: Lifestyle choices, lack of proper sleep, food and exercise causing rise in heart attacks #IndiaNEWS #Health Mumbai: Lifestyle choices, increased stress levels, lack of sleep, nutritious food and exercise

Lifestyle choices, lack of proper sleep, food and exercise causing rise in heart attacks #IndiaNEWS #Health
Mumbai: Lifestyle choices, increased stress levels, lack of sleep, nutritious food and exercise are primary causes of the rise in cases of heart attacks in relatively younger people, say experts.
The recent case of comedian-actor Raju Srivastava (58) suffering a heart attack has put the issue in spotlight again.
In May this year, noted singer KK (53) died of cardiac arrest after a concert in Kolkata.
Last year, actors Siddharth Shukla (40), Puneeth Rajkumar (46), Amit Mistry (47) died due to cardiac arrest.
Dr Nikhil Parchure, cardiologist at the Apollo Hospital in Navi Mumbai, told PTI that the heart attack rate has doubled in India in the last 20 years and more young people are now prone to it.
He said 25 per cent of all heart attack cases are being seen in people below the age of 40.
“Smoking is the most important among other risk factors like diabetes, high blood pressure and cholesterol. Lifestyle choices, lack of sleep, nutritious food and exercise, and increased stress levels are probably responsible for heart attacks in young people,�? he said.
Also, COVID-19 has been recently responsible for an increase in heart attack cases among young people in India, he added.
Dr Ajit Menon, consultant, cardiac sciences at the Sir HN Reliance Foundation Hospital in Mumbai, claimed India is becoming the diabetes capital of the world, and said this is also why young people are prone to heart attacks.
The number of young hypertensives is dynamically increasing and the factor leading to it is stress, he said.
Menon also pointed out the physiology of Indians as another factor.
If you look at the average Indian, they have a much higher fat content than an average European of the same Body Mass Index (BMI), which means the same height and weight, and that difference is quite staggering,�? he said.
An average Europeans fat content is seven to eight per cent, whereas that of an Indian is almost 12 to 23 per cent in terms of visceral adiposity, he said.
“Something that was touted earlier and is still relevant, and that is called the thin fat Indian. This means the person will look thin from the outside, but his visceral content of fat, which eventually determines that the patient is going to develop any atherosclerotic disease and blockages etc, is on a much higher side for Indians as compared to Westerners who have a much better muscle mass than Indians,�? he said.
Family history plays a very strong role, and especially if the mother had a heart problem at a young age, chances of children getting it are also reasonably high. Genes is one thing which you cannot alter, irrespective of what you do, Menon said.
“Whatever lifestyle you lead, if your genetic tendencies are extremely high, there is a very strong possibility that you will develop blockages sooner or later.