Death is the ultimate reality of life, an inescapable truth. Yet we love life and fear death. There is a trend nowadays of young people dying due to sudden cardiac arrests. Everyone is trying their best to solve the puzzle. This unexpected scenario is believed by some to be due to a religious factor – the sign of impending doomsday – and for some it is psychological – chronic stress, worry and anxiety. Some consider it physiological, caused by sedentary lifestyle, unhealthy food, smoking and drug abuse, factors which increase cholesterol, triglycerides, cause narrowing of blood vessels and arteries, which put more pressure on the heart and combined with stress make a person vulnerable to heart attacks and strokes.
Whatever the reasons, we are losing precious human lives and it is tragic. We all need to take preventive measures to stay healthy and fit. Death may be our destiny but death due to deliberately engaging in risks is suicide. Our body, soul and heart belong to Allah. They are amanah and we have to take care of them till our last breath. We will be held accountable for any trouble we caused to our bodies.
It is unfortunate and shameful that there are some people who are commercialising heart attacks. They create videos and news flashes on heart attacks just to fetch likes and earn money. Recently I came across a video on YouTube with a tagline that every Kashmiri will have a heart attack. Some have created fake WhatsApp groups on “Heart Attacks”; they mostly share fake news related to deaths and share etiological and preventive posts most of which don’t have any scientific underpinning.
The aim behind this write-up is to request the higher authorities to take notice of such videos and social media groups that are selling panic. I have seen many people undergoing depression and becoming gripped with fear that they may have a heart attack. One of my friends is taking anti depressants and has developed panic disorder due to anxiety created by such news flashes. It is good to share posts on prevention and awareness about causal factors but make sure they are scientifically proven and ask yourself if you are the right person to share such information. It is my request to everyone not to pay heed to false reports and not to believe everything you hear or read on the internet. Judge the credibility of the source. It will be much better if we entrust this job to professionals. Doctors, especially cardiologists, are the only persons who are eligible to share awareness as they have competence and expertise, not the general public. Don’t spread fear. Show some sensibility and care. If you cannot do anything, at least don’t create psychological harm to others. It is my humble appeal to the doctors to come to the forefront of explaining ways to prevent heart attacks and lifestyle diseases. They should realise the panic prevailing among people and respond to queries they receive on their social media accounts. They should act more humanely and devote a few minutes from their busy schedule to respond to patients.

The writer is a lecturer at Government Degree College (Boys) Kupwara. Email: [email protected]

Vaseem Ahmad Rather