Heart disease no longer waits for old-age

Srinagar, Sep 14: The latest Lancet article reveals that non-communicable diseases (NCDs) – cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancers, and others now account for over 60 percent of deaths in India.

Doctors say that J&K is on the same tangent with the burden of heart diseases turning into a crisis among the young.

In contrast to the global trends, these diseases strike at least 10 years before in this part of the world, compared to high-income countries.

Speaking to Greater Kashmir, HoD Department of Cardiology, GMC Srinagar, Prof Khalid Mohiuddin said there is a cardiovascular disease epidemic in J&K, and across India.

“A common and major cause of heart disease, diseases of arteries, and heart attacks globally, and in Kashmir, is smoking,” he said.

Prof Mohiuddin said there is ample data to show smoking is linked to cardiovascular diseases in J&K, and given the high proportion of people who smoke here, these ailments are getting more common.

“In addition, there are other risk factors like a sedentary lifestyle,” he said, elaborating on how the past decades have changed the nature of work and living for a majority of people in J&K.

In 2024, India Diabetes study carried out by the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) showed that 84.2 percent of people in Kashmir are ‘physically inactive’, a figure that predicts a healthcare doom for the population.

“In normal circumstances, a son would bury the father. Now, sadly, with a younger generation getting affected and even dying from cardiovascular diseases, we have fathers burying their sons,” he said.

Prof Mohiuddin said the early onset of lifestyle diseases starts to take root in childhood.

“Our children eat unhealthy diets, high in sugars and ample calories. Triglycerides and other abnormal lipids, and obesity are more common than ever before in children,” he said.

Prof Mohiuddin warned that if not intervened, a generation will have all the lifestyle diseases trapping them earlier in life.

“The action has to start now,” he said.

The latest Lancet article, “benchmarking progress in non-communicable diseases: a global analysis of cause-specific mortality from 2001 to 2019,” published on September 10, 2025, has revealed that lifestyle diseases are striking Indians a decade earlier than in high-income countries, often in the 45-55 age group.

The premature burden is detrimental to economic stability and healthcare.

NCDs caused 74 percent of the 41 million deaths in 2019 globally.

India contributed an estimated 2.5 million NCD deaths annually.

Several factors fuel this trend.

Rapid urban growth is linked to obesity, estimated 100 percent increase since 1990.

Processed food consumption and reduced physical activity are also major risks.

In addition, tobacco and alcohol are contributing factors to NCDs.

J&K is among the top states in India in terms of smoking, and has been shown to cause lung diseases, cardiovascular diseases, as well as cancers.