For - Healthy - Heart

Chat with Dr Devi Shetty, Cardiologist Narayan Hrudayalaya(The chat was arranged by wipro for its employees)The chat is given below:----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q . What are the five thumb rules for a layman to take care of his heart?Dr. Devi Shetty: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 smoking4. Control weight5. Control blood pressure and sugar----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Is eating non-veg food (fish) good for the heart?Dr Devi Shetty: No----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. It's still a grave shock to hear that some apparently healthy person gets a cardiac arrest.How do we understand it in perspective?Dr Devi Shetty: This is called silent attack; that is why we recommend everyone past the ageof 30 to undergo routine health checkups.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Are heart diseases hereditary?Dr Devi Shetty: Yes----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. What are the ways in which the heart is stressed? What practices do you suggest todestress?Dr Devi Shetty: Change your attitude towards life. Do not look for perfection in everything in life.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Is walking better than jogging or is more intensive exercise required to keep a healthy heart?Dr Devi Shetty: Walking is better than jogging since jogging leads to early fatigue and injury tojoints.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. You have done so much for the poor and needy. What has inspired you to do so?Dr Devi Shetty: Mother Theresa, who was my patient.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Can people with low blood pressure suffer heart diseases?Dr Devi Shetty: Extremely rare----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Does cholesterol accumulates right from an early age.Dr Devi Shetty: Cholesterol accumulates from childhood.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. How do irregular eating habits affect the heart?Dr Devi Shetty: You tend to eat junk food when the habits are irregular and your body'senzyme release for digestion gets confused.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Can a healthy person without a medical history has a heart attack due to stress?Dr Devi Shetty: Extremely rare----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. How can I control cholesterol content without using medicines?Dr Devi Shetty: Control diet, walk and eat walnut.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Can yoga prevent heart ailments?Dr Devi Shetty: Yoga helps.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Which is the best and worst food for the heart?Dr Devi Shetty: Best food is fruits worst are oil.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. If a person has undergone angioplasty, what are the chances of the Stent getting displaced?Dr Devi Shetty: The Stent doesn't get displaced it can get blocked. You could prevent it bycontrolling sugar, cholesterol and taking medication to prevent clots----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Do negative emotions like depression or anger always cause heart disease?Dr Devi Shetty: Not always. On the other hand, positive emotions help recovery of the heart.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. I have read about music therapy for the heart and the mind. What is your opinion on this?Dr Devi Shetty: Guess it helps.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Which oil is better - gingili, groundnut, sunflower, saffola, olive?Dr Devi Shetty: All oils are bad; the so-called best oil company has the largest marketingbudget.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. What is the routine checkup one should go through? Is there any specific test?Dr Devi Shetty: Routine blood test to ensure sugar, cholesterol is ok. Check BP, Treadmilltest after an echo.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. How different was it in treating Noor Fatima, the little kid from Pakistan?Dr Devi Shetty: It was extremely difficult, Because of the media attention. As far as the medicaltreatment is concerned, she is like any other child with a complex heart problem.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. what are the first aid steps to be taken on a heart attack?Dr Devi Shetty: Help the person into a sleeping position, put an aspirin tablet under thetongue with a sorbitrate tablet if available, and rush him to a coronary careunit since the maximum casualty takes place within the first hour.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. How do you differentiate between pain caused by a heart attack and that caused due togastric trouble?Dr Devi Shetty: Extremely difficult without ECG.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Can drinking less water lead to heart problems?Dr Devi Shetty: No. However, drinking plenty of water in normal people helps preserve good health.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Is it true that diabetic women seem to have 3 to 7 times greater risk of developing heartdiseases than non-diabetic women? Is it the same with high BP patients as well?Dr Devi Shetty: Women are protected by the hormones till the age of 45;after that their riskincreases like men and in general, the result of treatment on heart patientswho are women is slightly poorer than men.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. What are some of the precautions during pregnancy to avoid heart problems in the newborn?Dr Devi Shetty: German measles, which causes congenital abnormalities in the babies; Nosmoking.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q What is the main cause of a steep increase in heart problems amongst youngsters? I seepeople of about 30-40 yrs of age having heart attacks and serious heart problems.Dr Devi Shetty: Increased awareness has increased incidents. Also, sedentary lifestyles,smoking, junk food, lack of exercise in a country where people are geneticallythree times more vulnerable for heart attacks than Europeans and Americans.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. What is the right time to check the BP in any person?Dr Devi Shetty: Past the age of 30 and earlier, if you have symptoms.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Is it possible for a person to have BP outside the normal range of 120/80 and yet beperfectly healthy?Dr Devi Shetty: Yes.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Are there any symptoms for heart problems, which we need to be aware of?Dr Devi Shetty: Shortness of breath on exertion, and chest pain.----------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------------------Q. If a person has had a heart attack, how frequently is regular heart check up recommended?Dr Devi Shetty: Once in 6 months----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Many of us have an irregular daily routine and many a times we have to stay late nights inoffice. Does this affect our heart? What precautions would you recommend?Dr Devi Shetty: When you are young, nature protects you against all these irregularities.However, as you grow older, respect the biological clock.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. How can we find out about blockage of arteries, beforehand?Dr Devi Shetty: Routine cardiac evaluation by blood tests, ECGs, TMTs, Stress thallium scans,Cardiac CT scans for calcium score.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Does a recurring pain in the left arm signifies any heart related ailment?Dr Devi Shetty: Not always. However, heart pain can radiate to the left arm.