Panaji:

A 29-year-old dental surgeon died of a massive heart attack after completing a marathon in Goa, his father said on Thursday. Dr Mithun Kudalkar from Vasco city in south Goa, died on Sunday, his father Dr Dynaneshwar Kudalkar, who is former chief medical officer of Mormugao Port Trust hospital, told PTI.

“He felt uneasy after taking part in the Goa River Marathon on Sunday. He died of a massive heart attack at home after completing the 21-mile event. Mithun had left home that day at 3:30am to take part in the race. He was a regular at marathons and had taken part in such competitions in several cities, including Mangaluru,” Kudalkar said.

“After he felt uneasy, the medical team stationed there checked him and he was fine. He had acidity and shoulder pain. He came home, went to sleep at 12 noon. At 1pm, he collapsed and we tried to revive him,” said Kudalkar, whose elder son and daughter-in-law are also doctors.

Mithun’s friend Jitendra Dhyani, who was running the full marathon, said the former was looking fine while waiting at the finish line.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Aligarh:

Children aged 14 and 8 – a boy and a girl – are among the five people who died of heart attack within 25 days in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh.

Mamata Chaudhary, of Arana village, used to go on a daily run as she was preparing for a physical test for a constable’s job in the state police. On November 23, while running in the morning, she suffered a heart attack and collapsed. She was 20. The doctors at the JN medical college said that she died of a heart attack.

“She had covered some 4-5 rounds of the ground. Thereafter, she collapsed on the ground,” said Jaykumar, Mamata’s brother.

Mohit Chaudhary, from Sirauli village, was a student of Class 6. The 14-year-old boy was preparing for the annual sports day competition. During a practice run on Friday, he suffered a heart attack and died soon after.

On Sunday, eight-year-old Diksha, a Lodhi Nagar resident, while playing with her friends suffered a heart attack and died.

Earlier on November 5, pediatrician Dr Lavnish Aggarwal went for his regular morning walk and returned home. As he was getting ready for work, he had a heart attack and died.

Twenty-nine-year-old Saiyad Barkat Haider died in his sleep on November 20. The reason: a massive heart attack.

“He slept at night and when I did not hear him snore, I checked up on him. I realised he is dead. The doctors said he died of a heart attack,” said Ahmad Mustafa Siddiqui, a cousin of Saiyad Barkat Haider.

A city cardiologist said that cases of heart attacks have increased since the pandemic.

“In the last two to three years after Covid, it has been seen that cases of heart attacks have increased among young people. Stress was a big factor in such patients,” said Dr Asar Kamal, Cardiologist, Kamal Heart Care Centre in Aligarh.

Aligarh’s Chief Medical Officer Neeraj Tyagi did not elaborate on the deaths but stressed on taking precautions.

Professor M Rabbani, of the Aligarh Muslim University, said deaths by cardiac arrest has increased by 22% over the last 20 years.

“If any healthy person dies within an hour, it is called sudden cardiac arrest. It has increased by 22 percent in the last 20 years. Mostly this reason is heart attack. However, some children have congenital heart disease. If it is not examined, further damage may occur. If a child complains of shortness of breath and chest pain, it should be examined immediately,” said professor M Rabbani, Aligarh Muslim University.

“The Indian Council of Medical research conducted a study. There was no increase in sudden cardiac arrest due to vaccination, according to the data. But those who were seriously affected by Covid, the chances of heart attack increases in them. Such people must get themselves screened, which consists of some minor tests,” the professor added.

(With inputs from Adnan Khan)
 

A 14-year-old boy died after suffering a heart attack while he was running in Uttar Pradesh’s Aligarh district this week. The incident took place on Friday in the Sirauli village when the boy, Mohit Chaudhary, was practicing running for a sports competition at his school.

The boy initially ran around two rounds with his friends. But shortly after, he collapsed.

The victim’s friends informed his family, who rushed him to a nearby hospital, but the doctors declared him dead, officials said.

The sports competition in the victim’s school was scheduled for December 7, officials added.

According to the police, the boy’s father had died in a road accident in August, officials said.

In a similar incident, a 20-year-old girl, identified as Mamata, also died after she suffered a heart attack while running in the Arrana village of Aligarh last month.

At least three more people have suffered a cardiac arrest in the last 25 days in Aligarh.

