Heart attacks are no longer a disease of the old, according to an Ei Samay report ahead of World Heart Day on 29 September. About 60 per cent of heart patients admitted as emergencies are aged 30 to 45, it says, including both serious STEMI and NSTEMI cases.

Udayshankar Das, interventional cardiologist at Apollo Multispeciality Hospital in Kolkata, said this shift in patients' ages has become a major public-health challenge, with many people in their thirties and early forties arriving in emergency with blocked arteries or massive heart attacks.

Inherited risk and family history top the list, he said, particularly among people of Asian descent. On top of that, inactivity, excess weight, tobacco and high blood pressure at a young age from undiagnosed obstructive sleep apnoea are silently inflaming young people's arteries and multiplying the risk of sudden clots.

For prevention he advises making a full annual check-up a habit from early adulthood, ideally before 25, including a lipid profile, blood pressure and blood sugar tests.

He also recommends at least 30 minutes of moderate aerobic exercise five days a week and a balanced diet. The report is by Ei Samay's Sayam Krishna Deb.

Photo: Neoflash / Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0)

Source: Ei Samay