Heart Care Tips For a Heart Patient

A heart patient has to always live with caution. This World Heart Day, let us understand what it takes to keep our heart in good health. In fact, by following certain rules, one can lead a smooth life despite being a heart patient.
The major risk factors of heart diseases are smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, physical inactivity, obesity, and high cholesterol. In addition to these, there are factors which add to the heart condition. They are stress, alcohol, sleep apnea and C - reactive protein.

Food and exercise play a major role in the well-being of a heart patient. It is important to engage in exercises as prescribed by your heart specialist. Follow these dos and don’ts with respect to food.

Say YES To:

1. Poultry and fish for the requirement Omega 3 and Protein
2. Raw nuts, flax seeds, avocados, olive oil, fish oils etc which make up the body's need of healthy fats.
3. Fruits and vegetables for the body's nutrient needs.
4. Whole grains and legumes which provide energy and fiber to the body.
5. Protein and calcium which come from unsweetened yoghurt, egg whites, low-fat/non-fat cheese and skimmed or double toned milk.

Say NO To:

1. Fried foods, cakes and pastries, since they have trans-fats or other harmful fats.
2. Foods high in sodium and sugar, especially packaged goods.
3. Rice, pasta, white breads, sugary foods.
4. Sausage, bacon and red meat.
5. Full cream milk, whole milk cheese and sweetened yoghurt.

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 Heart Care In Your Hands: World Heart Day Special Tips

Heart attack, also known as myocardial infarction, is a severe condition where death of the heart muscle occurs because of the loss of blood supply. The blood loss usually happens because of the blockage of a coronary artery. Due to electrical instability, ventricular fibrillation is caused. Heart attacks may result in permanent brain damage or even death.

Symptoms of heart attack
There are many early symptoms and signs of heart attack, which should be recognized. Symptoms of heart attack vary from person to person. Here is a list of the primary heart attack symptoms:

Chest pain and discomfort:
Chest pain is the basic symptom of a heart attack and occurs in different forms. The chest pain has a pressure, fullness and squeezing sensation and starts from the center of the chest. The pain may go away and re-occur and may spread down to other limbs of the body.
Headache, toothache:
The chest pain occurring due to a heart attack spreads all over the body and the jaw. Even the back and head are affected. Sometimes pain in these regions is present while chest pain is absent.
Shortness of breath:
A gasping sensation or feeling shortness of breath is another common sign of a heart attack. Such breathing difficulty is called dyspnea. The shortness of breath occurs before or during the chest pain.
Nausea and vomiting:
The feeling of nausea or sickness in the stomach is another possible symptom. It is accompanied by belching or burping and sometimes, the heart attack is associated with a feeling of indigestion. Nausea is more common in women. Vomiting also occurs alongside nausea.
General epigastric discomfort:
In several cases, patients describe the pain of a heart attack as stomach pain. The pain is heavy and uncomfortable and persists for several minutes.
Sweating:
Perspiration or sweating occurs during a heart attack and the patient experiences cold sweat in avid amounts.

Emergency treatment for heart attack-
A person who has a heart attack should be rushed to a hospital.
Several tests are carried out to detect the cause of the attack. A 12 lead ekg is carried out to supervise electrical activity within the heart and detect the damaged areas.
Blood tests are undertaken to check enzymes and in certain cases, cardiac catheterization is required where pictures of the blood vessels are examined.
Emergency medicines are given to the patient to stop the formation of blood clots and include aspirin, heparin and other drugs. Other medicines are given for thrombolytic therapy, which dissolve already formed blood clots. They work to reduce the heart damage. Nitrates are also used.

A heart attack is a severe condition and must be attended to immediately. Emergency treatment procedures are essential to save the life of an affected person.

Heart Attack - Signs, Symptoms and Emergency Treatment

Are you looking for effective and natural ways to prevent heart blockage and blood pressure management? You should consider taking Ayurvedic measures, which have been proven to be quite effective in dealing with various issues of the heart. Usually, heart blockages are difficult to deal with and a surgery has to be carried out for recovery. With Ayurvedic remedies, you can solve such issues without the concern of harmful side effects on your body.

Ayurvedic management of heart blockage
For effective prevention and management of heart blockages, you need to create a certain Ayurvedic medicine using basic ingredients.

