What could precipitate heart attacks in the young? Experts give reasons

Over-exercise can cause rupture of plaques in the coronary vessels

ITDC INDIA EPRESS/ ITDC NEWS Widely conceived to occur in 'obese' and 'high-on-cholesterol' people, recent instances of young people 'collapsing' from heart attacks may tell a different, alarming story.

Many videos have emerged showing people doing everyday activities such as walking on the street, working out at gyms and dancing at weddings before seemingly 'dropping' due to a heart attack but eminent cardiologists feel the reason could be 'unaccustomed exercise' or 'over exercise' that could precipitate heart attacks in the young.

Over the past couple of years, there has been a surge in cases of heart attacks, especially between 25 and 50 years of age including several celebrities like Kannada superstar Puneeth Rajkumar, singer KK and the recent case of comedian Raju Srivastava.

This has brought to the fore some widely held misconceptions about heart attacks and cardiac arrests and the need to address them.

Biologically, what is going on?

"Heart attacks happen due to sudden blockages in arteries that supply blood and nutrition to the heart," says Dr Nitish Naik, professor, Department of Cardiology, All India Institute of Medical Sciences here.

"There is fat plaque build-up in the artery. It ruptures and enters the blood vessel, forming a clot and suddenly choking it," explains Dr Ajay Kaul, chairman of Cardiac Sciences, Fortis Hospital Noida and in-charge of cardiac surgery and cardiology.

But what causes this to happen?

"People who smoke, have a sedentary lifestyle, are morbidly obese, have poorly controlled blood pressure or diabetes or have high cholesterol levels are prone to develop such conditions," says Naik.

However, it is not as simple as that. Undertaking strenuous activity at the gym may also be the cause.

"Unaccustomed exercise can precipitate a cardiac arrest, therefore, untrained exercise should not be done," says Dr Viveka Kumar, principal director & chief of Cath Labs, Pan Max - Cardiac Sciences.