Bajaj Electricals managing director Anant Bajaj. Bajaj, who was 41 years old, died of a heart attack on Friday evening.
Although coronary heart disease primarily occurs in patients over the age of 40, younger men and women can be affected. Most studies have used an age cut-off of 40 to 45 years to define “young” patients with heart disease or acute heart attack said Padma Shri Awardee Dr KK Aggarwal President Heart Care Foundation of India
In the Framingham Heart Study, the incidence of a heart attack over a 10-year follow-up was 12.9/1000 in men 30 to 34 years old and 5.2/1000 in women 35 to 44 years old.
The incidence of heart attack was eight to nine times greater in men and women aged 55 to 64 years. In other studies, 4 to 10 percent of patients with MI were ≤40 or 45 years of age.
Although heart attacks are uncommon entity in young patients, it constitutes an important problem for the patient and the treating physician because of the devastating effect of this disease on the more active lifestyle of young patients.
Younger patients with heart disease more often have a family history of premature heart disease
Cigarette smoking is the most common and most modifiable risk factor in young patients.
Diabetes mellitus and hypertension appear to be less common in young patients with heart disease than in older patients.
Other risk factors such as cocaine use, factor V Leiden, and oral contraceptive (females) use are more common in younger individuals
The clinical presentation of heart disease in younger patients is different from that in older patients.
A higher proportion of young patients do not experience chest pain and often heart attack is the first manifestation of heart disease.
Younger patients have a higher incidence of normal coronary arteries, mild luminal irregularities, and single vessel blockage than do older patients.
Mantra:
- if you can walk 500 meters in six minutes you do not have significant underlying heart disease
- Every one should learn CPR
