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Know your ‘Heart’ and its risks

Know your heart

Mahesh Agrawal was the happiest man as he watched his only daughter walk down the stairs in her bright red bridal dress. His eyes were moist. Father and daughter posed happily for photographs, laughed and joked. Amidst all the happiness and laughter, Mr Agrawal suddenly realized a strange discomfort in his chest. It was more likely an excruciating pain and he started to profusely sweat. The pain had now moved to his neck and he developed shortness of breath almost feeling choked. He held his hand tightly on his chest and slowly settled himself on a chair without letting anyone know.

At this point in time, he remembered his father had a similar heart attack. But, he did not want that scene to cloud the happy scene of watching his daughter getting married. As he watched his daughter get married he bid her a silent goodbye and passed away peacefully with a smile on his face. Unfortunately, it was too late before a doctor was called in.

When everybody got to know what had happened there was a sudden atmosphere of gloom. Nobody was aware what had happened. Today, on World heart Day, let’s try and understand more about our hearts and through this story we could exactly understand what happened to Mr Agrawal and why?

On doctor’s examination, the doctor revealed that Mr Agrawal had suffered a heart attack and that was because he had a Coronary Heart Disease (CHD). A heart attack occurs if the flow of oxygen-rich blood to a section of heart muscle is cut off. If blood flow isn’t restored quickly, the section of heart muscle begins to die. Without quick treatment, a heart attack can lead to serious health problems or death. CHD is the most common of all heart diseases. In the United States, CHD is the #1 cause of death for both men and women. India is not far behind. According to an article by Dr Arvind Kohli, a Cardiac Surgeon, there has been a dramatic rise in heart disease in India.

India will soon be the largest burden of heart disease globally. In India, out of the estimated population of more than 1.27 billion dispersed across various geographical regions, about 45 million people suffer from coronary artery disease. According to current estimates, India will soon have the highest number of cases of cardiovascular disease in the world. It is estimated to account for 35.9 percent deaths by the year 2030, said the article.

Over time, CHD can weaken the heart muscle and lead to heart failure and arrhythmias (ah-RITH-me-ahs). Heart failure is a condition in which your heart can’t pump enough blood to meet your body’s needs. Arrhythmias are problems with the rate or rhythm of the heartbeat.

Knowing the warning symptoms of a heart attack and how to take action can save your life or someone else’s say, doctors. In many cases patients are unaware of the risk factors and that this could be a problem that has developed over the years due to pre-existing heart disease. Several factors such as genetic, metabolic, early-life, conventional and non-conventional risk factors are suspected to cause high CHD morbidity and mortality rates among Indians. Knowing who is at risk helps a great deal. Men have a greater risk of heart attack than women do, and men have heart attacks earlier in life than women. However, beginning at Age 70, the risk is equal for men and women.

Many are of the opinion that heart disease is a lifestyle disease that occurs because one is not maintaining a proper healthy lifestyle. But, you are mistaken. Heart disease could also be due to family history. Here is where the nature vs nurture concept comes in. Did you develop a heart disease over the years, did you already have it and it went undiagnosed or did someone give it to you. In fact, you have an increased risk of developing heart disease if you have a parent with a history of heart disease, especially if they were diagnosed before Age 50. Ask your doctor when it’s appropriate for you to start screenings for heart disease so it can be detected and treated early.

The other common risk factors could include cigarette smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke, high blood cholesterol, and high triglycerides – especially high LDL (“bad”) cholesterol over 100 mg/dL and low HDL (“good”) cholesterol under 40 mg/dL. Some patients who have existing heart or blood vessel disease, and other patients who have a very high risk, should aim for an LDL level less than 70 mg/dL. Your doctor can provide specific guidelines.

The risk of heart disease is also highest among the urban population. A 2013 study concluded that over 70 percent of the Urban Indian population is at the risk of being diagnosed with heart disease. This is mainly due to unhealthy eating habits, lack of physical activity and stress.

High blood pressure (140/90 mmHg or higher), uncontrolled diabetes (HbA1c >7.0), physical inactivity and being overweight (body mass index [BMI] 25–29 kg/m2) or being obese (BMI higher than 30 kg/m2) are other risks for heart diseases. The population of diabetics in India is about 50.8 million, making India the diabetic capital of the world. The prevalence is higher in urban areas (6-8 percent) compared to rural areas (2-3 percent), according to statics provided in Dr Kohli’s article. The increase in hypertension prevalence has been steady over the last 50 years, more in urban than in rural areas. Hypertension is about 25-30 percent in urban and 10-15 percent in rural individuals.

You might be surprised but uncontrolled stress and anger could also lead to CHD. Staying calm helps. Indians like Americans have a higher degree of obesity due to bad food habits. Diet high in saturated fat and cholesterol apart from drinking too much alcohol are also a major risk factor for CHD. The more risk factors you have, the greater your risk of developing coronary artery disease.

