Guide to Prevention of Heart Disease and Healthy Life

Contents: Foreword. Preface. 1. Make lifestyle changes to remain heart healthy. 2. Risk factors and healthy heart/Harry Sahota. 3. Coronary heart disease (CAD): heart attacks/Anil Grover. 4. Care of the children suffering from heart disease/I.B. Vijayalakshmi. 5. High blood pressure. 6. Alcohol and healthy heart. 7. What if the heart does not beat regularly? 8. Woman's heart special. 9. Prevention of heart failure/Anurag Sharma. 10. Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs). Appendices. Index.

"Despite the accelerating advances being made in the field of heart science, the incidence of heart diseases and blood pressure is rising fast. With so many modern heart centers coming up and new beds being added for heart cases, the facilities appear inadequate. The old dictum 'prevention is better than cure' or an 'ounce of prevention is equal to a pound of cure' are most well applicable for heart diseases. Some risk factors of heart disease can be controlled. You cannot control all the risk factors such as gender, age, genetics, and some unknown ones. But there are many lifestyle risk factors you can change to prevent or postpone heart disease. Affluence and overindulgence in rich food and too much comfort has invited this disease in a big way. Medical studies show that eating a diet low in fat, salt and cholesterol; not using any type of tobacco; exercising at least three times a week; maintaining you ideal weight; and decreasing your blood pressure can reduce your risk of heart disease. The twin evils of gluttony and sloth take a heavy toll.

There are dozens of risk factors for heart disease. Those cited most often by medical men include high blood cholesterol, smoking, lack of exercise, stress and overweight. One factor of apparent importance is smoking, which has been associated in many studies with an increased risk of coronary mortality, even after correction of other risk factors. It is easy to speculate on the mechanism by which smoking causes heart disease. Exposure to fumes containing free radicals may promote the growth of atherosclerotic plaques. Perhaps chronic carbon monoxide intoxication limits the heart's utilization of oxygen. In India treatment of heart diseases would be difficult to afford for ever increasing number of heart patients. Simple changes in food, exercise, stress habits can make all the difference in healthcare costs to the nation." (jacket)