Actor Sidharth Shukla diedon Thursday (September 2) at the age of 40. A heart attack was reported to bethe reason behind his sudden demise. However, doctors at the Cooper Hospitalhave said the reason behind his shocking death will be established after thepost-mortem. Earlier, actress Mandira Bedi’s director husband Raj Kaushal dieddue to a cardiac arrest at the age of 49. Gujarati film actor Amit Mistry alsosuccumbed to a heart attack in April this year at the age of 47.
The death ofcelebrities who are in their 40s due to heart attack points to a larger trendof relatively younger people suffering from cardiac arrest. It was earlierbelieved that heart disease is a problem suffered by senior people - who arealready weak and often have comorbidities. But not anymore.
Research presented atthe 2019 conference of the American College of Cardiology states that in theUnited States, 20 percent of people who have a heart attack are 40 years old oryounger; a rate that has risen 2 percent a year for the last 10 years. Thestudy also observed that young patients with heart attacks are at a similarrisk of dying as compared to their older counterparts. The trend of decrease inthe age group suffering from cardiovascular diseases is observed in othercountries as well.
"It has been quitedistressing to see such a high incidence of heart disease in India. Recentlyheart ailments have become quite common among young people. According toCardiology Society of India, 25 percent of people who die of heart attack areunder the age of 35 years," shares Dr Manoj Kumar, Senior DirectorCardiology, Head of interventional cardiology, Max hospital Delhi.
He further adds,"A study published in Lancet recently concluded that people born after1970 are at an elevated risk of developing heart disease because they areinclined to lead a sedentary lifestyle."
Unhealthy eating withno or limited physical activity can also trigger the risk."
He added that smokingis a major health risk.
"One of themodifiable risk factors is smoking. As we know smoking kills and it affects thevital organs of the body. In many young patients, smoking is a common concernreported these days," Dr. Udyavar said.