People aged 18 to 35 account for a 16% increase in the proportion of sudden cardiac death over 10 years. Chinese Academy of Engineering Academician Yang Baofeng: The main factors are high stress, busy work, poor rest, and tension.

Every Day Economics reporter | Zhang Rui    Every Day Economics editor | Yang Jun

From March 25 to 29, the five-day Zhongguancun Forum was held in Beijing. Yang Baofeng, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a professor at Harbin Medical University, delivered a report titled “2025 Global Engineering Frontiers: Assessment and Interpretation” at his “Engineering Science and Technology Innovation Forum.”

During the above forum, Yang Baofeng was interviewed by reporters from 《Economic Daily News》 (hereinafter referred to as NBD).

Yang Baofeng is a well-known pharmacologist in China. He has been deeply focused on the field of cardiovascular pharmacology for decades. He combines academic expertise with management experience. He previously served as the president of Harbin Medical University for 17 years, promoting the development of pharmacology research and medical education in China through rigorous scholarship and an international perspective.

In the interview, Yang Baofeng affirmed the positive impact of AI (artificial intelligence) in medicine, but he also said plainly, “To truly treat disease, you still have to go to the hospital.”

Yang Baofeng said that although AI can bring us many conveniences and efficiencies in terms of health, the quality of the data still needs to be improved—for example, some data is confidential, and the data quality varies widely. Some data comes from national key laboratories, while some comes from industry experts, frontline doctors, or small clinics. In addition, there is a need for data on negative results. In the future, the problem of data silos also needs to be solved, which requires close cooperation between the government and the scientific and technological community for common development.

On AI application:

No single model can solve all problems

NBD: When you say “data silos,” do you mainly mean that data between hospitals is not interoperable?

Yang Baofeng: Not only hospitals—data between companies is also not interoperable. For example, if a company discovers a good material or a good chemical structural formula, can it let everyone know? They are all large pharmaceutical companies and need to innovate and create new drug research and development. Sometimes a company’s patents may not even be filed within a certain period of time. That’s from a micro perspective.

From a macro perspective, data between different countries also can never be fully interconnected and interoperable, unless the whole world becomes one country.

NBD: I’ve noticed that you’ve long devoted yourself to research on cardiovascular drugs. The industry is also talking about AI for Science (AI enabling scientific research). So what is the current state of AI’s applications in drug R&D?

Yang Baofeng: AI has also been used in drug R&D for quite some time. For instance, if I want to study a drug, I ask AI what drugs the market lacks now and which diseases are the most difficult to treat, and AI will give you an answer. But the answer provided by AI still needs to be verified through discussions among clinical, basic medical, and pharmaceutical experts.

For example, if I want to design a drug structure that acts on different receptors, AI will provide a structural design plan. However, different AI models may produce differences in their answers to the same question. Even when using the same model, the results can vary depending on the questioner’s educational background and the country they are from. For example, AlphaFold (a series of AI models) is suitable for molecular structure prediction, while Doubao performs exceptionally well in text processing. Researchers can choose different tools based on their needs; each tool has its own features and advantages. There is still no single model that can solve all problems.

AI is like a high-quality review or reference book. It can quickly provide the content you need, and it can be iteratively optimized repeatedly according to your needs. Overall, AI has indeed brought tremendous benefits to humankind and various industries. For researchers, it can shorten the time for R&D and data collection, and save labor and resource costs. But at its core, it is the integration and refinement of existing knowledge. To achieve true innovation, we still need in-depth research and thinking by top scientists and interdisciplinary teams.

On sudden cardiac death due to a cardiac cause:

Currently, it cannot be detected** through a health check screening

NBD: Zhang Xuefeng’s death has led to widespread concern about sudden cardiac death due to a cardiac cause. Are there any drugs that can prevent or treat sudden cardiac death due to a cardiac cause?

Yang Baofeng: One major cause of sudden cardiac death due to a cardiac cause is fatigue. Since Zhang Xuefeng was still relatively young, he probably didn’t have underlying conditions such as high blood pressure, diabetes, or hyperlipidemia—so even if he had them, they likely weren’t particularly severe. But with long-term fatigue, and then during running, the sympathetic nervous system becomes excessively excited—after the sympathetic nerves are excited, blood vessels constrict, the heart becomes ischemic, and a sudden arrhythmia occurs, leading to sudden death. That’s the mechanism.

NBD: Is there a “life-saving drug” for sudden cardiac death due to a cardiac cause?

Yang Baofeng: If it’s that kind of vascular spasm, it will be extremely fast. If nitroglycerin-type medications are carried on you and you put one under your tongue, it can be brought under control within 30 seconds to 1 minute.

NBD: “The Epidemiological Investigation of Sudden Cardiac Death in China” shows that in China, the number of sudden cardiac deaths due to a cardiac cause each year is about 550k, of which the proportion of people aged 18 to 35 years has increased from 12% in 2015 to 28% in 2024. As an expert in the cardiovascular field, what do you think are the core driving factors behind this “younger” trend?**

Yang Baofeng: The main factors are heavy pressure, being busy at work, not resting well, and being tense. You need to tell young people not to stay up late—working through the night is not allowed. The work won’t get done anyway; at least you need to get about 7 hours of sleep every day, otherwise you easily get fatigued and your autonomic nervous system function becomes disordered, which makes problems more likely to occur. Of course, it’s okay once in a while, but long-term tension and high pressure won’t work.

In addition, you should focus on healthy living concepts and lifestyle habits: control your diet and your weight, and exercise and rest sufficiently. Zhang Xuefeng was during a running activity. If he was fatigued and didn’t rest well in the days before, autonomic disorder could easily lead to problems.

NBD: Where is the boundary of “moderate exercise”? Especially for people who already have cardiovascular underlying conditions or high-risk factors, how do we define what counts as “moderate exercise”?

Yang Baofeng: It depends on the individual. Exercise is good—you should exercise. Running doesn’t necessarily cause sudden death. For young people, middle-aged people, and even elderly people aged 60 or 65, it’s fine to stay active in moderation. But if there is already a problem with the heart, then you definitely need to pay attention to the intensity and amount of exercise.

NBD: For this kind of hidden risk—people who look healthy but suddenly die of sudden cardiac death— is there a way to detect it in advance? For example, is it possible to detect it through health check screening like tumor markers? Are there any markers that can help prevent sudden cardiac death due to a cardiac cause?

Yang Baofeng: Not yet. The most important thing is to control underlying conditions and make sure you get enough sleep—don’t overexert yourself.

Cover image source: Zhu Yu