How yoga can help the heart

Yoga is both a static and dynamic exercise and improves the cardio-vascular efficiency in a healthy as well as a sick person. DR. UMA KRISHNASWAMY and T.K.V. DESIKACHAR talk to DR. S. THANIKACHALAM on the role of yoga in therapeutic cardiology.

DR. UMA KRISHNASWAMY (U.K.S.): One sees that cardio-vascular diseases are increasing in India to rather worrying levels. What has been the cause for this?

DR. S. THANIKACHALAM (S.T.C.): I am deeply interested in this problem. Hence, for the last two years I have collected data from both pre-independence and post-independence days. I have found that the main reason for hypertension is the increase in population.

Each person requires food, shelter and the basic comforts of life. If the population had been static, our meagre development will have been enough to balance demand and supply. The demand is increasing, but the supply is less.

Naturally, for every human being born in the country, it becomes a case of survival of the fittest. This starts right at the kindergarten. The child is told that to survive in this world one has to struggle. A five-year-old is told that he will not be able to survive unless he is aggressive - aggressive both with himself and towards others.

He does not tolerate other children excelling in examinations. Even at the age of 15, the child's blood pressure will be higher than the mean blood pressure of other children who are not competitive. In India, we are pushing the public to be competitive. This whole situation is man-made and not God-made.

Secondly, there is increasing urbanisation. A villager has time to sit and talk with others. In the city, I do not know who my neighbour is. A villager thinks only about the next year's crops and is content with that. But in urban environment the visualisation and planning involves ten years and not just one year.

Urbanisation gives the individual more money and this in turn gives him more purchasing power. His dietary habits change and the fast food culture is introduced. The per capita intake of fat in the urban population is fifty times higher than the rural population. The salt consumption is also enormous.

Jawaharlal Nehru once said that he was not for educating the public for some more years to come. If you do not educate a person, then he does not know what his rights are. He becomes aware of his rights only when you educate him. If he is not given his rights then the struggle begins. How to live is not the question - one has to live somehow. In such cases, heart diseases will definitely increase.

The other problem is lack of contentment. One must accept one's limitations. Such acceptance is lacking in urban areas. One needs mental maturity to accept one's limitations. We have fallen prey to an artificial life and that is why heart disease is on the rise.

You might ask in what way the system is affected on account of all this. We have proved this by conducting experiments on animals. We took two sets of rats, leaving one set in near natural surroundings. The blood pressure of these rats remained normal even after a year.

The other set of rats were put on a rotating drum so that they were unable to walk at a stretch. They had to struggle to remain steady and they were also subject to loud noise every five minutes. Not only did their blood pressure become high, but the blood pressure of their progeny was also found to be high, because of genetic changes conducive to hypertension.

Most Indian cardiologists are concentrating on diagnostic cardiology. But you emphasise preventive cardiology and also advocate yoga. How did you become convinced of the efficacy of yoga as a therapeutic modality?

This was because of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. I was very attracted towards the Maharishi because this was the first time I saw objective evidence. I realised that if one did pranayama (breath control), then the oxygen carrying capacity would improve.

Most cardiac diseases are a continuous process. If I do a therapeutic intervention (such as an angioplasty or bypass surgery), the disease does not stop. It goes on. But, yoga can definitely hamper the progress of disease. It cannot contain the disease fully because once the process is initiated, it is a vicious cycle.

The aim of allopathic medicine is to decrease the tempo of the disease, so that instead of dying at the age of 60 years, the patient dies at the age of 70. I feel that there should be a comprehensive and holistic combination of allopathy and alternative systems to both prevent and treat disease.

How do you envisage the role of yoga in therapeutic cardiology?

In yoga, the moment a person adopts an asana (posture), his life pattern changes. His personality and diet change. One becomes a puritan. After doing asanas (postures), he will not want to smoke, he will not eat a full lobster.

I feel that yoga is a combination of psychoanalysis, psychiatry and physiotherapy. Maybe the hypothalamus (an area of the brain controlling endocrine activity) is activated and that is why there is such a reaction.

Once spontaneous energy starts coming out of the hypothalamus, then good things happen to the person. He realises what he was doing and learns to correct himself. He also emanates positive energy. A person's energy depends on his personality - on whether he is quiet or perturbed. A quiet person has more of positive energy, while a restless person has more of negative energy.