An eight-year-old girl suffered a heart attack while playing in Lodhi Nagar, while a doctor died due to a cardiac arrest as she was getting ready for work. On November 20, the son of former Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) Vice Chancellor SM Afzal, Syed Barkat Haider died of a heart attack.

Several incidents of heart attacks among youngsters have also surfaced in the past few months.

In September, a 9-year-old student died of a cardiac arrest while playing in her school in Uttar Pradesh’s Lucknow. According to the victim’s school, the girl fell unconscious while playing in the university’s playground, following which she was rushed to a hospital. However, she was declared dead.

Bengaluru:

A Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) bus driver died after suffering a heart attack while driving the vehicle on Wednesday. The incident took place around 11 am when Kiran Kumar, 40, was driving the bus during its final trip from Nelamangala to Dasanapura area, officials said.

CCTV footage of the incident shows the driver first leaning in the front and collapsing on his left side after suffering a heart attack. As he lost control of the vehicle, it brushed past another BMTC bus.

The bus conductor, Obalesh, quickly jumped into the driver’s seat to take control of the vehicle and halted it, ensuring the safety of all passengers.

Subsequently, the conductor rushed Kumar to a nearby hospital, where the doctors declared the driver dead.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the untimely demise of Kiran Kumar, a driver from Depot 40, who passed away due to a sudden heart attack on November 6. The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) expresses its deepest condolences to the family of Kiran Kumar. The corporation prays for the peace of his soul,” a statement by the BMTC read.

Senior officials to the BMTC also visited the driver’s family and provided compensation, officials said.

Individuals diagnosed with severe Covid-19 infections during the initial wave of the pandemic may face twice the risk of experiencing heart attacks and strokes, according to a new study. The research, published this week in the journal Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology and backed by the National Institutes of Health, revealed that the increased risk could persist for as long as three years.

The study found that those who have ever contracted Covid-19 are twice as likely to experience heart attacks, strokes, and mortality compared to those who have never been infected. Furthermore, for those who were hospitalised due to the virus, the risk increases to four times higher.

According to Dr Hooman Allayee, the study’s principal investigator, the cardiovascular threats posed by severe Covid-19 are comparable to those associated with type 2 diabetes. “Cardiovascular mortality trends from 2010 to 2019 were steadily declining. Then, all of a sudden, between 2020 and 2022, ten years of progress were completely wiped out because of Covid-19,” ABC News quoted Dr Allayee as saying.

The findings particularly underscore the risks associated with different blood types, revealing that individuals with blood types A, B, and AB are more vulnerable to increased cardiovascular complications from Covid-19, whereas those with type O blood exhibit a lower risk.

The research utilized data from the UK Biobank, which predominantly includes older, wealthier, and mostly white participants. However, similar studies in other demographics have yielded comparable results, according to Dr Allayee.

Emphasising the critical role of vaccinations, Dr Allayee stated, “No matter what vaccine you received, just six months after the vaccination or booster, the chance of heart attack and stroke decreased. But immunity wanes over time, which is why you need boosters.”

Individuals who have had severe Covid-19, particularly those requiring hospitalisation, are urged to consult their healthcare providers about the potential long-term health implications of the virus. “It’s not going away, so we have to start talking about it. Stay on top of your vaccinations and boosters and get regular check-ups,” Dr Allayee advised.

New Delhi:

A man died of a heart attack while performing in a Ramleela. Sushil Kaushik, 45, a resident of East Delhi was performing the role of Lord Rama when he suffered a heart attack.

Dressed in a beautiful bronze colour outfit with gold and silver detailing, Sushil was enacting a scene when the unfortunate incident happened. As seen on camera, he was sitting on his right knee, with arms wide open.

He got up, took two steps and suddenly felt uneasy. With a hand on his chest, he rushed to the backstage. He became unconscious and was taken to Kailash Deepak Hospital in Anand Vihar. He died of a heart attack.

Sushil Kaushik, son of late SK Kaushik, used to work as a property dealer.

Heart and a stethoscope with heartbeat (pulse) symbol in Light blue background
| Photo Credit: bernie_photo

Women’s heart disease risks, and their need to start taking preventive medications should be evaluated when they are in their 30s rather than well after menopause as is now the practice, said researchers who published a study on Saturday, August 31, 2024.

