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Magazine
Four steps to a healthy heart
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In India, coronary heart disease is increasingly affecting young people ... Dr. HARBANS S. WASIR on the issue of cardiac well-being.
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Avoid fat ... Ensure that you have a balanced diet.
IT was Hippocrates, the father of medicine (Sixth Century B.C.) who said: "Whoever wishes to study medicine well, should proceed thus: In the first place to consider the Seasons of the year... The Waters... they are fond of eating and drinking to excess and given to sedentary living or they are fond of exercise and labour." In making this observation, Hippocrates had expressed concern about the effects of living, eating and drinking, (which are these days called lifestyle habits) on health.
Lifestyles — cause and cure of heart attack
The cause of most heart diseases is not known. The atherosclerotic narrowing of the coronary arteries (coronary heart disease), the blood vessels that provide nourishment to the heart, is the main cause of deaths and disability around the world. In India, the disease now affects young men in their most productive years of life.
The risk factor for heart attacks (coronary risk factors) include: (1) Smoking (2) High blood pressure (3) High blood levels of cholesterol, Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) and triglycerides (4) Low blood levels of friendly cholesterol i.e. High Density Lipoprotein (HDL), (5) Being overweight (6) Uncontrolled diabetes (7) Sedentary habits and a lack of physical activity (8) Diet rich in foods of animal origin, milk and dairy products, red meats and heavy alcohol consumption (9) Repeated stressful situations and frequent hostile environmental challenges (10) A familial tendency for heart disease, i.e. a positive family history of a close blood relative having suffered a heart attack, hypertension or diabetes.
The first nine of these factors are controllable, being related to the lifestyle of an individual. Thus, the sensible, and certainly more economical, approach would be to try and prevent heart attacks in the first instance (primary prevention) by correcting a "faulty" lifestyle. This is because one must understand that current treatment using modern drugs, ballooning and bypass surgery is unaffordable by most families.
Preventive and protective factors
In countries where deaths from heart attacks have significantly come down over the last 30 years, it has been largely the result of enforcing the practice of healthy life styles, and to some extent, by the introduction of intensive care units, drugs like clot busters (thrombolytic agents), modern devices like ballooning, stents, pace makers and bypass surgery, all of these being very expensive, indeed.
Food for the heart
1. A balanced diet: adequate calories so as not to put on extra weight, food rich in vegetable fibre and nuts, complex carbohydrates (roots, tubers, lentils, legumes) and low in dairy products, refined sugar, organ meats like liver, brain, etc. Alcohol consumption should be limited up to two small drinks (one drink = one ounce whisky) or two glasses of beer or wine.
2. Regular exercise: The beneficial cardio-protective effects of physical exercise come from its control on body weight, blood pressure and the training of muscles to do more work. Physical exercise improves blood sugar levels, decreases harmful Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL) cholesterol and triglycerides and raises protective High Density Lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol. Physical exercise, through increased blood levels of endorphins and nitric oxide, brings physical and mental relaxation and a feeling of well being. Examples of dynamic (isotonic) exercise are brisk walking for about 30 minutes every day, rope jumping, floor mopping, swimming and outdoor games like tennis, badminton and golf. Excuses like weather not being too good to go out or not enough time available can be taken care of by having a stationary cycle or a simple treadmill at home which can be used for 15 to 20 minutes every day.
3. Mental relaxation: Each time the mind is stressed, there is a rise in the pulse rate and blood pressure. This high rate of pressure puts the heart under undue strain. Mental stress also results in increased blood levels of adrenaline, nor-adrenaline, fatty acids and blood sugar. Mental relaxation attained through meditation, yoga and music is, therefore, another important ingredient of "food for the heart".
4. Avoiding smoking: There is enough data available to incriminate the smoking habit to a high incidence of heart attacks, angina, peripheral arterial blockages (leg clandication) and sudden cardiac death. Giving up smoking will not only prevent several heart diseases but also protect the person from lung cancer, chronic bronchitis and cancer of the voice box (larynx), bladder and cervix.
Risk factors for heart attacks have often been talked about. Let us now focus more on the positive side of cardiac well being.
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