Mix lemon, ginger, apple vinegar and garlic together and boil on a light flame.
After the quantity gets reduced, leave the mixture to cool.
After this, add some honey in the solution, and store it in a bottle for use. You have to take this medicine every morning after waking up.
Note all the ingredients are chosen for their unique and beneficial features.
Lemon contains more than 19 qualities, and garlic and ginger are good for dealing with gastric issues. Apple cider vinegar is given great importance in Ayurveda, and honey is good for your blood. Hence, this medicine is ideal for treating heart blockages effectively.
Ayurvedic management of blood pressure
High blood pressure or Rakta Gata Vata refers to an elevation in the pressure of blood in your arteries. The increase in pressure is based upon your age, activities, diet, and medical history.

The Ayurvedic remedies for the prevention and control of blood pressure include the following:

Avoid consuming eggs, meat, tea, coffee, pickles and table salt.
Abstain from smoking.
Increase your intake of food items such as lemon, garlic, parsley, grapefruit, cottage cheese, Indian gooseberry, and watermelon.
Engage in regular exercise as it is important for lowering and preventing your chances of high blood pressure.
Laugh a lot and keep away from anxiety and stress factors.
Make a juice of garlic cloves, wheat grass and basil leaves. Have this regularly for reduced chances of high blood pressure.
Mix onion juice with honey and have the mixture every day.
Make a paste using garlic and buttermilk, and drink it regularly.
Grind roasted watermelon seeds, add water to the powder, strain the liquid, and have it twice every day.
It is important for you to visit an Ayurvedic practitioner before starting to take Ayurvedic measures for heart blockage or high blood pressure on your own. This will ensure that you are prescribed the best measures by a qualified and experienced doctor.

Heart Blockage & Blood Pressure - How Ayurveda Can Help You Prevent It?

It is true that most people are aware of the fact that  angina  is a term which has something or the other to do with the heart. That being said, very few would be able to answer a question regarding what exactly it is, in a satisfactory manner. So would it not make sense to know more about it and become one of the few?

The term is derived from the ancient language of Latin and refers to a tightness that is felt or a squeezing of the chest. This happens when there is not enough oxygen-rich blood which is reaching the area of the heart muscle. While many people think that angina is a disease, it is actually not true to think that it is! As a matter of fact, it is a symptom of coronary artery disease. It is this disease which is the most common disease which affects the heart.

But why exactly does a person experience angina? Well, the lack of blood which is rich in oxygen occurs when it so happens that the coronary arteries become narrower than they normally should be. This generally happens due to the build-up of plaque. The condition in which this happens is known as atherosclerosis.

When it comes to the sort of people who are at a higher risk of developing angina, it can be said that those who smoke tobacco really do increase their risk, as do those who are overweight or obese and have other lifestyle diseases such as diabetes.

In order to avoid angina, the most important thing a person can possibly control is his or her lifestyle. In fact, a lot of the risk factors related to angina are attributable to the lifestyle a person chooses to lead. Cholesterol levels can be controlled if a person puts enough attention and effort in. Also, avoiding a lifestyle that is sedentary by exercise can not only help with cutting the risk of angina but also the risks of other conditions such as high blood pressure. It is ironic that high blood pressure is one of the potential signals of angina!

It is to be noted that while most people just call angina as it is, there are various types-

Stable angina is when the heart is working harder than usual and medicine helps improve this.

Unstable angina occurs even at rest and is unpredictable. It may also be a signal of a coming heart attack.

Variant and microvascular angina is relievable by medicine and is generally rare.

What Is Angina?

Hypertension is a condition where the blood has to exert extra pressure to flow through the blood vessels. While there is a genetic component to it, the more strong contributing factors are modified lifestyle and dietary changes. There are also a lot of environmental changes that have contributed to this new epidemic. While earlier people in their 50s and 60s would be diagnosed with hypertension, now there are people in 30s and 40s taking hypertension pills. Excess fat accumulation is the major cause of hypertension in younger patients.

There begins the complexity of the issue. Hypertension which requires medications to control it, they lead to side effects and bring in a host of other diseases like diabetes, and obesity which in turn bring in a whole lot of complications. A more easy way to manage would be to prevent and of course, after onset, look at how naturally it can be managed.

Ayurveda has numerous substances that have been proven to have beneficial effects in controlling blood pressure over the past 1000s of years.

