Fact-check: Dangerous claims about heart attacks circulate online in Pakistan

An unproven theory is gaining traction in viral videos, amassing over six million views on social media, suggesting that specific yoga exercises can treat blood clots during a heart attack.

The claim is unequivocally false.

Claim

On December 9, a social media user posted a two-minute and 10-second video on Facebook, featuring a Pakistani yoga instructor demonstrating breathing exercises during chest pains.

The yoga instructor asserts that these exercises will "dissolve" blood clots in the body and prevent heart attacks.

The post has received over 22,000 shares, 54,000 likes and 1.2 million views, to date.

Similar posts were shared by other users on X (Twitter) and TikTok.

Fact

According to three Pakistani cardiologists, if a person experiences chest pain, they should immediately seek medical attention

"A patient should not waste even a second and should immediately head to a hospital" when experiencing discomfort in the chest, stated Dr Muhammad Nadeem, the medical superintendent at the Faisalabad Institute of Cardiology (FIC), in Punjab.

Dr Nadeem emphasised that the longer the blood clots stay in the body the more damage they can inflict on the heart muscles. He further dismissed the online claims as "fictitious".

Dr Jabar Ali, an interventional cardiologist at Lady Reading Hospital in Peshawar, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, also denounced the online claims as "misleading".

"What the video claims is not scientifically proven," Ali told Geo Fact Check over the phone, adding that during symptoms of a heart attack a person should take Disprin tablets and immediately seek medical attention.

Meanwhile, Dr Muhammad Suhail Saleemi, a cardiologist at Chaudhary Pervaiz Elahi Institute of Cardiology in Multan, Punjab, said that the instructions in the online videos were neither true nor recommended.

Follow us on @GeoFactCheck. If our readers detect any errors, we encourage them to contact us at [email protected]