New York doctor explains reasons behind reduction in heart attacks by 30 to 70% during coronavirus COVID-19

In a positive change during the COVID-19 pandemic, the heart attack incident rates got reduced by 30 to 70 per cent in several countries across the globe, said Dr Samin K Sharma, Senior VP, Operations & Quality, Mount Sinai Heart, New York. According to Dr Sharma, a lot of patients suffering from heart ailments in the US are avoiding hospitals fearing coronavirus infections. 

The number of heart attack patients have reduced in countries like the United States of America, India, Italy, China, Spain and several other countries which Dr Sharma claimed is a "blessing in disguise". "Suppose there used to be 10 serious patients of heart disease daily in the ICU, but now it is down to 3 or 4. The studies in our journals also reveal that this is a widespread phenomenon," stated Dr Sharma.

He informed that the reduction in heart-related disease is due to the improvement in the mental and physical health of common people during the lockdown period. Some heart patients are also jittery about visiting hospitals fearing infections, Dr Sharma stated as one of the reasons behind a fall in the numbers but added that this is only 10 per cent of the cases.

Pointing out the difference between urban and rural lifestyle, he stated that reduction in air pollution is also one of the causes behind the fall in the number of heart attacks. "Villages have less pollution compared to cities and comparatively they have less number of heart patients. Air pollution has come down suddenly and is contributing to the fall in the number of heart patients. According to me, almost 40-50 per cent of the fall is due to this reason. Other factors take time to manifest but this is the major factor," Dr Sharma said.

The third factor which is acting as a boon for human health during the COVID-19 situation is the reduction of office-related work stress due to working from home. "We say heart disease is an urban phenomenon. People are now relaxed due to lockdown as they at home, working from home. People are practising daily exercise, meditation and prayer which has resulted in the improvement of heart-related problems."

Eating healthy homemade food is the fourth major factor that has had led to an improvement in health across countries. People are now not going out to eat, or drinking alcohol or going to pubs, he added.

The governments across the world will now have to ensure better transport facilities, work towards lesser pollution and an overall improvement in health-related issues.

"Under Prime Minister Narendra Modi's direction and leadership, India has seen a successful lockdown. People have accepted all the directions without any fuss," he added.

According to Dr Sharma, India is being seen as a role model by other countries for the successful lockdown implementation.

The COVID-19 pandemic has infected more than 30 lakh people across the world. The fatal virus has also taken over 2.10 lakh lives until Tuesday (April 28, 2020) morning. 

As per the Johns Hopkins University data at 7 am IST the virus that was first reported in December 2019 in China, has infected approximately 30,37,605 people globally and has claimed around 2,10,842 lives. 

The United States (US) continued to be the worst COVID-19 hit country in the world. The US is most probably to touch the 1 million mark of COVID-19 confirmed cases by this weekend. In the US, around 9,87,467 people have been tested COVID-19 positive.