Every so often, people are shocked by the passing of someone by a heart attack. Years ago, it was very common for men to be struck by a fatal one in the 50-60 age bracket. The incidence has dropped sharply, but every so often, a young person passes when it decides to strike.

Research findings published in 2013, found that Malta was one of the countries to experience one of the biggest drops in deaths as a result of coronary failure. This was mainly due to the decrease in the incidence of smoking, better drugs, better treatment and better response time.

In Malta, the age-standardised mortality per 100,000 (five year average rates) in males dropped from 409 deaths in 1980-1984 to 174 deaths in the period of 2005-2009. In females, deaths dropped from 252 in 1980-1984 to 95 in 2005-2009. The 25-year crude total percentage change was a decrease of 62% in deaths among women and 57% among men in Malta.

Although this is the case, cardiovascular diseases were still one of the leading causes of death in Malta. Statistics given by the Health Ministry in 2010 showed that 40% of deaths in Malta were caused by cardiovascular diseases and 80% of cardiovascular deaths around the world can be prevented.

It is hypothesised that observed reductions in coronary heart disease mortality have occurred largely within older age groups, and that rates in younger groups may be plateauing or increasing as the gains from reduced smoking rates are increasingly cancelled out by increasing rates of obesity and diabetes.

All that being said, there are cases where people may have a heart defect, and it is crucial that they get tested to see if there is anything that can be done. It is hard to believe that young people can be affected by heart disease. But it can affect people who are young, sometimes very young.

We have pushed the point home time and time again. Prevention is better than cure and staying away from fatty or convenience diets does help. But people also need to exercise and they also need to visit their GPs to get regular tests. Men are the worst creatures in the world for thinking that something will never happen to them. But, and this is a cold hard and bitter pill to swallow, we are the most susceptible to sudden death through coronary illnesses. Life is precious and it can be snuffed out in an instant, and this is why men owe it to their wives, friends and families to get tested and to get checked.

Science and medicine have made huge advances in the past couple of decades, but it is up to us to take advantage of them. Open heart (and now even nano surgery) has saved countless lives around the world. But living with a ticking time-bomb only ever has one outcome – a fatal heart attack that strikes out of the blue.