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| HEALTH & FITNESS |
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Guidelines for the elderly
How to have a healthy heart
Health Notes
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Guidelines for the elderly
Around 60 years of age most people feel basic weakness inside the structure of bones. It gets weaker because of calcium and protein loss in the bones. Those who have obese bodies are the most tired persons if there is lack of exercise. This comes in addition to a plethora of problems in old age like vision and hearing loss, teeth and hair decay, diabetes and hypertension, arthritis and fractures. Cardiac problems, neurological breakdown, brain strokes, post-retirement depression, joint replacements, hearing aids, dentures and IOL operations for eyes are also there in old age. Life beyond 60 demands that we should be very careful about our body skeleton. We have to do our own assessment whether we feel strong enough to bear at least six hours of workload daily, including exercise. Tiredness or fatigue after about two hours of work is the earliest sign to suspect weakness in the bones. After crossing 60 one must go in for DEXA — a scan test of the lumber spine or of the hips showing the neck of the femur. This test is a gold standard now to assess bone density or the strength of the bones. The standard reading is T-score which is normal at -1.0 and shows a low bone mass or osteopenia if it is below -2.5, and T-score at -2.5 or above means osteoporosis. If the score reaches -4.0 it is severe osteoporosis and bones are prone to fractures with a small force. Primary osteoporosis (Type-1) is characterised by the loss of trabecular bone which comes with menopause, and Type -2 is characterised by the loss of both cortical and trabecular bone in both men and women due to the aging process, dietary inadequacy, long-term remodelling inefficiency and activation of the parathyroid gland. Secondary osteoporosis is due to any disease. It is not only calcium which is drained from the bones but there is protein loss also which is responsible for the growth and remodelling of bones. That means our diet is to be supplemented with calcium and proteins together. There is also a school of thought which advocates adding dietary phosphorous. Light exercise daily also helps retain calcium in the bones. Prevention of osteoporosis
Osteoporosis affects one out of eight males and one out of three females in India. This incidence makes India one of the largest affected countries in the world. Milk and milk products, almonds and other dry fruits, green and leafy vegetables, cabbage and turnips are among the rich sources of calcium and proteins. The other sources of protein are meat and meat products, poultry and pulses. One must keep a balance of protein and sugar intake if suffering from diabetes. One can consume palak-paneer twice a week, and one egg on alternate days and chicken or rajmah once a week. Some half ripe fruits like mangoes, chikkoo and papaya can also provide phosphorous. Medical treatment should be sought when osteoporosis is severe.
Prevention of fractures
The incidence of hip fracture is in the ratio of one woman to one man in India because of physical weakness and osteoporosis in the elderly. One should be careful while changing clothes or travelling. To change your clothes always sit on a bed or a chair, or stand with your back to the wall. Do not try to change fused bulbs at home standing alone on a stool or chair. While travelling in the bus, occupy a front or middle seat, otherwise the bumps on the back-seat may give you a fracture in the spine. Always walk carefully on a marble floor as one can slip if there is water on the floor. One can have a stick in hand if feeling insecure during walking sessions. The stick should have a rubber shoe.
Prevention of joint pains
Regular exercise of shoulders and hips in circular motion will give you relief from dull-aches. The spine can gets strengthened if we go in for an extension exercise. While lying on a bed with the back up and the face down, just raise your head and shoulders without support 10 times. The knees can have 20 sit-ups from a dinning chair. Exercise provides lubrication to the joints and keeps the cartilage healthy. Light massage with any body oil around the joints will keep the joints flexible and help in restoring mobility. You can keep your joints healthy and mobile if you start this care around 50 years of age with massage, mobility and manipulation. That means no replacements. The writer is an orthopaedic surgeon and consultant at Fortis City Centre, Chandigarh. Email: dr.bhimsain @yahoo.in
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How to have a healthy heart
Answer: 1. Diet - Less of carbohydrate, more of protein, less oil 2. Exercise - Half an hour’s walk, at least five days a week; avoid lifts and avoid sitting for a long time 3. Quit smoking 4. Control weight 5. Control blood pressure and sugar Q: Is eating non-vegetarian food (fish) good for the heart? A: No Q: It’s still a grave shock to hear that some apparently healthy person gets a cardiac arrest. How do we understand it in perspective? A: This is called silent attack; that is why we recommend everyone past the age of 30 to undergo routine health checkups.
