PETALING JAYA: Having been born with a congenital heart defect, Sheena has battled a life and death situation twice in her lifetime.
“I was born with heart disease and had to undergo open-heart surgery when I was six,” says the 28-year-old executive.
“I had another episode at 26 when I collapsed and my colleagues rushed me to hospital. I was hospitalised for a week.”
Sheena, who was diagnosed with heart disease as a child, said she was robbed of a normal childhood.
“I had to be extra careful with my diet and I could not participate in physical activities. I often felt left out,” she said.
Even as an adult, she remains mindful of participating in physical activities, her diet, and she goes for regular check-ups.
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Dr Wong Teck Wee, a consultant interventional cardiologist and physician at the iHEAL Medical Centre in Kuala Lumpur, said ischaemic heart disease is no longer a condition confined to older adults.
He said ischaemic heart disease happens when vessels supplying blood to the heart become narrowed or blocked, mostly due to fatty deposit build-up.
“We are seeing heart disease among younger people, even in their 30s and 40s, and in some cases, even earlier,” he added.
Dr Wong attributed the rising number of cases to poor diet, lack of exercise, stress, heavy smoking, and rising rates of obesity, high cholesterol, and diabetes among the younger population.
He said having a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and low fats can help lower the risk of heart disease.
Dr Wong said the most common and tricky part of ischaemic heart disease is that early on blockages at less than 70% can be silent.
“Some people may feel fine until it’s quite advanced,” he said, adding that such conditions can be detected through routine health screenings, electrocardiograms, stress tests or coronary computerised axial tomography (CT) scans.
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Consultant cardiologist and electrophysiologist Dr Sathvinder Singh Gian Singh said early heart disease signs include chest pain or discomfort upon exertion.
This can be accompanied with sweating or pain radiating to the left arm, back and jaw.
Other signs are shortness of breath on mild exertion and swelling on the legs, needing to sleep with the pillow at higher angles, waking up at night while gasping for air or experiencing fainting episodes and palpitations.
“These are early signs that you might have a pending heart attack,” said Dr Sathvinder, who is attached to Hospital Sultan Idris Shah, Serdang.
Early signs of a heart attack, he added, include sudden pain or pressing on the front of the chest that does not go away or gets worse.
“This can happen with or without accompanying signs of sweating or pain going to the left arm, back or jaw. The patient should be rushed immediately to the nearest health care facility,” he added.
He said if the person is not responsive, an automated external defibrillator (AED) can be used to assess his heart rhythm and he might need an electrical cardioversion if necessary.
Consultant sports medicine physician Dr Arvin Raj Goonasegaran advised sedentary individuals to get pre-clearance from sports physicians if they want to take part in physical activities.
“This will be helpful in excluding cardiac conditions, allowing physicians to give recommendations on how to go about exercising. Start slowly and progressively increase difficulty and duration of exercise as you adapt to it.”
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