Health Watch
Don’t burn yourself out
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Tension and anxiety can take a toll on your health. Here’s how you can beat the stress attack. DR KUSHAGRA KATARIYA
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The global meltdown and the subsequent turmoil in the financial market have resulted in increased stress levels leading to a number of ailments. People are now more prone to diseases like hypertension, lower immunity and gastrointestinal problems.
What’s worse, many youngsters have become prone to heart ailments due to the stressful life. Today, I see patients in their 20s and 30s with heart ailments mainly due to stress and high cholesterol levels.
While these can be hereditary, a fast-paced, stressful lifestyle with irregular eating habits, smoking and lack of exercise are some of the causes for early coronary artery disease. Smoking also plays an important role in developing a heart ailment and people under stress tend to smoke more.
Inhaling tobacco smoke causes several immediate responses within the heart and its blood vessels. All smokers should try to give up the habit. Even one cigarette a day can cause harm.
In addition, good eating habits and regular physical activity should be inculcated from an early age. Regular physical activity is the best preventive effort for coronary heart disease, as it minimises nearly all related risk factors.
Decreasing healing power
Youngsters must realise that, when under stress, the healing power of the body decreases and this can also lead to many complications such as bronchitis, gastrointestinal problems, hyper acidity, acid reflux, severe headaches; and in extreme cases lead to developing cancerous diseases.
To remain healthy, people undergoing stress or turmoil should try to meditate, do yoga or indulge in any activity that soothes their nerves. Adopting a healthy lifestyle early in life will always work better than changing one’s lifestyle later in life.
Here are some basic tips for a healthy heart and a healthier you.
If you find things are getting too much for you, you may fail to eat properly, smoke and drink too much; this may increase your risk of a heart attack. Practice yoga/meditation. Take a vacation.
Smoking reduces life-expectancy by 15-25 years and is the single most preventable cause of death. It is also the leading cause of lung cancer and implicated in causing many other cancers. Quitting smoking is the single most important thing a person can do to live longer.
But from the moment you stop smoking, the risk of heart attack begins to reduce. With public smoking bans recently introduced, there has never been a better time to give up.
Too much salt can cause high blood pressure, which increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease. Avoid foods like potato chips, salted nuts, canned and packet soups and sauces, baked beans, pizzas and ready meals. Avoid packaged snacks. Many breakfast cereals and breads that appear healthy also contain high levels of salt, so watch out these too.
The diet factor
A healthy diet can help reduce the risk of developing heart disease, and also help increase chances of survival after a heart attack. Focus on a balanced diet containing plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, oily fish, starchy foods such as wholegrain bread, pasta and rice. Avoid foods like biscuits, cakes, pastries, Western and Indian fast foods and dairy products high in saturated fats and sugar.
Too much alcohol can damage the heart muscle, increase blood pressure and also lead to weight gain. Binge drinking will increase your risk of having a heart attack, so you should aim to limit your intake to one to two units a day.
Get active. The heart is a muscle and like all muscles it needs exercise to keep fit so that it can pump blood efficiently into your body with each heartbeat. You should aim for 30 minutes of moderate intensity exercise a day. If this seems too daunting, start off gently and build up gradually. Keeping fit not only benefits your physical health, it also improves your mental health and well-being too.
Carrying a lot of extra weight as fat increases the risk of life threatening conditions such as coronary heart disease and diabetes. If you are overweight or obese, start by making small, but healthy changes to what you eat and try to become more active.
Get your blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol levels checked. The higher your blood pressure, the shorter your life expectancy. People with high blood pressure run a higher risk of a stroke or a heart attack.
High levels of cholesterol in the blood can lead to fatty deposits in your coronary arteries thereby increasing risk of coronary heart disease, stroke and diseases that affect the circulation.
Lower your cholesterol level by exercising and eating high-fibre foods such as porridge, beans, pulses, lentils, nuts, fruits and vegetables.
Get Active
Aerobics: at least 4 times a week
Cycling (8 km/hr): 50 min
Brisk walking (6 km/hr): 40 min
Swimming: 40 min
Tennis: 35 min
Jogging (5 miles/hr): 25 min
Running (6 miles/hr): 14 min
Try these
Join a health club
Deep breathing exercises
Stay outdoors whenever possible
Relax your mind by painting, dancing or reading
Set realistic goals
Learn to say ‘no’ if necessary
Ask for help when you need it
Indulge yourself once in a while
Psychotherapy
Must Dos
Quit smoking
Cut down salt intake
Eat a healthy diet
Limit alcohol intake
Stay active
Check cholesterol and blood pressure at regular intervals
Lose weight if you are overweight or obese
The writer is a cardiothoracic surgeon based in Gurgaon
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