Over the past few weeks, hospitals have seen a strange epidemic — not of heart attacks, but of panic attacks about heart attacks.

I should know. I was one of them. With a family history of heart disease, my anxiety wasn’t entirely irrational.

It all started in 2021 with the shocking death of actor Puneeth Rajkumar. Fit, young and seemingly invincible.

Then came the passing of Yoga Guru Sharath Jois in 2024, the embodiment of flexibility and clean living.

That’s when it hit me: No one is safe. Be it women, young men, fit men, vegetarians, non-vegetarians, teetotallers, not even the people who can twist themselves into a human pretzel, everyone has a reason to worry about their heart health today.

Now, the recent spate of heart attacks and massive reportage has once again reminded people of the dangers of heart disease. So, like many others, I rushed to get tested.

I’ve always considered myself fairly healthy. My personal health metric? If I can climb Chamundi Hill three times a week without wheezing like a steam engine, I must be doing fine.

I even devised my own ‘in-house heart test’ based on Harvard Medical Journal’s fitness indicators: Climb four flights of stairs in under a minute and bang out 40 push-ups without collapsing, and my heart’s good!

But recent events convinced me that it was time to replace amateur diagnostics with a proper medical opinion. So off I went to Kannan Diagnostic Centre and then Shanthaveri Gopalagowda Hospital for a cardiac evaluation. After my treadmill test, I nervously asked the doctor, “So… all good?”

He smiled and said, “Yes, all’s well. But one never knows.” I almost had a heart attack. Seeing the panic on my face, he added kindly, “Just remember to live a balanced life — food, work, stress, emotions… moderation is key.”

He echoed what many doctors are now repeating like a mantra: Heart disease is, in most cases today, a lifestyle disease. And they’re right.

While genetics might load the gun, lifestyle pulls the trigger. We’re a generation of overfed, under-rested and overly disconnected beings.

As our wallets have gotten thicker, so have our arteries. We no longer delay gratification, we Swiggy our cravings straight to the doorstep. Greasy food, stress, alcohol, smoking and sedentary lifestyle have all turned heart disease into a lifestyle disease in India.

The impact of this indulgence is clearest among middle-aged Indians.

A decade ago, heart surgeries were rare, whispered about with concern and sympathy. Today, phrases like ‘angiogram,’ ‘stent,’ ‘statins,’ and ‘blood thinners’ are standard topics of conversation in urban drawing rooms. 

There are passionate discussions about brands of heart and cholesterol medications and their efficacy among people in their 30s!

Even more worrying is our reaction to deaths due to heart attacks.

Instead of being sobering, they’re fuelling cynicism. “If a fit guy like Puneeth or a Yoga Guru like Sharath can go, what’s the point of exercise?” they say.

But it is dangerous to surrender to fate. I have now surrendered myself to reducing my cholesterol and carrying ‘Sorbitrate’ tablet in my wallet, while hoping fate is kind to me.

Now, whenever the issue of heart disease is discussed, it is usually with the assumption that it is a ‘male’ problem. But that is not true. Actor Sridevi’s death has drawn attention to heart disease among women.

Women too, like men, should get a regular heart check-up, because their heart attacks do not manifest like a man’s, they are just milder.

To step aside from this bleak subject, here’s a light-hearted story that might make your heart skip a beat, hopefully for all the right reasons:

A woman finds a magic lamp. She rubs it, and out pops a genie. Unfortunately, he’s a sexist genie.

“You have three wishes,” he says, “but whatever you get, your husband will get ten               times more.”

The woman shrugs, “That’s fine.”

“For your first wish?” he asks.

“I want to be the most beautiful woman in the world,” she says.

Poof! She’s stunning.

“Now your husband is ten times more handsome,” the genie says smugly.

“That’s fine,” she says. “He’ll still look only at me. After all, I’m the most beautiful woman now, no?”

“Second wish?” says the stumped Genie.

“I want to be the richest woman in the world.”

Poof! Done.

“Your husband is ten times richer,” the genie reminds her.

She nods, “Perfect. What’s mine is his, and what’s his is mine.”

The genie, now frustrated, asks, “Your final wish?”

She smiles sweetly and says, “I’d like a  very mild heart attack.”

So, whether it’s through a joke or a jolt, take this message to heart, don’t wait for fear to drive you to the doctor. Yes, what has to happen will, indeed, one cannot cheat fate, but why test it?

PS: Blaming vaccines, stress or sleep deprivation may offer temporary scapegoats, but the deeper solution may lie in Madhyamā-pratipadā — the Buddhist principle of moderation. Strive for equilibrium, neither indulgence nor deprivation, in all aspects of life.

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