Mind Your Heart, Bend Your Mind

By RAJGOPAL NIDAMBOOR

Do you know that heart disease is an entirely new, modern-day phenomenon? Maybe, you don’t, thanks to its growing prevalence.

This is in sharp contrast to what was once thought, especially at the beginning of the last century: heart disease was not a recognised condition. This was also one foremost reason why it was not as widespread, or as frequent, like what it is today.

How things have changed in our times! Blame it on a host of triggers -- the travails of modern living, or call it what you may -- pollution, chemicals, processed, or fast/junk-foods, stress etc., You name it, and you have them in full measure -- with one overlapping the other, and vice versa.

What makes the presence of the condition a more difficult customer to handle today, notwithstanding technological and medical advance, is the diabolical threat it holds for us in the face.

For one who is bogged down by a cardiovascular problem, there is almost a 50 per cent chance of dying from the disease. It is ironical, therefore, that most people do not lose sleep over developing heart disease up until they are well into their forties. This idea should change, because of the growing incidence and signs of cardiovascular disease now showing up in the teenage years.

Here’s something to chew upon and attend to quickly. Researchers at Cleveland Hospital, US, report that one in six teenagers, who died in accidents and whose hearts were used for transplants, had early signs of blockage of their arteries. It won’t also come as a surprise that autopsies conducted on young people having died of non-disease-related causes had fatty elements in the arteries.

This is nothing short of the terrifying -- and, if the trend is not stopped in its tracks, it will sure reach more alarming proportions in our next generation, if it hasn’t already.

Slow Deadly Game

The problem with cardiovascular disease is its slow, silent progression. It presents no apparent early symptom, or sign. The worst part -- it takes years for the condition to manifest obvious symptoms, or distress. This makes diagnosis more than a problem confounded.

As you may quite well know, the most common form of heart disease is atherosclerosis. In other words, the hardening of the arteries. Atherosclerosis is caused by a host of complex factors. Some experts say that homocysteine is, perhaps, the biggest offender, not to speak of excess cholesterol.

The final outcome is plaque formation which accumulates on the inside of the arterial walls and blocks blood flow.

Homocysteine is an amino acid found in the blood. Epidemiological studies have shown that excess homocysteine is related to a higher risk of coronary heart disease, stroke, and peripheral vascular disease.

The plaque, called atheroma in medical parlance, is for the most part composed of heavy metals, fibrous tissue, cholesterol and calcium. This is, of course, not the dietary or prescribed calcium supplement we take.

When the plaque build-up becomes progressively thick, the width within the arteries becomes narrow. This leads to decreased blood flow, or circulation, through the whole body, including the heart and brain.

Do you know the significance of plaque-induced dangers? To cull a heart transplant study, conducted in the US, researchers, who evaluated 40-50 year-old donors, found blockages in 26 of the 36 subjects. In actual terms, this translates to more than 70 per cent of the donors. Now, picture this -- what would be the percentage of people in their 40s, 50s, 60s or older, having plaque build-up and related problems? You guess.

When the plaque build-up becomes severe, the result is heart attack, stroke, senility, and possible amputation of the extremities.

Put simply, heart attacks are caused by blood clots in the coronary arteries. Strokes are brought on by the blockage, or rupture, of a blood vessel in the brain.

How It All Happens

When plaque blocks the blood vessels, it automatically reduces the flow of blood. This leads to famished supply of oxygen and other nutrients to the vital organs. When this happens, the cell walls become spongy. They now allow excess calcium, sodium, and other elements to enter the blood vessels.

It is at this stage that calcium gets accumulated to a critical degree. As it accrues, it forms a rock-solid deposit. Called calcification, they can often be seen on an X-ray.

This ain’t the only reason -- calcified deposits can also be the outcome of improper calcium metabolism. When this happens, it can only add to the trauma -- causing the coronary artery and other arteries to go into spasm. Result? Blood supply is further reduced to the vital organs.

