Heart health
Bring exercise to workplace
Dr Ashit Syngle

Heart is a biological apparatus that knows only how to palpitate

— George Bernard Shaw

OF COURSE, YES. Our heart may not be able to think and feel, but it is that organ of our body which makes the thinking and feeling by our mind possible. Once it stops to palpitate, our mind and we are dead. This marvellous organ is our life force. Its function is to move the living stream of blood through all parts of our body incessantly.

Our heart beats about 60 to 100 times every minute and more than 86,000 times each day.

It pumps blood through more than 60,000 miles of tiny blood vessels. These tiny capillaries are only a tenth of an inch long, but if they could be placed together, they would stretch two and a half times around the earth at the equator.

However, this muscular pump needs to be protected against disease. Taking care of your health is not difficult. Heart disease is now the leading cause of death world-wide. Heart disease is, however, predictable and preventable.

Here are some simple steps that can be taken to maintain the health of our heart:

Healthy food intake — Eat at least five servings of fruit and vegetables a day and avoid saturated fat. Beware of processed foods, which often contain high levels of salt.

Exercise regularly — The best exercise programme is one that you would enjoy doing and are likely to continue doing. Most exercise programmes fail because people lose interest in them over time. We often define exercise in a very narrow sense. Playing with kids, walking to the store and tossing a ball with the dog aren’t, which is, of course, wrong. If you love gym, great `85.but if you prefer playing and wrestling with your dog, that’s also fine. For those preferring a more fixed and simple regimen, just 30 minutes of brisk walking every day or even a few bouts of exercise of about 10 to15 minutes a few times a day will help you have healthy heart for life. The other fun activities are jogging, swimming and gardening. Even 30 minutes of activity can help prevent heart attacks and strokes. Regular physical exercise adds not only years to life but also life to years.

Say no to tobacco — Your risk of coronary heart disease will be halved within a year and will return to a normal level over time.

Maintain a healthy weight — Longer the waistline, shorter the lifeline.Weight loss, especially together with a lowered salt intake, leads to lower blood pressure. High blood pressure is the number one risk factor for stroke and a major factor for approximately half of all cases of heart disease and stroke.

Know your numbers — Visit a healthcare professional who can measure your blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels, together with waist-to-hip ratio and body mass index (bmi). Once you know your overall risk, you can develop a specific plan of action to improve the health of your heart.

Limit your alcohol intake — Restrict the amount of alcoholic drinks that you take. Excessive alcohol intake can cause your blood pressure to rise and your weight to increase.

Most of us spend half of our waking hours at work; the workplace is the ideal setting to encourage heart-healthy behaviour. Here are some ideas on making your workplace healthier:

• Insist on a smoke-free environment Demand a tobacco ban to ensure that your workplace is 100 per cent smoke-free. Support the adoption of smoking-cessation services. Encourage your employer to provide help to those wanting to quit tobacco.
• Bring exercise to the workplace — Include physical activity in your working schedule, cycle to work if this is possible, take the stairs, exercise or go for a walk during your lunch breaks, and encourage others to do so too.
• Choose healthy food options — Ask for healthy food at your company canteen, or find nearby cafes or restaurants that serve healthy meals
• Encourage stress-free moments. While stress has not been shown to be a direct risk factor for heart disease and stroke, it is related to smoking, excessive drinking and unhealthy eating, which are risk factors for heart disease.

The writer is Senior Consultant Physician & Rheumatologist, Fortis Multispeciality Hospital, Mohali. E mail: ashitsyngle@yahoo.com

Hepatitis B a bigger killer than HIV/AIDS virus
Dr Karun Verma

Hepatitis B is the most common serious liver infection. The Hepatitis B virus (HBV) was discovered by Baruch Blumberg at the Fox Chase Cancer Centre in Philadelphia in 1967. Blumberg was awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine in 1976 for his discovery. The HBV virus attacks liver cells and can lead to cirrhosis, liver failure, and/or fatal liver cancer. The virus is transmitted through blood and bodily fluids that contain infected blood.

HBV is 100 times more infectious than the HIV/AIDS virus. Yet hepatitis B can be prevented with a safe and effective vaccine. Unfortunately, for those who are chronically infected with HBV, the use of the vaccine is too late. There are, however, promising new treatments for HBV.

What are the symptoms of hepatitis B?

