus the heart stops working, resulting in a cardiac arrest.
Reasons
There’s a range of reasons like genetics, bad cholesterol, high-stress levels, diabetes, change in lifestyle, unhealthy food and excessive physical activities among others for the rising cases of heart attacks.
Timing is crucial
As per Dr Mittal, time plays a crucial role when it comes to saving a person’s life during cardiac arrest and the survival chances are very less if an electric shock is not given on time. Dr Mittal further advised that people should pay heed to indications like chest pain during physical activity and report it to the doctor on time. “If timely treatment is given, the chances of survival also increases,” he added.
