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| VIEW POINT |
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| Year : 2017 | Volume
: 6
| Issue : 2 | Page : 78-80 |
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Mind your heart: Healthy heart for hearty health
V Chockalingam1, Anand Chockalingam2, Priya Chockalingam3
1 Department of Cardiology, Dr. MGR Medical University, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
2 Professor of Cardiology, University of Missouri, Columbia, USA
3 Clinical Director, Cardiac Wellness Institute, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India
| Date of Web Publication | 31-Mar-2017 |
Correspondence Address:
V Chockalingam
Department of Cardiology, Dr. MGR Medical University, 25, Taylors Road, Kilpauk, Chennai - 600 010, Tamil Nadu
India
 Source of Support: None, Conflict of Interest: None  | Check |
DOI: 10.4103/2250-3528.203530
The incidence and prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) are burgeoning in many countries, including India. Lifestyle management and the use of appropriate preventive therapies are keys to halting this rapidly growing public health problem. Importantly, the role of psychosocial stress in causation of CVD is now being increasingly recognized. It is important to recognize the positive aspects of life and suppress the negative personality traits to achieve long-term happiness and physical health, free from CVD. Keywords: Cardiovascular disease, psychosocial stress, primary prevention, Type A personality
How to cite this article:
Chockalingam V, Chockalingam A, Chockalingam P. Mind your heart: Healthy heart for hearty health. J Clin Prev Cardiol 2017;6:78-80 |
Healthy mind and body are mandatory for a life journey of a stipulated 100 years. Unfortunately, millions of people succumb to negative stress and lifestyle diseases during the course.
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is known to cause 29% of all deaths, globally -”17.1 million” individuals each year; making it the world's number one killer, with 82% of the deaths occurring in low- and middle-income countries. This applies specifically to Indians as we are among the most affected 4-fold than Westerners, 10-fold than Chinese, and 20-fold than Japanese. India is now also called the capital of heart attack. Yearly, 30 million Indians sustain a CVD event of which 90 individuals succumb every hour, alarmingly in the age group of 25–30 years.
Efforts to fight CVD rest not only with the policymakers and treating physicians and surgeons but also with individuals. Heart attack is essentially a lifestyle disease and is thus preventable.
Lifestyle refers to the behavior of an individual driven by mindset. Stress is an inevitable reaction of our mind and body to the environment of our existence. Keeping the stress pendulum on the positive side by our intellect – “Happiness from all happenings” is the key to a healthy mind and body. In contrary to this, when the pendulum swings to the negative, by our ignorance, it dispels the easiness resulting in disease.
The personality of an individual varies with one's mindset. Individual personalities are categorized based on some of the aspects of their reaction behaviors. The negative personalities are classified as follows:
- Type “A”: Aggressive, anxious, avaricious, agitated, angry
- Type “C”: Compressed, concealed, not communicative
- Type “D”: Depressed, distressed, dissatisfied
- Type “E”: Exchanging personality between A, C, and D.
Our mind is the decision-maker regarding the position of the stress pendulum, either positive or negative, and accordingly, it is also responsible for the triggering of the psycho-neuro-humoro-viscero-immune chain reaction. If the pendulum swings to the negative side, it triggers a negative psycho-neuro-humoro-viscero-immune chain reaction [Figure 1], characterized by release of the fright, flight, and fight hormones (adrenaline, noradrenaline, and cortisol) which over the time result in developing high blood pressure (BP), diabetes mellitus, elevation of blood cholesterol (endogenous low-density lipoprotein [LDL]) with a decrease in high-density lipoprotein and also paves way to oxidative damage with release of excess of oxygen-free radicals such as superoxide, hydroxide, and hydrogen peroxide.
The negative stress also brings about psychological changes in behavior such as overeating, resulting in obesity, pushing them to a sedentary life, preponderance toward smoking, alcohol abuse which may further lead to disorders such as gastric ulcer, asthma, skin diseases, and sometimes even cancers.
On the other hand, the positive personality: Type “B”- Be positive, be calm, be happy, and be blissful, triggers positive chain reaction and increases the secretion of well-being hormones such as endorphin, melatonin, and serotonin, which have cardioprotective roles leading to hearty health.
The implementation of the following 10 commandments is a key for a pleasant life journey “Healthy Heart - Hearty Health!” [Figure 2]:
- Positive attitude with balanced approach to life, avoiding negative mental stress and strain
- Healthy, balanced food intake of at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, avoiding saturated fats and transfatty acids to maintain normal blood glucose and lipids
- Regular aerobic exercise of 30 min/day or a minimum of 100 h/year
- Regular Yogasana and Pranayama
- Regular meditation of 20 min/day or a minimum of 100 h/year
- Maintenance of optimal body weight (body mass index below 25), especially avoiding abdominal obesity
- Avoid excess salt intake to maintain normal BP
- No to tobacco in any form including passive smoking
- No to alcohol
- Include physical activity in your working schedule - cycle to work if possible, take the stairs, and go for a walk during lunch breaks.
In doing so, a general sense of well-being is achieved and the score card falls below the magical 100 number; mean BP <100 mmHg, LDL cholesterol <100 mg, fasting blood glucose <100 mg, waist circumference <100 cm, and the life expectancy becomes >100 years.
These factors and lifestyle changes play a vital role in primordial and primary prevention of CVDs in the course of 6–12 months. Coronary interventions such as stenting and coronary bypass surgery are only temporary measures and the permanent remedy is only by effective, positive lifestyle modification.
We are like a rainbow [Figure 3] - which appears and disappears. Enjoy it from a distance and so also life. Be an observer of your own.
- The seven colors of characters:
- Humanity
- Humility
- Honesty
- Holistic
- Humorous
- Hard working
- Helping others.
- With all the above, plus a “yielding” nature, makes life like a rainbow.
- Nature's gift of seven colors in the skin of vegetables and fruits are potent antioxidants to prevent heart attack, stroke, and many cancers
- Be regular in aerobic exercises of any seven, such as walking, jogging, cycling, swimming, outdoor games, yoga, and in addition meditation.
If you ignore the above rule of seven, your cupboard will be full of capsules, tablets, syrups, and injections of seven colors of rainbow [Figure 4].
“He wants more, more, still more, till he is no more.”
“Everything is fast – fast communication, fast food, fast travel, fast life.…Heart beats faster, and life ends faster.”
The World Heart Day is celebrated every year on 29th of September. The aim of the World Heart Day is prevention of ischemic heart disease in all its stages - primordial, primary, secondary, and tertiary.
Ultimately, three E's determine the life “Healthy Heart for Hearty Health” as shown in [Figure 5].
The keys to be happy and healthy lie on your fingertips only as you operate a computer [Figure 6]:
- Control - Control the mind
- Alternate - Take alternate path if necessary
- Delete - Delete the unwanted things.
Life is a calculation [Figure 7]:
- + - Add positive things
- − - Minus the negative things
- × - Multiply the knowledge
- % - Divide the time
- = - Live in balance.
“Live life better”
Financial support and sponsorship
Nil.
Conflicts of interest
There are no conflicts of interest.
[Figure 1], [Figure 2], [Figure 3], [Figure 4], [Figure 5], [Figure 6], [Figure 7]
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