Cardiac awareness camp at Indira Nagar Focus on key factors, lower your risk of heart disease: Sushil

 STATE TIMES NEWS
JAMMU: Getting diagnosed with health problems such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol is a wake-up call that it’s time to make major lifestyle changes.
The good news is, a few simple changes can help you avoid such a diagnosis in the first place, said Dr. Sushil Sharma, Head Department of Cardiology, Government Medical College and Superspeciality Hospital during a cardiac awareness camp in a Gurudawara at Indira Nagar locality of Miran Sahib in the outskirts of Jammu city in which more than 150 people were examined, investigated and given free medicines.
He said that by focusing on some key health factors and behaviours, one can keep your heart healthy, lower risk of heart disease and stroke, and improve quality of life.
He said, “We are all born with a large stock of good health and it’s up to us to protect it with good choices about our health.”
He added that the smartest plan for attacking a heart attack is, of course, preventing one from ever happening.
Dr. Sushil said that one should convince himself to stop smoking. Not only smoking, even breathing second hand smoke boosts bad cholesterol levels, decreases good cholesterol, and increases your blood’s tendency to clot, said Dr. Sushil. He maintained that middle-aged men who exercise vigorously for two or more hours cumulatively per week have 60 percent less risk of heart attack than inactive men do. He further advised that if you’re overweight, dropping 10 to 20 pounds lowers your risk of dying from a heart attack.
Dr. Sushil said that a 10-year study found that overweight people had heart attacks 8.2 years earlier than normal-weight victims.
Dr. Sushil said that men who drink that many 8-ounce glasses are 54 per cent less likely to have a fatal heart attack than those who drink two or fewer. You would be surprised to know that potent antioxidants, called flavonoids, provide a protective effect, said the HoD of the Cardiology Department.
Referring to a research, Dr. Sushil said that eating fish at least twice a week lowers heart-disease risk by more than 30 per cent while adding that the magic ingredient is the omega-3 fatty acids. He went on to add that those who have been asked to take Vitamin E and aspirin cut the plaque in clogged arteries by more than 80 per cent. He further said that eat a Cup of Total Corn Flakes for Breakfast.
“This cereal contains one of highest concentrations of folate (675 micrograms) of any cereal. Taking in that much folic acid daily cuts your risk of cardiovascular disease by 13 per cent, said Dr. Sushil. He stressed that creating a 10-second buffer before reacting to a stressful situation may be enough to cool you down. “Men who respond with anger are three times more likely to have heart disease and five times more likely to have a heart attack before turning 55,” added the HoD of Cardiology.
Dr. Sushil said that making positive changes in any one of these areas can make a difference in your health. “Small changes matter,” he said while adding that “If you can lose weight, or maintain a healthy weight, you can reduce your risk of diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.”
The team had been invited by Social Workers namely Harjeet Singh, Veer Singh, Nirvair Singh, Yograj Sharma, Manjeet Singh and Om Prakash Sharma. They applauded efforts of Dr. Sushil Sharma. An expert team of doctors accompanied Dr. Sushil Sharma which included Dr. Mohi Kalsotra, Dr. Achint Singh and Dr. Anitipal Singh. Paramedics and volunteers who were part of the team included Kamal Sharma, Kashmiri Lal, Gaurav Sharma, Mohan Krishan, Vikas Kumar, Harvinder Singh, Rajesh Sharma and Rajeev Vohra.