The water from all the taps in my Bathroom started flowing slower and slower. One fine day, it started falling in drops and I called the watchman and he told me everything was okay at the Overhead tank. So I went about opening the small filters below each of the tap to check what was the problem? Then I realized that over a period of time, the filters(Most of the branded bathroom accessories have metal filter with mesh to hold dust) had got clogged with mud and dirt that the flow had got restricted. Thank god, I could clean them and fix them to get good flow of water.
The same way, we all think that our Heart is working normally. But the problem is with the Coronary Arteries which supply blood to the Heart. There are many enemies to these which cause gradual hardening and narrowing of the vessels which gets completely obstructed without informing us.
So why not release it with thrombollytic drugs or bypass surgery. But it is not as simple as clearing off dust on tap filters primarily because your Heart does not wait and the drugs are only marginally effective and have to be rushed early from the time of clotting.
Add to these the Heart failures due to congenital, rheumatic and ischemia factors, it is mind boggling.
Our Heart is the hardest working soul for our body and we have only one, yet how many of us take care of it or even bother about it. The Heart pumps 5 Litres of blood every minute. In the average lifetime, that translates to more than three billion heartbeats to pump more than a million gallons of blood – enough to fill a Society Water tank. You’re Heart and Blood system needs proper maintenance like the motor and pipes in your House
Some startling facts
The rise of coronary Heart disease in India from 4% in 1962 to 15% in 2005(17% in males) assumes great significance because by the year 2010, it is expected that World’s 55% of Coronary Heart Disease patients are going to be from India. Indians are at five times more risk of Heart Attack than the Japanese and 3 times at more risk than the Americans. One in every five Indians above the age of 40 is expected to have Heart problems.
Who are the five enemies to the Heart.
Let us first find the enemies and attack them so that we can stem the rot. The five worst enemies to the Heart are Bad Cholesterol, Obesity, Smoking, Stress & Heavy Alcoholism
How do we fight these five?
Bad Cholesterol -Bad Daddy to the Heart
Many are under the impression that high Cholesterol leads to Heart Disease. However it has two components-Bad-LDL(Low density) Cholesterol and Good-HDL(High Density) Cholesterol. Bad Cholesterol is the major risk factor in causing hardening of the blood vessels. They build up on the walls of the arteries and form a thick hard plaque and finally clog them. The two main sources of Bad Cholesterol are as follows.
Cholesterol from the foods that you eat: Normally the foods that are high in saturated fats or trans-fats cause high Bad Cholesterol. Common foods are Potato chips, Butter, Pizzas, Burger, all fried oily stuff. The only way to fight this enemy is not to abstain from this food, but marginalize them as much as possible. Foods that are high in non saturated fat are very healthy for Heart like Olive oil, some vegetable oils and nuts.
Magic of good Cholesterol.
Good because it reduces the risk enormously and aids in healthier heart, these are phytosterols found mostly on soya products, green peas, sesame, corns, peanuts etc. They fight Bad Cholesterol.Women have lower risk of Heart Disease till they reach menopause because of high Good Cholesterol.
Cholesterol produced by Body based on family History; This is the bad one produced by body which you cannot control. Based on this, you can control the other one.
A Garlic a day saves the heart for another day
Garlic has been proven to reduce the risk of Heart Disease which it does by lowering the Bad Cholesterol and reduces thrombolysis of vessels. So don’t go about gobbling Garlic drinks, rather use them prudently in food which we use everyday. It has also helped us also to have good digestion.
Cholesterol goals: LDL40 mg/dl, Total<200 mg/dl
Obesity-ooph, don’t say I can’t walk.
An obese Individual has four times more risk as the fittest person of getting Heart Disease. Even Childhood obesity is a big risk factor now. The two major factors which decide obesity are Body Mass Index(depends on Body weight) and abdominal Fat. Experts recommend gradual and systematic reduction of Weight loss and not by pills and wonders.
Pills will only help you to eat, eat, eat and go to sleep. . . . .
It is also important as to how you eat as much as what you eat to reduce weight.Never fix yourself with watching TV or talking or reading when you are eating. You tend to overeat subconsciously. The same applies for the reverse. Never eat because you are getting bored or when you are driving or watching TV or for time pass. This way you end up eating many times a day. Have regular three good meals like Germans will help balance good Diet. By skipping meal, you develop more hunger and more you tend to eat.
Eating 80% of the max that you eat helps as a habit of reducing over eating. Quality is more important than Quantity.
Give me Red-says the Heart
Heart likes the red more than anything else and the great saviors of the Heart are Red wine and Pomegranate. All naturally coloured foods are high antioxidants and are known to prolong your lifespan by 10%.
If I say exercise, half the MSians will get out of this rev without reading further. So cut the sedentary life, climb the stair case, walk to the nearby grocery shop, do walk the talk with friends or just pick up the Cricket Bat or a Badminton racket and go for playing. It will be great fun to add physical activity in your life than walking on the machine.
I did a contentious attempt to study the number of Fat and obese people in various Cities and found that In Mumbai there was predominantly thin and fit people thanks to their busy lifestyle, walking for catching trains and subconscious physical activity.
So do some hard work also apart from Smart work.
BMI Goals:< 22
Smoking-the silent Killer
Smoking kills your heart as well as your lung like nothing else. Tobacco in Cigarettes contains more than 4000 chemical compounds of which Nioctoine hits the brain, Tar causes cancer and Carbon dioxide kills the arterial tissues.
If you cannot abstain from it you need de-addiction program.
Alcohol: Hot is good, but too hot burns the Heart
The link between Alcohol and Heart Disease is complex. Experts say that it is individual based on how it impacts the Heart and as such moderation helps.
Stress; I do not want to stress it again.
I have already made a full review on this and I don’t want to bore on this topic again.(Please check out https://mouthshut.com/review/Handling_Stress-87243-1.html for more)
The growth of Heart Disease in India is more alarming than Tsunami or Earth Quake and is a silent killer on which I don’t want to be silent. My sincere apologies if I have bored you, but the simple way out is Good food for thought and physical activity for fun.
This rev is on prevention. If you feel this rev was helpful and you have questions, please post your comment, so that I will write on Diagnosis and Cure.