Hyderabad: Eighty per cent of people who suffered from sudden cardiac arrest noted the symptoms but failed to recognise them for what they were, according to an analysis of 51 studies from various medical journals which was carried out by cardiologists.
Symptoms such as chest pain, laboured breathing, dizziness, fainting, and palpitations were common signs noted one hour before the sudden cardiac arrest, but not acted upon.
The history of the symptoms has been compiled after speaking to family members and friends, to understand what is it that people must know so that they can seek help early.
Dr K.K. Aggarwal, senior cardiologist, says, “The preceding symptoms are often ignored by people and in many cases those who survive the sudden attack suffer from retrograde amnesia where they do not remember the events or symptoms that may have been present.”
He said that various documentations in the studies have shown that the maximum number of patients complained of chest pain.
“Laboured breathing was reported by 18 per cent. Dizziness, fainting, and palpitations were other common symptoms. This shows that these symptoms can be best put up as indicators which people must be aware of and seek help in time,” he added.
The analysis which involved more than 75,000 patients from 51 studies around the world also found that around 50 per cent of patients had symptoms four weeks before the cardiac arrest and 34 per cent had symptoms for more than 24 hours.
Dr A. Sai Ravi Shanker, a senior interventional cardiologist, explained, “There are conditions like thickening of the heart muscles, abnormal heartbeats, abnormalities in the coronary artery, which have been identified in people. These conditions lead to chest pain, laboured breathing and other symptoms.”
He said there is also no age bar for a sudden cardiac arrest “and people need to understand that. Often we find people saying the person was young or in middle-age and they didn’t expect this kind of problem. These factors are often a hindrance to seeking medical help.” The burden of cardiovascular disease related death rate in India is 312 per 1,00,000 people. This is significantly higher than the global average of 235 per 1,00,000 people. Premature mortality has increased by 59 per cent, from 23.2 million in 2006, to 37 million in 2016.
