Life is beautiful

In the current era of enormous advertising and marketing promotion by giant pharmaceutical and cardiac interventional corporate companies,the modest value of lifestyle modification is lost in the underflow. Physicians as well the media overwhelmingly display successful stories of a novel device or method and make each one of us believe that such expensive diagnostic and treatment paraphernalia are solution to all maladies concerned with the health of our heart and body. In true scientific sense,all such techniques and methods are actually a “band-aid” approach to a wound caused by the disease and never address the problem of disease occurrence in the first place.

THE ESSENCE OF LIFESTYLE MODIFICATION
Lifestyle modification effectively encourages a way of life which is wholesome and close to being with Mother Nature. It endorses abstinence from smoking and alcohol,encourages regular physical activity,advocates a diet unadulterated with modern chemical toxins such as trans-fats,promotes weight reduction strategies and stresses on the concept of being happy and stress-free. Lifestyle modifications are simple,more cost-effective,less time consuming and have virtually no side affects. A healthy lifestyle not only prevents heart disease,diabetes,obesity and hypertension,but has beneficial effects in averting cancers,stroke and Alzheimer’s disease. These adaptations work irrespective of age and it has been observed that benefits of lifestyle modifications are seen if pursued even beyond middle age and confer lasting health and mortality benefits. In a recent publication that was discussed in Euro Prevent Conference 2009,it was remarkably observed that in the 25 years between 1981 and 2006 mortality from heart disease in Iceland decreased by 80 per cent in men and women aged between 25 and 74 years. This by any standards is an amazing achievement for any nation and signifies great strides made by the national government in the field of health care. The other remarkable aspect of this result was the observation that approximately three-quarters of the mortality decrease in Iceland was attributed to risk factors reduction throughout the general population. This was possible largely due to decrease in cholesterol levels (36%),smoking cessation (20%) and reduction in blood pressure (26%) values with a simultaneous increase in the trend of physical activity (5%). This data certainly proves the superiority of lifestyle modifications over actually treating patients once they have suffered from disease.

NEED OF THE TIMES
Sadly,no political party in the current elections could come up with a national health policy. Most of the effort in our country in health care sector is managed by private sector. We need to look at such trials with great hope and expectations and take note of the enormous influence of lifestyle modification in the prevention of heart disease. A disease if prevented is better managed than to pursue its treatment once it is manifested. On an individual basis we could accept lifestyle modifications as living a simple,uncomplicated,virtuous life which involves eating a healthy diet,abstinence from inebriants and living our times with fulfillment and satisfaction.

(The writer is an interventional consultant cardiologist at Fortis Hospital,Mohali)