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ABOUT 15 people die of cardiovascular diseases in Singapore every day, said the Singapore Heart Foundation (SHF) yesterday.
And young adults are not immune to suffering from heart attacks and strokes.
According to experts, young adults fall prey to cardiovascular diseases mainly because of unhealthy diets and sedentary lifestyles.
Accountant James Lee, for instance, was just 33 when he had a heart attack at his Central Business District office in 2003.
He was one of the volunteers at the annual Heart Fair held at Tampines Central yesterday. The event was organised to celebrate World Heart Day and the 40th anniversary of the Singapore Heart Foundation.
Mrs Lim Hwee Hua, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office and Second Minister for Finance and Transport, was the guest of honour.
Mr Lee, now 40, talked about the day that the “lights dimmed on him”.
A colleague had called for an ambulance, but, fearing that paramedics would take a while to get to him, Mr Lee – who had high cholesterol, but had not been diagnosed with heart problems – staggered out of his office building himself to wait for help.
But before the ambulance arrived, he passed out, collapsing onto the pavement.
Recalling the incident, he said: “It was like a hammer hitting my heart.
“I was surprised I had a heart attack, given that I was just 33,” he added. Doctors said that Mr Lee’s high cholesterol levels were likely a contributing factor.
Heart attacks can happen when blood supply to the heart is blocked or decreased following cholesterol build-up in the arteries.
Heart disease afflicts the young as much as the old, said Dr Terrance Chua, SHF chairman.
About 20 per cent of the patients who attend its cardiac-rehabilitation centre, the SHF-Isetan Foundation Heart Wellness Centre at Junction 8 in Bishan, are under the age of 40.
Dr Chua added: “We know heart disease starts relatively young. Although we may not know it, many of us may already have thickening cholesterol.”
Through public education, the foundation raises awareness of the risk factors for heart disease, such as high cholesterol, obesity, lack of exercise and high blood pressure.
This year, the foundation hopes to encourage people to have their blood pressure measured regularly.
Explaining the importance of the practice, Dr Chua said: “High blood pressure is a major contributing factor to stroke and coronary heart disease. High blood pressure is a silent killer.”
High blood pressure forces the heart to work harder to pump blood, and the strain on the heart increases the risk of a heart attack.
Mr Lee said that he is now a changed man.
He now exercises at least three times a week and avoids high-cholesterol food, even removing egg yolk from mooncakes before eating them.
He added: “If I could turn back the clock, I would have focused more on my health in my younger years.”
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