Latest news with #heartattack
Al Arabiya
4 hours ago
- Health
- Al Arabiya
Death of Hajj-bound pilgrims raises questions about compliance in home countries
The death of a number of pilgrims on flights heading to Saudi Arabia where they were set to perform Hajj has raised questions about measures taken at their home countries to ensure that pilgrims are physically capable of performing the ritual. According to Indonesian media outlets, an Indonesian pilgrim died during flights to Medina. The woman in her sixties who suddenly collapsed on board. A video showed her body lying and covered aboard as passengers were trying to comfort a man, who appeared to be a relative of the woman who died on the flight. وفاة حاجة إندونيسية على متن طائرة متجهة إلى المدينة المنورة لأداء #الحج — فيديوهات ترند (@Trend_vide0s) May 10, 2025 Indonesian media reports said that the woman was later buried in Medina, home to Islam's second holiest mosque. While the initial medical report stated that the cause of death was dehydration, the mission suggested that a heart attack was the primary cause. In Malaysia, authorities confirmed the deaths of five pilgrims due to heart attacks. In Pakistan, five deaths have been recorded since the start of the Hajj pilgrimage, most of whom died from health complications just after their arrival to Saudi Arabia. While Indonesia and Malaysia previously accounted for the majority of early Hajj deaths, the list has recently expanded to include other countries such as Libya and Bangladesh. Most of these deaths are elderly people suffering from chronic illnesses. While all deaths reported up to the end of May were not linked to mass accidents or epidemics, some occurred before, during or just after their flights. The Saudi Ministry of Health had emphasized in its guidelines to foreign missions the need to ensure pilgrims' physical fitness and undergo medical examinations to prove their ability to endure the rigors of Hajj. Indonesian pilgrims benefit from a Saudi scheme offering Hajj-linked facilities, within an initiative known as the 'Mecca Route.' In addition to Indonesia, pilgrims from Malaysia, Pakistan, Morocco, Bangladesh, Turkey and Cote d'Ivoire benefit from the 'Mecca Route' initiative. The initiative aims at providing fast-track services to pilgrims from these countries by smoothly finalizing their procedures in the homeland, tagging and sorting out luggage at the departure airports and eventually delivering their luggage right to their residences inside Saudi Arabia. They head directly to their residences in Mecca and Medina on designated smooth routes. These steps are implemented after verifying all health requirements are met. However, these recent deaths, which have affected various nationalities through different travel methods, have raised questions about the fitness of some pilgrims to perform the physically demanding Hajj under harsh climatic conditions. It also raised concerns about the extent to which some countries adhere to the health requirements set by Saudi Arabia and that aim at ensuring the safety of pilgrims, according to observers who spoke to Saudi media outlets. Saudi physician Ahmed Al-Omari addressed the issue in an interview with Asharq al-Awsat saying that 'if some pilgrims collapse during the flight or upon arrival, how will they fare in the extreme crowding and temperatures that can reach 45 degrees Celsius in Arafat and Mina?' Last year, hundreds of people died while performing Hajj amid soaring temperatures. The total death toll during last year's pilgrimage reached 1,301, according to Saudi health ministry. 83 percent of the deceased were pilgrims who had undertaken the journey without the necessary permits, according to the ministry. It said that the Kingdom provided approximately 1.3 million preventive services to pilgrims, adding that authorities also delivered over 465,000 treatment services, including 141,000 for those without Hajj authorization. The Kingdom has been keen on ensuring that the pilgrims' needs are met, however, pilgrims without Hajj authorization from the authorities organizing the process often find themselves either without guidance or far from several places offering assistance. Facilities, including buses, are pre-arranged and conveniently accommodate regular pilgrims who have registered in advance. Some governments have acknowledged the existence of fraud by some travel companies to transport pilgrims illegally due to the great pressure on visas and costs. To tackle this, the Kingdom has issued an extensive awareness campaign ahead of this year's Hajj season, warning against fraud Hajj announcements and warning pilgrims from embarking on the journey without authorization. The Kingdom has also warned facilitators of violators from breaking the law under the threat of being held accountable legally. Climate change an important factor Climate studies have raised the alarm about further increases in temperatures in the coming years. The scientific journal Geophysical Research Letters previously noted this in a 2019 study, stating that climate change will raise heat stress for pilgrims to levels exceeding the threshold for severe danger in the coming years. A study from King Faisal Specialist Hospital found that temperatures in Mecca are rising at a rate of 0.4 degrees Celsius per decade, but heatstroke cases have dropped by 74.6 percent, resulting in a nearly halved mortality rate. To tackle the rising temperatures, the Saudi government has implemented many measures. These include spray fans and water mist columns to cool open spaces, the distribution of water and umbrellas, the provision of air-conditioned transportation, free medical services during the Hajj, in addition to painting the asphalt surfaces of the Namirah Mosque, near Mount Arafat, to lower temperatures.