Presenting the findings at the European Society of Cardiology annual meeting in London, they said the study showed, for the first time, that simple blood tests make it possible to estimate a woman’s risk of cardiovascular disease over the next three decades.

“This is good for patients first and foremost, but it is also important information for (manufacturers of) cholesterol lowering drugs, anti-inflammatory drugs, and lipoprotein(a)lowering drugs – the implications for therapy are broad,” said study leader Paul Ridker of Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston.

Current guidelines “suggest to physicians that women should generally not be considered for preventive therapies until their 60s and 70s. These new data… clearly demonstrate that our guidelines need to change,” Dr. Ridker said. “We must move beyond discussions of 5 or 10 year risk.”

The 27,939 participants in the long-term Women’s Health Initiative study had blood tests between 1992 and 1995 for low density lipoprotein cholesterol (LDL-C or “bad cholesterol”), which are already a part of routine care.

They also had tests for high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hsCRP) – a marker of blood vessel inflammation – and lipoprotein(a), a genetically determined type of fat.

Compared to risks in women with the lowest levels of each marker, risks for major cardiovascular events like heart attacks or strokes over the next 30 years were 36% higher in women with the highest levels of LDL-C, 70% higher in women with the highest levels of hsCRP, and 33% higher in those with the highest levels of lipoprotein(a).

Women in whom all three markers were in the highest range were 2.6 times more likely to have a major cardiovascular event and 3.7 times more likely to have a stroke over the next three decades, according to a report of the study in The New England Journal of Medicine published to coincide with the presentation at the meeting.

“The three biomarkers are fully independent of each other and tell us about different biologic issues each individual woman faces,” Dr. Ridker said.

“The therapies we might use in response to an elevation in each biomarker are markedly different, and physicians can now specifically target the individual person’s biologic problem.”

While drugs that lower LDL-C and hsCRP are widely available – including statins and certain pills for high blood pressure and heart failure – drugs that reduce lipoprotein(a) levels are still in development by companies, including Novartis (NOVN.S ), Amgen , Eli Lilly and London-based Silence Therapeutics.

In some cases, lifestyle changes such as exercising and quitting smoking can be helpful.

Most of the women in the study were white Americans, but the findings would likely “have even greater impact among Black and Hispanic women for whom there is even a higher prevalence of undetected and untreated inflammation,” Dr. Ridker said.

“This is a global problem,” he added. “We need universal screening for hsCRP … and for lipoprotein(a), just as we already have universal screening for cholesterol.”

If you Google the terms “constipation” and “heart attack” it’s not long before the name Elvis Presley crops up. Elvis had a longstanding history of chronic constipation and it’s believed he was straining very hard to poo, which then led to a fatal heart attack.

We don’t know what really happened to the so-called King of Rock “n” Roll back in 1977. There were likely several contributing factors to his death, and this theory is one of many.

But after this famous case researchers took a strong interest in the link between constipation and the risk of a heart attack.

This includes a recent study led by Australian researchers involving data from thousands of people.

Are constipation and heart attacks linked?

Large population studies show constipation is linked to an increased risk of heart attacks.

For example, an Australian study involved more than 540,000 people over 60 in hospital for a range of conditions. It found constipated patients had a higher risk of high blood pressure, heart attacks and strokes compared to non-constipated patients of the same age.

A Danish study of more than 900,000 people from hospitals and hospital outpatient clinics also found that people who were constipated had an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes.

It was unclear, however, if this relationship between constipation and an increased risk of heart attacks and strokes would hold true for healthy people outside hospital.

These Australian and Danish studies also did not factor in the effects of drugs used to treat high blood pressure (hypertension), which can make you constipated.

How about this new study?

The recent international study led by Monash University researchers found a connection between constipation and an increased risk of heart attacks, strokes and heart failure in a general population.

The researchers analysed data from the UK Biobank, a database of health-related information from about half a million people in the United Kingdom.

The researchers identified more than 23,000 cases of constipation and accounted for the effect of drugs to treat high blood pressure, which can lead to constipation.

People with constipation (identified through medical records or via a questionnaire) were twice as likely to have a heart attack, stroke or heart failure as those without constipation.

The researchers found a strong link between high blood pressure and constipation. Individuals with hypertension who were also constipated had a 34% increased risk of a major heart event compared to those with just hypertension.

The study only looked at the data from people of European ancestry. However, there is good reason to believe the link between constipation and heart attacks applies to other populations.

