State to issue guidelines for gyms; all precautions taken, say gym owners
Mysore/Mysuru: The untimely death of seemingly healthy and fit Sandalwood star Puneeth Rajkumar due to cardiac arrest appears to have triggered a sudden spike in the number of people queuing up for cardiovascular check-ups across Karnataka and the same trend is being witnessed at heart hospitals in Mysuru.
Hospitals have reported a 30 to 40 percent increase in the number of patients in the Out Patient Department (OPD) and notably people above 35 are registering themselves for cardiac checks. Earlier, only people above 50 used to come for such routine checks.
So much is the rush at the State-run Jayadeva Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences and Research on KRS Road that doctors, paramedical staff and the registration staff at the front office are facing pressure. “Since Saturday last, there has been a huge rush for routine cardiology checks and many young people are coming here to undergo electrocardiogram (ECG), cardiologist consultation, echocardiogram (ECHO), angiogram and treadmill test (TMT),” Jayadeva Hospital Medical Superintendent Dr. K.S. Sadananda told SOM this morning.
On an average, over 500 to 600 people come to Jayadeva every day for OPD and over 10 to 15 people come to the Master Heart Check-up Department. “Since Saturday, OPD is witnessing an average of 1,100 to 1,200 people and the Master Heart Check-up Dept. is seeing crowds up to 50 and 60. We have over 55 doctors and 550 staff and this unusual rush is putting extra pressure on the resources and infrastructure,” he added.
Despite successive holidays, there is extra rush and the OPD is full with people. Most patients are in their 20s or 30s and they are making specific requests for CT angiography, ECG, ECHO and treadmill stress tests, Dr. Sadananda noted.
Many are coming in due to the psychological impact of the media coverage after watching Puneeth’s death and also due to viral messages on WhatsApp asking people not to ignore or neglect their heart, he added.
Not only Jayadeva but also many private hospitals of Mysuru like Cauvery Heart & Multi-Speciality Hospital, Narayana Hrudayalaya, Columbia Asia, Apollo BGS Hospitals and JSS Hospital are seeing extra rush for heart check-ups where the OPDs have seen a jump by 35 percent over the last four days.
Guidelines to gyms
Meanwhile, though it still remains unclear if the intense training resulted in Puneeth’s death, Karnataka Health Minister K. Sudhakar has said that the State Government could bring guidelines for gymnasiums and fitness centres to meet any health-related emergencies at their premises.
He said that he was getting a summary prepared by renowned cardiologists that would be provided to gymnasiums and fitness centres across the State. “The guidelines will be on the type of equipment to be used in the gym and training the trainers to handle an emergency with first aid,” the Minister said.
Reacting to this, President of Mysuru Gym and Fitness Owners Association M.S. Harsha told SOM that they follow stringent guidelines while allowing fitness enthusiasts to use gym equipment. “A complete and a thorough fitness evaluation is done on all those who come to our gyms by fitness experts and no one is allowed on the floor unless the evaluation is determined safe,” he said.
“I am not too sure of what the Government guidelines are all about, but we do follow precautions like keeping first aid kits, fitness consultations, work-out based on physical endurance and the likes,” he added.
During 1950s and 1960s, Mysoreans walked to work, used bicycles to travel longer distances, and as they were no fast food chains, and Chinese cuisine interests etc.. People consumed plenty of vegetables and season fruits, as these were sold fresh and cheap.
The arrival of car culture, and the use of two-wheelers in recent decades meant that walking as an exercise built into daily wlk to work has gone, and as the City expanded fast, walking became not an option. The traffic of fossil-fuel driven vehicles, shops appearing on footpaths meant that pedestrians disappeared,
This intense gym exercise regime is a fad, an import of the US, and this coupled with the diet of meat and lack of vegetables there in, become the recipe for cardiac problems. In Mysuru of those days, there were not these many private hospitals and clinics, and the appearance of so many hospitals exclusively for cardiology -related illnesses proves what I have summarised above.
One of the best approaches, is for the state government, to build cycle highways, to encourage people to move out of the cars and scooters, into bicycles for commuting to work.
It appears these cardiology clinics are doing a roaring business, and knowing India, they will make heaps of money by fleecing the anxious patients.
@Past Mysorean
That’s nostalgia speaking. Life expectancy in India has increased decade after decade at a good rate, so has the quality of life.
I dont know what you think Indians eat, but most of them follow a very healthy diet of veggies, greens, meats, eggs, and milk. Only the ones who take a lot of greasy/fried food (bondas, paneer/ghee/butter, pizzas, fatty parts of meat, fried chicken…) and sweets end up having health issues early in their lives.
Also, people who hit gyms use treadmills and the weights the most. They are basically more modern and laymen versions of ‘garadi mane’. Most modern things appear to be coming from the west as they are more customer friendly, tech savvy, and progressive than India.
@Questo
Not done your quest well! Very touchy after I mentioned about this intensive gym exercise, as a fad from the US! Not many were involved in ‘garadi mane’! Yes, more modern things like black coffee, and big Mac? I live in the Wesdt, spent years in the US, before escaping the car culture.
Yes, American women are so slim. No need to do this exercise, if one could take brisk walk, out of the car.
Good luck, hope you have the right insurance, the kind US senators have! Meanwhile keep hitting the gym. Keep explaining why Mysuru has so many private clinics, many of them heart-related illness.
Interesting observation about the customer friendly, tech savvy etc.. I do not see the claim about this ‘garadi mane’ in the overweight cops that I see rushing in a howling police car. Most of the cops I see in my travels in Mid-West are heavily overweight. They could do a course by @Questo on ‘garadi mane’here in the big Apple!
The last time, I visited India, I did not see people consuming healthy breakfasts or evening snacks. Well there goes the quest!!
@Gautam
I never made any comment on US, it’s universally known for obesity. Their per capita cheese, fatty meat, fried foods, sugary breakfast…. consumption are all several folds higher than that in India. Exercise can burn only a small portion of calories and fat that we consume, they are mostly meant to improve the bodily functions and cellular health.
Also, I just made an observation that designating a local spot to workout and using weights and other tools to tone the muscles, have all been existing in India (as well as in other cultures) since ancient times. Nothing about how many are using them. You are reading things that are not in my comment.
And on healthy diet, I left India long back (when food meant idli, chitranna, huruli saaru, naati chicken saaru…). I am still biased by the worldview I had back then- India was healthy and 40% of US was obese. I visit India every few of years and food hasn’t changed much in most homes I visit. Maybe things have changed a lot elsewhere. Maybe I am wrong and you are right. I found that the obesity has increased quite a lot in India according to the govt stats. So diet must have changed drastically, but I haven’t personally seen what those changes are.