Strengthen your Heart

Padma Shri and Dr B C Roy National Awardee Dr K K Aggarwal, President, Heart Care Foundation of India of India advised people to take care of their heart. He gave few tips to do so.

Follow Dr. KK Aggarwal's 'Formula of 80' i.e. keep your pulse rate, lower blood pressure, fasting sugar, abdominal circumference and bad cholesterol levels all below 80. To achieve these, walk 80 minutes a day with a speed of 80 steps per minute; eat less - not more than 80 gm or 80 ml of caloric food; do 80 cycles of pranayams in a day, avoid alcohol and if one does drink, do not consume more than 80 ml in a day.

After the age of 30, get an annual medical checkup done with exercise treadmill test every three years.

Eat in moderation and take a variety of food consisting of seven colors and six tastes.

Avoid using trans fats. Trans fats increase bad cholesterol and reduce good cholesterol. Hydrogenated oil is an example of trans fat.

Avoid three 'whites' in your diet - white maida (refined flour0, white sugar and white rice - or consume only in minimum amounts. They are known to cause abdominal obesity, which is a risk factor for heart diseases.

Do not smoke or consume tobacco in any form as it increases the chances of heart attack, paralysis and erectile dysfunction.

Do not ignore any symptom, which is unusual, unexplained and is detected for the very first time.

Do not ignore any chest pain, burning or discomfort in the center of the chest which is diffuse in nature and lasts for more than 30 seconds.

If a heart attack is suspected, then one should chew 300 mg of water-soluble aspirin and immediately rush to the nearest heart hospital.

All heart patients should remember that sudden cardiac death is reversible in the first 10 minutes. For this, remember Dr. KK Aggarwal's 'Formula of 10' i.e. within 10 minutes of death, for the next 10 minutes, one should compress the chest with a speed of 10 x 10 = 100 per minute. This can revive more than 75% of the patients.

Heart patients too can lead a normal physical, mental and sexual life.

Presence of heart blockages in the heart does not mean that a person requires angioplasty or surgery. The indication for them is failure of adequate medical treatment to provide the wanted risk-free quality of life.

Following traditional Indian customs and rituals can help reduce chances of heart attack. The weekly fast of not consuming cereals can be adopted by all of us to reduce risk of metabolic syndrome, which develops due to insulin resistance because of eating a carbohydrate-rich diet, especially one that contains refined carbohydrates, on a daily basis.