Dr Pranav Kabra explains the reasons for TV actor Siddhaanth Vir Surryavanshi sudden death due to heart attack

MUMBAI: On Friday morning, 46-year-old Tv actor Siddhaanth Vir Surryavanshi died while working out in a gym at Andheri in suburban Mumbai. The cause for his sudden death was said to be a heart attack.

According to cardiac and diabetes specialist Dr Pranav Kabra of the Raksha Multispeciality Hospital at Malad in suburban Mumbai, sudden aggressive exercise can lead to a heart attack. “The body needs to warm up. People simply go on the treadmill and start running or go to the gym equipment and start with dead weights. Such sudden heavy exercise can definitely trigger a heart attack,” Dr Kabra said.

Dr Pranav Kabra says, “a blockage of the coronary arteries supplying blood to the heart due to acute and sudden clot formation and underlying cholesterol plaque is possible even at early age. It is also possible that the cholesterol plaque does not necessarily narrow the artery severely, but only 20-30 or 40 percent. But it can rupture due to extreme stress or unusual exercise without warm up, causing a building up of high blood pressure. Thus, the sudden rupturing of plaque will lead to clot formation in the blood vessels leading to a heart attack, said Dr Kabra, explaining how 40 to 50 year-olds are dying in gyms due to sudden aggressive exercise without warm up.

Before working out in a gym, one must do basic stretching and toning exercises and only after about 20 minutes of warm up, must one run on the treadmill or do weights. The human body needs to slowly adjust to increased heart beat and blood pressure. A sudden increase in blood pressure can cause rupturing of plaque, leading to clot formation in the blood vessels causing a heart attack, Dr Kabra explains.

Increase in homocysteine levels in the body are one of the major causes of heart attack. 99 per cent  of people do all blood tests except homocysteine. Dr Kabra says he has personally observed patients with high homocysteine levels leading to cardiac issues at a very young age.

High levels of homocysteine can damage the inside of your arteries and increase your risk of forming blood clots. This may increase your risk for heart attack, stroke, and other heart diseases and blood vessel disorders.

Homocysteine is an amino acid. Vitamins B12, B6 and folate break down homocysteine in the body to create other chemicals the body needs. High homocysteine levels may mean you have a vitamin deficiency, which in bodybuilders is caused due to lack of proper nutrition. They only focus on proteins forgetting about vitamins, minerals etc., from vegetables and fruits, which the body needs, opines Dr Kabra.

Smoking, lack of sleep, excessive consumption of caffeine-based energy drinks coupled with comorbidities like cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes are sure-fire causes for a heart attack even in the younger generation says Dr Kabra.