Heart-to-heart about our heart!

Atherosclerosis is inevitable. Simply speaking it is the buildup of fats, cholesterol and other substances in and on the artery walls leading to narrowing of arteries and resulting in blocking of blood flow thus culminating in what we call as Heart Attack. It begins very early in life (normally in the teens), and takes a while to manifest. But the so-called manifestation period is these days frightfully shortening, to say the least! 

Check this out Nirmal Pandey (50), Sidharth Shukla (40), Raju Shrivastava (58), Om Puri (66), Farooq Shaikh (65), KK (53), Raj Kaushal (50) all from bollywood, Puneeth Kumar {Tollywood} (46), Vikram Kirloskar {Businessman} (58), Ambareesh Murty {Co-founder Pepperfry} (51), Atlas Ramachandran {Businessman} (65), Ranjan Das CEO SAP (42), Gaurav Gandhi {Cardio Surgeon} (41), Devendra Rajput {Friend} (50) & Deepak Anand {Friend} (55). Check the average age and it will indeed scare you, the latest in the list is Ambareesh, an avid biker, who died in Leh after he rode his motorcyle all the way from Mumbai.

Scientifically speaking checking the genetic family history is not a bad idea for all of us. Your four grandparents, siblings of your mom and dad, and your siblings. How many died early of Atherosclerosis? Age? If there is a history, the odds are against you. If not, you still have many reasons to be careful.

The other leading accelerators as per studies conducted include Age (the higher your age, the higher risk, the more attention it needs); Smoking (the smoke, they say, weakens the surface, allowing higher particle penetration) and High Blood pressure amongst others. Because Atherosclerosis takes time, it misleads you into believing ‘all izz well’ & you don’t care about that extra drink or smoke or samosa or pizza or parantha. I am sure that even a day prior, Ambareesh Murty too was feeling fine!

A few steps you can take - Regular check-ups with a good cardiologist. Measure your LDL-C (aim for <70), measure your apoB levels (better predictor than LDL-C, aim for <65) and your triglyceride (aim for <100). Quit smoking. Measure your blood pressure regularly and take action, including medication, do not ignore. 

If any of the above reading is higher than normal stop SUGAR. Reduce SALT to almost nil. Stay away from OIL. No, no fuckin fast food for you! You have had it for over half a century already bhai.

Now comes the best, sleep for 8 hours minimum. It reduces BP, blood sugar & stress. Mind you stress today is the biggest source of the disease. And rest adsured,  we create stress ourself, whether it is at office or home. We do not need it. At this age and economic freedom, I guess we can now afford not to create it. Kick the fuck out off your list. Try meditation, not a bad idea, or watch some stand up comedians tickle you funny bones on TV. Laugh, smile and be happy, thats the best remedy. Is there any reason otherwise? I sincerely do not think so.

Last but not the very least, Exercise. That is heart’s best friend and so for us, better than a girl friend of any age, lol. And because genetically, I have a high risk of dying from Atherosclerosis, at 55, I 'try-to-do' a bit more than others - early morning walk and diet.

Now, a few facts you may want to consider, we bring Indians. Do not over eat. That feeling of 'oh yaar woh last wali roti zyaada ho gayi' OR ' woh last wala peg kharab kar gaya' is not an option for you anymore, especially at this age. We have already got all the damage done bro. Intake of cholesterol should not exceed more than 250 to 300 mg a day. An egg yolk contains 275 mg, a piece of mutton around 77 mg, a cup of ice cream (that you get in Shatabdi) around 60 mg, a small chocolate bar 20 mg, a buttered slice of bread 30 mg and a packet of chips 20 mg. And depending on the cooking medium, every laddu or jalebi can contain anything from 10 to 20 mg. We need around 3 grams of salt every day, most of us consume around five to 15 grams liberally sprinkled over their curries, salads and raitas.

All is not finished yet, we can try and do our bit - for ourselves and our families. And doing our bit also does not guarantee anything at all, I agree, but then 'to do' something about what we know of, is what we can - right? Rest let it happen as it may. At least our kids, and the younger generation shall have a lesson or two from our experience. May be it will help them, if not us!

Cheers to our one and only - HEART!