You would be astounded to run through the list of problems caused by coronary artery disease. Atherosclerosis is not the only disease caused, though it is the foremost. Plaque has the most detrimental effect on the heart, all right, but it can also cause angina pectoris, or chest pain originating in the heart, eventually leading to death.

In some cases, one may have to also contend with true Alzheimer’s disease which is mimicked by straightforward atherosclerosis of the arteries and arterioles supplying the brain.

Diabetes is another disease. The disease often worsens when blood flow to the pancreas is inadequate.

As you know, a fresh supply of oxygenated blood is absolutely essential for the proper functioning of every organ in the body. Oxygen pumps life into every cell and tissue, and any short-supply would lead to deleterious effects of deprivation.

A reduced blood supply can also lead to decreased production of digestive enzymes in the pancreas. This may lead to improper assimilation. Add to this want of adequate blood flow to the stomach and small intestines, which results in poor digestion, and you have the prospect of colon disease staring in the gut.

Aside from all this, one may have to contend with decreased blood supply to the kidneys. This causes improper release of the enzyme angiotensin by the kidneys -- a major cause of high blood pressure, or hypertension.

In addition, you have the joints, especially in the lower back, becoming inflamed and painful, thanks to reduced blood flow to the area. This leads to the development of arthritis in more than a few parts of the body.

Further along the disease much travelled, one may present with cold hands and feet. In some severe cases, this can lead to gangrene and possible amputation.

Other problems include impotence caused by decreased blood flow to the penis, due to clogged arterioles, including cancerous tumours, and so on, owing to inadequate blood flow.

It is also not uncommon for the immuno-competent cells in the bone marrow and spleen to be affected and compromised.

Things You Must Do

You have every right to take care of your heart -- it is, after all, the key to your life. Needless to say, you should do whatever you possibly can to avoid getting affected by the problem.

Fortunately, for all its terrifying intentions, heart affections are often manageable conditions.

All it requires you to face the problem effectively is a will, a method, and sense of discipline, juxtaposed by the incorporation of a healthy diet, medications, the right vitamins, minerals, including dietary/nutritional supplements, and exercise.

Most cases of heart disease can actually be prevented, and reversed, if not cured. The best prescription is -- you have to heed to your body’s signals right from a young age. The moment you see something marginally not in agreement with what is good, optimal health, you need to consult your doctor.

What you can do yourself is, of course, eating right and exercising from childhood. This is the first remedial step you can take -- effectively.

As far as preventing heart disease is concerned, or if you wish not to fall into the category of every second or third person falling victim to it, you may derive benefits by following the suggestions given below. However, make sure that you start working on them, right away. Also -- it ain’t late to start at any point in time, but if you don’t, you won’t be able to start at all!

Exercise Benefits

Don’t think that you are past your prime, or time, for exercise, or feel that you are not the right age for exercise. It’s never too late to start exercising.

Begin a walking programme. Walking is the safest form of cardiac exercise. It works. Just look at the statistics. Four-five months of a regular walking programme is evidenced to bring your heart rates down in comparison to people who are inactive. This is a healthy sign.

A regular exercise regimen will aid in weight loss, because being overweight, or obese, is going to put greater pressure on your circulatory system and the heart. Besides this, exercise strengthens the heart muscle. It improves the blood flow, reduces high blood pressure and improves HDL [“good”] cholesterol levels and lowers LDL [“bad” cholesterol] levels. What’s more, sustained and strong muscle contraction achieved by the body during exercise produces a metabolic by-product called lactic acid. Lactic acid is an excellent natural “chelating” agent. It “chelates” or flushes out the toxins and deposits from your body. However, for this good effect to happen, it is necessary for you to follow a regular exercise programme lasting for at least 25-30 minutes, 4-5 times a week.

It is not without sufficient reason that The British Heart Foundation reports, “[That] people who do not exercise are twice as likely to develop coronary heart disease as those who exercise on a regular basis.” Most important -- if people who exercise suffer a heart attack, their risk of dying from it, research also testifies, is half that of those who don’t do exercise.