Singer KK dies of heart attack: What are the warning signs?

Bollywood singer Krishnakumar Kunnath, popularly known as KK, died of a suspected heart attack at 53, after a live concert in Kolkata. Flood of tributes poured in for the immensely talented singer, from fans and prominent personalities from different fields including Prime Minister Narendra Modi who tweeted and paid tribute to him.

Meanwhile, an eyewitness has claimed that the AC was not functioning in the crowded auditorium where KK gave his last performance on Tuesday. In his social media post, the eyewitness wrote, "There was a lot of crowd in the closed auditorium. KK was suffering from sweat due to the non-working of the AC."

Read | What was the cause of singer KK's death? Know how Krishnakumar Kunnath spent his last few hours

The Nazrul Manch where KK's program was held had a capacity of 2700 people, but more than 7,000 people entered the auditorium. Firhad Hakim, Mayor of Kolkata, also admitted that there were more people than the capacity. He said that fire extinguishing foam was used to control the crowd.

Fans say that KK repeatedly asked for the AC to be switched on but his pleas fell on deaf ears. ACs are used to control the temperature and the humidity. High humidity is associated with heatstroke and dehydration mostly. High humidity is also associated with heart attacks.

KK's death has left fans and followers across the country heart broken.

KK died of heart attack

Heart attack, also known as myocardial infarction happens when the blood supply to the heart is blocked mostly due to a blood clot. The blockage stops the flow of the blood to the heart. The blockage can happen due to buildup of fat, cholesterol and other substances in the coronary arteries.

High humidity is also associated with heart attacks. Due to high humidity, sodium and potassium are released from the body with sweat. Sometimes lack of potassium has a direct effect on the heart and can stop the heart's rhythm and also result in death.

Suffocation in a crowded place can also lead to decrease in heart rate, resulting in death. Suffocation means a person is unable to breathe or has difficulty in breathing. This happens mostly due to lack of oxygen in the air, affecting a person's brain functions. As a person is not able to inhale oxygen properly, there is no oxygen supply to the brain.

What are the warning signs

Uneasiness is one of the most common signs of heart attack which easily gets ignored. People often misunderstand it to be some other minor health issue.

During a heart attack, a person will feel uneasiness or pain in the shoulder, arm, back, neck, jaw, and teeth. Sometimes this pain is seen in the upper belly too.

Other signs of heart attack are chest pain like pressure, squeezing and tightness, cold sweat, fatigue, indigestion, dizziness, nausea and shortness of breath.