‘Doctors have shorter lifespan than patients’

The men and women who help us stay fit and live longer are themselves succumbing to stress, sedentary lifestyles and dying of cardiac arrests.

An observation by the Indian Medical Association’s (IMA) Pune chapter says that an Indian doctor’s average lifespan is 55-59 years, almost 10 years lesser than that of the general population.
It was based on the analysis of the association’s social security scheme (SSS) with 5,500 doctors from Maharashtra and over 11,000 from across the country registered.

IMA Pune chapter’s president Dr Dilip Sarda told DNA that their data of the last five years indicated that doctors’ lifespan was pointing to an alarming trend. “An average Indian lives up to 69-72 years   whereas a doctor lives only up to 55 to 59 years which is shocking. It was noticed that most early deaths were due to cardiac arrest,” he said.

According to Dr Sarda, every year, 12 to 15 doctors in Maharashtra and around 30 doctors across the country lose their lives in this age-group. Stress, sedentary lifestyle and lack of exercise were the causes of early death, he said.

“They are becoming obese, stressed, hypertensive, diabetic or are undergoing angioplasty which reduces their chances of living longer and staying fit,” he said.

Dr Sarda said the doctors themselves were responsible for their poor lifestyle, lack of exercise, stressful careers and an improper diet regime.

This was taking a toll of their health which has affected life
expectancy to a great extent, the doctor said.