Listen to your heart before going to the gym

Former Chief Minister HD Kumaraswamy made an important suggestion to young people on Friday. He urged young people who practice difficult workouts to see doctors to analyze their body condition before going to the gym. While many young people suffer from heart attacks, doctors advise people, especially young people, to be careful and keep their health in mind.

It will be prudent to get a proper heart evaluation before signing up for a gym program. An ECG, an Echo and a stress test (TMT / treadmill) should be sufficient to eliminate the high-risk group. Applicants with a history of syncope, a family history of sudden death, should be very careful not to attend a gym until they are assessed, Dr. Sunil Kumar (Consultant- Cardiology, Columbia Asia Hospital, Hebbal). He told the Bangalore Mirror: “Moderate exercise is necessary to stay in shape. Dynamic exercises like cardio help a person to be in good shape. Even endurance exercises like picking up small weights and doing push-ups are beneficial. It is when endurance exercise is done in excess that it poses a threat as it leads to a stable blockage of the heart which can become unstable at any time and cause a heart attack. In fact, deaths in gyms are common as there may be underlying asymptomatics that go undiagnosed. Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), asymmetric septal hypertrophy, mitral valve prolapse and arrhythmic tendency. Most deaths are arrhythmic and few are caused by acute coronary syndrome. ”

For people over 40, it is important to get a proper heart assessment before enrolling in a gym program. People who have had a covid-19 infection should also get a heart evaluation and a green signal from a cardiologist or doctor before engaging in a gym workout, Dr. Raghvendra Chikatoor (HOD and Senior Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Department of CTVS and Transplant surgery, BGS Gleneagles Global Hospital).

Lifestyle a major challenge

When we hear about cases of younger people who have lost their lives due to a heart attack, this problem is highlighted. Dr. Sanjay Bhat (senior consultant, Interventional cardiology, Aster CMI Hospital) said: “Heart attacks are increasingly noticeable in young adults. This can be attributed to factors like stressful lifestyle, lack of sleep, willingness to compete for goals, unhealthy lifestyle like smoking, and use of intoxicants like cocaine and marijuana. Excess training and consumption of anabolic steroids for bodybuilding also increase the risk. Our eating habits also play a major role, just as consuming foods high in fat and processed foods loaded with sodium and trans fats can affect our heart health. All of these increase the tendency for blood clots to form in our body, thus increasing the risk of heart attack due to coronary thrombosis.

Due to the recent covid pandemic, people who exercised also reduced their activity level and became sedentary. Smoking has increased dramatically among young people. Stress levels have increased and there is no work-life balance among IT professionals, said Dr Divya Marina Fernandes (consultant – specialist in interventional cardiology and heart failure, hospital Aster RV).

“As a result, there is an early onset of diabetes and hypertension in young people, which goes unnoticed. There are a few heart rhythm and heart muscle disturbances that can be detected by regular ECG and ultrasound screening which, if not treated in time, lead to sudden cardiac death. People have stopped getting regular checkups for fear of a pandemic, delaying the diagnosis of heart attacks. The consumption of narcotics and recreational drugs has also increased significantly. They can lead to heart attacks on their own and very rapid heart rates called ventricular arrhythmias resulting in sudden cardiac death even in the absence of cholesterol deposits, ”she said.