It is a sad news for many heart patients as cardiac arrest claimed the lives of 1801 persons in the state in 2011. According to the data with the National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) about 16.2 per cent of accidental deaths reported in the state occurred due to cardiac arrest.
Kerala is placed third in the country with high number of unnatural deaths reported owing to cardiac arrest. Maharashtra records the highest number of persons died of heart attack with 5,771 cases. Gujarat came second with 1961 cases followed by Kerala with 1,801 and Tamil Nadu with 971. In Kerala, 1,573 men and 228 women died of cardiac arrest.
But, while comparing the percentage of heart attack deaths with the total number of accident deaths, around 16.2 per cent of accident deaths in the state happened due to cardiac arrest. In the cities of the state, the highest number of accidental deaths of cardiac arrest were reported in Thiruvananthapuram with 116 deaths comprising 15 women and 101 men.
In Thrissur about 89 persons died of heart attack- 76 men and 13 women. In Kochi 68 persons died of which 66 were men and two women. In Kozhikode 51 cases were reported - 45 men and six women. Cardiological Society of India, Kerala Chapter secretary Dr Jabbir A said that the life-style and food habits are making Malayalis prone to heart related diseases.
“Fat-rich foods have become part of our daily diet. This has resulted in an increase in the number of heart patients in the state. Also, with the changed life-style Malayalis have little time to spare for the physical exercise,” Jabbir opined.