A chat with Dr..Devi Shetty

A chat with Dr..Devi Shetty (Heart Specialist),Narayana Hrudayalaya, Bangalore was arranged by WIPRO for its employees. The transcript of the chat is given below. Useful for everyone.  Qn: What are the thumb rules for a layman to take care of his heart? Ans: 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 longtime  3. Quit smoking 4. Control weight 5. Control blood pressure and sugar Qn: Is eating non-veg food (fish) good for the heart?   Ans: No Qn: It's still a grave shock to hear that some apparently healthy person gets a cardiac arrest. How do we understand it in perspective? Ans: This is called silent attack; that is why we recommend everyone past the age of 30 to undergo routine health checkups.  Qn: Are heart diseases hereditary? Ans: Yes  Qn: What are the ways in which the heart is stressed? What practices do you suggest to de-stress?   Ans: Change your attitude towards life. Do not look for perfection in everything in life.  Qn: Is walking better than jogging or is more intensive exercise required to keep a healthy heart?   Ans: Walking is better than jogging since jogging leads to early fatigue and injury to joints  Qn: You have done so much for the poor and needy. What has inspired you to do so?  Ans: Mother Theresa , who was my patient  Qn: Can people with low blood pressure suffer heart diseases?  Ans: Extremely rare  Qn: 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?   Ans: Cholesterol accumulates from childhood.  Qn: How do irregular eating habits affect the heart ?   Ans: You tend to eat junk food when the habits are irregular and your body's enzyme release for digestion gets confused.  Qn: How can I control cholesterol content without using medicines?  Ans: Control diet, walk and eat walnut. Qn: Can yoga prevent heart ailments?  Ans: Yoga helps.  Qn: Which is the best and worst food for the heart?   Ans: Fruits and vegetables are the best and the worst is oil.  Qn: Which oil is better - groundnut, sunflower, olive?  Ans: All oils are bad.  Qn: What is the routine checkup one should go through? Is there any specific test?  Ans: Routine blood test to ensure sugar, cholesterol is ok. Check BP, Treadmill test after an echo.  Qn: What are the first aid steps to be taken on a heart attack?   Ans: 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.  Qn: How do you differentiate between pain caused by a heart attack and that caused due to gastric trouble?  Ans: Extremely difficult without ECG. Qn: What is the main cause of a steep increase in heart problems amongst youngsters? I see people of about 30-40 yrs of age having heart attacks and serious heart problems.  Ans: 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.  Qn: Is it possible for a person to have BP outside the normal range of 120/80 and yet be perfectly healthy?  Ans: Yes. Qn: Marriages within close relatives can lead to heart problems for the child. Is it true?  Ans : Yes, co-sanguinity leads to congenital abnormalities and you may not have a software engineer as a child  Qn: Many of us have an irregular daily routine and many a times we have to stay late nights in office. Does this affect our heart ? What precautions would you recommend? Ans : When you are young, nature protects you against all these irregularities. However, as you grow older, respect the biological clock.  Qn: Will taking anti-hypertensive drugs cause some other complications (short / long term)?   Ans : Yes, most drugs have some side effects. However, modern anti-hypertensive drugs are extremely safe.  Qn: Will consuming more coffee/tea lead to heart attacks?  Ans : No. Qn: Are asthma patients more prone to heart disease?  Ans : No.  Qn: How would you define junk food?  Ans : Fried food like Kentucky , McDonalds , samosas, and even masala dosas..  Qn: 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?  Ans: Every race is vulnerable to some disease and unfortunately, Indians are vulnerable for the most expensive disease.  Qn: Does consuming bananas help reduce hypertension?   Ans : No.  Qn: Can a person help himself during a heart attack (Because we see a lot of forwarded emails on this)?  Ans : 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.  Qn: Do, in any way, low white blood cells and low hemoglobin count lead to heart problems?   Ans : No. But it is ideal to have normal hemoglobin level to increase your exercise capacity.  Qn: Sometimes, due to the hectic schedule we are not able to exercise. So, does walking while doing daily chores at home or climbing the stairs in the house, work as a substitute for exercise?  Ans : Certainly. Avoid sitting continuously for more than half an hour and even the act of getting out of the chair and going to another chair and sitting helps a lot.  Qn: Is there a relation between heart problems and blood sugar? Ans: Yes. A strong relationship since diabetics are more vulnerable to heart attacks than non-diabetics.  Qn: What are the things one needs to take care of after a heart operation?  Ans : Diet, exercise, drugs on time ,Control cholesterol, BP, weight. Qn: Are people working on night shifts more vulnerable to heart disease when compared to day shift workers?  Ans : No.  Qn: What are the modern anti-hypertensive drugs?  Ans : There are hundreds of drugs and your doctor will chose the right combination for your problem, but my suggestion is to avoid the drugs and go for natural ways of controlling blood pressure by walk, diet to reduce weight and changing attitudes towards lifestyles.. .  Qn: Does dispirin or similar headache pills increase the risk of heart attacks?  Ans : No.  Qn: Why is the rate of heart attacks more in men than in women?   Ans : Nature protects women till the age of 45.  Qn: How can one keep the heart in a good condition?  Ans : Eat a healthy diet, avoid junk food, exercise everyday, do not smoke and, go for health checkupsif you are past the age of 30 (once in six months recommended)..

