Old age diseases silently knock down many young people

Coming home around midnight, Mr. Thuong, 31 years old, in Hanoi, took a shower and rested as usual, but then gradually fainted and fell into a coma at the end of 2023.

At the Emergency Department, Hospital 103, the patient was unconscious and had right hemiplegia.

His family said he was healthy, had never been to the hospital, and had no underlying medical conditions. Due to the nature of his night job, he often came home after 11 p.m., ate and showered late, and had an irregular routine compared to the rest of his family.

The representative of the Stroke Department said the patient's condition was "less good than bad", with high blood pressure of 197/130mmHg, and a CT scan showing a large blood clot. The patient had no vascular abnormalities, and the doctor diagnosed a hemorrhagic stroke due to high blood pressure.

According to the doctor, the patient had high blood pressure at a very young age, combined with taking a cold shower in freezing weather, which triggered the stroke. The patient did not take preventive medication because he did not know he had the disease.

This case requires surgery, but due to the severity of the condition, intensive resuscitation is required before surgery can be performed when the patient's health permits.

"These are common diseases in the elderly, but are gradually becoming younger, silently knocking down many young people," the doctor said.

Another case is a 31-year-old male patient in Tuyen Quang who suddenly had severe chest pain and had to be hospitalized. The doctor diagnosed him with an acute myocardial infarction.

Patients with a history of high blood fat, do not smoke, and exercise occasionally.

The images showed severe damage to the coronary arteries, one branch was completely blocked, and two other arteries were severely narrowed by 80-90%. This is the youngest case of myocardial infarction at Tuyen Quang General Hospital.

The burden of "dual illness" is a challenge in elderly care, with each elderly person having three illnesses on average, while the health care system is not able to respond.

However, recently, studies as well as actual records from hospitals show that the rate of young people suffering from elderly diseases is increasing, even suffering from multiple diseases at the same time without knowing it.

In 2023, the Ministry of Health recorded 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 rate of stroke in young people increases by about 2% per year on average, with men four times more likely than women.

The World Health Organization (WHO) also noted that stroke is no longer a disease of the elderly and is more common after 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 have received many cases of breast cancer in young people - a disease previously common in middle age.

Bach Mai Hospital performs about 2,000 gastrointestinal endoscopy procedures every day, of which about 20% of patients have gastric ulcers and about 1-2% have stomach cancer, many of whom are only 20 or 30 years old.

The number of young people suffering from cardiovascular disease is increasing, from 11-13% each year. Many cases of 25-35 year olds suffering from myocardial infarction, heart failure...

The 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 getting younger, with the rate of people with hypertension under 30 years old accounting for 10-15%, according to Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Hoai Nam, Chairman of the Ho Chi Minh City Phlebology Association, lecturer at Ho Chi Minh City University of Medicine and Pharmacy.

Associate Professor Nguyen Manh Hung, Director of the Vietnam Heart Institute, said that half of those with high blood pressure do not know they have the disease. When they know they have the disease, one-third of them do not seek treatment. Of those who do seek treatment, 64% do not achieve the target blood pressure of less than 140/90 mmHg.

Associate Professor, Dr. Do Van Dung, former Head of the Faculty of Public Health, University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ho Chi Minh City, said that chronic diseases have increased rapidly and become younger in the past 20 years, which is a challenge in public health care. Many young, healthy people have multiple diseases at the same time, reducing their contribution to society, 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 progress severely, affecting their quality of life, and they live long but are not healthy," said the Associate Professor.

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

Young people are lazy to exercise, dependent on vehicles and machines. According to the United Nations Population Fund - UNFPA, Vietnam is one of the 10 countries with the most sedentary 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, unable to completely control the origin of food is also a cause, said Dr. Ha Hai Nam, Deputy Head of Department of Abdominal Surgery I (Central Cancer Hospital). Bad habits such as addiction to cigarettes, alcohol, stimulants contribute to increasing the risk of disease.

Nowadays, the level of medical science is developing, people's interest in health is also increasing, many people go for regular check-ups and screenings, many diseases are detected early. However, many young people are subjective, thinking that they are still young so they "work hard" to make money, do not have the habit of regular check-ups or go to the hospital when there are unusual signs.

"When receiving bad news about illness, this group is often easily depressed due to carrying many burdens and pressures, and is more likely to give up and quit," the doctor said.

For prevention, experts recommend that young people should have a healthy lifestyle, increase physical activity 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 too much fat, spices or moldy food; increase fruits, vegetables and vitamins. Get vaccinated against some infections such as hepatitis B, C and HPV to prevent cervical cancer.

Young people should not be subjective, thinking that the disease only appears in the elderly and ignore the signs, causing the disease to become serious and cannot be treated. Have a regular health check-up every 6 months or once a year.