The ‘elderly’ disease silently knocks down many young people

At the Emergency Department, Hospital 103, the patient was unconscious and paralyzed on the right side at the end of 2023. His family said he had a healthy history, had never been to the hospital, and had no underlying diseases. Due to the nature of his night job, he often comes home after 11 p.m., eats and showers late, and has erratic activities compared to other family members.

A representative of the Stroke Department said the patient’s condition was “more or less healed”, with high blood pressure of 197/130mmHg, and a CT scan showed a large hematoma. The patient had no blood vessel abnormalities, so the doctor diagnosed a cerebral hemorrhagic stroke due to high blood pressure.

According to the doctor, the patient had high blood pressure at a very young age, combined with cold showers in bitterly cold weather, triggering a stroke. Patients do not take preventive medicine because they do not know they have the disease. In this case, surgery is required, but due to the severity of the condition, intensive resuscitation is needed and then surgery when the condition allows.

“These are all common diseases in the elderly, but are gradually rejuvenating, silently knocking down many young people,” the doctor said.

In another case, a 31-year-old man in Tuyen Quang suddenly had severe chest pain and had to be hospitalized. The doctor diagnosed acute myocardial infarction. The patient has a history of high blood fat, does not smoke, and occasionally exercises. The scan showed severe damage to the coronary artery, one branch of the artery was completely blocked, two other arteries were severely narrowed by 80-90%. This is the youngest case of myocardial infarction at Tuyen Quang Provincial General Hospital.

The burden of “dual diseases” is a challenge in caring for the elderly, on average each elderly person has three diseases, while the health care system has not responded. But recently, research as well as actual records from hospitals show that the proportion of young people suffering from diseases of the elderly is increasing, even having many diseases at the same time without knowing it.

In 2023, the Ministry of Health will record about 5-7% of stroke cases in people under 45 years old. In big cities like Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City, this rate is even higher, related to lifestyle and work pressure in an urbanized environment. The average stroke rate in young people increases about 2% each year, with men 4 times more likely than women. The World Health Organization (WHO) also noted that stroke is no longer a disease of the elderly and is common from the age of 60 as before. About 10-15% of strokes worldwide occur in people under 45 years old, which is very alarming.

The situation is similar for cancer patients. On average, for every 100,000 Vietnamese people, there are 159 new cases of cancer diagnosed and 106 deaths. In addition to liver and lung cancer, hospitals receive many cases of breast cancer in young people – a disease that was previously common in middle age. Bach Mai Hospital performs about 2,000 gastrointestinal endoscopy cases every day, of which about 20% of patients have stomach ulcers and about 1-2% of stomach cancer cases, many patients are in their 20s and 30s. .

The number of young people with cardiovascular disease is increasing, from 11-13% each year. Many cases of 25-35 year olds have myocardial infarction, heart failure… Vietnam National Heart Institute recorded 3,500-4,000 cases of cardiovascular intervention, of which 15-17% were patients under 40 years old.

Hypertension – a disease considered a silent killer – is also becoming increasingly younger, in which the proportion of hypertensive patients under 30 years old accounts for 10-15%, according to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hoai Nam, Chairman of the Association. Phlebologist in Ho Chi Minh City, lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy.

Associate Professor Nguyen Manh Hung, Director of the Vietnam Institute of Cardiology, said that among people with hypertension, half do not know they have the disease. When they know the disease, 1/3 of them do not receive treatment. Of those on treatment, 64% did not achieve their target blood pressure of less than 140/90 mmHg.

Associate Professor Dr. Do Van Dung, former Head of the Department of Public Health, Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy, said that chronic diseases have increased rapidly and rejuvenated in the past 20 years, which is a challenge in public health care. Many young, healthy people suffer from many diseases at the same time, making their contribution to society less, increasing the burden of costs and human resources for care…

“Not to mention, young people with the disease often do not know they are sick, causing the disease to become severe, affecting their quality of life, living long but not being healthy,” Associate Professor said.

According to Mr. Dung, the main cause of the above trend is lifestyle, habits, unreasonable living regime, unhealthy nutrition, eating a lot of processed, fried foods, sugar… leading to obesity. . The rate of obesity in young people is increasing rapidly, increasing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and the development of diabetes and cancer.

Young people are lazy and dependent on vehicles and machines. According to the United Nations Population Fund – UNFPA, Vietnam is one of the 10 countries with the most inactive people in the world, more than 30% of adults lack physical activity.

In addition, environmental pollution from air, soil or water; Living in areas with a lot of processed foods and not being able to completely control the origin of food is also a reason, said Dr. Ha Hai Nam, Deputy Head of Abdominal Surgery Department I (Central K Hospital). . Bad habits such as addiction to cigarettes, alcohol, and stimulants contribute to increasing the risk of disease.

Currently, medical knowledge has developed, people’s interest in health has also increased, many people go for regular check-ups and screenings, and many diseases are detected early. However, many young people are subjective, thinking that they are still young so they “sell their lives” to make money, and do not have the habit of getting regular medical checkups or going to the hospital when there are unusual signs.

“When receiving bad news about illness, this group often collapses easily due to carrying a lot of burden and pressure, and is more likely to give up and give up,” the doctor said.

For prevention, experts recommend that young people have a healthy lifestyle, increase exercise and balanced nutrition, and maintain a reasonable weight. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day to increase the body’s resistance. Limit alcohol and do not smoke.

Avoid eating a lot of fat, spices or moldy foods; Increase fruits, vegetables and vitamins. Vaccination prevents some infections such as hepatitis B and C and HPV vaccination prevents cervical cancer.

Young people should not be subjective, thinking that the disease only appears in the elderly but ignoring the signs, causing serious complications and making intervention impossible. Regular health check-up every 6 months or once a year.