Heart attack, increasingly more frequent in young people

Acute myocardial infarction, or heart attack, is occurring increasingly more often in young people, says head of the Cardiology Department 2 at the Bucharest Emergency Teaching Hospital(SUUB) Dragos Vinereanu, who recommended on September 29, World Heart Day, avoiding stress, quitting smoking, and taking daily exercise to prevent cardiovascular diseases.

"We have people every day under 40, even under 30, with acute myocardial infarction. Therefore, this extremely severe disease that kills people is increasingly more often a common occurrence in young people. In addition, all the risk factors that affects the heart - high blood pressure, diabetes, increased cholesterol - has become increasingly more prevalent in young people," Vinereanu said in a Facekooc post on the hospital's page.

In order to have a healthy heart, he recommends giving up smoking, because it is the main risk factor in myocardial infarction, but also avoiding stress, as chronic, daily stress causes a "dramatic" surge in myocardial infarction and stroke in the population aged 45 to 50 years.

His other tips include giving up a sedentary lifestyle, recommending at least 30 minutes of exercise a day.

"Follow a healthy diet. An unhealthy diet means an excessive intake of salt, fats and sugars. A diet rich in fruits and vegetables, whole grain and dietary fiber, lean meats and fish is advisable. Once a year, if you do not have a history of the illness, you should go to the doctor for an EKG, blood pressure, blood glucose and cholesterol checking. Any illness that is detected early is easier to treat," according to the cardiologist's post.
According to SUUB, the latest Eurostat report shows that heart disease is the leading cause of death among citizens of the European Union.

"So far this year, 850 patients with ST-Elevation Myocardial Infarction ( STEMI) have arrived at the Cardiology Clinic of the Bucharest Emergency Teaching Hospital. Infarction death rate at the SUUB Interventional Cardiology Centre is 3.5pct, as against a nationwide average of 8pct. Nine years ago, when the patients were not treated with the aid of surgery interventions under the 'National programme of invasive treatment of acute myocardial infarction,' the rate was 13pct. Of all the patients showing up at the Cardiology department, the number of young people is increasing," according to the SUUB post.