Yahoo
a day ago
- General
- Yahoo
'Meant to be': Oklahoma cardiologist treats man's heart attack symptoms mid-flight
An Oklahoma cardiologist had a full circle moment when a Dutch man complained of chest pains on their shared flight. Dr. TJ Trad, a cardiologist at Stillwater Medical Center and founder of the nonprofit Cura for the World Foundation, was traveling home from a medical mission trip in Uganda when he was awoken on the flight to Amsterdam, CNN reported. A man was complaining of chest pain and needed a doctor, he was told by a nurse on his team. Trad found the man drenched in sweat, and he asked the doctor, "Am I going to die?" "Not today," Trad told him before getting to work. Trad had the medications needed to treat a heart attack on hand — including nitroglycerin, Aspirin, Plavix, metoprolol and lisinopril — part of the around two dozen medications he carries with him on medical mission in case anyone on his team has an emergency. But Trad, 43, also had a pocket-sized electrocardiogram, which he carries with him since having his own heart scare last year. One February morning in 2024, just days before he was scheduled to fly to Uganda for a planned medical mission trip, Trad said he was doing a procedure on a patient when he began having chest pain. He was experiencing an 80% blockage in one of his arteries — he had a stent placed that same day and canceled his trip to Uganda. As a way to mark the one year anniversary of his cardiac scare, Trad finished the climb to Everest Base Camp at the beginning of March. "I believe that everything happens for a reason, as cliche as that might sound," Trad said. "Maybe the event that occurred a year ago was the nidus for me to be on that specific plane to help that specific person. Every time, let's say something negative or positive happens, it's good to kind of sit back and reflect on what's the downstream effect of that? So yeah, I feel like we were meant to be on that flight to help." Not only does Trad believe he was meant to be on the flight to help the Dutch man, but he has the same sense regarding the trip to Uganda. While on their trip, Trad met an 8-month-old girl with a 7.8 millimeter ventricular septal defect. The funds have already been raised to cover her heart surgery, which should be taking place soon, he said. "What are the chances that a cardiologist would appear at that specific time in her life ... it's one of those things," Trad said. "It's not a coincidence." The man on the plane told Trad his chest pain, on a scale of 1 to 10, was a 10. It was a pain Trad had warned his patients about, but also one he had felt himself. About 15 minutes after Trad gave him medication, the man's chest pain was gone. But the doctor and nurse continually monitored his symptoms, checking his heart rhythm every five to 10 minutes for the duration of the flight. "After his symptoms subsided, I told the pilot, 'We bought time to get to Amsterdam so that he can go to the hospital there,'" Trad said. CNN reported that the man was examined for 12 hours at the hospital and was not diagnosed with a heart attack, stroke or pulmonary embolism — possibly as a result of Trad's treatment of the patient. Before going their separate ways, the man's wife told Trad, "You're our angel in the sky." This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: Oklahoma doctor treats heart attack symptoms on flight home from Uganda
Free Malaysia Today
a day ago
- General
- Free Malaysia Today
Worker at ECRL site died of heart attack, not from fall, say cops
Pasir Puteh police chief Zaizul Rizal Zakaria said the Chinese national died while he was pulling cables near the train track. (Bernama pic) PETALING JAYA : The death of a construction worker at the East Coast Rail Link (ECRL) project site in Pasir Puteh, Kelantan, on Wednesday was due to a heart attack and not because he fell from a train carriage, say police. Pasir Puteh police chief Zaizul Rizal Zakaria said the Chinese national died while he was pulling cables near the train track, Sinar Harian reported. 'The victim died due to a heart attack, not due to a fall from the train as alleged on social media,' he was quoted as saying. Zaizul said a post-mortem carried out on the victim found no elements of foul play. A video shared widely on social media had alleged that a ECRL worker died after falling from a train.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- General
- Daily Mail
'It was obvious something had gone terribly wrong': In her first interview since Dr Michael Mosley's death, his widow Clare recounts the desperate search
There is a serenity about Dr Clare Bailey Mosley's grief that startles me. A year after her adored husband Michael died while walking in searing heat on the rocky outcrop of a small Greek island – perhaps of heatstroke, perhaps of a heart attack; 'What does it matter?' she asks, simply – there is no rage, no recrimination, no litany of 'what ifs?' You might expect her to be tortured by the random cruelty of this sudden, tragic loss.
