Indians today more prone to ‘silent heart attacks’ than 10 years ago

MUMBAI: According to diabetes and cardiac specialist Dr Pranav Kabra of the Raksha Multispeciality Hospital in suburban Mumbai at Malad, Indians are more prone to silent heart attacks than say 10 years earlier and about 50 per cent of all heart attacks are ‘silent’, which often go unnoticed due to the lack of symptoms.

The Raksha Hospital Research Centre (RHRC) through an survey agency conducted a testing of nearly 1800 patients across 5 states in India – most of them who had never ‘reported’ a heart attack and found that nearly 870 individuals out of the 1800 persons tested had experienced silent heart attacks in the last 1.5 years but were unaware of the same.

According to Dr Kabra, approximately 30 to 35 percent individuals between 35 to 55 years of age in India could have suffered silent heart attacks, without their knowledge or any symptoms showing up, yet lethal in the long run as the heart disease further worsens.

Patients who suffered a silent heart attack and were unaware of the condition were likely to experience a fatal heart attack in the next two years, Dr Kabra stated, quoting data from the survey results.

Most patients who suffer from silent heart attacks are oblivious to the same, assuming they have a strained shoulder or hurt chest muscle or any other ailment except for an actual heart attack.

A silent heart attack may not cause chest pain or shortness of breath or sweating, or symptoms, which are typically associated with a heart attack by most people.

Those who suffer a silent heart attack may presume they have a heartburn, a flu or a strained chest or shoulder muscle.

A man could feel fatigue, tiredness or physical discomfort and attribute it to overworking, lack of sleep, or some other age-related issue. Other typical symptoms like mild pain in the throat or chest can be confused with gastric reflux, indigestion, and heartburn, but are actually signs of a ‘silent heart attack’ Dr Kabra said.

A silent heart attack, like any heart attack, involves blockage of blood flow to the heart and possible damage to the heart muscle and structure and is almost as dangerous as a normal heart attack, if not more dangerous as the patient is unaware of what’s lurking inside the body.

A silent heart attack is a heart attack that has very few, or no symptoms or has symptoms not recognized as those of a heart attack, confusing the patient who does not seek treatment in the bargain.

About one in four heart attacks are “silent” or maybe even one in three, because many, if not 90 percent of silent heart attacks go unrecognized and unreported and the patient is oblivious to the fact that he is suffering or has suffered a heart attack.

While in some cases, silent heart attacks can be identified after an electrocardiogram (ECG test) but some really silent heart attacks are not detected by ECG tests, particularly if the test is done hours or days later.

Patients who suffered a silent heart attack are at a much greater risk of death from a normal heart attack later on, than those who have a heart attack with recognized symptoms and took treatment and corrective action in time, opines Dr Kabra.

Patients who had a silent heart attack have a three-fold or greater likelihood of dying from heart disease or future heart attacks, as the initial trouble was unnoticed and untreated, says Dr Kabra.