Kannada actor Puneeth Rajkumar died on Friday following a cardiac arrest. While his friends, family and fans are yet to come to terms with the sudden demise of the actor at the age of 46, his family doctor Ramana Rao has explained the sequence of events of the day. Speaking to News18 Kannada, Rao said Puneeth had come to his clinic with wife Ashwini after he felt some uneasiness.
“He said he was feeling weak. Weak is not a word I ever heard from Appu (Puneeth). I checked him. His blood pressure was normal, heart beat was steady and lungs were clear but he was sweating which he said was normal after a workout. He had lifted weights, done boxing and taken some extra steam. I anyway decided to do an ECG. I noticed a strain in the ECG that I conveyed to Ashwini and asked her to take him to Vikram hospital,” said Dr Rao.
Puneeth got into a car while Dr Rao alerted the team there to be ready including ICU, emergency team, Cardiothoracic, anaesthestists. He was taken to Vikram hospital in 5 to 6 minutes but could not be saved.
“He was extremely health conscious. I would give his example to so many others. What has happened has got nothing to do with his lifestyle. It was sudden. It was a cardiac arrest (where heart abruptly stops beating) and not a heart attack (where blood flow to the heart stops). It is extremely difficult to say who is likely to have it. There are many factors that could lead to a cardiac arrest but in Appu’s case none of those were seen. He did not have diabetes, abnormal blood pressure, irregular heartbeat. It is impossible to point to a reason for what happened to Appu,” said Dr Rao.
Read: Puneeth Rajkumar Death LIVE Updates: Balakrishna, Jr NTR in Tears As They Pay Last Respects to Kannada Star; Last Rites on Sunday
Puneeth Rajkumar’s workout videos, specially the one where he does somersaults, had gone viral on social media during the lockdown. They have now led to discussions on the possible effects of excessive workout.
Speaking about this, Rao said, “When one does heavy workout, it could lead to a rupture in coronary arteries and there would be blood clot around it. Such a risk exists for anyone who exercises excessively.” To be on the safer side, he suggests a moderate 20 minutes of excercise per day and to check with a doctor what kind of exercises one can do.
“You would go on building your body mass but it’s the same heart that pumps blood to all of them. Tomorrow it may not be able to take the burden,” he added.
Puneeth was admitted to Vikram hospital at 11.40am on October 29 with chest pain. He was non-responsive and advance cardiac resuscitation was initiated but he was declared dead at 2.30pm.
(With inputs from Dasharath in Bengaluru)
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