An Alarming Trend: A Rising Incidence of Heart Attacks in Younger Adults

Apart from the chitter and chatter of the pandemic, these days, every other person speaks or knows of some young adult experiencing a Cardiac Arrest. The media often highlights a young actor suddenly dying of a Cardiac Arrest or a Heart Attack – the latest one being reality TV star Sidharth Shukla. Haven’t you ever wondering why the number of Heart Attack cases is rising among young and active people? Why do younger people, who work out six days a week, fall among the percentage of Indians under age 40 stricken by heart attacks each year?

Dr Haresh G. Mehta, Consultant-Interventional Cardiologist,  says that there are several reasons to worry. “Not enough young people take their risk factors seriously. Firstly, it is important to note that looking fit or going to the gym does not mean you are healthy or living a healthy lifestyle. Many young adults these days usually indulge in an unhealthy lifestyle. For instance, excessive stress, lack of sleep, alcohol intake, smoking, drug abuse, unnecessary and unsafe supplements, slimming pills, and over-exercise.” 

Dr Mehta says that these are not only unhealthy but cause multiple health complications. Now, the problem is most people come in with a sudden Heart Attack causing death. Therefore, being informed about the risk factors is of significant importance. Some key risk factors of having a heart attack at a young age include: 

• Substance abuse or excessive alcohol use
• Smoking
• High blood pressure
• High cholesterol levels
• Lack of physical activity
• Diabetes
• Poor diet
• Over-exercising

Now, the only way to avoid these health complications at an early age is a lifestyle change. Here are a few recommendations

• It is best to avoid over-the-counter supplements without consultation of a medical expert
• Stop smoking and alcohol intake
• Avoid addiction of any kind
• Try to practice meditation and Yoga to reduce stress
• Speak to your doctor for proper guidance on diet, supplements and exercises

At the end of the day, it’s essential to understand your risk factors – high blood pressure, waist circumference, unhealthy BMI, and work to correct them early. Start managing your health in your early 30s, watch your blood pressure, cholesterol, blood sugar levels, and ensure regular health check-ups. Also, check for any genetic risk factors and align your lifestyle in consultation with your doctor. Whatever we can do early on, the better. We must set good habits for ourselves and for our children. It is also paramount that we become aggressive about risk factor modification, or the Heart Attack rate in young people will keep rising.

It is also vital that the general public learns CPR (Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation) for the well being of society at large. Lastly, it is advisable for most public spaces like housing societies, gyms, malls, parks to have defibrillators that can act crucial to save people from sudden cardiac death.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.   

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These people can spread COVID-19 faster than others, according to study

These people can spread COVID-19 faster than others, according to study

Even though vaccination has begun across the world, we are still facing an upsurge in the number of people testing positive for COVID-19.

Lax measures, crowding and COVID fatigue can be to blame. However, another prime reason for the rising number of cases are superspreaders, ones spreading the contagious virus more than the others.

While the symptoms and presentation of the disease can be different for everyone, it has been known that there are some people who are more likely to spread COVID-19 to others, and possibly, fuel the spread of the pandemic. 

What defines a COVID superspreader?

COVID-19 transmits from one person onto another via respiratory droplets that collect on surfaces, which then spreads when a person touches the contaminated surface and then his mouth, nose or eyes. It can also spread via air if an infected person in your close vicinity sneezed or coughed.

While it is very easy for anyone to spread coronavirus, and equally easy for a person to catch the virus, through the course of the pandemic, it has been seen that only a few people or categories of people are responsible for the massive spread of the virus. Simply put, while some spread the virus to just a few, thre are other who are at risk of infecting huge groups, or spread the virus on a community level.

These are what scientists define as ‘superspreaders’ of the virus, or simply, a super emitter of the infection.

While what exactly makes a person a superspreader hasn't been investigated, but, epidemiologists believe the way a virus or any pathogen spreads is impacted by certain factors- including attributes like the shape of one’s body, and certain behaviours, such as loud talking or breathing fast, appear to have a major role in spreading the disease.

The above-mentioned factors may also determine how some people may be silently spreading the virus onto others.

In fact, the findings of the superspreader group also come at an interesting time, when the newer variants, considered to be more transmissible and many times more infectious are making deadly waves across the world.

According to studies, these are the people who have the highest risk of spreading the disease right now.

People with a higher BMI

A new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has observed that people suffering from obesity, that is the ones who have a higher Body Mass Index (BMI) are more at risk of spreading COVID onto others.

The reason? People with high BMI are capable of exhaling out more respiratory droplets in the air, which can host infectious coronavirus particles.

The findings come after a survey involving 194 individuals was done, which observed that people who had higher BMI levels exhaled more bio aerosols than the ones who had a controlled BMI. 

Older adults with higher BMI also at risk

The rate of expulsion also significantly increased for the ones older in age, with higher BMI levels. As scientists have observed, frail or weakened immunity, along with more respiratory particles generated put this category at an exponentially higher risk too.

Young adults

Previous researchers have also seen that there's another category at risk - the young adults.

According to findings, not only do younger adults face a higher risk of catching the new COVID variant, they are more likely to miss out on symptom detection, can act as asymptomatic spreaders or silently go on spreading symptoms in the community.

Lack of preventive measures, such as flouting mask-wearing rules, incoherence to rules can also make them susceptible to the virus.

What's the best way to stay safe then?

Avoiding or isolating high-risk groups may not be a good option. Truth be told, you may never be able to pinpoint where exactly did you catch the virus from, despite measures and what studies say.

The best way to safeguard yourself from the virus remains to wear a good quality mask that covers your face, practice frequent hand-hygiene, make social distancing a part of your life and most importantly, getting vaccinated as and when it is available for you.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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Colorectal cancer on rise among young adults

With the rise in incidence of colorectal cancer (CRC) among adults, it could no longer be considered a disease of older people, according to a study.

Although men in older age groups are well recognised to have higher incidence of colon and rectal cancer, there is little difference in the incidence rates between men and women aged below 40 years.

For the study, published in the BJS (British Journal of Surgery), the researchers from the University of Bristol, UK, examined data on adults, diagnosed with colorectal cancer in England between 1974 and 2015.

The CRC, also known as bowel cancer, colon cancer, or rectal cancer, is the development of cancer from the colon or rectum (parts of the large intestine).

According to the study, of the 1,145,639 CRC cases among adults aged over 20 years between 1974 and 2015, 2,594 cases were in the 20-29 year age group, 11,406 in the 30-39 year age group and 42,134 in the 40-49 year age group.

The most sustained increase was seen in adults aged 20-29 years, the study said. The magnitude of increases was similar in both sexes and across income levels, it added.

The most pronounced increases was in the southern regions of England, according to the researchers and added, young patients needed more treatment to achieve similar outcomes than older people.

Changes in incidence rates could be used to plan future screening policy, preventative strategies, research agendas as well as increasing public understanding that younger people must be aware of symptoms of colorectal cancer, the researchers said.

The University of Bristol, the research university in Bristol, England, is ranked 49th by the QS World University Rankings 2020. It's ranked in the top 10 of UK universities in 2020.

This is only for your information, kindly take the advice of your doctor for medicines, exercises and so on.     

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https://gseasyrecipes.blogspot.com. feel free to view for easy, simple and healthy recipes    
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