Hepatitis B is known as the "silent disease" because most people infected with it do not have any symptoms, or if they do, mistake them for flu. It is helpful to think of two phases of infection with the hepatitis C virus. An acute phase when the patient first becomes infected and chronic (persistent) phase in people where the virus remains for a long term.

Acute hepatitis B resembles other forms of acute hepatitis clinically and cannot easily be distinguished by history, physical examination or routine serum biochemical tests. The disease generally lasts from one to six weeks, but may be prolonged and can be fulminant. Unusually, fulminant hepatitis B can occur during an acute infection. The symptoms can range from nausea and fatigue to more serious ones such as jaundice (yellowed eyes and skin) and dark urine. This occurs in approximately two or three per cent cases. Fulminant hepatitis can lead to the rapid onset and development of acute hepatic failure with encephalopathy, coma and death.

The diagnosis is made on the basis of a blood sample which will demonstrate antibodies against hepatitis B. All patients with chronic infections have the viral component called Hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAg).

Who is at an increased risk for hepatitis B?

• Babies born to mothers who are infected with HBV.
• Close household contacts with an infected person
• Children adopted from a country where HBV is prevalent
• Sexually active teens or adults who have had multiple partners or unprotected sex
• Those diagnosed with a sexually transmitted disease (STD)
• Illicit drug users who share needles or other drug paraphernalia
• Health care providers who have contact with blood
• Patients on kidney dialysis
• Those living in an institutional setting such as prisons or group homes

The writer is associated with a health foundation. Email —drkarunverma@gmail.com

Ayurveda & You
BAEL: a remedy for many diseases
Dr R. Vatsyayan

Though more valued for its medicinal virtues than its edible quality, bael is a medium height thorny and slow growing fruit tree found in sub-mountainous regions and dry plains of India. Having a great significance in the Hindu ethos, the history of bael can be traced to the Vedic period. Scientifically known as aegle marmelos, the whole of the bael tree with its different parts (root, leaves, bark and the fruit) is found to possess various curative properties.

In ayurvedic texts bael has been described as astringent and bitter in taste and light, dry and hot in effect. With a pungent post-digestive effect, it pacifies the vitiated kapha and vata. The most usable part of the tree consists of mucilage, pectin, sugar, tannic acid and a volatile oil.

The hard rind or the shell of bael fruit cracks open to reveal a tawny and aromatic pulp. It is a unique fruit which acts according to its stages of maturity — an intestinal astringent and anti-diarrhoeal when unripe and a laxative when 
ripe. The unripe fruit is additionally digestive and anti-inflammatory 
whereas the ripe one is a tonic and a soothing agent.

Since ancient times bael fruit has been relied upon as an effective remedy to control diarrhoea and dysentery. Seasoned ayurvedic physicians prescribe it as a drug of choice to treat complicated intestinal diseases like the irritable bowel syndrome and specific and non-specific cases of colitis. Bael fruit checks intestinal and rectal bleeding and helps to get unstrained and satisfactory evacuation of stools if given to the patients of ulcerative colitis.

Apart from its salutary action on the intestines, modern researchers too have found bael to be enriched with many other curative properties such as antiviral, antifungal, cardiac stimulant and antipyretic. The bael root has a pronounced anti-inflammatory and nerve-toning action whereas its leaves are a very good hypoglycaemic agent.

In the season when fresh bael is available, it is best used in the form of “sharbat”. If out of season, in its fresh form, dried bael pulp should be procured from the pansari shop and kept crushed. This powder can be used in the dose of one to two gm twice a day. Mixing together dried powders of bael, nagarmotha, rock sal roasted-jeera and sonth in equal quantities and then taking two gm of it twice a day with water or buttermilk is a very good remedy for mucous diarrhoea. Chewing of a few fresh bael leaves helps control polyuria associated with diabetes.

Classic ayurveda discusses a number of preparations where bael is used as chief ingredient. To name a few — Bilwadi churna, Gangadhar Churna and Bilva Leha for diarrhoea and dysentery, and preparations of Dashmool where the root bark of the bael tree is used with nine other similar ingredients. It is a prestigious ayurvedic medicine to treat various gynaecological and degenerative disorders. Caution: Bael fruit should not be used in excess at a time. If used regularly at a stretch and without a break, it may cause dependence and flatulence-like symptoms.

The writer is a senior ayurvedic consultant based in Ludhiana.