A heartfelt endeavour

Heart disease is synonymous with fear. Fear of death, fear for the family8217;s fate. Says P.D. Rekhade 8220;When I was asked to do a bypass surgery, I thought what will happen to my family? All the money I kept for my children would go into this surgery.8221; Due to its prohibitive cost, a bypass surgery is more horrifying than the disease itself. K.R. Parmeshwaran refused to undergo angiography,8220;It8217;s expensive and ignorance is bliss for me.8221;

The heart. The most vital pump in the world. In a day, it pumps 6,800 litres of blood through one lakh kilometres of blood vessels. A problem with it obviously is a big problem. Up until now doctors have treated all heart problems, as well, a problem with the organ. In exclusion of all else. As a result, people with heart disease get treatment for just that alone. This attitude is now undergoing a change. Says Dr Nitin Unkule, a yoga consultant at the Poona Hospital8217;s reversal of heart disease programme,8220;In the past, the West believed that only the affected organ needed to be treated during an illness. Now more and more doctors realise that the body is a whole and that the whole system, not just the organ, needs to be treated.8221;

Four years ago, the Poona Hospital began a programme for the reversal of heart disease based on Dr Dean Ornish8217;s system. Their research has shown that in case of 82 percent of the patients who underwent this programme, blockages in the arteries of the heart actually reduced and chest pain diminished in 91 percent of the patients..

What makes it work? Says Dr Jagdish Hiremath, the man behind it,8220;At the very outset let me state that this programme is not a substitute for bypass surgery. Out of the 200 patients who have come to us, five actually had to undergo a bypass. However there has been a reduction to the tune of five to 15 percent in the arterial blockages of those patients who have benefitted from this programme. Even this is good enough for a Coronary Artery Disease CAD patient because according to the principles of hydraulics, any increase in the diametre, leads to an increase in the blood supply that is four times the exponential power. But it can be used successfully as a preventive for people likely to develop CAD or help stabilise those who already have it.8221;

Says Dr Sunil Sathe who is also part of this programme, 8220;People with 100 percent blocks can not undergo reversal.8221; Says Hiremath,8220;CAD can happen due to cholesterol, diabetes, high blood pressure or stress. The programme stresses the practice of yoga, aerobics, meditation and so on to put the heart back in gear.Unfortunately most people get diagnosed at a stage when only mechanical procedures like angiography or a bypass is the solution. If a diagnosis is made early, then the progression can be slowed down.8221;

Patients who enroll are put on a strict fat-free, vegetarian diet and certain yoga asanas and light aerobic exercises are taught to them. Says Unkule,8220;Yoga works on several levels, affecting the skeletal, nervous, muscular, digestive, excretory and the endocrine system. In patients of heart disease the tissues holding the plaque become weak and as a result the plaque disintegrates and then spreads over the entire blood vessel. Yoga helps strengthen the walls of these vessels. Besides, through meditation and correct breathing, stress and blood pressure can be controlled.8221;

Parmeshwaran who joined the programme six months ago found positive changes in his blood pressure which could not earlier be controlled despite medication would not come under control despite taking medications for several years. He says, 8220;With meditation and deep breathing exercises I have managed to reduce my BP to normal. