A DOCTOR who created his own YouTube channel helped save a man’s life when he watched a video explaining the symptoms of a heart attack.

Dr Sanjay Gupta, 45, has amassed 1.5 million hits and built up 20,000 subscribers on the video sharing site after setting it up three years ago to share vital information about having a healthy heart.

The consultant cardiologist at York Hospital has used his York Cardiology channel to talk about some of the most common conditions many experience, including heart palpitations, ectopic heart beats and anything disturbing the rhythm of the heart.

He said: “I feel the care process with the NHS is a very hard for patients.

“If you develop a symptom in the middle of the night people might wait until the morning, but often they need a doctor to tell them to go to hospital.

“I thought there’s really nothing out there for people like that, but we have the technology like YouTube.

“I can break things down and make things more understandable.

“I knew I could put out lectures and if people are worried about something in the middle of the night they can seek out information and get help.

“When you’re in hospital you don’t get the time.

“You want to give patients more time, but you are bombarded with other things.”

Dr Gupta claims his plan has worked to perfection and many people have watched his videos across the globe to diagnose heart problems.

His subscribers have boomed in the last year, increasing from 5,500 last year to 20,000 today.

One of his proudest moments, which entirely justified setting up the channel, came when a man from Sunderland mistakenly believed he had indigestion until he watched a video and realised he was having a heart attack.

Dr Gupta added: “I didn’t become a doctor to read guidelines and tell people they need to take tablets.

“One of my most popular videos was on magnesium.

“A lot of people have heart palpitations and I recommended people take magnesium supplements to help them, and so many people came back to me and said they had suffered for years and I had helped them.”

To watch Dr Gupta’s videos go to youtube.com/channel/UCxtbUzEzRpX1B9sGbRudG6g.