The heart must go on...

Do you hear the heart beat? It’s the sound of life. And life must go on. So, it’s important that the matters of the heart be taken care of.
In a recently concluded conference on coronary artery disease in Delhi, organised by IMA New Delhi Branch, Escorts Heart Institute and Heart Care Foundation of India (HCFI), experts from various institutions felt that it is imperative to voice concern over precautions needed to control heart problems, specially Coronary Artery Disease (CAD).
CAD is a non-communicable, preventable, treatable and predictable disease that has an incidence of around ten per cent in people above the age of 30 years in India. Moreover, the disease occurs 15 years earlier in Indians than in people in western countries.
According to D Karthikeyan, Consultant in Homoeopathic Medicine, ‘‘Abdominal obesity is a big risk factor for CAD and so are uncontrolled diabetes, insulin resistance, cigarette smoking and stress.’’
Hence, it becomes important for us to adopt preventive measures rather than let the disease take its course and then find ways to cure it. CAD is reversible and controllable. And the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) model for reversal of heart disease has shown reversal in patients who have controlled it with a diet, which is more user-friendly and is also home based. Dr K K Aggarwal, president IMA (New Delhi Branch) stressed on ‘‘avoiding a combination of bad fats and bad carbohydrates and giving importance to relaxation.’’
‘‘A personalised, comprehensive approach to lifestyle and medical management can slow the progression of cardiovascular disease and decrease one’s future risk of heart attacks, strokes, as well as the need for bypass or angioplasty procedures,’’ he elaborates. Care and prevention of the disease requires a time-bound healthy lifestyle coupled with a balanced diet and regular check-ups. So, follow the rules:
* Control stress.
* Go easy on fat, fried foods and red meat.
* Walk or exercise is a must along with yogic relaxation.
* Tobacco is a big no-no.
* Laugh more. It reduces blood levels of cortisol, epinephrine and other distress chemicals. Laughter lowers blood pressure and is thought to improve the immune system.
* Start a healthy lifestyle programme in the school age-group as coronary artery disease takes a decade or two to develop.
* Make Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation compulsory as part of the teaching curricula in schools.
* The cardiovascular control programme should involve detecting blood pressure at an early stage and age.
* The screening of cardiovascular disease should start at 30 years and not at age 40 years, as is the current practice. Screening should include:
** Regular cardiological evaluation including BP monitoring and ECG.
** Monitoring blood glucose values; body mass index and waist circumference.
** Echocardiography, stress test, thallium scan and angiography when warranted for.
* All the general practitioners should be given re-orientation programmes so that they learn how to read and interpret the basic ECG.
* The screening procedures to be made available at an affordable cost.
* Keep triglyceride levels lower than 150, HDL levels more than 40 in men and more than 50 in women, abdominal circumference lower than 35 inches in women and lower than 40 inches in men, fasting blood sugar lower than 110 and blood pressure lower than 130/80.
* The first-degree relatives of heart patients should also be examined so that premature heart disease can be detected in time. They should have their metabolic profile done to see the presence of metabolic abnormalities, which can precede CAD development by years.
‘‘Its high time we become pro-active and health conscious to an extent that staying fit becomes a part and parcel of our lives. Life rewards action. Only when people understand this, can we expect a heart-healthy population,’’ he concludes.