RAIPUR: A clinical study conducted at the Chhattisgarh government’s biggest healthcare facility, Dr Bhimrao Ambedkar Memorial Medical Hospital Raipur, revealed a stark post-pandemic reality: young adults under 40 are collapsing under severe cardiac distress at rates never seen before.
Led by HOD of the Cardiology Department (Medical College), Dr. Smit Shrivastava, alongside Dr. Suresh Chandravanshi and Dr. Nikita Gusai, researchers tracked 288 patients admitted with Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) between March 2024 and February 2025.
The findings paint an unsettling picture of vulnerable youth.
Before the pandemic took hold in 2018–19, young patients aged 40 or younger made up just over 8 per cent of total cardiac emergencies. In the post-COVID landscape, that figure has escalated more than two-and-a-half times to nearly 21 per cent.
The key aggravating factors behind this shift also lie in the rise of behavioural and metabolic hazards among the youngsters.
Within the under-40 cohort, post-pandemic data demonstrates a dramatic surge in daily triggers: alcohol consumption nearly doubled from 26.4 per cent to over 50.7 per cent, while cases of type-2 diabetes quadrupled from 10.3 per cent to over 45 per cent.
Tobacco and gutkha usage similarly surged to encompass nearly a third of all afflicted young patients. When directly compared to older patients, young heart attack victims showed significantly higher rates of obesity, smoking, and substance use.
Dr Smit Shrivastava noted that drastically altered post-pandemic lifestyles—marked by long sedentary work routines, lack of exercise, increased substance abuse, and irregular eating habits—have accelerated metabolic risks as the fatal combination damaging young blood vessels.
Medical experts urge young adults to maintain a minimum of 30 minutes of daily physical exercise, eliminate intoxicants, and undergo periodic cardiovascular screenings, particularly if they have a family history of heart disease.
Clinically, these young patients arrive predominantly with crushing chest pain, with angiography revealing that nearly 41 percent suffer from single-vessel arterial blockages.