Here was a chat, arranged by WIPRO for its employees, with Dr.Deviprasad Shetty, Narayana Hrudayalaya (Famous Heart Specialist) Bangalore.The transcript of the chat is given below. Useful for everyone.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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 liftsand 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 persongets a cardiac arrest. How do we understand it in perspective?
Ans: This is called silent attack; that is why we recommend everyone pastthe 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 doyou suggest to de-stress?
Ans: Change your attitude towards life. Do not look for perfection ineverything in life.
Qn: Is walking better than jogging or is more intensive exercise requiredto keep a healthy heart?
Ans: Walking is better than jogging since jogging leads to early fatigueand 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 currentlyonly 22) or do you haveto 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 yourbody'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,chapathi's(without oil) 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 largestmarketing budget. try to consume less oil while cooking.
Qn: What is the routine checkup one should go through? Is there anyspecific 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 underthe tongue with a sorbitrate tablet if available, and rush him to acoronary care unit since the maximum casualty takes place within the firsthour.
Qn: How do you differentiate between pain caused by a heart attack andthat caused due to gastric trouble?
Ans: Extremely difficult without ECG.
Qn: What is the main cause of a steep increase in heart problems amongstyoungsters? I see people of about 30-40 yrs of age having heart attacks andserious heart problems.
Ans: Increased awareness has increased incidents. Also, edentarylifestyles, smoking,junk food, lack of exercise in a country where peopleare genetically three times more vulnerable for heart attacks thanEuropeans and Americans.
Qn: Is it possible for a person to have BP outside the normal range of120/80 and yet be perfectly healthy?
Ans: Yes.
Qn: Marriages within close relatives can lead to heart problems for thechild. Is it true?
Ans : Yes, co-sanguinity leads to congenital abnormalities and you may nothave a software engineer as a child
Qn: Many of us have an irregular daily routine and many a times we have tostay late nights in office. Does this affect our heart? What precautionswould you recommend?
Ans : When you are young, nature protects you against all theseirregularities. 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, modernanti-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 masaladosas.
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 lotof forwarded emails on this)?
Ans : Yes. Lie down comfortably and put an aspirin tablet of anydescription under the tongue and ask someone to take you to the nearestcoronary care unit without any delay and do not wait for the ambulancesince most of the time, the ambulance does not turn up.
Qn: Do, in any way, low white blood cells and low hemoglobin count lead toheart problems?
Ans : No. But it is ideal to have normal hemoglobin level to increase yourexercise 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 inthe house, work as a substitute for exercise?
Ans : Certainly. Avoid sitting continuously for more than half an hour andeven the act of getting out of the chair and going to another chair andsitting 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 diseasewhen 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 rightcombination for your problem, but my suggestion is to avoid the drugs andgo for natural ways of controlling blood pressure by walk, diet toreduce weight and changing attitudes towards lifestyles.
Qn: Does dispirin or similar headache pills increase the risk of heartattacks?
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 smokeand, go for a health checkup if you are past the age of 30 for at leastonce in two yrs. And work very hard and Enjoy urLife...
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