Dear All : Some one sent this informative
Q&A on How to prevent Heart diseases
from India .
I wanted to share it with you all.
V.Sadagopan
A chat
with Dr.Devi Shetty , Narayana Hrudayalaya
(
Heart
Specialist) Bangalore
was arranged by WIPRO for its
employees .
The
transcript of the chat is given below. Useful for everyone.
Qn: What are
the thumb rules for a layman to take care of his heart
?
Ans: 1.
Diet - Less of carbohydrate, more of protein, less oil 2. Exercise - Half an
hour's walk, at least five days a week; avoid lifts and avoid sitting for a
longtime 3. Quit smoking 4. Control weight 5. Control blood pressure
and sugar
Qn: Is eating
non-veg food (fish) good for the heart?
Ans: No
Qn: It's still
a grave shock to hear that some apparently healthy person
gets a cardiac
arrest. How do we understand it in perspective?
Ans: This
is called silent attack; that is why we recommend everyone past the age of 30 to
undergo routine health checkups.
Qn: Are heart
diseases hereditary?
Ans:
Yes
Qn: What are the
ways in which the heart is stressed? What practices do you suggest
to de-stress?
Ans: Change
your attitude towards life. Do not look for perfection in everything in life.
Qn: Is walking
better than jogging or is more intensive exercise required to keep a healthy
heart ?
Ans:
Walking is better than jogging since jogging leads to early fatigue and injury
to joints .
Qn: You have
done so much for the poor and needy. What has inspired you to do so?
Ans: Mother
Theresa , who was my patient.
Qn:
Can people with low blood pressure suffer heart diseases?
Ans:
Extremely rare
Qn: Does
cholesterol accumulates right from an early age
(I'm currently only 22)
or do you have to worry about it only after you are above 30 years of age?
Ans:
Cholesterol accumulates from childhood.
Qn: How do
irregular eating habits affect the heart ?
Ans: You
tend to eat junk food when the habits are irregular and your body's enzyme
release for digestion gets confused.
Qn: How can I
control cholesterol content without using medicines?
Ans:
Control diet, walk and eat walnut.
Qn: Can yoga prevent heart ailments?
Ans: Yoga
helps.
Qn: Which is
the best and worst food for the heart
?
Ans:
Fruits and
vegetables are the best and the worst is oil.
Qn: Which oil
is better - groundnut, sunflower, olive?
Ans: All
oils are bad .
Qn: What is the
routine checkup one should go through? Is there any specific test?
Ans:
Routine blood test to ensure sugar, cholesterol is ok. Check BP, Treadmill test
after an echo.
Qn: What are
the first aid steps to be taken on a heart attack?
Ans: Help
the person into a sleeping position ,
place an aspirin tablet
under the tongue with a sorbitrate tablet if available, and rush him to a
coronary care unit since the maximum casualty takes place within the first hour.
Qn: How do you
differentiate between pain caused by a heart attack and that
caused due to gastric trouble?
Ans:
Extremely difficult without ECG.
Qn: What is the
main cause of a steep increase in heart problems amongst
youngsters? I see people of about 30-40 yrs of age having heart attacks and serious
heart problems.
Ans:
Increased awareness has increased incidents. Also, edentary lifestyles, smoking,
junk food, lack of exercise in a country where people are genetically three
times more vulnerable for heart attacks than
Europeans and Americans.
Qn:
Is it possible for a person to have BP outside the normal range of 120/80 and
yet be perfectly healthy?
Ans:
Yes.
Qn: Marriages
within close relatives can lead to heart problems for the
child. Is it true?
Ans : Yes,
co-sanguinity leads to congenital abnormalities and you may not have a software
engineer as a child
Qn:
Many of us have an irregular daily routine and many a times we have to stay late
nights in office. Does this affect our heart ? What precautions
would you recommend?
Ans
: When you are young, nature protects you against all these irregularities.
However, as you grow older, respect the biological clock.
Qn: Will taking
anti-hypertensive drugs cause some other complications (short / long term)?
Ans : Yes,
most drugs have some side effects. However, modern anti-hypertensive drugs are
extremely safe.
Qn: Will
consuming more coffee/tea lead to heart attacks?
Ans :
No.
Qn: Are asthma
patients more prone to heart disease?
Ans : No.
Qn: How would
you define junk food?
Ans : Fried
food like Kentucky , McDonalds , samosas, and even masala dosas.
Qn: You
mentioned that Indians are three times more vulnerable. What is the reason for
this, as Europeans and Americans also eat a lot of junk food?
Ans: Every
race is vulnerable to some disease and unfortunately, Indians are vulnerable for
the most expensive disease.
Qn: Does
consuming bananas help reduce hypertension?
Ans : No.
Qn: Can a
person help himself during a heart attack
(Because we see a lot of forwarded emails on this)?
Ans : Yes.
Lie down comfortably and put an aspirin tablet of any description under the
tongue and ask someone to take you to the nearest coronary care unit without any
delay and do not wait for the ambulance since most of the time, the ambulance
does not turn up.
Qn: Do, in any
way, low white blood cells and low hemoglobin count lead to heart
problems?
Ans : No.
But it is ideal to have normal hemoglobin level to increase your exercise
capacity.
Qn: Sometimes,
due to the hectic schedule we are not able to exercise. So, does walking while
doing daily chores at home or climbing the stairs in the house, work as a
substitute for exercise?
Ans :
Certainly. Avoid sitting continuously for more than half an hour and even the
act of getting out of the chair and going to another chair and sitting helps a
lot.
Qn: Is there a
relation between heart problems and blood
sugar?
Ans: Yes.
A strong relationship since diabetics are more vulnerable to heart
attacks than non-diabetics.
Qn: What are
the things one needs to take care of after a heart
operation?
Ans :
Diet, exercise, drugs on time
, Control
cholesterol, BP, weight.
Qn: Are people
working on night shifts more vulnerable to heart disease when
compared to day shift workers?
Ans : No.
Qn: What are
the modern anti-hypertensive drugs?
Ans : There
are hundreds of drugs and your doctor will chose the right combination for your
problem, but my suggestion is to avoid the drugs and go for natural ways of
controlling blood pressure by walk, diet to reduce weight and changing attitudes
towards lifestyles.
Qn: Does
dispirin or similar headache pills increase the risk of heart attacks?
Ans : No.
Qn: Why is the
rate of heart
attacks more in men than in women?
Ans :
Nature protects women till the age of 45.
Qn: How can one
keep the heart
in a good condition?
Ans : Eat a
healthy diet, avoid junk food, exercise everyday, do not smoke and, go for
health checkup s if you are past
the age of 30 ( once
in six
months recommended) ...
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