Zerodha’s CEO Nithin Kamath revealed on Monday that he experienced a “mild stroke” six weeks ago. He attributed the stroke to a combination of factors including the recent passing of his father, poor sleep, exhaustion, dehydration, and excessive exercise. The revelation by 44-year-old Kamath, who is a fitness enthusiast, has reignited debate about work-life balance.
Kamath noticed symptoms such as facial drooping and difficulty with reading and writing. He anticipates a full recovery within 3-6 months. After the mild stroke, Nithin Kamath said he wondered “why a person who’s fit and takes care of himself could be affected”. Zerodha cofounder said that his doctor “said you need to know when you need to shift the gears down a bit.”
Noting that Nithin Kamath is one of the “fittest persons”, Hyderabad-based neurologist Dr Sudhir Kumar said the Zerodha founder has rightly recognized five likely risk factors that could have caused his stroke: Stress (of losing his father), sleep deprivation, over-exercising (over-working out), exhaustion (related to work commitments and workouts) and dehydration.
His advice: “So, it is important to exercise in moderation (and not over-exercise), ensure adequate sleep and cut down on work (if one is over-working),”
After Zerodha cofounder reported about the mild stroke, his old tweets on the issue of heart health are into the spotlight. In those tweets from 2021, Nithin Kamath pointed out that “number of people having severe heart issues in my extended circle is terrifying. The common thread seems to be sleep deprivation, and not nearly enough is spoken about the importance of sleep on overall health & well-being. The problem has gotten worse post-COVID and WFH.”
“If you, like me, have trouble sleeping because of constant work distractions, triggers from email, news apps, social media, and chats, disconnecting completely a few hours before sleep helps significantly,” he said.
Doctors on heart health
Dr Deepak Krishnamurthy, a cardiologist at Kauvery Hospital in Bengaluru, recently commented on Kamath’s tweets on heart health.
“When I spoke against 72 hour work week sometime ago, there were many people up in arms and called me what all names. But the fact remains that there needs to be work life balance. There needs to be time to relax, unwind and sleep. For all that you need spare time,” he advised.
He also said: “Excess leading to health issues and cardiovascular events is known even before covid times.”
Another cardiologist Dr Divij Khetan in another post on X said: “Being fit and being healthy are not same. A person can run miles still can have heart attack!”
Kamath, who co-founded Zerodha with his brother Nikhil Kamath, received supportive messages from peers like Ashneer Grover, former MD of BharatPe, who urged Zerodha co-founder to “take care and take a break.”
— cspramesh (@cspramesh)
‘Don’t follow random “influencers”‘
A doctor at Tata Memorial Hospital in Mumbai has advised Nithin Kamath, the CEO of Zerodha who experienced a minor stroke, to steer clear of medical guidance provided by unverified influencers. Dr. CS Pramesh voiced his concern on X (formerly Twitter) after a social media influencer shared medical advice for Mr. Kamath on social media, despite many medical professionals disagreeing with it. Sharing the recommendations, Dr. Pramesh emphasized the dangers of relying on social media for medical advice and cautioned against following influencers lacking credible scientific backing beyond mere personal assertions.
