Worry at Nepali susceptibility to cardiac arrest

Excessive intoxication and dehydration were thought to be the major cause of cardiac arrests for many young Nepalese in the Emirates.

Krishna Bhusal, head of the Non-Resident Nepalese Association in Abu Dhabi, said the deaths were a cause for concern. Christopher Pike / The National

ABU DHABI // Sudden heart attacks have caused more than half the 44 deaths in the UAE’s Nepali community this year, according to the country’s embassy.

Many Nepalis are dying at very young age as a result of cardiac arrests at their building sites or workers’ accommodation.

According to embassy records, about five Nepalis have died every month so far this year in the UAE, with 28 being caused by sudden heart attacks, according to medical reports received by the mission.

“It’s very painful to lose our very young people who are about 20 or 22 years old. Getting heart attacks at such a young age is really surprising,” said Heera Devi Paudel, labour attache at the embassy.

Ms Paudel said that a major factor was excessive alcohol consumption, which can cause a slow but serious deterioration in an individual’s health and lead to disease.

She said that several had gone to sleep at night and simply not woken. Talking to friends, she said, “it turned out that [they] had consumed alcohol then went to bed”.

Another reason she gave was that every day workers went from extremely hot weather and suddenly enter an extremely cold atmosphere, which gradually made them sick.

But Dr Mohamed Al Hasnawi, a specialist in cardiology at the Life Line Hospital believed working in the sun did not directly contribute to cardiac arrests.

“But consuming alcohol, smoking and being dehydrated [does],” he said. “Some workers may have heat exhaustion because of working under the sunlight, remain dehydrated and lose salt in the blood. These symptoms may cause heart arrest,” Dr Al Hasnawi said.

It happens because of dehydration and a disturbance in the electrolytes, which put the heart under pressure, he said. Most of time the worker remained unaware of the disease, but when they were sent for medical tests, many had heart disease diagnosed, Dr Al Hasnawi said.

The Nepalese community and the embassy in Abu Dhabi are taking action to try to reduce the number of fatalities among young workers and to spread awareness.

“We tell our people about the working conditions here and make them aware through the help of our community people and the embassy when they visit,” Ms Paudel said.

The problem, she said, was that they did not take preventive measures seriously and thought that turning air-conditioning on high would cool them off quickly.

Krishna Bhusal, head of the Non-Resident Nepali Association in Abu Dhabi, said it was a matter of concern that Nepalis were dying so young. He said that the Nepalese working class was not educated and many failed to take the precautions necessary for working safely in the harsh UAE climate.