Think of your heart as the most incredible pump you can imagine. It's a super-strong muscle that works 24/7 to push blood all around your body. This blood is like a delivery service, dropping off oxygen and all the good stuff your body needs to function, while also picking up the trash (waste products).
To get this job done, the heart is split into four rooms, or chambers. The top two rooms (the atria) collect the incoming blood, and the bottom two (the ventricles) are the heavy lifters that pump it out. It's a two-way system: the right side takes in the used, oxygen-poor blood from the body and sends it to the lungs for a fresh fill-up. The left side then gets that fresh, oxygen-rich blood from the lungs and pumps it out to everywhere else—your brain, your toes, and everything in between. A clever system of one-way doors, called valves, makes sure the blood never flows backward, and the heart’s own natural pacemaker sends out electrical signals that keep it beating in a steady rhythm, day in and day out.
But sometimes, things can go wrong with this amazing pump. "Heart ailments" is just a broad term for anything that messes with the heart's ability to do its job properly. One of the biggest culprits is what doctors call coronary artery disease (CAD). Think of it like rust in your pipes; a fatty, gunky stuff called plaque builds up in the arteries that feed the heart muscle. As these pipes get narrower, it’s harder for blood to get through, which can cause chest pain. If a piece of that plaque breaks off and creates a blockage, it can cause a heart attack, where a part of the heart muscle actually starts to die from lack of oxygen. Other problems can affect the heart's structure, like faulty valves that either get too stiff to open right or too leaky, making the heart work way too hard. Or the heart muscle itself can get weak, thick, or stiff (a condition called cardiomyopathy), which makes it a much less effective pump.
Besides these "plumbing" and structural issues, the heart's electrical system can get messed up too. This can lead to what's known as an arrhythmia, where your heart beats too fast, too slow, or just plain weirdly. When the rhythm is off, the heart can’t pump blood efficiently. This can make you feel dizzy, like your heart is fluttering, or even cause you to pass out. Over time, all this strain—from things like high blood pressure or a previous heart attack—can lead to heart failure. This doesn't mean your heart has quit, but it's become too weak to supply the body with all the oxygen-rich blood it needs. That's why people with heart failure often feel tired, get short of breath, and have swelling in their legs.
Here in Pakistan, we have a massive and growing problem with heart disease. The numbers are pretty scary. It's now one of the top reasons people pass away in our country. A recent study in 2024 showed that about 35% of people in a large group they studied had coronary artery disease. And looking back, between 1990 and 2019, the number of people dying from heart-related issues in Pakistan basically doubled. The main killer is ischemic heart disease, which is behind more than half of those deaths. Even the World Health Organization is flagging this, stating that heart diseases might be responsible for almost a third of all deaths in Pakistan. A big reason for these terrible stats is that common risk factors like high blood pressure, diabetes, smoking, and obesity are everywhere, making this a true national health crisis.
This isn't just a Pakistan problem; it's a global one, but it hits some places harder than others. Eastern European and Central Asian countries seem to be bearing the brunt of it right now. Places like Tajikistan and Azerbaijan have some of the highest death rates from heart disease in the world. It’s a trend you see across that whole region. The reality is that heart disease is now hammering low- and middle-income countries the hardest. It’s a perfect storm of factors: widespread high blood pressure, diets full of unhealthy food, and not enough good healthcare. So while richer countries have managed to lower their rates, the center of the heart disease crisis has moved to nations that are still developing.
What’s really worrying is that we're seeing more and more young people dealing with serious heart problems, even heart attacks. It's not just an old person's disease anymore; shockingly, one out of every five heart attacks happens to someone under 40.
So, how and why is this happening? It mostly comes down to our modern lifestyles, which are basically making our hearts old before their time. We spend more time sitting in front of screens, eat way too much junk food loaded with unhealthy fats and sugar, and don't get enough exercise. These habits are causing young people to develop obesity, type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol at a much earlier age. All of these things speed up the process of arteries getting clogged with plaque. On top of that, things like smoking, vaping, and drug use can directly wreck our blood vessels.
Besides these lifestyle choices, some young people are just unlucky and are born with hidden heart conditions. This could be a thickened heart muscle, weirdly-formed arteries, or an electrical issue that messes with their heart rhythm. These underlying problems can trigger a sudden cardiac arrest with no warning, especially during sports or exercise. It's this mix of bad habits picked up early and hidden genetic issues that is turning a once-rare problem in young people into a heartbreakingly common one.