Hence knowing the symptoms and risk factors is very important. The most common symptom of CHD is angina (also called angina pectoris). Angina is often referred to as chest pain. It is also described as chest discomfort, heaviness, tightness, pressure, aching, burning, numbness, fullness, or squeezing. It can be mistaken for indigestion or heartburn. Angina is usually felt in the chest, but may also be felt in the left shoulder, arms, neck, back or jaw. All of these symptoms were witnessed by Mr Agrawal.

Other symptoms that may occur with coronary artery disease include:

  • Shortness of breath
  • Palpitations (irregular heartbeats, skipped beats or a “flip-flop” feeling in your chest)
  • A faster heartbeat
  • Dizziness
  • Nausea
  • Extreme weakness
  • Sweating

Cardiac surgeons opine that the treatment for CHD involves reducing your risk factors. Change your lifestyle. Get active, exercise and eat right and sleep well. If lifestyle changes aren’t enough to control your heart disease, taking medications as prescribed to treat certain risk factors, such as high cholesterol or high blood pressure helps. Possibly undergoing invasive and/or surgical procedures, and seeing your doctor for regular visits is also good. Treating CHD is important to reduce your risk of a heart attack or stroke. If the problem is detected early lifestyle changes, medicines, and medical procedures can help prevent or treat CHD. These treatments may reduce the risk of related health problems.

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Love Sweets! Take the Sugar free challenge – a personal account

Say no to sugar

How difficult it is when you love something beyond a limit and have to suddenly let it go? It’s very difficult. I went through this very recently when I let go of eating ‘Sugar’ for few days. Here is what I went through.

Being a qualified nutrition and dietician, the important aspects that are top of the mind for me is food, fitness, nutrition and everything that is necessary for a healthy lifestyle. Moreover, Challenges always attracts me. I have always liked to challenge myself as it gives me an insight about how strong my will power is and my potential to handle tough situations.

The Sugar Challenge was one such challenge that was thrown open to me. At GOQii office, we come up with challenges at frequent intervals related to fitness for our coaches and players. And, Sugar Challenge was one such challenge that was thrown open to us. I just could not resist taking it up more so given the fact that I love sweets- chocolates/pastries and everything else that is sweet. In a way I was a ‘Sugar Addict’.

I wanted to check whether I could stay away from eating sweets as the sugar challenge meant complete abstinence from refined sugar and food items that is either made of sugar or contained sugar like chocolates/sweets/bakery items. Why bakery items? Yes because even bread/toast/buns does contain SUGAR in good quantities.

Sugar is an addiction and you could call it a poison which makes you sluggish and gets stored as fat! I thought to myself it can’t get any better than this. This challenge could only keep me away from sweets specially chocolates. Some of my colleagues also joined me in this challenge. I guess when you know you have company to take up such a challenge it becomes a fun activity and you do not tend to perceive it as a challenge anymore. Also you are motivated to push yourself daily to keep at the challenge.

The next big question that popped was for how many days should we go for this challenge? 1 day was too less. (how I wish).. so we decided we would take it up for a week. At the back of my mind the top most thought was are 7 days too much? Will I be able to complete it successfully? But, then I felt no harm in giving it a shot.

With all enthusiasm, we started with the challenge. First 3 days were easy as still the excitement was at its peak. However, on the 4th day, it was a friend’s birthday and all the efforts went down the drain.. as I ended up having a piece of cake. The very next moment I was feeling extremely guilty about breaking the challenge.

Then, I thought there is always a next time and this time I was very sure that I am gonna follow the challenge diligently for all 7 days.. I gave the challenge another shot and this time around more strictly. So what did I do to keep to the challenge and not cheat?

First I stopped taking sugar in my teas. Secondly, as and when I used to get a sugar cravings I used to opt for healthy alternatives like dates/dried figs/fruits/chikki (as all of these sweets have jiggery in them which is a healthy alternative to refined Sugar).

Jaggery is not counted as sugar. It is comparatively healthier than sugar due to its trace mineral composition. Ideally, sugar is acidic in nature where generally pathogen breeds. When I took this challenge my constant effort was to make my body alkaline by having more of veggies/fruits/whole grain etc. Sugar makes you crave for more sugar and if you restrict it, it leads to mood swings and behavioural changes. Also, it makes your body dehydrated and fastens ageing process.

I found sweet substitutes as I said earlier, or set small milestones during the challenge to reach my goal. The benefits of staying off sugar made me feel lighter, increased my metabolic rate, made me more active and helped in getting rid of the toxins. Imagining a better me kept me motivated. And thus, I was able to successfully complete my sugar free challenge for 7 days.

