Heart Care No Heart Attack

Causes of Heart Disease

        According to Ayurveda the heart is located in the heart chakra (anahata chakra). This is a physical heart. Mind (mann), emotions & soul also reside in anahata chakra. That is why there is not only physical organ heart or physical things like eating habits that causes heart disease. But there is more to that which unfortunately is not much considered in modern world. As mind is also located in the same area, mind also affects the physical heart.

      Today we are more stressed, hectically occupied with our work, we don’t have time to relax and rejuvenate. We need to take care of mind in order to take care of heart. There are three properties of mana (mind) - satva, rajas & tamas. Satva is the property which keeps it quite, relaxed & healthy. When mind has rajas & tamas guna, it is stressed, negative and this is not good for our heart. Same has been proved through research that stress & negativity creates a negative pressure on heart & many times it leads to cardiac arrest. That’s why we have to live healthy & think healthy. Eat satavic ahaar, follow satavic lifestyle, satavic thoughts for a healthy heart.

Heart diseases have many components, but the main aspect is the physical, structural deterioration of the vessel walls. This deterioration of structure can be of three main types:                                                         

          Clogging of vessels with cholesterol and plaque

          Damaged areas due to increased blood pressure and free radical activity

          Thickness of the walls of vessels decreases

This structural deterioration of vessels renders individuals to a variety of symptoms including pain, weakness and shortness of breath (at times breathlessness), palpitations and faintness. Due to poor oxygen supply to the tissues other issues can also arise, some might be life threatening disorders.

In addition to hereditary factors the main risk factors for cardiac disorders are:

         Excess stress and over-activation of the "fight or flight" response

         Overweight, obesity and less physical activity

         Too much saturated and trans fats in the diet

         Sugar intolerance and diabetes

         Uncontrolled blood pressure

         Cigarette smoking & too much of alcohol consumption                                                                                                                                                                     

               Due to stress or other associated reasons blood pressure in arterial walls increases. Due to increase in BP there is wear & tear of arterial wall. The Cholesterol from the blood stream only repairs that wear & tear. It gets deposited under the inner lining of the arteries (like atherosclerosis). With the passage of time, calcification starts in these deposits. Sooner they become fibrous & arteries lose their normal contraction & relaxation work. It won’t allow the blood to reach various parts of the body & may also lead to clotting. When clot is formed the blood supply is stopped leading to heart attack or stroke.

Symptoms

          Chest pain while breathing

          Difficulty in breathing/breathlessness

          Pain over middle or lower breastbone or in epigastrium.

          Sometimes pain radiates to left shoulder/upper arm

          Pain also radiates to lower jaw/interscapular area

How to differentiate angina from normal pain?

          Prolonged psychosocial stress

          High Blood Cholesterol/Dyslipidemia

          Plaques & Atherosclerosis of arteries

          Age Factor - 55 for men & 60 for women

          Cigarette Smoking

          Diabetes Mellitus

          Family History

          Hypertension

          Kidney Disease

          Obesity (BMI more that 29kg/m2)

          Physical Inactivity

HEART BLOCKAGE

                It literally means when heart is unable to pump oxygenated blood to various parts of the body. It is very common condition in adults and children as well. In some conditions heart can’t fill up with blood properly. At times heart is not able to push the blood with enough pressure that it reaches to every part of the body. Heart failure develops over a period of time when the pumping action of heart weakens. Mostly it involves both sides of the heart. Right side heart failure occurs when heart is unable to pump enough blood to the lungs to pick up oxygen. Left side heart failure occurs when heart can’t pump enough oxygenated blood to other body parts.

               The heart after suffering some sort of damage or undergoing physical stress by high BP will eventually begin to change its physical form. This deformation in the ventricle’s shape is known as Remodeling or Hypertrophy. 

Symptoms

                  Signs and symptoms depend on the type or degree of heart block you have. First-degree heart block doesn’t have any specific symptoms.

Symptoms of second and third degree heart block include:

           Fainting

           Dizziness or light-headedness

           Fatigue (tiredness)

           Shortness of breath

           Chest pain

What Causes Heart Block?

           1.Improper diet

           2.Inflammation of heart muscles

           3.High blood cholesterol, Coronary Heart Disease (CHD), high BP and Diabetes

           4.Rheumatic fever

           5.Certain types of surgery may also damage the heart's electrical system and lead to heart block

           6.Exposure to toxic substances and taking certain medicines—including digitalis, beta blockers and calcium channel blockers

           7.Some types of heart block have been linked to genetic mutations (changes in the genes)

           8.An overly active vagus nerve can also cause heart block. You have one vagus nerve on each side of your body. These nerves run down from your brain stem all the way to the abdomen.

           9.Activity in the vagus nerve slows the heart rate.