HEART HEALTH

 

Useful for Those who love themselves.

Here was a chat, arranged by WIPRO for its employees with Dr.Devi Shetty, Narayana Hrudayalaya (Heart Specialist) Bangalore.
The transcript of the, chat is given below - 

Qn: What are the five 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: Best food is fruits worst are oil.
>
> Qn: Which oil is better - gingili, groundnut, sunflower,
> saffola, olive?
>
> Ans: All oils are bad; the so-called best oil company
> has the largest
> marketing budget.
>
> 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, put 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,
> sedentary
> 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 a health checkup if you are past the age
> of 30 for at least
> once in two yrs. And work very hard and Enjoy your Life...