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Can we foresee the occurrence of a heart attack? Are there any indications that the bodyfeels before getting a heart attack?Dr Devi Shetty: Usually, you get chest discomfort or shortness of breath, months or yearsbefore the heart attack. So, when in doubt, go for a heart checkup, whichshouldn't take more than a couple of hours.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Will taking anti-hypertensive drugs cause some other complications (short /long term)?Dr Devi Shetty: Yes, most drugs have some side effects. However, modern anti-hypertensivedrugs are extremely safe.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Will consuming more coffee/tea lead to heart attacks?Dr Devi Shetty: No.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. What are the chances of lean people developing heart complications? Are they at less risk?Dr Devi Shetty: Obese people are at a higher risk. Lean people also develop heart attacks,but primarily because of genetic pre-disposition.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q.Is it true that after open-heart surgery, patients loses memory recall to some extent?Dr Devi Shetty: No. Especially after bypass grafting on a beating heart, incidence of neurological problems have come down significantly.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q.Are asthma patients more prone to heart disease?Dr Devi Shetty: No.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. How would you define junk food?Dr Devi Shetty: Fried food like Kentucky, McDonald's, samosas, and even masala dosas.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. You mentioned that Indians are three times more vulnerable. What is the reason for this, asEuropeans and Americans also eat a lot of junk food?Dr Devi Shetty: Every race is vulnerable to some disease and unfortunately, Indians arevulnerable for the most expensive disease.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Does consuming bananas help reduce hypertension?Dr Devi Shetty: No.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Is there any cure for chronic palpitations?Dr Devi Shetty: The patient should be investigated and if there is a cause for palpitation likean electrical abnormality of the heart, this can be rectified by a procedurecalled radio frequency ablation.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. How would you rate the health facilities currently available in India?Dr Devi Shetty: There are institutions, which are as good or better than the ones in the USand Europe, however, they are exceptions. In general, the qualities of healthcare available to the masses are poor.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. If there is a small hole in the heart, what are the possible ways of curing it? Is operation theonly solution?Dr Devi Shetty: Small holes in children less than 6 months of age usually closes but thedecision not to operate should be taken by the specialists who are experts intreating children with heart problems.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Are emotions really controlled by the heart?Dr Devi Shetty: No. The heart is just a slave of the brain and it is the brain, which controls theemotions.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. If a person does not do any physical exercise, he is bound to have shortness of breath onexertion; say climbing stairs. Is this an indication of heart disease?Dr Devi Shetty: No. But if one has difficulty in breathing on mild exertion,it is a good idea to gofor a heart checkup.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Can a person help himself during a heart attack (Because we see a lot of forwarded emailson this)?Dr Devi Shetty: Yes. Lie down comfortably and put an aspirin tablet of any description underthe tongue and ask someone to take you to the nearest coronary care unitwithout any delay and do not wait for the ambulance since most of the time,the ambulance does not turn up.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Do, in any way, low white blood cells and low hemoglobin count lead to heart problems?Dr Devi Shetty: No. But it is ideal to have normal hemoglobin level to increase your exercisecapacity.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. 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 forexercise?Dr Devi Shetty: Certainly. Avoid sitting continuously for more than half an hour and even theact of getting out of the chair and going to another chair and sitting helps a lot.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Is there a relation between heart problems and blood sugar?Dr Devi Shetty: Yes. A strong relationship since diabetics are more vulnerable to heart attacksthan non-diabetics.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Do bypass surgeries reduce the risk of future heart attacks?Dr Devi Shetty: It significantly reduces the risk of heart attack.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. What are the things one needs to take care of after a heart operation?Dr Devi Shetty: Diet, exercise, drugs on time. Control cholesterol, BP, weight.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Are people working on night shifts more vulnerable to heart disease when compared to dayshift workers?Dr Devi Shetty: No.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Can you brief us about angina attack and how major it is?Dr Devi Shetty: Angina is the pain, which comes on exertion and goes away with rest andmedication. One has to be investigated in detail to plan treatment.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. What are the modern anti-hypertensive drugs?Dr Devi Shetty: There are hundreds of drugs and your doctor will chose the right combinationfor your problem, but my suggestion is to avoid the drugs and go for naturalways of controlling blood pressure by walk, diet to reduce weight and changing attitudes towards lifestyles.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Does dispirin or similar headache pills increase the risk of heart attacks?Dr Devi Shetty: No.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. If there is about 85 percent blockage in the arteries, can the person be treated withoutsurgery? If not, what other remedies are there?Dr Devi Shetty: It depends on collateral or natural bypass, the quality of other arteries and thepower of your heart muscles. It's impossible to give an opinion without seeingthe angiography film.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. There is a feeling that bypass is unnecessarily being performed in somecases. When is bypass really needed?Dr Devi Shetty: When you have blockages affecting major arteries, bypass is the best option.I am sure conscientious doctors will not perform an operation when it is notrequired.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Is it true that mechanical valves can fail any moment?Dr Devi Shetty: No. If you take medication to prevent clot formation and maintain the INR ataccepted levels, the valve cannot get blocked. However, like any mechanicalgadget, it can fail and fortunately, such incidences are extremely low.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Can you brief me on pulmonary stenosys problems? What are the complicationsinvolved and what care needs to be taken?Dr Devi Shetty: In this condition, the pulmonary valve is narrower at birth and putting a balloon across the valve and dilating it can easily correct it.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. Why is the rate of heart attacks more in men than in women?Dr Devi Shetty: Nature protects women till the age of 45.----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Q. How can one keep the heart in a good condition?Dr Devi Shetty: Eat a healthy diet, avoid junk food, exercise everyday, do not smoke and, gofor a health checkup if you are past the age of 30 for atleast once in two yrs.And work very hard...