The Hindu : Kerala News : The heart of living

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Wednesday, Jan 30, 2008
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Kerala

The heart of living

Health is the state of good functioning and balance on the spiritual, social, mental, emotional and physical level. And with the modern style of living, keeping perfectly healthy is very tough. The air we breathe is polluted by poisonous gases, the food we eat is either adulterated or made poisonous by pesticides and other chemicals, and the water we drink comes as a concoction of chemical wastes and other pollutants. Even the type of food we consume has changed drastically. From the well-cooked, hygeinic home food, we have turned to spicy, oily and badly cooked food. It is at such a scenario that healthcare achieves significance.

Healthcare is the prevention, treatment, and management of illness and the preservation of mental and physical well being through medical and allied health professions. It is aimed at promoting health and in most developed and developing countries, healthcare is provided to its citizens, regardless of their ability or inability to pay.

It has now grown into an industry which provides service related to the preservation or improvement of the health of individuals. This can be through hospitals or such institutions and organisations. And without doubt, hospitals are the prime healthcare providers. And specialty hospitals should be considered significant in this aspect. The change in our way of living has increased the incidences of heart ailments. According to reports, the number of those affected by heart ailments are increasing by the second.

Cardiovascular disease is a broad, all-encompassing term. It is not a single disorder, but a collection of diseases and conditions. More precisely, it refers to any disorder in any of the various parts of our cardiovascular system, made up of heart and blood vessels.

When the arteries become clogged with various deposits like bad cholesterol, plaque, calcium, etc., the heart finds it tough to circulate blood. This blockages results in causing a myriad of heart problems, from chest pain to heart failure and heart attack. The major symptoms of a heart attack are intense chest pain, feeling chilly, sweating, weakness and nausea.

Most of the heart ailments are preventable. But there are some which are congenital, in-birth. The acquired ones are developed during the course of our lifetime. These are the forms which can be prevented by following a disciplined lifestyle. Exercising regularly, eating a balanced diet, fighting obesity, not drinking or smoking, reducing stress, all helps towards controlling heart ailments. But neither exercise nor healthy dier nor low cholesterol can protect us against all forms of heart diseases. There are many types which are not the result of unhealthy lifestyle. For instance, some forms of cardiomyopathy are caused by viruses.

In case of a heart disease, what is of prime importance is identification of an apt treatment, and providing it on time. There are many hospitals around us specialising in cardiac problems, which ensures us a healthy and durable life span.

Ambika Varma

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