Kill your stress to protect heart
dubai — It was a normal day at the gym, when 36-year-old Khaled’s trainer decided to escalate the intensity of his workout session.
“I felt fit, completely in shape and my stamina was at its best. So why not, let’s do it with increased lunges, ropes and sprints. It did feel good but towards the end of the session I felt nauseous and dizzy but didn’t want to fall and make a fool out of myself so I started walking.”
But after just a few steps Khaled felt a stabbing pain in his chest. “The air entering my lungs was so cold that I wanted to stop breathing and I didn’t know what was happening. I was panicking, people around me didn’t know what should be done. ‘Call the ambulance, NOW!’ A guy with a British accent shouted,” Khaled said recalling the fateful day. This was the last thing he remembered before ‘he died for nearly 50 minutes’.
Khaled was brought to the ER of Al Zahra Hospital Dubai while he was talking but all of a sudden he developed cardiac arrest, which means his heart stopped beating. His heart stopped beating for a good 50 minutes but because of the highly orchestrated and successful cardio pulmonary resuscitation, he was brought back to life.
Dr Syed Sakib Nazir, consultant – interventional cardiology, clinical lead in cardiology at Al Zahra Hospital Dubai, said: “This case is an example of young people having heart attacks in as early as in their 30s. We are seeing more and more young patients suffering heart attacks nowadays.
“In this case, Khaled, a fit man, developed chest pain while he was at a gym, which shows that physical and psychological stress can trigger heart attack. This clearly indicates that heart diseases are a dynamic process. One may walk in to the ER on his own feet (in a stable condition) but can become unstable anytime.”
“This case tells us that irrespective of age any kind of chest pain which worries a person, requires the person to reach the hospital as soon as possible, preferably by calling the ambulance,” Dr Nazir added.
A cardiac arrest is the condition when the heart suddenly stops working and fails to pump blood around the body. The most common cause is failure of electrical signals in the heart, a condition called ventricular fibrillation.
“When the heart stops pumping blood, organs such as the brain gets affected very fast. Patients with cardiac
arrest becomes unconscious and stops breathing and require immediate intervention in the form of resuscitation, which involves massaging the heart, giving oxygen, electric shocks and drugs,” said Dr Abdalla Alhajiri, a consultant Interventional cardiologist.
No medical history
In another case, a 29-year-old healthy computer engineer, who had been smoking for five years, yet had no previous medical history, developed sudden chest pain and broke into cold sweat while he was shopping with his wife.
He was rushed to the ER of a nearby hospital where it was found that he had suffered a massive heart attack.
Dr Wissam Al Sahli, consultant interventional cardiologist at the Royal NMC Hospital, who handled the case, said: “In less than 5 minutes after arrival in ER, the patient’s heart stopped beating. We did cardiopulmonary resuscitation for 8 minutes and after giving about five shocks, his heart was revived.”
Advising people to not ignore any kind of chest discomfort or pain, Alhajiri said: “Seek immediate assistance if you develop symptoms
Khaled, a fit man, developed chest pain while he was at a gym, which shows that physical and psychological stress can trigger heart attack.” Dr Syed Sakib Nazir, consultant – interventional cardiology, Al Zahra Hospital, Dubai
such as chest pain, palpitation, fainting episodes or dizziness and breathing difficulties.”
In order to avoid hear attack, it is better to plan ahead and maintain a healthy life style. These include healthy diet, exercise, weight reduction and stop smoking. Seek advice from cardiologist if you have a family history of premature heart disease or sudden unexpected cardiac death. Also, treat conditions that are related to heart disease, such as diabetes mellitus, high blood pressure and high cholesterol.