A Japanese study looked at more than 45,000 men and women in the general population. It found people passing a bowel motion once every two to three days had a higher risk of dying from heart disease compared with ones who passed at least one bowel motion a day.

How might constipation cause a heart attack?

Chronic constipation can lead to straining when passing a stool. This can result in laboured breathing and can lead to a rise in blood pressure.

In one Japanese study including ten elderly people, blood pressure was high just before passing a bowel motion and continued to rise during the bowel motion. This increase in blood pressure lasted for an hour afterwards, a pattern not seen in younger Japanese people.

One theory is that older people have stiffer blood vessels due to atherosclerosis (thickening or hardening of the arteries caused by a build-up of plaque) and other age-related changes. So their high blood pressure can persist for some time after straining. But the blood pressure of younger people returns quickly to normal as they have more elastic blood vessels.

As blood pressure rises, the risk of heart disease increases. The risk of developing heart disease doubles when systolic blood pressure (the top number in your blood pressure reading) rises permanently by 20 mmHg (millimetres of mercury, a standard measure of blood pressure).

The systolic blood pressure rise with straining in passing a stool has been reported to be as high as 70 mmgHg. This rise is only temporary but with persistent straining in chronic constipation this could lead to an increased risk of heart attacks.

Some people with chronic constipation may have an impaired function of their vagus nerve, which controls various bodily functions, including digestion, heart rate and breathing.

This impaired function can result in abnormalities of heart rate and over-activation of the flight-fight response. This can, in turn, lead to elevated blood pressure.

Another intriguing avenue of research examines the imbalance in gut bacteria in people with constipation.

This imbalance, known as dysbiosis, can result in microbes and other substances leaking through the gut barrier into the bloodstream and triggering an immune response. This, in turn, can lead to low-grade inflammation in the blood circulation and arteries becoming stiffer, increasing the risk of a heart attack.

This latest study also explored genetic links between constipation and heart disease. The researchers found shared genetic factors that underlie both constipation and heart disease.

What can we do about this?

Constipation affects around 19% of the global population aged 60 and older. So there is a substantial portion of the population at an increased risk of heart disease due to their bowel health.

Managing chronic constipation through dietary changes (particularly increased dietary fibre), increased physical activity, ensuring adequate hydration and using medications, if necessary, are all important ways to help improve bowel function and reduce the risk of heart disease.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

A doctor whose speedy action saved the life of an elderly man at the Delhi Airport recently spoke to ANI and shared details of the incident. Dr Priya who administered cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) to the man who collapsed after suffering a heart attack, said that no one could take the place of God but can only work according to his will. She also highlighted that quick administration of CPR saved the man’s life.

Notably, Dr Priya, a resident of Rajasthan’s Ajmer, was waiting for her flight at Terminal 2 of Delhi’s Indira Gandhi International Airport when she and her husband witnessed an elderly man collapsing. Recounting the events, she told ANI, ”My husband Dr. Ramakant Goyal was with me and when we reached there, a doctor couple was also there- Dr. Umesh Bansal and his wife Dr. Dolly Bansal. When the four of us saw, he was completely unresponsive, his breathing had stopped, his heartbeat had completely stopped, and he was not breathing at all.”

Seeing his condition deteriorate, the doctors decided to perform CPR on him. Dr Priya added that within some time, he became stable and his pulse rate got better.

Watch the video here:
 

#WATCH | Ajmer, Rajasthan: Doctor Priya says, “First of all, no one can replace God. We are only God’s representatives, we can do any work by his grace and his signal. We were returning from Amarnath Yatra and our flight from Delhi was delayed by 2:30 hours…There was a man at… https://t.co/u87vZVBamNpic.twitter.com/1BKEyYkOcu

— ANI (@ANI) July 19, 2024

”Airport staff was also called, the personal staff of the airport started coming there…When he became a little responsive we called his wife…He was then taken by the airport personnel,” she added. 

Earlier, a video went viral showing the doctor frantically pumping the elderly man’s chest while constantly motivating him, asking him to “take deep breaths”. She performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on him until he gained his pulse back. The swift and decisive intervention by the doctor not only saved a precious life but also garnered appreciation from the online community.

CPR is a first aid procedure that can help someone in cardiac arrest by distributing oxygen in their body until emergency help arrives