Rising rates of sudden cardiac arrests among otherwise healthy youth.

Cardiac arrest is not a newly found threat but the age group it’s targeting is surprising to say the least.  It has been observed that there is a 13% increase in the incidence of sudden cardiac arrest among youngsters in their mid-30s to mid-40s. Yes you read it right!! With the annual rise in teen/early adulthood smoking and alcohol consumption, young men and women especially the former have laid the foundation for a sudden SCA.

 What is SCA (Sudden Cardiac Arrest)?

Just like when we plug in and use multiple appliance at once, the abused circuit can break and you see a power loss. It is almost the same scenario the heart faces when poor lifestyle choices load up the heart unnecessarily and the heart suddenly gives up leading to sudden death.

For all the avid Web MD readers, the heart is an electrical device which generates electricity using a special equipment called the pacemaker. The pacemaker essentially regulates how the heart beats. When this delicate process fails and the heart doesn’t get the signal to beat. The body is starved of blood and oxygen which leads to death. IN SHORT THE HEART DOESN’T GET ITS ORDERS TO BEAT AS IT SHOULD.

What causes Sudden cardiac arrest?

• Coronary artery disease
• Problems with the valves of the heart or congestive heart failure.
• Cardiomyopathy (Problems in the way the heart muscle which prevents contraction and relaxation)
• Myocarditis or swelling/inflammation of the heart
• Congenital pacemaker problems
• Wolff-Parkinson-White syndrome, is another reason for faulty wiring.

Why does it affect young healthy people?

A very rare event but a possibility amongst younger people , often involves the athletes (surprising but true ) and gets reported in the press as well.

The most infamous case of SCA causing death was of elite marathon runner Jim Fixx (1984)

Common cause hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, often hereditary it makes the walls of the ventricle larger than the norm, making it harder for the heart to pump blood effectively through the narrower space. Furthermore during exercise the reduced blood flow can damage the heart itself causing ventricular fibrillation and sudden death.

How does one recognize an ongoing SCA?

•  Heart stops pumping blood to the rest of the body.
• Syncope or loss of consciousness almost always is present.
• Breathing stops completely
• The person loses posture and might fall.
• Pulse is undetectable.

How can one prevent Cardiac arrests?

Other the obvious already known ways such as lifestyle changes, smoking cessation, regular exercise and eating a clean diet.

Regular ECG should be performed for men with heart symptoms and older than 40, if needed Echo and the gold standard test Angiogram can also be performed.

Diabetes, hypertension, palpitations and other common commodities need to be managed by medications promptly.

With advancement of modern science, a simple procedure can allow doctors to implant an defibrillator in elderly patients with commodities to avoid SCA.

Also Read: Diabetes patients must take these 5 things

WISE WORDS FROM NEWSSAMACHAR CREW

There are only a handful of things in our control as mortal beings and the strongest leash is needed for the amount of stress we take in our day to day life.

Keep a tap on that and eat a clean diet coupled with regular exercise and you are golden for the most part.