Marathoner who suffered heart attack recuperates

Sonal Shukla

Shirish Dhande, 53, who suffered a heart attack after completing the half marathon at the Standard Chartered Mumbai Marathon on Sunday, underwent an angioplasty at Bombay Hospital on Monday.

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The Thane resident is likely to be discharged from hospital later this week. “Forty minutes after I completed the half marathon, I sensed a sharp pain in my chest,” said Dhande, who runs a company manufacturing machinery for pharmaceutical products. “I do not know how this happened. I was practicing and training with the help of a professional instructor for the last nine months. I am an active person.”

According to hospital sources, Dhande had 80 % blockage in the main artery of his heart, however had no past history of cardiac illness. “Stress and strain of the run precipitated the heart attack,” said Dr B K Goyal, director of cardiology, Bombay Hospital.

According to doctors, individuals who suddenly halt after sudden severe physical activity can have wide fluctuations of heart rate and blood pressure. In addition to this, the toxic products of muscle metabolism come up suddenly in circulation causing a plaque rupture. This, in turn, causes clot formation.

“We can not predict when a heart attack will occur in individuals who are dehydrated, have high cholesterol, are smokers or have strong family history of heart illnesses, but they are always at risk,” said Dr Vijay Surase, consultant interventional cardiologist, Jupiter Hospital.

But Dhande remains undeterred. “I am hoping to run the next year marathon,” he said.