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Doctors sound alarm over massive spike in Americans suddenly dropping dead from unexplained heart attacks
Americans are dropping dead from heart attacks at home at alarming rates, doctors warn. Researchers at Mass General Brigham, a Harvard-affiliated hospital, found that heart-related deaths gone up to 17 percent in the years following the Covid pandemic. And while the exact number is unknown, in many of these cases heart attacks have been at home, despite deaths in hospitals decreasing. This suggests patients are being 'missed' — until it is too late. Dr Jason H Wasfy, study author and director of Outcomes Research at the at Massachusetts General Hospital, said: 'Lots of reports have shown that there have been fewer heart attacks in hospitals since 2020 — but something seems to be missing from that data. 'We now show that if you account for deaths at home, cardiac deaths are going up and have stayed up for years. Today there are a lot more people having cardiac deaths at home, which also raises the concern that people with heart disease haven't been getting the care they need since the pandemic.' The Covid virus — which is thought to have infected over 100million Americans — has been shown to cause damage to the heart and blood vessels which may be a factor. But doctors say more factors must be at play, which are still being understood — including diet and lifestyle factors. For example, a study this week found smoking marijuana or consuming edibles may raise the risk. Though the full findings have not yet been released, the experts believe the pandemic could also be linked to a mystery rise in young Americans suffering heart attacks. The study, published Friday in JAMA Network Open, looked at 127,746 death certificates from people who died in Massachusetts between January 2014 and July 2024. The average age was 77 and about 52 percent were men. The researchers then made population estimates based on US Census data from 2014 to 2023. Using death certificate and census data, the team set an expected cardiac death rate for 2020 to 2023. They found cardiac deaths were 16 percent higher than expected in 2020, 17 percent higher in 2021 and 2022 and six percent higher in 2023. The amount of monthly cardiac deaths at home also exceeded expected levels between 2020 and 2022 and in hospitals between 2020 and 2023. However, they cited additional data showing heart attack hospitalizations decreased by 20 to 34 percent after the start of the pandemic. This suggests many of these excess deaths occurred at home. The researchers wrote: 'In this population-based cohort study of Massachusetts decedents, we found cardiac deaths increased substantially starting in 2020, with exaggerated seasonal patterns and increases in deaths at home. 'While numerous other studies have found fewer admissions for cardiac emergencies in countries across the world, these studies may have missed events occurring outside of hospitals.' The researchers suggested this increase could be due to more people avoiding hospitals during the pandemic or being dismissed by doctors. CDC research from 2020, for example, found 40 percent of Americans delayed or avoided seeking medical care at the start of the pandemic, and 12 percent stayed away from emergency rooms. However, emerging research also shows the Covid virus itself may cause long-term heart issues, increasing the risk of cardiac deaths. Data shows that heart attack cases are on the rise in young Americans Covid has been linked to myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle, and pericarditis, inflammation of the sac-like lining surrounding the heart. With myocarditis, it's thought that Covid causes the immune system to attack itself and cause inflammation of the myocardium, the heart's muscle. This same mechanism has been linked to pericarditis. While most cases are mild, in rare instances, myocarditis can damage the heart and make it difficult for it to pump blood, eventually leading to heart failure, heart attack, and stroke. In cases as rare as one in 200,000, the mRNA in Covid vaccines may trigger a similar immune response and cause myocarditis or pericarditis. Covid-induced inflammation also alters the heart's electrical signals, leading to irregular heartbeats called arrhythmias. Research released this week also pointed to smoking weed or taking edibles at least three times a week as a potential cause of heart attacks. That team found endothelial cells, which line the blood vessels and regulate blood flow, released less nitric oxide in people who regularly smoked marijuana or took edibles. Nitric oxide helps blood vessels dilate and deliver vital oxygen throughout the body. This impaired function affects the blood vessels' ability to dilate, increasing the risk of atherosclerosis, heart attacks, and strokes. Dr John Hsu, senior study author of the new study and director of the Program for Clinical Economics and Policy Analysis at Mass General, said: 'Healthcare systems around the world have experienced multiple shocks since 2020. Our findings suggest that both patient choices about seeking care and outcomes after experiencing a cardiac emergency also have changed. 'Had we not examined mortality using death certificate data, the increases in population cardiac mortality could have gone unnoticed.' There were several limitations to the study, including the lack of data on the causes leading to cardiac death. It's unclear when the full findings will be released. The study was partially funded by the National Institutes of Health.