T. K. V. DESIKACHAR (T.K.V.D.): There is a theory amongst some yoga masters that if you stretch the front portion of the body, it will help the heart revive. So certain postures, such as arching the back and techniques like holding the breath after inhalation, are suggested. In fact, it is recommended to people after a coronary bypass operation.

DR. S.T.C.: A person who never indulges in any kind of physical activity (either dynamic or static) will have a very poor cardiac efficiency. On exercise, his heart rate will increase precipitously. If the same person has physical training for six months, you will find that the heart rate does not jump, but will steadily go up after a set of exercises.

I would extrapolate these findings to yoga, which is both a static and dynamic exercise. The joints and ligaments are made supple by the dynamic exercise. Muscle tone is created by the static exercises. People think that you have to run about 10 kilometres in order to exercise. One can sit in a room and do yoga, for the muscles to be equally efficient.

With yoga one can improve the cardio-vascular efficiency in a normal person and in a diseased person. But at the same time, one should be cautious regarding the underlying condition. For instance, if a person has a severe obstruction of a heart valve, then one has to be very careful.

T.K.V.D.: My father, who was also my teacher, was of the opinion that conscious respiration is one of the best ways of taking care of the heart.

DR. S.T.C.: In a way, your father was correct. The lung transpires - it gives out carbon dioxide and takes in oxygen. It is the work of the heart to carry the oxygen-rich blood to all tissues. They thus have a symbiotic relationship. There may be an enormous amount of water in a dam, but there has to be a pumping station to distribute the water.

T.K.V.D.: Many factors contribute to the well being of a person. It is not just what is taught. For instance, the interaction between the teacher and the student has a great effect in making the person comfortable. People like this place, so they feel better. They like the teacher and this again makes them feel better.

DR. S.T.C.: This is true. The human being wants emotional comfort. Earlier physicians were family doctors. The family doctor solved not only physical illnesses but also family problems. This no longer holds true. Alternative systems, especially yoga cannot afford to treat a person as a mere man of flesh. They treat a person as one with a soul. That itself gives patients great solace and hence they feel better.

* * *

Risk factors for heart disease

YOU have a family history of heart disease.

* You are over weight.

* You smoke.

* You do not exercise.

* You have high blood pressure.

* You have Diabetes Mellitus.

* You have high cholesterol.

* * *

Tips to prevent or control ischaemic heart disease

FOLLOW a diet low in total and saturated fat and salt.

* Do aerobic exercise such as daily 1/2 hour of walking.

* Reduce stress by techniques such as yoga and meditation.

* Stop smoking if you smoke.

* Take treatment to lower cholesterol, if high.

* Take treatment to lower blood pressure, if high.

* Take treatment to control diabetes, if you are diabetic.

* Use Aspirin only if your doctor recommends it.

* Use hormone replacement therapy if you are a post-menopausal woman, only if your doctor recommends it.

* * *

Blood pressure - fact-file

IF your blood pressure is found to be at 140/90 or above, then you have hypertension or high blood pressure. Your pressure may need to be measured on at least two or more occasions to be accurate.

High blood pressure is sometimes called the "silent killer" because most people who have it do not feel ill. It greatly increases your chances of developing cardiovascular diseases, and it is the most important risk factor for stroke.

If you have high blood pressure, you can control it with proper treatment. If you do not have high blood pressure now, you can take steps to prevent it from developing.

Control and prevent high blood pressure by taking the following steps:

Use less salt

Limit your total daily salt intake to no more than six grams. This includes whatever is added during cooking and at the table. Sodium, an ingredient in salt, is "hidden" in many packaged and processed foods. If you would like to try a salt substitute, consult your doctor first, because they are not safe for everyone.

Be active

Even low to moderate activity, if done regularly, can help control and prevent high blood pressure. Such exercise includes walking, gardening, moderate-to-heavy housework, etc. Do one or more of these activities every day.

Lose weight if you are overweight

Reducing excess weight will help to control and prevent high blood pressure.

Limit your alcohol intake

If you drink alcohol, limit its use to the minimum.

Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Section  : Features
Previous : Infotainment for the family
Next     : More miles to go