It was a big accomplishment for me as never in my life, had I imagined that I would be able to stay away from chocolates for so long! This challenge has motivated me to the next level of consuming less or no sugar at all in the future.

Anyone can take up this challenge, if they want to get off their addiction and lead a better life. Even, people suffering from hypertension, diabetes can take up this challenge. For a diabetic, if the person’s sugar drops, a fruit would do. For individuals suffering from severe hypoglycemia, I would not recommend this challenge. Even otherwise I would advise that this challenge should be done under the supervision of your dietician, personal trainer or doctor. After this challenge, I do not get any more sugar cravings which has made a Happy me!

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“#FitBy40: To lose 40 KGS by the time I turn 40”


Arjun-Narayan

He led a sedentary lifestyle for several years until one day he realized that he had crossed the barrier of being unhealthy. Here is Arjun Narayan’s inspirational story in his own words.

I couldn’t believe my ears when the guy at the Levi’s store said, “Sir, a 32” size jeans would be perfect for you”. I was shocked because I always wore a 44” jeans until recently!

My normal day would start pretty late. If early, I would begin my day at 8 AM or even 9 AM depending on how late I slept the previous night. I had absolutely no grip on my meals, the greasier and tastier the meal – the higher the chances that I would go for it. I led sedentary lifestyle and walked less than 2,000 steps a day. Dinner times would be erratic and could be as bad as 2 AM. Beer cans would get opened for the smallest event that called for a celebration. All in all, it was as bad as it could get. I also stated that I probably get a zero for a quiz about nutrition or what protein was, what carbohydrates are as my knowledge on this was absolute zilch.

Before a doctor could ask me to get the situation under control regarding my health, I wanted to take charge. Another thing that kept bothering me was, I could never purchase a ready to wear trouser from the market as most brands did not cater to a 44” waist size.

I decided to hire a personal gym trainer. My story was similar to many out there who join the gym to lose weight. I was regular at the gym for a period of three months, but I did not shed a single gram of weight.

When I analysed to check what was I doing wrong– I realised, despite working out in the gym there was absolutely no discipline on my diet. While, I was battling the dilemma on how to rectify the situation, I bumped into these two statements in an article – ‘Weight Loss is 80% diet and 20% exercise’ and ‘Abs are made in the kitchen’. These statements made me think about this entire weight loss program in a different way”. Now, I knew that I had to get a personal coach who can advise me on diet and be by my side if I wanted this weight loss exercise to get anywhere”.

I had been following Vishal Gondal on Twitter for about 2 years and I knew about GOQii. What made GOQii interesting was the ‘services’ component to the business in addition to the product. I never evaluated any other option as I knew it had to be GOQii. Any other band would not solve the problem as I would have the data – but the bigger concern was not knowing what to do with the data.

In Jan 2016, I took up GOQii and came up with a project for myself #FitBy40 and the goal of the project was to lose 40 KGS by the time I turn 40 (which is this month). By the 9th month – 5th September to be precise, I had lost 36 KGS! I started my GOQii journey at 115.1 KGS and by September I was at 79 KGS.

Today, diet and exercising is my pet topic. I get up at 5:30 AM and on bad days it is not later than 7:15 AM.

I attribute my success to my GOQii coach Kruti Jain. While, I have been extremely sincere and diligent about the entire process, she is the one who gave me the direction.

In the beginning she started advising me on what kind of a meal would be ideal for me, and it gradually started building from there. As I started seeing the results, I was motivated to push harder.

Now I can hold fitness sessions for an hour to a group of people and tell them how they can get a grip on stuff and the best part is that it is practical and doable. A year ago, I would have felt that this would be impossible to achieve – but trust me it is very doable. Today, people come up to me and say that I am an inspiration to them and it feels so good and if I have to look back, I don’t think I could have achieved any of this without Kruti’s assistance.

A normal day in my life ‘today’ looks like this:

My day starts with 2 hours of tennis / an hour in the gym and then I go for a swim in the evenings or for a walk. A newly opened restaurant in town doesn’t excite me anymore. What excites me is going for a run on the treadmill and running for 45 minutes or playing tennis for 2 hours. What excites me even more is going to a readymade garment store and trying out new trousers as my waist size is now down to 32″ from 44″. The last I had worn a 32″ jeans was probably in 1999 or so or maybe even earlier.

What does Coach,Kruti Jain have to say about her player Arjun Narayan?

Arjun came on board with a goal of bringing his weight down to 70 kgs (ideal body weight). He further specified the goal by saying that he would like to get to a 2 digit weight, i.e, 99 kgs within 5-6 weeks (about 10 kg loss)

Achieving such a goal would’ve required drastic dietary modifications and intense workouts. I explained to him the challenges expected on this path and tried convincing him to choose a rather easier and sustainable path of correcting the lifestyle which will automatically lead him to his health goal. He did agree to this but, only in words (for the sake of it).

