Are you ignoring early heart warning signs? Cardiologist shares what to know before turning 50

“After the blockage was there, the stent was needed, and the emergency was real. But the question that changed my career was: Why did we wait until the artery was already diseased to start calling this heart care?” he explains.

According to him, heart health is not shaped overnight, but is the result of decades of cumulative lifestyle and metabolic patterns. “By 50, your heart is often reflecting the last 20 years of your metabolism, stress biology, sleep, blood sugar, inflammation, muscle mass, hormones, gut, and daily repair capacity,” he notes.

Why ‘feeling fine’ is not always enough

Dr Bhojraj also points out a common gap in diagnosis and reassurance. “The worst part? Most people are still being told they’re ‘fine’ because they don’t have any blatant alarm bells showing up yet. That is not prevention.”

True prevention, he emphasises, means identifying risks long before symptoms appear. “Prevention is knowing whether your body is building plaque before you feel symptoms. It’s understanding whether your blood sugar is damaging your vessels, even if you’re not diabetic. It’s asking why your blood pressure is rising instead of only asking how to suppress it.”

While he firmly supports modern cardiology and life-saving interventions, Dr Bhojraj believes the focus must shift earlier. “I still believe in modern cardiology. But I also know this: The best heart procedure is the one you never need.”

“That is the conversation I wish more people were having before 50,” he adds.

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This article was posted in The Times of India.