World Heart Day: 20-Somethings Can Also Die From a Heart Attack

India has the highest under-40 heart attacks, around 900 people under 30-years die from a heart ailment every day

A new study reveals that a tenth of all heart attacks happen under the age of 40. The findings of this study suggest that no age is too young to start monitoring diet and exercise (Photo: iStock altered by The Quint)

(3 million people die of heart diseases every year in India. One in 10 heart patients in the country is below the age of 40, that’s the highest incidence in the world. September 29th is observed as the World Heart Day across the globe, and you need to read why 30s are the new 50s for heart attacks)

When we were growing up, the face of heart attacks used to be our grandfather’s. Now it is our friends in their 20s and 30s.

Drop the fizzy drink. While you’re at it, trash the fries and the samosas too, because heart attacks are no longer an old man’s disease.

A Trinity Hospital study collated from OPD data of 2013 found that 900 Indians below the age of 30 are dying every day from heart attacks. That’s not all. According to an analysis of more than 3.5 lakh heart patients in the country by the National Interventional Council,  one in every 10 heart surgeries in 2015 was carried out on people below the age of 40.

So what’s happening here? Why is the young Indian heart under an attack?

Being Young Is Not the Same as Being Healthy

Men are designed to suffer from heart diseases more than women. In 2010, UK scientists uncovered special Y chromosome genes, inherited from fathers, that make men prone to heart attacks. Men also lack the hormonal protection of oestrogen that younger women get. (Photo: The Quint)

Five years ago, Pramod, a Mumbai-based animator, took the last local train to return home on the night of his 23rd birthday.

In the train, my chest felt a bit uncomfortable. I thought it’s just exhaustion or the fact that I had mixed drinks. But the pain did not subside when I reached home also. It wasn’t a throbbing pain, just a constant discomfort, and then vomiting. The next day, I went with my mom to the hospital, thinking it’s indigestion. But then the doctor dropped the bomb. 

Pramod, Heart Patient at 23

Heart attack at 23? Unheard of?

I see some three to four heart patients a month under the age of 40. The most shocking case – even to the medical fraternity – was that of an 18-year-old having a cardiac arrest in Mumbai. She wasn’t treated at my hospital, though.

Dr Ashish Contractor, Cardiologist

The demographics have changed. Blame the urban stress, the occasional puffs, sedentary lifestyle and a growing appetite for junk food – heart attacks in the early 20s or 30s are not rare anymore.

My whole family has been scared since then. But my lifestyle has completely changed. No more erratic work shifts. I eat all meals on time and without fail, brisk walk for 30 minutes every day.

Pramod, 23, Heart Patient

There are many things that Pramod has changed. The stamp of a heart attack is one thing he can’t. But why wait for a life-threatening episode to overhaul your lifestyle?

Related Read: 5 Surprising Signs That Indicate You Could Have a Heart Problem

Indians and Vegetarians at a Greater Risk

Indian diet is rich in saturated fats and very high in levels of refined carbohydrates. We consume fruits and vegetables at half the rate prevalent in other developed countries. And the mode of prolonged cooking we follow destroys 90% of the protective vitamins, folate – Centre for Chronic Disease Control in Delhi. (Photo: The Quint)

Millions of Indians are already suffering from heart diseases. Spicy food, high in oil and salt diet, lack of exercise, and the low intake of fresh fruits and fiber.

A recent study done by the Public Health Foundation found that oil intake in urban households has increased by a whopping 50% from the 90s to now. Fat intake rose from 42 gms a day to 52 gms in the last 12 years. No wonder, heart diseases are the single largest cause of death in India.

But young Indian masculine hearts are particularly at risk. According to the American Heart Association, compared to 5.6% heart attacks in under-40 age in the West, India records 12%.

There are indications that our arteries are narrower than the rest of the world. The ‘thrifty famine theory’ is also showing its effect. The shortage of food in the past has genetically programmed Indians to store fat more efficiently than other races.

Dr BP Goyal, Director, Cardiac Dept, Bombay Hospital

Vegetarians are predisposed to heart conditions as well.

Lack of vitamin B12, which by definition is primarily found in animal products, is a big factor for heart attacks.

Is Your Heart the Same Age As You Are?

With modern diagnostic tools and tests available across good hospitals in metros, heart attacks can be predicted with over 90% accuracy. (Photo: The Quint)

You may be sleek but do you have the agility and flexibility to run for the door when you’re sunk in your couch? Or the spring in your step to walk up a flight of stairs without panting?

Well, the reason can be, your heart is not the same age as you are.

The process of blockage of arteries starts as soon as you are born. But the speed at which that happens depends on the food you eat, the lifestyle you lead, the amount of exercise and your genetic make-up. So you may be just 30 years old, but your heart can be much older.

Dr BP Goyal, Director, Cardiac Dept, Bombay Hospital

But as Pramod says, in your teens you think you’re immortal. The healthy lifestyle gyaan is a hard-sell. His 22-year-old cousin, despite all family discussions, still orders the double cheese big Mac with fries.

Related Read: Can Exercise Really Hurt Your Heart?