A doctor has issued a stark warning about the importance of recognising early signs of heart disease after she was diagnosed with the condition despite leading a healthy lifestyle.
Dr Anjali Mahto, 43, first realised something was amiss when she found herself struggling to catch her breath while walking home from work. She revealed to The Times that she had to frequently stop for breath while climbing the steep hill to her London residence and could only manage to run for a minute before needing to pause.
After undergoing medical examination, she was diagnosed with coronary heart disease. The diagnosis came as a shock to her loved ones as Dr Mahto was young, a certified yoga instructor, had a personal trainer, was a non-smoker, didn’t have high cholesterol, and maintained a diet rich in fish and vegetables.
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Despite her healthy habits, the medical verdict was severe. Dr Mahto recounted: “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.”
Following her diagnosis, she underwent an angioplasty, had a stent inserted into her heart, and is now on medication. While she hasn’t made “major changes” to her lifestyle, she has increased her intake of Omega 3, citing its benefits for heart health, reports Gloucestershire Live.
Dr Mahto has issued an urgent health warning, stressing: “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.”
In addition to Dr Mahto, a TikTok user named JP shared their own early encounter with heart disease, describing on the social platform key symptoms they faced: “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 further mentioned experiencing “a little bit of pain, shortness of breath, and breathing kinda quick; and there’s always little sharp pains around your chest area”. The NHS offers clarification on the condition, noting that heart failure involves the heart being “unable to pump blood around the body properly”, but emphasised that it doesn’t mean the heart has stopped working.
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.”