despite being the strongest organ in the human body heart is also the most vulnerable and this is the reason why millions of people die every year of heart diseases especially coronary heart disease every 33 seconds a person dies in india of a heart attack dr k m cherian chairman and ceo of frontier lifeline hospital who has been the honorary surgeon to the president of india from 1990 to 1993 and has performed more than 38000 operations says indians are falling prey to heart attack 10 years ahead of people in the west desperate measures are needed to control the outcomedr ajeet arul kumar cardiologist adult at frontier lifeline hospital shares in 2016 almost 2117 patients came to our hospital reporting of heart trouble out of which 5 per cent were less than 30 years of age and almost 22 per cent were less than 40 yearsnot many are aware that coronary heart disease starts during teen years thats when the foundation is set just like an avalanche it takes many years until one day it finally occurs adds dr ajeetrisk factorsthere are both nonmodifiable and modifiable risk factors of coronary heart disease the former cannot be avoided but the latter can be fixed to minimise its onsetnonmodifiable risk factorsfamily historydiabetesmodifiable risk factorssmokingstressprocessed food dietinactive lifestyleare you at riskwe all know having an active lifestyle and healthy diet is important but how many of us actually follow it in the rush of everyday life we often undermine the very things that keep us going worse we fall into the trap of job strain todays generation is different they are competitive because of which they end up neglecting their family work overtime and ignore their health says dr cherianambitious and careeroriented people risk developing heart disease if they dont learn about ways to cope with their work stress long working hours work anxiety deadline pressure combined with the sedentary lifestyle all makes their heart vulnerable and then to compensate their stressful lives they indulge in sugary comfort foods and alcoholaccording to a study published in the journal of epidemiology and community health when women are under pressure they lose estrogen which is the hormone that helps them combat hardened arteries that can lead to heart attackprevention is keydr kumar urges people to not treat any discomfort between their throat and stomach including the shoulders lightly try exerting yourself to check if it is a cardiac issue if there is consistent discomfort consult a doctor he adds most young people pass off any discomfort in the chest area as a gastric issue and try treating it with gelusil or eno and by the time this person comes to us he has tried various stages of self or chemist prescribed relief techniques little do they realise that ecg is a must while 9 out of 10 cases could actually be gastric issues but that one time can make all the differencedr cherian recommends a healthy lifestyle it is extremely important to