Sudden deaths: Young hearts can stop, watch the junk plate

Hyderabad: With five deaths reported owing to sudden cardiac arrest in the last 10 days in Telangana, health experts have stressed on the importance of large-scale screening at public health camps and also an effective public health response. But what has left the citizens in a state of shock is the fact that each of these cases has videos showcasing the sudden nature of the death which appears to be happening when the deceased was on his normal day-to-day routine.

"There needs to be more focus on detecting lifestyle disorders in children and young adults. We ourselves have done a study recently in Kolkata and found high hypertension rates in youngsters. Similar studies and screening of youngsters needs to be taken up on a wider scale because salt and sugar intake through processed food has increased manifolds leaving a negative impact," explained Dr Santhosh Kumar Kraleti, a public health expert.

Dr Imamuddin Syed, head of the department of cardiology, Osmania Hospital, said that anyone with high stress jobs must undergo regular health checkups. "The age profile of those affected by heart attacks has changed from 40 years to 30 years and youngsters in the last 10 years have become more susceptible. So, everyone with even a single risk factor must be alert to the growing incidence of sudden cardiac arrest," he said.

Dr Santhosh Kumar said that basic hypertension scan is low cost and possible on a large scale. "It will help find those with hypertension. These patients can then be put through higher levels of scans like 2D echo, ECG, etc.," he said. Experts highlighted on mandatory postmortem in cases of young deaths owing to cardiac arrest in order to ascertain the exact reason.

"What has been clear in these cases is the sudden cardiac arrest aspect with no heart attack preceding it. This happens owing to five different kinds of heart-related ailments, some of which can be genetic as well. It is hence crucial to have postmortem for the cases so that there is documented evidence on what could have been the most common reason for the death occurring to find solutions," explained Dr MSS Mukherjee, senior cardiologist. He stressed on the need to start cardiac checks with ECG, 2D echo and treadmill test for those above 30 if they have any other comorbidities.