Every day across India, countless people walk into clinics with small yet persistent complaints feeling a little more tired than usual, experiencing slight breathlessness, or just sensing that something isn’t quite right. Most undergo basic tests like ECGs, 2D Echos, and lipid profiles. The reports come back stamped ‘normal.’ The doctor offers a reassuring nod and says, “You’re absolutely fine.” They walk out relieved. Their family breathes easy. The worry is forgotten.
But sometimes, just a few months later, the same person is rushed to the hospital in the middle of the night struck by a heart attack they never saw coming.
How does someone with normal reports end up in the ICU?
Highlighting the same, Dr Rohit Sane, a leading Cardiac Physician and CEO & MD, Madhavbaug shares, “This is India’s diagnostic blind spot. It’s the false reassurance created by routine medical checkups that miss the underlying storm quietly building within. It’s a system that tells people they’re fine when their hearts are not.”
Tests like ECGs and 2D Echos are commonly used tests for heart health. A lipid profile may show cholesterol levels. These tools are important, no doubt but they offer only a partial view. Most of them are conducted at rest, when the patient is calm, still, and often symptom-free. But the heart doesn’t struggle at rest. It struggles during exertion when you’re climbing stairs, rushing to catch a bus, dealing with emotional pressure, or simply living your life. That’s when hidden issues often surface. Unfortunately, most standard tests don’t capture that reality.
Also Read: Signs You Have Fat Around Your Heart: Know Potential Risks
Symptoms like fatigue, poor sleep, reduced stamina, heaviness in the chest after meals, or swelling in the ankles often point toward early dysfunction. Yet they are routinely dismissed when test results appear within range. This problem is compounded in women, whose symptoms may differ from the textbook definitions and are often written off.
Another issue is as per Dr Sane is fragmentation. Each test is seen in isolation, not as part of a comprehensive picture. Reports may look fine, but no one asks deeper questions: How is the person’s energy throughout the day? How well are they sleeping? How do they feel after physical exertion? What’s their stress like? This lack of connection between report and real-life function is a major reason why early-stage heart conditions are missed.
Why are functional tests for the heart important?
When symptoms and routine findings don’t align, deeper tools like the 6-Minute Walk Test, ambulatory blood pressure monitoring, or stress testing (TMT) can provide the missing insights. These tests simulate real-life demands. They reveal how the heart behaves under strain, not just in a quiet clinic room. A patient who looks stable at rest may show oxygen deficits, rhythm changes, or poor recovery during movement, offering clear warning signs that were otherwise invisible.
And yet, even functional testing alone is not enough if we ignore the most ancient and intimate source of diagnostics in our own bodies.
Also Read: Here Are 5 Common Medical Tests to Diagnose Heart Conditions
How Ayurveda Can Detect Underlying Heart Problems?
Long before machines and monitors, the human body was understood through its natural rhythms. Ayurveda doesn’t just define health as the absence of disease, it defines it as the presence of harmony. It teaches us that certain daily indicators are powerful signals of well-being: the ability to wake up easily and feel fresh, clear and complete elimination of stool and urine, timely and proper hunger, enthusiasm for daily activities, and the healthy functioning of all five senses. These aren’t just philosophical ideals; they are practical, observable, and profoundly accurate.
When a person struggles to wake up, loses their appetite, feels no interest in daily tasks, or senses dullness in their vision, smell, or hearing, something is off. Even if every report says “normal,” these signs should never be ignored. They are the body’s subtle alarm system.
Unfortunately, in modern clinics, these signs are rarely asked about. But when we combine this ancient perspective with today’s advanced testing, we arrive at a powerful model of care, one that is early, accurate, and deeply personalized.
Final Word
Health is not a number. It’s how you feel, move, eat, sleep, think, and recover. It’s your ability to live life fully and joyfully. If that ability is compromised, it deserves attention regardless of what any report says.
India’s heart crisis won’t be solved by technology alone. It will be solved by blending modern diagnostics with ancient awareness. By remembering that before we were patients, we were people and our bodies always knew how to speak. It’s time we started listening again.