The average age at which people have a heart attack is falling, due to poor dietary habits, lack of exercise and ignorance about cholesterol and blood lipids, a Tainan doctor said.
Over the past decade, about 80 percent of emergency room patients aged 35 to 54 were being treated for heart attacks, National Cheng Kung University Hospital cardiologist Li Yi-heng (李貽恆) said on Saturday, citing Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics.
Heart disease was the second-biggest cause of death in Taiwan in 2016, preceded only by cancer, he said, adding that sudden death from cardiac arrest was the leading cause of death in heart disease patients.
Symptoms of heart attack include chest pain, cold sweating and nausea, developing into trouble breathing and loss of consciousness in the most serious cases, he said.
If a person’s blood pressure drops too low, they might go into shock, he said, adding that people who experience these symptoms should seek immediate medical attention.
Over the past decade, the incidence of heart attacks among people aged 35 to 39 with existing heart conditions has grown by 67 percent, the incidence among those aged 40 to 44 increased by 84 percent and among those aged 45 to 49 by 68 percent, ministry statistics showed.
Conditions that could cause cardiac arrest include high blood pressure, diabetes and high blood lipid levels, Li said, adding that many of those who had a heart attack were smokers and all experienced chest pain just before the attack.
“However, chest pain does not necessarily mean one is having a heart attack,” National Taiwan University (NTU) Hospital Department of Emergency Medicine doctor Lee Chien-chang (李建璋) said, adding that in his experience, about one out of every 10 people who come to the emergency room with chest pain is diagnosed with heart problems.
Testing for acute coronary syndrome takes six hours, but as about 90 percent of patients with chest pain do not have heart problems, their visits unnecessarily tie up the emergency room for hours while they await test results.
“Blood vessels are like roads. When they experience blockages, the blood cannot pass through and blood cells die,” Li said.
“When they do, they release myocardial enzymes,” he said, adding that doctors test for such enzymes to diagnose heart problems.
However, a new troponin testing technique developed by Taiwanese and Japanese researchers promises to allow doctors to test for risk of heart attack in only one hour, Li said, adding that trials of the method conducted in May last year at NTU Hospital were successful.
The best way to prevent heart disease is to avoid smoking, engage in regular exercise, keep a balanced diet low in oil and salt, and avoid excessive consumption of sugar, Li said.
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