At what age you should start taking care of your heart? Here's what experts have to say

There's a growing concern as cases of relatively younger people suffering from heart problems are increasing day by day globally. Have you ever wondered at what age you should start taking care of your heart to avoid cardiovascular diseases (CVDs)?

As we know that CVDs are not bound to age. Elderly as well as young people can also suffer from heart attacks and strokes. Hence, it is important to take good care of your heart no matter what your age is.

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World health body noted that most CVDs can be prevented by addressing behavioural risk factors such as unhealthy diet, obesity, physical inactivity, harmful use of alcohol, tobacco use, etc.

But heart-related issues happen in kids, who don't have the above-mentioned habits like tobacco and alcohol use. So how to address such a situation?

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Dr Praveen Chandra, Indian cardiologist and the chairman, of interventional cardiology, heart institute, Medanta, Gurugram, India told WION that he doesn't want to "scare anybody" but, it is said that process of cholesterol deposition starts as soon as the "child is born".

He said, "That is why the family has to take care of the children. It basically means leading a balanced life, more physical activities."

Dr Chandra pointed out that a majority of kids are not playing these days and not going to the playgrounds. And at the age of 20-25 years, they want to hit the gym and the body doesn't know the endurance. And even then, then will do it for a short while and leave it.

It should be a continuous process in life from the very beginning. We should maintain some kind of discipline, and avoid junk food (processed food)," Dr Chandra concluded.

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Dr Rasheed Ahmed, a consultant in interventional cardiology, Manipal Hospitals, Jaipur, told WION that in India, heart problems "occur 10 years earlier than in the population of Europe and America, so we need to take care of the heart problems at an early age".

"Nowadays, heart attacks are common in the younger population also so that's why it is necessary to take care of your heart at an early stage," Dr Ahmed added.

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What are the early signs and symptoms that one can watch out for?

Dr Ahmed talked about the evident rise in heart-related problems in the younger population, like cases of celebrity deaths such as the untimely demise of Bollywood singer KK and Indian actor Sidharth Shukla.

Dr Ahmed added that people are dying of silent attacks, which means attacks without symptoms. Patients don't experience symptoms of chest pains and that they have a heart attack.

These types of silent attacks are common in elderly patients and those with diabetes. They are not common in young people and in young ones, there's mostly ignorance of symptoms.

As per the doctor, some of the symptoms that shouldn't be ignored are chest pain, heaviness in the chest, difficulty in breathing, excessive perspiration, etc.

Dr Ahmed suggested that in case of a heart attack, the best solution is to look for early symptoms and get a consultation accordingly.

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