62 WAYS TO MAKE 2010 YOUR BEST YEAR YET

62 WAYS TO MAKE 2011 YOUR BEST YEAR YET
1. Remember that leadership isn't about your position. It's about your influence.
2. Get fit like a pro athlete.
3. Lift people up versus tearing people down.
4. Protect your good name. An impeccable reputation takes a lifetime to build and 60 seconds to lose.
5. Surround yourself with positive, ethical people who are committed to excellence.
6. Remember that even a 1% daily innovation rate amounts to at least a 100% rate of innovation in 100 days.
7. Believe in your dreams (even when others laugh at them).
8. Measure your success, not by your net worth but by your self worth (and how happy you feel).
9. Take an intelligent risk every 24 hours. No try-No Win.
10. Read "Buffett: The Making of an American Capitalist".
11. Watch "Man on Wire".
12. Regardless of your title at work, be a team builder.
13. Remember that business is all about relationships and human connections.
14. Say "please" more.
15. Say "thank you" more.
16. Know your Big 5: the five things that need to happen by the end of this year for you to feel its been your best year yet.
17. Read your Big 5 every morning while the rest of the world is asleep.
18. Read "As You Think". At least twice this year.
19. Be willing to fail. It's the price of greatness.
20. Focus less on making money and more on creating value.
21. Spend less, save more.
22. Leave everything you touch better than you found it.
23. Be the most positive person in every room you're in.
24. Run your own race.
24. Stay true to your deepest values and best ideals.
25. Write a handwritten thank you note to a customer/friend/loved one every day.
26. When you travel, send love letters to your kids on hotel stationary. In time, they'll have a rich collection to remember your travels by.
27. Read "Atlas Shrugged".
28. Be a problem solver versus a trouble maker.
29. Rather than doing many things at mediocrity do just a few things-but at mastery.
30. Honor your parents.
31. Commit to doing great work-whether anyone notices it or not. It's one of life's best sources of happiness.
32. Give more than you receive (another of the truths of happiness).
33. Have your 1/3/5/10/25 years goals recorded on paper and review them weekly.
34. Be patient. Slow and steady wins the race. The only reason businesses that went from zero to a billion in a year or two get featured in magazines is because 99% of businesses require a lot more time to win.
34. Underpromise and then overdeliver.
35. See part of your job as "a developer of people" (whether you work in the
 boardroom or the mailroom).
36. Wear your heart on your sleeve. When people see you're real, they'll fall in
love with you.
37. Be authentic versus plastic.
38. Read "The Alchemist".
39. Remember that life wants you to win. So get out of your own way.
40. Consider that behind every fear lives your next level of growth (and power).
41. Eat less food.
42. Drink more water.
43. Rest when you need to.
44. Read "SUCCESS" magazine.
45. Write your eulogy and then live your life backwards.
46. Demand the best from yourself.
47. Remember that the more you go to your limits, the more your limits will expand.
48. See everything that happens to you as an opportunity to grow (and therefore, as a precious gift).
49. Be obsessed with learning and self-development.
50. Become comfortable alone (you are the only person you get to be with your whole life).
51. Smile. It's a stunningly effective way to win in business and life.
52. Reflect on the shortness of life.
53. Be bold when it comes to your dreams but gentle with those you love.
54. Remember that success is dangerous because it can kill drive/innovation/passion and going the extra mile. Be successful yet stay hungry.
55. Read "The Autobiography of Benjamin Franklin".
56. Be of deep value to this world.
57. Own beautiful things but don't let them own you.
58. Use excellent words.
59. Laugh more.
60. Don't complain, gossip or be negative.
61. Plan as if you'll live forever but live as if you'll die tomorrow.
62. Feel free to pass these lessons on to those you want to help.