Ran 5 km daily, ate clean; yet needed angioplasty, two stents: Man’s warning on World Heart Day goes viral

World Heart Day 2025: A fit man, who ran 5 km daily, followed proper sleep hygiene, and maintained a clean diet, revealed that he had to undergo angioplasty and 11 years later, had to get two stents placed in his heart, all due to a silent new killer increasingly impacting young professionals.

In a viral LinkedIn post on World Heart Day, Karthik Srinivasan, a Communications strategy consultant, shared that he has been running 5 km regularly, sleeping predictably early and on time, and is generally conscious about what he consumes, especially after his angiogram in 2011. “And yet, almost 15 years later, two blocks!”

One question has haunted Srinivasan ever since he discovered the blocks in his heart: “Why me?”

In the viral post, he said that despite his many conscious efforts, there is no easy answer to why his heart health wasn't top-notch. “There are multiple factors that go into heart health.”

He said that thankfully, he didn't have a heart attack, and the need for an angiogram was discovered timely.

But ever since, Srinivasan said, “I have started doing everything better - started running gradually again, became even more conscious about what I consume, completely eliminated ultra-processed foods from my diet, started doing deep breathing exercises first thing in the morning and last thing in the night before sleeping, among other things.”

The silent killer – Sedentary lifestyle

However, Karthik Srinivasan noted that there was one thing he wasn't doing earlier was taking the movement alert on his smartwatch seriously. “I have been wearing one or another smartwatch since 2015 or so. Almost all of them have some form of movement alert.”

Srinivasan shared that since he was already hitting his 8000/10000 steps goal a day during his daily running, “I thought that was enough, and I could ignore the hourly movement alert.”

He shared that his kind of work involves sitting in front of a laptop for prolonged hours. “That is the very definition of ‘sedentary lifestyle’ even if I run 5 km every day in one stretch,” he warned.

‘Sitting is the new smoking’

Karthik Srinivasan said in the viral post that he has now installed an app that not only alerts him to get up and walk but also informs him that he needs to complete a minimum number of steps to clear the alert.

“I have set it to 250 steps per hour. So the steps from my daily runs are now a bonus. The main target is 250 steps per hour, every hour,” he said.

“I don't want 'Sitting is the new smoking' to haunt me again,” Srinivasan noted.

Health risks of prolonged sitting

• Heart Disease: Studies link long hours of sitting with increased risk of heart attacks and strokes due to reduced circulation and higher cholesterol levels.
• Type 2 Diabetes: Sedentary behaviour decreases the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar effectively, raising diabetes risk.
• Obesity: Sitting burns fewer calories than standing or moving, leading to weight gain and related complications.
• Cancer Risk: Some research connects excessive sitting with higher rates of certain cancers, like colon and breast cancer.
• Impact on Longevity: Prolonged sitting is associated with premature death from all causes, even for people who exercise regularly but spend most of the day seated.
• Musculoskeletal Problems: Sitting for long hours can cause back pain, neck stiffness, and posture issues, impacting overall mobility and quality of life.
• Mental Health Effects: A sedentary lifestyle has been linked to higher stress levels, anxiety, and depression due to reduced physical activity and social interaction.