More young people at the risk of heart diseases reveals new data

Recently revealed data by Agatsa, a health solutions innovator, says more and more young Indians are at an increased of heart diseases due to a higher resting heart rate.

More youngsters are being hit by cardiac diseases © Shutterstock

Cardiovascular diseases are the number one cause of deaths globally according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). But what is more dangerous is, heart ailments are no more restricted to the older population only. Sadly, with increased stress levels and a shaky work -balance, India's younger generation too is being hit by cardiac diseases. The base of young cardiac patients is widening at an alarming rate all over the world. Recent data from Agasta, an innovator in the healthcare sector, also confirms this global phenomenon.

Trying to better heart health of Indians by their innovative devices, they collected data from over 70,000 ECGs taken by Agatsa's SanketLife device. Their findings suggest that more and more young people, between the age group of 24 to 27 years, are being diagnosed with heart problems and that majority of this population are men. It also mentions that the population below 60 years of age has a higher heart rate indicating the increased level of stress in youngsters. These findings have been confirmed by another study conducted on over 18,000 participants in 35 Indian cities by the Indian Heart Study.

"Cardiovascular deaths (CVDs) have emerged as a major public health problem in India, affecting people across all walks of life. Our data indicates that stress among the younger population is emerging as a major cause for heart problems and thus there is a need for immediate lifestyle changes. On World Heart Day, there is a need to raise awareness on the fact that CVDs can affect people of any age group and technology such as those that help monitor vital statistics can enable timely diagnosis and prevention," says Neha Rastogi, Co-Founder and COO-Agatsa in a press release.

Adding further on Rastogi's opinion, Dr. K K Aggarwal, President, Heart Care Foundation of India and Confederation of Medical Associations of Asia and Oceania (who was also a part of the study) said that stress could be the result of lowered heart rate variability. This is the sign of a poorly-functioning heart with sympathetic predominance. "People in the age group of 30 to 50 are increasingly susceptible to heart problems today given the fast-paced lifestyles and work stress. They also eat unhealthy food, smoke, drink and skip exercise, which are all behaviors linked to heart disease in the long term. There is a need to raise awareness on the impact of these habits and take timely action," added Dr. Aggarwal in his statement.

The data collected by the company reveals that the pattern of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is changing. The highest percentage of people in whom CVDs were detected belong to Tier 2 and 3 cities whereas it was traditionally thought to affect people in urban areas.