September 27th, 2009 is World Heart Day. According to the figures just released by WHO, cardiovascular diseases stands first as the world’s number one killer, accounting for nearly 17.1 million lives last year, a staggering number indeed. But how often do we acknowledge what the human heart does for us? Most of us take its function of working non-stop 24/7 as granted. We do not care at all until disaster strikes in the form of heart disease, raised blood pressure, high cholesterol and more. On this day of such great importance, let us dedicate ourselves to help our hearts function better by looking again at the following: • Is your blood pressure showing unsteady readings lately? Talk to your doctor if you are having heaviness in your chest and unreasonable fits of anger. Your blood pressure will vary according to your age. A healthy heart will show a reading of 120 – 130 and the diastolic pressure will read between 80 – 90. • Eat a low fat diet. Your diet should include plenty of fresh fruits, vegetables and nuts. Wherever possible eat the fruits with the outer skin. Do not fry the fish and chicken; instead, grill or roast them. Use less oil. And have plenty of garlic every day. • When did you last check your weight? Those unusual extra pounds will only increase your cholesterol levels, your blood pressure and increase the risk of coronary heart disease and even strokes. • Quit smoking! If you’ve been postponing the desire to quit cigarettes for years, now is the time to do it. Tobacco will only increase the formation of plaque in the blood vessels, leading to clots that can cause heart attacks. • Are you diabetic? If you are, then you are more prone towards coronary heart disease. Take measures regularly to keep your blood sugar levels safe. • Reduce the drinking of alcohol. Excess can only increase your blood pressure and result in irregular heart beat and a diseased heart muscle. • Does your family have a history of heart disease? How about your parents? It has been seen that diabetes, obesity and other risk factors are generally passed on to the children. • Last, but not the least, exercise regularly. Most people do not realize this, but the human heart is also a muscle just like any other – it must be exercised. Exercise reduces the blood pressure and widens the blood vessels to improve circulation. It also raises good HDL cholesterol. There is not one single medication that can alternate with the advantages of exercise. There is no need to allocate 2 hours every day at the gym. All you need is a moderate activity like walking briskly along the beach or side road every morning for 20 minutes a day. Or you could ride a plain bike. Walk down the stairs instead of using the elevator, park your car at the back of your building and walk the stairs to your flat. Walk to the market to do your groceries. Whatever it is, try to get more steps into your daily routine. They all will add up to give your heart a smiling look. A daily routine of 10,000 steps should do wonders for your heart! Exercising for a healthy heart should be as important as keeping an appointment with your hairdresser or facial at the Taj or Sheraton, or maybe even that game of bridge with your pals at your favourite club. On 26 and 27 September a health awareness program is planned in many main cities of the states in India as part of the World Heart Day celebrations. The activities will be held under the combined supervision of the Cardiological Society of India and the Heart Care Foundation. The programme includes free medical check-ups and seminars addressed by leading doctors from all over the country. You can log on to http://www.world-heart-federation.org/ for more information. Written by Mr. Sunder Venkataram, Thane (Maharashtra) … [Read more...]
Snoring linked to heart diseases
People who snore have higher chances of getting heart attack than those who do not snore. According to a study by Hungarian researchers, heavy snorers have 67% increase in risk of getting strokes and 34% increase in risk of getting heart attacks than non-snorers. Scientists conducted research on 12,000 patients to find the relation between snoring and heart diseases. These research findings were published in the journal “Sleep”. Heavy snoring acts as a trigger for rise in blood pressure which can cause heart diseases. Quiet snoring is not associated with any heart disease risk in men but in women it causes hypertension. Snoring incidence is 24% in women and 40% in men. Snoring increases with age but declines after the age of 70. Snoring habit is high in obese people and it is a sign of some obstruction in the air pathway. Snoring shows familial incidence. Snoring and cardiovascular disease risk is high during pregnancy. Bad habits like smoking and drinking increases snoring occurrence. Snoring is a side effect of muscle relaxants. If you are a male aged more than 50 with snoring habit, check your heart regularly with doctor. … [Read more...]
