Bhubaneswar: Gone are the days when cases of heart diseases were confined to old age. Doctors working in the cardiac departments in different government and private hospitals in the state claim that now more patients suffer from heart ailments from a young age.
Cardiologists blame sedentary lifestyle for this sudden change of trend. Doctors claim that most of the cases where youths are affected relate to Coronary Heart Disease which includes cases of heart attack.
Sushant Shaila, interventional cardiologist from the city said, “We now see younger patients coming to the cardiac care centres complaining of heart diseases. Change in lifestyles of the youths is to be blamed for this. Many such cases get aggravated due to unhealthy practices like smoking, drinking, sedentary lifestyle and others.”
Shaila added that smoking habits have now emerged as common problem which is capable of increasing the chances of heart disease manifold. “Studies have established that smoking can increase the risk of heart diseases. Indulging in such bad habits youths have resulted in them becoming more prone to heart diseases,” he said.
Other cardiologists claim that people, after the age of 35 and with pre-existing unhealthy habits, increase their chances of of developing cardiac diseases. According to doctors, smoking is the leading cause for the partial failure of the heart tissues in the long run.
Not only the number of youths suffering from heart diseases has increased, the number of patients with heart complaints also seems to have increased in different premier hospitals in the state.
At the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), Bhubaneswar alone, the cardiac department treats more than 150 cases on a single day. A cardiac patient who had been to the AIIMS cardiac department claimed that it takes more than nine hours sometimes to see the cardiologist at AIIMS due to the high rush of patients.