Let Your Heart Keep Beating !
29th
September is marked as the World Heart Day. The human heart is a topic of
interest for poets as well as doctors. It is the seat of all emotions and is
one of the most vital organs of the body.
Love Your Heart!
The human
heart is a loving and benevolent organ that pumps nutrient rich blood through
all the blood vessels of your body by repeated and rhythmic contractions.
If
all the blood vessels in an adult are taken out and laid in a line, the line
would be about 100,000 miles long.
Small size, Enormous task
The heart is a muscular organ about the size of
a fist. It beats around 72-90 times per minute. This means, on an average it
will beat 3.4 billion times during a life-span of 80 years.
That’s
enough reason to take good care of your precious little heart!
A SPECIAL DAY TO CELEBRATE HEART HEALTH
Although
we all know important facts about heart health, the World Heart Day is a
special occasion to acknowledge the
important role that our tender heart plays in our lives, and subsequently take
positive steps to ensure its health.
Are
you ready to go an extra mile to ensure the health of your heart so that it
continues to beat for you and your loved ones?
Okay,
let’s quickly review some important Do’s and Dont's for a healthy heart.
1. Work out for a healthy heart
We
all know that regular exercise helps to maintain proper body weight and
decreases the chances of developing high Blood Pressure; it helps us to cope
with stress, which is a risk factor for heart disease.
Still,
we come up with umpteen reasons for not exercising- job pressures, family
responsibilities, household chores, lack of time, fatigue, inertia, deadlines.
The list is endless..
The
truth is- If we don’t take proper care of our heart in today’s hectic and
highly competitive world, this laborious body part will be overwhelmed/ overburdened
and will become unfit for proper functioning.
Why
let Emergency strike the heart before taking some constructive action?
On
this special day, resolve to exercise regularly for 20-25 minutes every day.
(An average of two and a half hours every week)
Your
generous heart will thank you for this kind gesture!
2)
Consume a Heart Healthy Diet
*
Eat plenty of fruits and vegetables (Organic!) and whole grains.
* Avoid
Saturated fats and Trans fats because these raise the blood cholesterol level
and predispose the heart to disease.
Saturated
fats are present in butter, cream, cheese, hydrogenated oils and animal fats
like meat, pork, organ meat and egg yolk.
*Omega-3 fatty acids (a type of
poly-unsaturated fats) are good for heart health.
Omega-3 fatty acids are present in abundance in some
fish like Salmon and mackerel, in flax-seed oil, Canola oil and in dietary
supplements.
* Low fat dairy products should be taken in
moderate amounts.
Excess body
weight invites high Blood Pressure, Diabetes and raised levels of cholesterol,
which increase the chances of heart
disease.
* The Body Mass Index (B.M.I) is a good
parameter to see whether your body weight is healthy or not.
* BMI is calculated on the basis of your weight in
kilograms and height in meters.
BMI =
Weight (Kg)
{Height (m)}2
* A B.M.I. greater than 25 is associated with higher
risk of heart disease.
Remember, your waistline is linked to your lifeline!
4) Routine Tests for a Healthy Heart
a)
E. C. G b) Echocardiograph and
* Save your heart from dis-ease by regular
testing of-
a) Blood Pressure
b)Lipid Profile (Total Cholesterol, HDL-Good
Cholesterol, LDL- Bad Cholesterol & Triglycerides) &
c) Blood Sugar- Since Diabetes usually does not present any
symptoms, it becomes mandatory to get your blood sugar tested every year. (
fasting as well as after breakfast)
- People with a family history of diabetes need to get their blood sugar checked after every 6 months.
- Diabetics are 75% more prone to heart disease as compared to non-diabetics.
- Glycated Haemoglobin or glycosylated Haemoglobin test measures a person’s average blood glucose level over prolonged periods of time and is absolutely essential for diabetic patients.
*It
has been proved that smokers have double the risk of suffering from a heart
attack as compared to non-smokers.
*
Moreover, smoking increases a person’s risk of sudden cardiac death by many
times.
(Quitting smoking will help you; bye-pass surgery/Angioplasty may not always come to
your rescue!)
Seek
Happiness in the Right Things! Don’t Be a Miss-directed Seeker of Joy.
*
Consuming excessive amount of alcohol leads to high cholesterol levels, thus
increasing the risk of heart disease.
* Moreover, when your blood stream is loaded with
alcohol, the nutrient-rich blood is not able to nourish your heart properly.
Can
an ill- nourished heart function efficiently for you?
Be
kind to your heart so that it stays in the pink of health and does not trouble
you!
Laughter
IS indeed the Best Medicine. It lowers your pulse rate and Blood Pressure and
is a good stress-buster. Someone has rightly said- ‘He who has a merry heart
has a continuous feast’.
Why not start following a healthy heart regime from today itself? Pick up your phone and fix up an appointment for a thorough check-up of the heart.
You owe it to yourself and your family!
Dr. Aarti Mishra
http://in.linkedin.com/doctorsword