A doctor has warned about how important it is to be aware of the first signs of heart disease after they were diagnosed with a form of the condition despite being perfectly healthy.
Dr Anjali Mahto, 43, said she first noticed something was wrong when she was having to stop to catch her breath on her way home from work. She told the Times she had to keep stopping to get her breath back on the steep hill up to her London home and she could only run for a minute before needing to stop.
Following an inspection, she said she was diagnosed with coronary heart disease. Dr Mahto said this came as a shock to her friends and family as she was young, a qualified yoga teacher, had a personal trainer, never smoked, didn’t have high cholesterol, and ate plenty fish and vegetables.
Despite this, the medical assessment was damning with Dr Mahto writing: “In the clinic room with my husband, Nik, a cardiologist told me that my proximal LAD (one of the main arteries) was more than 75 per cent blocked. On top of this, my thick blockage had already begun to rupture, so any strain to my body could cause my heart to stop. I could drop dead at any moment.”
She added that following the diagnosis she had an angioplasty, a stent placed in her heart and was now taking medication. Overall, she said that whilst she hadn’t “made major changes” to her lifestyle that she had upped her intake of Omega 3 because it “is especially good for heart health”.
Dr Mahto concluded: “I’m keen to get the message out there that even the healthiest-seeming people can develop heart disease. If you are experiencing symptoms such as shortness of breath and a tight chest, get it checked out.”
Symptoms of heart disease can appear at any time (stock)
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Dr Mahto isn’t the only person to have come face to face with a form of heart disease earlier than expected. TikTok user JP said they were diagnosed with heart failure. Detailing their symptoms on the social media platform they said: “The most visible one is when your ankles and feet are swollen at the end of the day, making it hard to walk, and it even affects your fingers; you might not be able to close your fists all the way.”
JP also said they had chest pain which they described as “a little bit of pain, shortness of breath, and breathing kinda quick; and there’s always little sharp pains around your chest area”.
Whilst heart failure can sound catastrophic, the NHS clarifies that when it comes down to the heart being “unable to pump blood around the body properly”.
They clarified: “Heart failure does not mean your heart has stopped working. It means it needs some support to help it work better. It can occur at any age, but is most common in older people.
“Heart failure is a long-term condition that tends to get gradually worse over time. It cannot usually be cured, but the symptoms can often be controlled for many years.”