Being fit is not an excuse to skip a health checkup

Regular medical checkups are a great preventive measure as they help detect silent conditions such as blood pressure, diabetes early

- Shrenik Avlani

Nine years ago, when I met him in his office for a column in this very publication, Darshan Mehta, then 55 and managing director of Reliance Brands, effortlessly jumped on to his desk and posed cross-legged for a picture. India Inc was well aware of his love of running and would regularly cite his example whenever they had to name someone who had built a successful career but also always made time for exercise, health and wellbeing. Very recently, the sexagenarian suffered a fatal heart attack while running on the treadmill. Jog the memory back four years and the dramatic heart attack that Danish footballer Christian Eriksen suffered on-field while playing a UEFA Euro Cup game comes to mind. Just 29 at the time, Eriksen was revived by doctors on the field, and was then moved to a hospital, as billions watched the whole thing unfold live on television.

Eriksen, among one of the fittest men in the world, and Mehta aren't the first healthy people to suffer heart attacks. It's just that thanks to social media, the internet and instant messaging, the word spreads faster today. While those who don't want to exercise may use this as a valid warning to avoid anything "strenuous", thereby, putting themselves at a greater risk of developing health problems, fit and active people need to pay heed to these incidents and make health screenings a regular part of their lives.

A PREVENTIVE MEASURE Even people who appear extremely fit and active may have underlying health issues that are silent in the early stages, explains Dr Sandeep Doshi, consultant for internal medicine and executive health checkup, Kokilaben Dhirubhai Ambani Hospital, Mumbai. "Conditions like high blood pressure, diabetes, kidney diseases, liver issues, or even certain cancers may show no symptoms initially but can still progress quietly," says Doshi.