If you feel tired soon, it may be because of problems with heart - Dr. Gaurav Minocha

If you feel tired soon, it may be because of problems with heart - Dr. Gaurav Minocha

• News Desk
• February 13, 2021

Heart Disease awareness - An interview with Max Hospital top Cardiologist Dr. Gaurav Minocha on various aspects of heart disease, covering prevention & heart disease management. 

How important it is to take care of heart health ? 

Dr. Gaurav Minocha I Associate Director- Cardiology, Max Hospital, Vaishali. 

If you want to live a long, healthy active life, it is very important that you have a healthy heart. What do we mean by a healthy heart is that you should have normal blood pressure, which is like 120 by 80. Anything which is more than 140 & 90 is supposed to be high blood pressure needs to be treated. It's very important to have a good heart rate, your heart rate normally should be 60 to 80. And anything more than 100 is again, not normal, your cholesterol levels should be within range, you should try to maintain a cholesterol level less than 100. To keep your heart healthy in the long term, it is very important that you have a good energy levels. So when you are walking around, you're doing your daily activities, If you feel that you're getting tired, and you are feeling low and out of energy, it is again a sign that your heart may not be healthy. So it's very important to know the signs of a healthy heart for you to decide whether you want to evaluate yourself and check yourself up to maintain that heart health.

What causes heart disease ? 

Dr. Gaurav Minocha I Associate Director- Cardiology, Max Hospital, Vaishali. 

Heart disease can be because of a number of risk factors- diabetes, hypertension, cholesterol levels, smoking, and, very importantly, your family history. So it is very important that you follow up on these five basic risk factors. You should keep a track of what your sugar levels are, you should keep your blood pressure within range, your cholesterol levels should be checked once a year if they are out of range. And once in five years in case, they are normal, and you should not smoke. And it's very important that you also know if you have a history of heart disease prematurely in the family, that if somebody has suffered a heart attack or a heart event in less than 55 years of age. This puts you at risk and then you should evaluate yourself whether you are at further risk or not for heart diseases.

What are the symptoms of Heart disease? 

Dr. Gaurav Minocha I Associate Director- Cardiology, Max Hospital, Vaishali. 

As you are all aware, the most important symptom would be chest pain. A chest pain which is related to heart disease is mostly a central chest pain center of the chest or on the left side of the chest. And it normally comes on with exertion. Any chest discomfort or chest pain that comes along with exertion and is relieved by rest is supposed to be angina or chest pain which is related to the heart. But then all heart diseases may not present as chest pain, there are some people who would have undue breathlessness that was not there before. Now, there are some people who would have just dizziness or fainting spells. Some people can have odd sweating episodes. So it's very important that any odd symptoms that you may be feeling especially if you have risk factors for heart disease, you should get a check. And especially if you have chest pain or chest discomfort, you should definitely get yourself checked.

What are your tips for a healthy heart?

Dr. Gaurav Minocha I Associate Director- Cardiology, Max Hospital, Vaishali. 

So when we talk about tips for a healthy heart, it is very important that you know your numbers, you know your risk factors. So you should be aware if you are a diabetic, you should be aware if you have normal blood pressure, you should look at your cholesterol levels, you should not be smoking. Eating well is very important. Exercising is very important to keep your heart healthy. Exercising for at least 30 minutes a day or 150 minutes a week is recommended by American Heart Association. It is very important that you keep your cholesterol levels in check. So again, eating healthy is important. Talking about eating healthy, I think it is very important to maintain healthy body weight, you should keep a calorie count you should try to maintain a body mass index of less than 25. We Indians are supposed to be at higher risk for heart disease, so it is better if your body mass index is less than 23. It is very important that whatever diet you have, it should be predominantly of fruits, vegetables, and less of carbohydrates. You should eat a lot of nuts in a day 30 to 40 grams of nuts would help to keep your blood pressure in check and would probably take care of your hunger pangs. So it's important to choose what you eat. It is very important to exercise, walk or do whatever activity you want that puts you out of breath. So any exercise that puts you out of it is important and will help you help your heart. So eat healthily, be active, to keep your heart healthy.

What are cardiologist recommendations to people with heart disease?

Dr. Gaurav Minocha I Associate Director- Cardiology, Max Hospital, Vaishali. 

For people who have heart disease, It is very important that they are aware of what sort of heart disease they have and the precautions that they need to take. The most important heart disease that we are aware of is coronary artery disease. And for people who have coronary artery disease, it's very important that they take their medicines on time. It is important that all people with heart disease are on blood thinners and on cholesterol-lowering drugs, lifelong. So it is not that if you have a heart event you can take a drug for one year and stop it. It's very important for prevention purposes that you be on these drugs lifelong. And apart from that, obviously, you know, taking all the other precautions like eating healthy is important. Maintaining a healthy body weight important. Exercising is very important. Take care of your symptoms & be in touch with your doctors. In the context of the recent epidemic, it is very important that you're very careful with infections. For heart patients, it's recommended that you also take a flu vaccine every year on pneumococcal vaccine every five years. And when the corona vaccine comes in, it's very important that you take the vaccine so that you can prevent infection because these infections can further precipitate your heart disease and can lead to events. 

Dr. Gaurav Minocha is a renowned Indian cardiologist and well known as the best cardiologist in Delhi NCR. He works as Associate Director - Cardiology at Max Hospital, Vaishali and also as Director at Care Heart & Speciality Clinics (23, Hargobind Enclave, Delhi 110092)

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