Best Of Mails

This was a chat, arranged by WIPRO for its employees,
with Dr.Devi Shetty, Narayana Hrudayalaya (Heart
Specialist). The transcript of the chat is  given
below. Useful for everyone

Dr  Devi Shetty:

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 lifts and 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 person
gets a cardiac arrest. How do we understand it in
perspective?

Ans: This is called silent attack; that is why we
recommend everyone past the 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 do you suggest to de-stress?

Ans:  Change your attitude towards life. Do not look
for perfection in everything in life.

Qn:  Is walking better than jogging or is more
intensive exercise required to keep a healthy heart?

Ans:  Walking is better than jogging since jogging
leads to early fatigue and 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 currently only 22) or do you have
to 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 your body’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 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 largest marketing budget.

Qn: What is the routine checkup one should go through?
Is there any specific test?

Ans: Routine blood test to ensure sugar, cholesterol
is ok. Check BP, Treadmill test after an echo.

Qn:  How different was it in treating Noor Fatima, the
little kid from Pakistan ?

Ans: It was extremely difficult, Because of the media
attention. As far as the medical treatment
is concerned, she is like any other child with a
complex heart problem.

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 under the tongue with a sorbitrate
tablet if   available, and rush him  to a coronary
care unit since the maximum casualty takes place
within the first hour.

Qn:  How do you differentiate between pain  caused by
a heart attack and that caused due to gastric trouble?

Ans: Extremely difficult without ECG.

Qn:   What is the main  cause of a steep increase in
heart problems amongst youngsters? I see people of
about 30-40 yrs of age having heart attacks and
serious heart problems.

Ans: Increased awareness has increased incidents.
Also, edentary  lifestyles, smoking,junk  food, lack
of exercise in a country where people are genetically
three times  more vulnerable for heart attacks than
Europeans and Americans.

Qn: Is it possible for a person to have BP outside the
normal range  of 120/80 and yet be perfectly healthy?

Ans:  Yes.

Qn: Marriages within close relatives can lead to heart
problems for the child.  Is it true?

Ans : Yes, co-sanguinity leads to congenital
abnormalities and you may not have a software engineer
as a child

Qn:  Many of us have an irregular daily routine and
many a times we have to stay  late nights in office.
Does this affect our heart? What precautions would you
recommend?

Ans : When you are young, nature protects you against
all these irregularities. 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, modern anti-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 masala  dosas.

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 lot of forwarded emails on this)?

Ans : Yes. Lie  down comfortably and put an aspirin
tablet of any  description under the  tongue and ask
someone to take you to the nearest coronary care unit
without  any delay and do not wait for the ambulance
since
most of the time, the  ambulance does not turn up.

Qn:  Do, in any way, low white blood  cells and low
hemoglobin count lead to heart problems?

Ans : No.  But it is ideal to have normal hemoglobin
level to increase your exercise  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 in the house,
work as a substitute for exercise?

Ans :  Certainly. Avoid sitting continuously for more
than half an hour and even the  act of getting out of
the chair and going to another chair and sitting 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 disease when 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 right  combination for your problem, but my
suggestion is to avoid the drugs and go  for natural
ways of controlling blood pressure by walk, diet to
reduce weight  and changing attitudes towards
lifestyles.

Qn:   Does dispirin or  similar headache pills
increase the risk of heart attacks?

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 smoke  and, go for a health checkup
if you are past the age of 30 for at least once in
two yrs. And work very hardand Enjoy urLife…

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