High B.P increases heart disease risk
Increase in blood pressure raises the risk of getting heart disease, according to University of California researchers. They analysed the medical data of 4, 646 adults who took part in National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey. The research study was published in “The Journal of Archives of Internal Medicine”. Persons who are unable to control their blood pressure are at high risk for heart diseases. 30% of US population are living with high blood pressure which is at high risk for getting heart diseases. 75% of survey participants who had high blood pressure also had other chronic diseases like diabetes, kidney disease, stroke, heart failure and vascular diseases. Most of these people generally fail to control even with medication. One should maintain blood pressure less than 130/80 mm of Hg. Hypertension is defined as systolic blood pressure of at least 140 mm of Hg or diastolic blood pressure of at least 90 mm of Hg. According to the data, high blood pressure is common in older and African American adults. TV watching and blood pressure: Children who spend more time watching television are at risk of getting blood pressure in the later life. The children are generally obese due to lack of physical exercise and increase in psychological stress (due to watching TV). These children are generally junk food eaters. One can stay away from chronic diseases like high blood pressure, diabetes and cancer by modifying lifestyle changes and regular screening measures. 50% of these chronic diseases are preventable. … [Read more...]
Coronary heart disease – Risk Factors, Symptoms and Prevention
Heart disease is a broad term that includes several more specific heart conditions. The most common condition is coronary heart disease (CHD), which occurs, when the coronary arteries, that supply blood to the heart muscle, become hardened and narrowed due to the plaque build- up. Plaques are a mixture of fatty substances including cholesterol and other lipids. Blood flow and oxygen supply to the heart can be reduced or even fully blocked with a growing plaque. What happens in CHD? In some people, the first sign of CHD is heart attack. A person is likely to experience one of the below or all symptoms or signs: 1. Chest discomfort in the form of pain, or uneasiness or tightness or fullness. 2. Shortness of breath. 3. Discomfort in the other areas of the upper body, which include pain in one or both the arms, the back, the neck, the jaw area or in the stomach. 4. Cold sweating 5. Feeling nausea 6. Light-headedness The risk factors for CHD are: 1. High blood pressure 2. Obesity 3. High blood cholesterol levels 4. Alcohol. 5. Tobacco smoking 6. High fat diet 7. Physical inactivity. 8. Stress and strain. Prevention of Coronary heart Disease: 1. Control of cholesterol levels. 2. be physically active 3. Keeping blood sugars under control 4. Diet control 5. Avoid-alcohol, smoking and tobacco use in any other form. 6. Meditation to avoid stress and strain. Bypass surgery: when should be done? It is reported that out of 5 deaths that are occurring daily one is due to heart attack( which is also known as Myocardial infarction). This heart disease is treated either by, Angioplasty or Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG), and supply to heart is restored. Indications for bypass surgery: 1. When treatment with medicines is not possible, 2. When main coronary artery (which supply blood to heart) on the left side is closed 70% or more. 3. In chronic diabetic patients (for them Angioplasty is not suitable), 4. In those patients, where there is block in the three coronary arteries. Method: Now the latest procedure is “Minimally Invasive Coronary Artery Bypass Grafting”. In this method there is no necessity to open the heart and with the help of one or two openings operation will be done. It is possible only when there is one block only. But when there are two or more blocks in the arteries, surgeons will do operation in the conventional method by opening the heart. There is no guarantee that heart attack will not reoccur later on once the bypass operation is performed, hence the patient should take the following precautions. Patient should take the drugs regularly and should undergo periodical checkups. He should not carry heavy loads. He/she should avoid constipation and situations that cause stress and strain and also other factors that cause heart attacks. Walking is the best form of exercise. 30-45 minutes of walking is enough. Avoid non- vegetarian food like mutton etc also it is good to take less amount of fats in the diet, Yoga and meditation are good to do but no sexual activity at least for two months after the surgery. If the patient follows the above precautions scrupulously, life span will be prolonged minimum for 10-15 years. … [Read more...]
Heart disease and Personality
Heart Attack and personalities: Personality of a person shows direct relationship with occurance of heart disease. Type A Personality or High risk group: Ambitious personalities. They always want to challenge or contest with others even if there is no necessity. They interfere while others talking. They show more anger. - Type A personalities are of - chronic incessant struggle to achieve more with in a short period of time - personalities. - They are more prone to heart diseases. Type B personalities: Appears always happy and are in relaxed mood. They will not run for success. They allow it to come in usual manner. - Heart diseases are very rare in this group. Blood Pressure and Diet: Blood pressure can be controlled with diet restriction. - Salt restriction (Sodium restriction). - Reduction of saturated fat. - Adequate dietary calcium intake. - Supplementary Potassium intake. Some Stats: Normal Heart beats 1, 03,680 times per every 24 hours. ECG is invented by William Iyen Dhoven. … [Read more...]
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