29/09/2024
World Heart Day message from myself after seeing a lot of patients plus understanding their problems of life :
1. Smoking and Alcohol :
Stop smoking abruptly / this is a big no to have healthy heart but alcohol cause primarily liver damage, alcohol in moderation is essential, otherwise ( if taken excessively) BP may go out of control if excess or regular alcohol is taken , Triglycerides shoot up and in very long run it can cause heart pump failure or nerve damage
2. Blood Pressure : Keep BP under control below 130/90 in a known hypertensive , keep control of body weight and and BMI to be kept below 30 , weight loss is an important adjunct to preventive cardio field ... Intermittent fasting is very good step towards weight loss !!!! ( If u can do )
3. Control your blood sugar , keep HbA1C below 6.5 in diabetics, FBS below 110, PPBS below 140 ...
4.Exercise :
Only isotonic exercise ( cardio exercises ) is not the key but also little muscle training is essential to keep out cardiac cachexia , however , heavy weight lifting etc is not recommended for heart patients.
Don't abruptly start any cardio training or workout in mid 40s without proper cardiology check up by any advice of gym trainer or non medical personnel , many deaths are occurring in gym !!!!!
5. Don't be hyper with lipid profile figures but check lipid profile every year after 40 , however it is better to keep LDL below 70 in diabetic individual and TG below 150 because only lipids don't determine the heart attack however it better to check once yearly this lipid profile and consult doctor for optimal therapy
6. Some unfortunate heart attacks occur in young age with normal sugar , non smoker , normal lipid profile ...special care to their first degree relatives to test for few markers to prevent heart attack
7. Family history of premature CAD ( first attack in Father < 55 / mother < 65 ) those patients whose parents suffered heart attack, need special care !!!! Early statin therapy and control of risk factors are beneficial
8. Post Angioplasty or Post CABG , don't stop cardiac medicines on your own as it increases chances of death !!!!
9. Prevention is better than cure , Please don't self diagnose Chest pain as Gas pain and take antacid and lose valuable time and heart muscle !!!!
10. Remember , heart can never be normal after heart attack even after every means , so be alert , take care of your own heart , don't expect doctors to normalise everything after the heart attack , u have some duties towards your own health
11. Those with recurrent heart attack or stroke or ACS with family history of premature CAD with or without diabetes, our Lipid Association of India recommended to keep LDL below 30
However one irony is .... Atherosclerosis is a plaque inside the arterial wall , one of the components of plaque is Oxidised LDL which is a by product of LDL , there are many other components of atherosclerosis plaque , so targeting only LDL reduction may not be apt to prevent atherosclerosis plaque completely inside arteries, other pathways like inflammation, macrophages influx , endothelial dysfunction, platelet aggregation, thrombus formation in younger patients during AMI or ACS ...All pathways are to be investigated by the basic science researchers and develop proper blocker of different pathways ...Only LDL is the culprit ...This notion must be busted by doctors, clinicians , researchers , Pharma company senior executives and their research team ....Hope to see new developments in this field in next one year ...
Have a happy heart day ❤️❤️❤️ everyone
Dr Subhro Chakraborty
MBBS ( HONS ) , MD ( Medicine ) IPGMER
DM ( Cardiology )
CCEBDM
Associate Fellow of Europian Society of Cardiology
Assistant Professor in Cardiology, RG KAR Medical College, Kolkata , West Bengal
Contact wats app : 9874602649