As a coach, I helped him understand the nature and the nutritive quality of different foods, the trick of balancing meals, healthy snacking, and the impact of foods or lack of food / nutrients on our behaviour and food choices (cravings). These are just a few points to mention but our discussions went beyond the basics.

On the workout front, he chose his activities on his own as doing something of your interest is what keeps you going. I only helped him change and modify the workouts when his body got used to these activities.

According to me, what helped in this case was the player’s strong determination to get to his goal. He was religious in monitoring his progress and kept revising his plans and targets. Not only that, if the progress wasn’t as expected for a particular week, he had me reason it out & find out the limiting factors.

If I asked him to slow down (workouts) or to not be so strict on the diet front (to avoid its negative impact on his health), he would try to understand the “Why?” in detail and argue if not convinced. You just couldn’t stop or slow him down because he could only see the goal and the distance in between them.

Lifestyle before I came on board as his coach:

Diet: He was already following a low fat, high protein diet which was helping him lose weight.

Workout: 1- 1.5 hr of Tennis/ walking everyday

How I helped?

  1. Tried educating him about the negative impact of such diets on health (only proteins or only salads for meals)
  2. Improve satiety quotient of the meals by adding fibre and complex carbs
  3. Balance meals (right proportions of carbs, proteins, fibre& micro- nutrients)
  4. Snacking on nutrient dense foods to avoid deficiencies
  5. Satisfy taste buds without guilt (indulgence on a weekly basis, but in controlled portions)
  6. Deal with cravings and avoiding them
  7. Change the workout at the right time or modify them so that the rate of weight loss does not fall (combination of workouts like swimming/ tennis/ walking/ gym cardio).

These changes helped him sustain the diet and lose weight at such a rate (1.5 kgs/ week)

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From Carefree to a Carer

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She considers herself a shy and an introvert person who likes to hide behind her pen and paper but, you start talking to her and you will realise that Samara Mahindra is very poised, articulate and has designed a beautiful life for herself that is all about making a difference in other people’s lives.

Her 3 life’s lessons learnt in a short span of time are

  • Don’t be bound by physical reality (What you see),
  • You can achieve more than you think you can
  • Be in the present ( forget the past and don’t think about the future)

“This I have learnt from my mum- stand on your own feet and all is in your hands how to shape it for yourself,” says Samara, in conversation with Vishal Gondal on “Beneath the Force-The Vishal Gondal Show’.

Having lost her mother to Cancer and being left alone to make her choices and take her decisions, Samara’s eyes opened to a lot of brutal realities during her mother’s long journey of struggle with Cancer. She went on to study Integrative Life style medicine and also get a certification in Cancer Exercise Specialist.

“Once I came back from the US after my studies, I did an Observership with Tata Memorial and what I found was that hospitals were not a healing place for patients. And, doctors never gave any proper answer. That is when I decided on Carer Program where a specialist would be taken to the patient and treated in the confines of their home,” she says.

The oncology ward of numerous hospitals became her home where she witnessed extreme cases and dire situations that were unimaginable. She watched blank refusals of curable stage cancer treatment to those who didn’t have the funding and children who saw hospital wards before a classroom. This was the beginning of her carefree to an entrepreneurial journey ‘The Carer Program’.

The CARER Program is an integrative cancer recovery program that helps a patient recover from the side effects of treatment and cancer itself. CARER provides a holistic approach to healing through complementary therapies that target nutrition, movement and mind-body healing for patients post treatment.

Prior to becoming an entrepreneur, Samara kept looking for an escapist route to avoid going back home. So she travelled to Australia and UK for studies and then worked in Singapore and even attended a 3-month acting course with Barry John in Mumbai. She says the acting course was therapeutic and help build her confidence and come out of her shell.

Talking of her success habits Samara says that being disciplined has helped her a lot in her work.

Secondly, having a sense of empathy without sympathy and looking at the situation very positively and passing on that positivity to the patients has been the biggest success.

She admits to being a big fan of Tim Ferris and has read all his books and believes in the 4 Hour Work Week. The 4 Hour Work week is a book by Tim Ferris where he refers to a ‘lifestyle design’

and repudiates the traditional ‘deferred’ life plan in which people work gruelling hours and take few vacations for decades and save money in order to relax after retirement.

Listen to the Podcast here: https://youtu.be/yV0naFwElfo

 

 

From Terminal Illness To Complete Wellness! Ananda Mukherjee Health Story

As we observe World Cancer Day under the powerful theme ‘United by Unique’ (2025-2027)**, we are reminded that every individual’s journey with cancer is distinct, yet united by shared resilience, hope, and the collective fight against this disease. This theme places people at the centre of care and their stories at the heart of the […]