1. Celery or ajwain helps blood vessels to dilate and reduces concentration of stress hormones in the blood.

2. Ashwagandha has a wide range of actions and improves the body's ability to handle physical and mental stress. This in turn improves blood pressure, obesity, and depression.

3. Citrus fruits contain vitamin c which prevents fragility of the capillaries (thinner blood vessels).

4. Cow's urine prevents hardening of blood vessels and is of curative value in those who have blood pressure due to hardening of blood vessels. 

5. Triphala which is a combination of amla, haritaki, and bibhitaki helps reduce inflammation that leads to blood pressure, thereby helping to control it.

6. Jatamansi - by helping the free radical damage on the arteries, it protects the arteries and prevents cholesterol accumulation. It also is a very well-proven stress reliever and has additional benefits on hypertension.

7. Arjuna - by helping the metabolism of the bad cholesterol in the liver, this protects the inner lining of the heart and thereby helps control hypertension.

8. Calcium and potassium containing substances help remove sodium and thereby improve blood pressure.

9. Natural herbs like brahmi, sarpagandha, shankhpushpi, and chandana are effective ayurvedic cure and treatment for hypertension.

10. Rasayana treatment from ayurveda is having excellent results, however everyone requires unique rasayan as per their body types.

11. Watermelon helps in dilation of the blood vessels.

12. Aloe gel, barberry, calamus, valerian, skullcap, gotu kola cayenne, myrrh, motherwort, hawthorn and jatamansi have all been shown to help manage hypertension over thousands of years.

13. A glass of warm milk mixed with saraswat powder is also helpful for patients with high blood pressure.

These are natural remedies which were a part of diet since times immemorial. Including them in the diet, reducing processed foods, regular exercise, avoiding alcohol and smoking can be some natural ways to prevent and if required control hypertension. Stress is here to stay, but can definitely be managed with a little conscious effort.

Control Blood Pressure With Ayurveda

Arrhythmia is a disorder which is characterized by improper and irregular heartbeats; be it too slow or too fast. This problem occurs when the electrical impulses that are used to regulate your heartbeat don t work in the correct manner. Your heart may beat irregularly, too slow or too fast.

Symptoms
Although this disorder does not yield many symptoms, a few noticeable symptoms of arrhythmia are slow heartbeat, or a racing heartbeat, chest pain, breathing difficulties and dizziness. Arrhythmia can lead to inefficient pumping by the heart, leading to bouts of fainting. A severe symptom of this disorder is ventricular fibrillation, wherein the ventricles tend to quiver instead of transporting blood. This symptom can cut off blood supply to the vital organs, which may lead to death.

Causes

Coronary artery disease: In this disease, arteries of the heart can get blocked, leading to irregular heart beat and impaired heart functioning.
A heart attack: An ongoing heart attack usually leads to irregular heartbeats.
High blood pressure: High blood pressure problems make you more vulnerable to this condition.
Impaired functioning of the thyroid glands: An overactive or underactive thyroid gland can lead to heart arrhythmia.
Excessive smoking and alcohol consumption: These habits can cause problems with the blood vessels in the body, thus increasing risks of this particular condition as well as other cardio-vascular diseases.
Stress: Too much stress can lead to high blood pressure; that is again linked to heart arrhythmia.
Treatment
Mild symptoms of arrhythmia do not require treatment. However, complications resulting from it warrant treatment. The various treatment options for this condition are:

Pacemaker: A pacemaker is a device that is used to regulate your heart rhythms. It is placed in the body by a surgical procedure and an insulated wire is put, connecting the heart to the pacemaker. In case of an irregular heartbeat, the pacemaker sends out impulses to correct the improper heartbeat.
Implantable cardioverter-defibrillator: This device is used to prevent a dangerous symptom of heart arrhythmia, a symptom wherein the ventricle quivers. It is similar to a pacemaker as it is also placed near the collarbone. In case it detects an abnormal rhythm, it sends out shocks to reset the heart rhythm.
Maze procedure: This is a surgical procedure wherein incisions are made on the upper heart tissue to create a scar tissue. Scar tissues act as insulators to prevent stray impulses.
Alternative therapies: Alternative procedures such as yoga and meditation can help remedy the disorder.

Is Your Heart Missing a Beat Regularly - Could it be Arrhythmia?

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