The Heart of Your Health

Attack Heart Attack before It Attacks You!

What are the biggest diseases today?

Heart disease, cancer and diabetes, in that order. Was it always the same? No Sir. In 1900 the top three positions were taken by TB, dysentery and influenza. Can you spot the difference between the pattern of illnesses that plague us now and that used to plague us in a bygone era? The difference that is staring us in the face is that, earlier, microorganisms were causing diseases to us: today we are doing it to ourselves.

Science has led us to win the big war against bacteria and viruses. But lack of discipline is leading us to concede the war against ourselves. The biggest killers therefore are what is called ‘lifestyle diseases’: diseases that we gift to ourselves because we would not teach ourselves to eat right, to play right, to sleep right—in short to live right. We have to learn to live right not to become a saint but just to live.

Let’s take the biggest killer today: heart disease. What is heart disease? Why is it caused? How can it be prevented?

Well heart is a muscle used like a pump to circulate blood throughout the body. The function of the blood is to circulate energy and nutrients and to remove the waste products from the point of production to the point of excretion. All this happens through pipelines called blood vessels. Heart disease is caused if either the heart has become weak and inefficient or the blood vessels (esp those supplying fresh blood to the heart itself) have become clogged. This happens most often because one doesn’t exercise enough, eats improper stuff (too much of oily, non-veg or junk food) or has a tendency to remain stressed for long periods of time.

The heart of the heart diseases though, is a lack of exercise. The heart is a muscle as noted earlier and you must exercise it like any other muscle so that it remains in top fitness. What can you do to exercise the heart? Well, it’s the same that you would do to exercise any other muscle: you would make the muscle move, and at a greater than normal intensity. The heart works more when you move your body ie when you walk, run, swim, dance or engage in any aerobic exercise. How do you know if you are exercising your heart, or yourself, enough? There is fortunately, a simple and objective way: your own pulse.

Pulse Rate: The Fitness Index

Measure your pulse rate, right now if practicable. What was it? If it is 72 per minute, your fitness is that of the average human being. What if it is more, say 80 or 90? It means you have just not been careful enough to exercise and remain fit, slim though you might be.

Let’s understand that the heart pumps blood throughout the body and does exactly as much as required. So if your heart needs to pump at a higher than normal rate with the same level of activity (we are assuming you are more or less at rest for some time now), it suggests either that your heart is not strong enough (so that it has to work more for the same output, just as a weaker person has to do more trips for carrying the same weight from one place to another) or your blood vessels are not clear enough (perhaps some clogging through fatty depositions). This is usually a precursor to heart disease. As such you need to take steps to bring it down through alterations in your diet and exercise regimen. For those with a resting pulse rate of less than 72 per minute, the challenge is to maintain that rate.

Now, for exercising your heart and maintaining your cardio-vascular fitness, you need to raise your pulse rate. The following is what your maximum pulse rate should be during exercise:

Maximum pulse rate = 220- your age in years.

So if your age is 40, the maximum pulse rate you are allowed to reach is 220-40= 180 (remember not to exceed it). The average pulse rate for the duration of the exercise should be about 70% of the maximum ie 126 in this case. If you have been regular at exercise, it could go up to 80-85% of the maximum ie around 150 in this case. This is the rate at which your heart should beat for at least 20 minutes for you to optimally benefit from your exercise, strengthen your heart and bring down your resting pulse rate.

When you exercise with the above in mind, for say, even half an hour for four to five days a week, you would doubtlessly note that your resting pulse rate has shown a decline. This would be a compliment to your efforts and a motivation for you to do more.

The good news is the exercises that keep your heart strong and healthy, would also help you in warding off diabetes and other lifestyle diseases. Your heart is truly the heart of your health. Look after, then, the health of your heart!