In Goa, average age of bypass surgery drops from 70s to 40s: Doc

Panaji: Goa is not just witnessing a higher incidence of heart disease, but also a remarkable drop in the age of patients who need bypass surgery. The average age for bypass surgery has fallen from 70 to 40-50 years.

The Goa Medical College (GMC), which handles the state’s highest caseload of cardiac disease, conducts about 50 to 55 open heart surgeries a month. Its cardiology department’s annual volume now exceeds 6,000 procedures, with a monthly average of 550 procedures and 400 admissions.

“My recent patient was just 31 years old. The average age for bypass surgery has dropped, and most patients whom we operate on now are in their 40s and 50s,” said Dr Shirish Borkar, head of the cardiovascular and thoracic surgery department at GMC.

Dr Borkar’s youngest patient, however, was only 14 years old, whom he operated on in 2015. Poor dietary habits, sedentary lifestyle, and increasing levels of stress in daily life can contribute to the early onset of heart disease.

He said that there is a greater understanding of heart diseases among the public nowadays. As a result, individuals are less apprehensive about undergoing tests and receiving treatment.

He attributed the increased patient turnout to the reduced fear and heightened awareness surrounding cardiovascular health issues.

GMC’s cardiology head, Dr Guruprasad Naik, said that over the last 10 years, his department has performed more than 40,000 invasive procedures, comprising over 11,000 angioplasty procedures, which are crucial for treating blocked or narrowed coronary arteries, and over 1,000 pacemaker procedures which help regulate abnormal heart rhythms.

Naik said warned that not only can heart disease strike without predisposing factors, but when it occurs at a young age, it can be lethal.

Heart disease, Naik said, is most common because of atherosclerosis, a condition which develops when plaque builds up in the blood vessels.

While diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, poor dietary habits, stress, and obesity raise the risk of heart disease, in some it can occur without warning too.

“Heart attack can happen to people who do not have any risk factors. So not having any health condition is no guarantee that you will not have a heart attack,” Naik said.

Dr Vinayaga Pandian, senior consultant - interventional cardiologist, Victor Hospital, said that the severity of a heart ailment is influenced by several factors. “First, the level of stress and its intensity can have a significant impact on your sleep patterns. Second, personal vices such as ‘vapour or smoker or other substance’ play a role in determining the extent of the problem. Lastly, the amount of junk food consumed is another crucial aspect to consider. These three elements—stress, vices, and diet—are the primary determinants of how serious a heart condition may be,” he said.

He added that southeast Asians, including Indians, are genetically more prone to early coronary artery disease and added that this is proven in the literature.