Dr.Deviprasad Shetty, (Famous Heart Specialist) answers Queries of Wipro guys

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...

10 Biggest Brain Damaging Habits

1. No Breakfast

People who do not take breakfast are going to have a lower blood sugar level. This leads to an insufficient supply of nutrients to the brain causing brain degeneration.
2. Overeating 

It causes hardening of the brain arteries, leading to a decrease in mental power.
3. Smoking

 It causes multiple brain shrinkage and may lead to Alzheimer disease.
4. High Sugar consumption

Too much sugar will interrupt the absorption of proteins and nutrients causing malnutrition and may interfere with brain development.
5. Air Pollution 

The brain is the largest oxygen consumer in our body. Inhaling polluted air decreases the sup ply of oxygen to the brain, bringing about a decrease in brain efficiency.
6. Sleep Deprivation

Sleep allows our brain to rest. Long term deprivation from sleep will accelerate the death of brain cells.
7. Head covered while sleeping 

Sleeping with the head covered, increases the concentration of carbon dioxide and decrease concentration of oxygen that may lead to brain damaging effects.
8. Working your brain during illness. 

Working hard or studying with sickness may lead to a decrease in effectiveness of the brain as well as damage the brain.
9. Lacking in stimulating thoughts

 Thinking is the best way to train our brain, lacking in brain stimulation thoughts may cause brain shrinkage.
10. Talking Rarely Intellectual conversations will promote the efficiency of the brain

Brain Exercises...

Our bodies are very much a part of all our learning, and learning is not an isolated "brain" function. Every nerve and cell is a network contributing to our intelligence and our learning capability. Here are four basic "Brain Gym" exercises which implement the ideas developed in "Smart Moves" and can be used quickly in any classroom. They are surprisingly simple, but very effective!
Drink Water:Water comprises more of the brain (with estimates of 90%) than of any other organ of the body. Having students drink some water before and during class can help "grease the wheel". Drinking water is very important before any stressful situation - tests! - as we tend to perspire under stress, and de-hydration can effect our concentration negatively.
Brain Buttons:This exercise helps improve blood flow to the brain to "switch on" the entire brain before a lesson begins. The increased blood flow helps improve concentration skills required for reading, writing, etc.

Put one hand so that there is as wide a space as possible between the thumb and index finger.
Place your index and thumb into the slight indentations below the collar bone on each side of the sternum. Press lightly in a pulsing manner. At the same time put the other hand over the navel area of the stomach. Gently press on these points for about 2 minutes.
Cross Crawl:This exercise helps coordinate right and left brain by exercising the information flow between the two hemispheres. It is useful for spelling, writing, listening, reading and comprehension. Stand or sit. Put the right hand across the body to the left knee as you raise it, and then do the same thing for the left hand on the right knee just as if you were marching. Just do this either sitting or standing for about 2 minutes.
Hook Ups:This works well for nerves before a test or special event such as making a speech. Any situation which will cause nervousness calls for a few "hook ups" to calm the mind and improve concentration. Stand or sit. Cross the right leg over the left at the ankles. Take your right wrist and cross it over the left wrist and link up the fingers so that the right wrist is on top. Bend the elbows out and gently turn the fingers in towards the body until they rest on the sternum (breast bone) in the center of the chest. Stay in this position. Keep the ankles crossed and the wrists crossed and then breathe evenly in this position for a few minutes. You will be noticeably calmer after that time.