Puneeth Looked Normal When He Walked Into My Clinic: Dr Rao

The late actor Puneeth Rajkumar was a fitness enthusiast who pushed his fitness limits to a whole new level. The Kannada power star’s cardiac arrest followed by death is now leaving fans wondering what could go wrong as there was no flaw even from a dietary standpoint either. Puneeth’s family doctor Dr Ramana Rao spoke to the media, revealing what happened before and during the tragic incident.

Dr Rao said that Puneeth completed his regular gym session, followed by boxing and a steam session before he felt exhausted. Having no uncertainty over the actor’s medical history, the doctor said that a condition called sudden death syndrome and massive cardiac arrest could be the reason. When these sudden deaths occur, it’s often during physical activity, such as playing a sport or working out and more often occurs in males than in females.

The doctor added that since Puneeth does strenuous workouts, it could have ruptured coronary arteries, thus resulting in a blood clot and cardiac arrest. “He looked so normal when he walked in with his wife Ashwini .around 11.15 am,” the doctor quoted. Puneeth reportedly did not complain of pain and when tested, his heartbeat and BP were normal too. But the actor was sweating excessively and Dr Ramana Rao decided to do ECG. Dr Rao found massive stains in ECG and explained everything to Ashwini privately asking her to ”take Puneeth to the hospital immediately”.

Ashwini immediately took Puneeth to Vikram hospital and since the actor was dizzy, he was asked to lie down in the car.”We all reached Vikram hospital in five minutes” Dr Rao said. What is more shocking is the doctor said that Puneeth never had heart ailments or BP or diabetes and he was perfectly fit all the years. Puneeth attended a party the night before his death and it was hosted by composer Gurukiran. Gurukiran and others who were there at the party also reiterated that the late actor did not show any symptoms of discomfort. Bottom line, certainly a workout cannot give you a heart attack but if there is an underlying pathology of the cardiovascular system it is more likely to manifest as a heart attack when the system is under strain.