A: Yes Q What are the ways in which the heart is stressed? What practices do you suggest to de-stress? A: Change your attitude towards life. Do not look for perfection in everything in life. Q: Is walking better than jogging or is more intensive exercise required to keep a healthy heart? A: Walking is better than jogging since jogging leads to early fatigue and injury to joints Q: Can people with low blood pressure suffer heart diseases? A: Extremely rare Q: Does cholesterol accumulates right from an early age (I’m currently only 22) or do you have to worry about it only after you are above 30 years of age? A: Cholesterol accumulates from childhood. Q: How do irregular eating habits affect the heart ? A: You tend to eat junk food when the habits are irregular and your body’s enzyme release for digestion gets confused. Q: How can I control cholesterol content without using medicines? A: Control diet, walk and eat walnut. Q: Can yoga prevent heart ailments? A: Yoga helps. Q: Which is the best and worst food for the heart? A: Fruits and vegetables are the best, and the worst is oil. Q: Which oil is better - groundnut, sunflower, olive? A: All oils are bad . Q: What is the routine checkup one should go through? Is there any specific test? A: Routine blood test to ensure that sugar and cholesterol are ok. Check BP, and go in for a Treadmill test after an echo. Q: What are the first aid steps to be taken on a heart attack? A: Help the person into a sleeping position , place an aspirin tablet under the tongue with a sorbitrate tablet if available, and rush him to a coronary care unit since the maximum casualty takes place within the first hour. Q: How do you differentiate between pain caused by a heart attack and that caused due to gastric trouble? A: Extremely difficult without ECG. Q: What is the main cause of a steep increase in heart problems among youngsters? I see people of about 30-40 years of age having heart attacks and serious heart problems. A: Increased awareness has increased incidents.. Also, sedentary lifestyles, smoking, junk food, lack of exercise in a country where people are genetically three times more vulnerable for heart attacks than Europeans and Americans. Q: Is it possible for a person to have BP outside the normal range of 120/80 and yet be perfectly healthy? A: Yes. Q: Many of us have an irregular daily routine and many a time we have to stay late in the night in office. Does this affect our heart ? What precautions would you recommend? A: When you are young, nature protects you against all these irregularities. However, as you grow older, respect the biological clock. Q: Will taking anti-hypertensive drugs cause some other complications (short / long term)? A: Yes, most drugs have some side-effects. However, modern anti- hypertensive drugs are extremely safe. Q: Will consuming more coffee/tea lead to heart attacks? A: No. Q: Are asthma patients more prone to heart disease? A: No. Q: You mentioned that Indians are three times more vulnerable. What is the reason for this, as Europeans and Americans also eat a lot of junk food? A: Every race is vulnerable to some disease and, unfortunately, Indians are vulnerable for the most expensive disease. Q: Does consuming bananas help reduce hypertension? A: No. Q: Can a person help himself during a heart attack (Because we see a lot of forwarded emails on this)? A: Yes. Lie down comfortably and put an aspirin tablet of any description under the tongue and ask someone to take you to the nearest coronary care unit without any delay and do not wait for the ambulance since most of the time the ambulance does not turn up. Q: Do, in any way, low white blood cells and low hemoglobin count lead to heart problems? A: No. But it is ideal to have a normal hemoglobin level to increase your exercise capacity. The writer is a heart specialist at Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bangalore. The article is based on a chat with him arranged by WIPRO for its employees.
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Childhood adversity ‘can increase heart disease risk in adulthood’ Washington: Scientists have found that early life adversity through poverty, social isolation or abuse in childhood is linked to heightened reactivity, which can lead to heart disease later on. “Many diseases first diagnosed in mid-life can be traced back to childhood,” said Karen A. Matthews, a professor of psychiatry and epidemiology at the University of Pittsburgh. “Having some bad health habits in your 20s and 30s is part of the reason why people get diseases later on. However, it isn’t the whole reason. The evidence shows that certain reactions to adverse childhood experiences associated with lower socio-economic status, isolation and negative events can affect the disease process,” she added. Matthews said: “It seems that parents’ SES (socio-economic status) affects young adolescents’ later risk for cardiovascular disease more than younger children and older teenagers.” — ANI Pressure point therapy ‘can stave off food cravings’
Melbourne: Want to stop those pesky chocolate cravings? Well, the solution to the problem could be at your fingertips. A new study by experts at Queensland’s Griffith University has shown that massaging key pressure points can stave off food cravings and even turn people off certain foods for life, leading to weight loss. The 15-minute therapy, called Emotional Freedom Technique, involves holding your most craved treat in one hand while pressure point treatment is applied at the same time. Dr Peta Stapleton from Griffith University conducted the one-year study on 96 overweight and obese adults and found that EFT had an immediate effect on reducing food cravings, resulting in weight loss over time.
— ANI
Free statins with fast food could neutralise heart risk
Washington: Researchers at Imperial College, London, suggest that fast food outlets can provide statin drugs free of charge so that customers can neutralise the heart disease dangers of fatty food. Statins reduce the amount of unhealthy LDL cholesterol in the blood. It has previously been proved that statins are highly effective in lowering a person’s heart attack risk. Dr Darrel Francis and colleagues calculated that the reduction in cardiovascular risk offered by a statin is enough to offset the increase in heart attack risk from eating a cheeseburger and a milkshake. “Statins don’t cut out all of the unhealthy effects of burgers and fries. It’s better to avoid fatty food altogether. But we’ve worked out that in terms of your likelihood of having a heart attack, taking a statin can reduce your risk to more or less the same degree as a fast food meal increases it,” Francis, associated with the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial College, London, and the senior author of the study, said.
— ANI
Chronic pain hits women much harder than men
Washington: A new study has revealed that women experience chronic pain longer, more intensely and more often than men. “Chronic pain affects a higher proportion of women than men around the world,” said Jennifer Kelly of the Atlanta Center for Behavioral Medicine. “We need to encourage women to take a more active role in their treatment and reduce the stigma and embarrassment of this problem.” Kelly said the latest research offers interesting insights into how physicians and mental health providers can better treat women with chronic pain.
— ANI |
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The human body is visibly a beautiful structure, but what is hidden beneath the flesh is the skeleton which acts as the axial and mobile foundation support to this automatic, intelligent and reproductive system. We need to have balanced nutrition and protect this structure from all the external and internal forces of violence and disease.
Question: What are the thumb rules for a layman to take care of his heart?
Q: Are heart diseases hereditary?