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Healthy Tips

How to Avoid Heart Attack

Here are some simple advices to avoid diseases in the heart and blood vessels and to help you recover from such diseases if you are already under attack!

1. Kick the butt : Dr. Ashok Seth, Chairman Escort Heart Institute suggests, “Stop smoking or consumption of tobacco in any form. Smoking causes circulatory problems as it leads to cholesterol deposition and damages the inner lining of the blood vessels. It is very risky for women on oral contraceptive pills as smoking tends to increase blood clotting problems and cause blockages”.

2. Walk your way : “Exercise at least 5 days a week for 40 minutes. It helps decrease heart ailments by 20%, “adds Dr. Seth. “If you can’t take out time for jogging, cycling, playing ball, swimming or other activities, a simple technique is to indulge in a brisk 5 kilometer walk every day. Walking is the best medicine for a healthy heart. Walking increases your blood circulation,” Dr Colonel C.P. Roy VSM, Senior Consultant Max Heart Institute, adds further.

3. Sleep well : “Get enough sleep. Sleeping well reduces mental stress and stabilises one’s heart rate. Avoid stress over a long period. Manage stress by prioritising your jobs from the most important to lesser vital ones. One needs to do a proper time-management,” advices Dr. Roy.

4. Dealing with your diet : “Being careful of your diet can help you lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. It also prevents obesity, heart disease and strokes,” mentions Dr. R.R. Kasliwal. A good diet should include vegetables and fruits together with each meal for vitamins, minerals, fibres and anti-oxidants. They should be raw or gently cooked so that the content of the nutrients remains intact. Dr. Roy further adds, “We must not only stick to fish to increase our level of Omega 3 that is good for our heart, but also try and balance our meal”.

5. Moderate your alcohol consumption : Alcohol has a devastating effect on your heart and raises the risk of high blood pressure, heart attack, and strokes. “Wine can be replaced for your regular drinks; wine increases the good cholesterol HDL level, which takes the bad cholesterol away from the blockages. But it should be consumed in limited quantity otherwise it becomes counter productive,” suggests Dr. Roy.

6. Watch your weight : Keeping a healthy weight is very important. “There is a lot of fat deposit in the Indian body; it’s the metabolic syndrome which leads to more chances of contracting diabetes and waist circumference or the waist – hip ratio. If the waist is more than the hip it leads to heart disorders, and this is very common in India. The simplest and common advice to a healthy weight is proper diet and regular physical activity, ” points out Dr. Ashok.

7. Monitor your diabetes : Keep your diabetes under control. Suffering from diabetes exposes you to heart diseases in addition to other ailments. “Blood sugar leads to hardening of the blood vessels and the deposition of cholesterol in all the arteries of the body,” says Dr Ashok. Testing for diabetes and keeping it under check is a must, blood sugar reference during fasting must ideally be 70-110 mg/dl. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables and maintain a healthy weight to keep diabetes at bay.

Dr Ashok further adds, “Blockages start as early as 3-4 years of age and major blockages can occur by 15 years of age. Regular health screenings including blood pressure, cholesterol and sugar tests during childhood once in every two 2 years and once every year in case of grown ups. In case detected with any irregularities, then a regular check is important on the advice of the doctor.”

Source
: The Times Of India

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News on Health & Science

Researchers find key to treating insomnia

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: Researchers studying a disease that causes people to suddenly drop off to sleep are trying to turn what they have learnt into a new way to help insomniacs get some shut-eye…...click & see

They found that blocking brain receptors for orexin, a blood peptide, promoted sleep in rats, dogs and people, according to a paper in Sunday’s online issue of the journal Nature Medicine.

Orexin, also known as hypocretin, is important in maintaining wakefulness. It is absent in the brains of people who suffer from narcolepsy, a chronic disorder in which people cannot regulate sleep-wake cycles normally.

It is estimated to affect more than 135,000 people in the United States, according to the National Institutes of Health.

The research team, led by Francois Jenck of the Swiss drug company Actelion Pharmaceuticals, reasoned that they might be able to induce sleep if they could block orexin.

They developed a drug that can block the receptors in the brain that respond to orexin-hypocretin. The researchers reported successful testing in rodents, dogs and men.

The first tests were proof of the concept and the drug is now being evaluated to establish the correct dosage, said Roland Haefeli, an Actelion spokesman.

Researchers hope to decide this year whether to conduct a phase-three study, a detailed assessment of the drug that would be the final step before seeking US government approval for its use. Such studies can take a few years.

Narcolepsy victims often also experience cataplexy, a condition in which they lose control of muscle tone for a few seconds to minutes. Jenck said in a telephone interview that the drug tests did not prompt indications of cataplexy.

Thomas Scammell, an assistant professor of neurology at Harvard University, said the work was “promising, with a certain amount of caution”.

“I think it may be the beginning of something quite exciting,” said Scammell, who was not part of the research team.

Source:The Times Of India

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