The Corona cases are rapidly increasing in India, with total number of cases have crossed 250,000 and the death toll stands at 7000+ mark. It took just five days for the count to go from 200,000 to 250,000. The fact is nearly 10,000 cases are being added every day. The tally of Maharashtra stands at almost 86,00 cases, and the death toll in the state has crossed 3000 mark, with Mumbai city’s contribution of almost 49,000 cases and with 1638 deaths. Now from today so many lockdown conditions are being relaxed in Maharashtra including Mumbai, I am keeping my fingers crossed regarding how it is going to affect number of cases and death toll. So let us wait and watch.
Now coming to my other topic of the day, ie on health issues, and today’s topic is CARING FOR YOUR HEART.
Recently World Health Organisation (WHO) released statistics mentioning that cardiovascular diseases are on the rise in countries like China & India. So that the matter of heart are really important and we should take care of the same and with advancing age it is natural assumption that many physical and psychological issues come into play.
If we are careful of certain things like fitness and diet then you can have graceful ageing. One thing should be noted that not all the ageing population will get hypertension and heart disease. A lot depends on the person, the physique, the diet, family history etc. Following are the few tips regarding healthy heart
1 The causes- Heart disease is linked to many factors like lack of exercise, smoking, drinking, unhealthy diet, stress, obesity, high blood cholesterol, diabetes etc. each of these can lead to heart issue if the issue is not attended to.
Exercise- As we age, the body’s ability to pump blood into heart goes down. Hence it is important to keep this going through regular exercise regime, which can also help to control few other factors that affect the heart, like weight issues, stress etc.
Healthy Balanced Diet- It is crucial to avoid trans fats and also limited saturated fats, refined sugar and salt. Certain foods like fresh fruits and vegetables, berries, nuts, olive oil etc are good for heart. Food containing Omega 3 fatty acids are also good for heart and for this if you are fish and other sea food eater, that will help you.
Smoking- It is well known and accepted fact that the smoking is injurious to health, especially the heart and lung health. Smoking causes plaques in arteries, restricting blood flow to the heart as well other organs. This can lead to heart attack or stroke. If you do not smoke then you have one thing less to worry about, but if you are then it is time to give up.
Obesity-Being over weight is another cause of heart issues. Maintaining a healthy body weight is very important for heart related diseases. The idea is to keep eating healthy and exercising regularly to avoid being over weight or obese. It is better to consult the dietician if you are overweight, so he/she can guide you about various diet plans.
Apart from above, avoid stress, which in turn can lead to hypertension , which is another reason for heart issues.
2 Precautions- Regular check ups to monitor all sorts of health related numbers like blood sugar levels, cholesterol, weight, hypertension etc are must to monitor health. These regular checks can give great help in prevention, as it can give indication to doctor, who can then take corrective actions so that you can be saved from heart issues well in time.
3 Signs to watch out- one of the issues with our body is that it gives timely signals for the upcoming disease but we tend to ignore the same. However you need to watch out for the certain signs which are listed below
- Heart Palpitations
- Shortness of breath
- Chest pain or discomfort
- Unexplained fatigue or weakness
- Swelling of the legs
- Dizziness
If any of these signs constantly occur, either alone or in a combination, please consult the doctor immediately. There are many cases where the patient reached the doctor just in time to discover that the heart attack has been saved.
Friends, hope this information will be useful to you.
Awaiting your views/comments/feed backs.
Anil Malik
Mumbai, India
8th June 2020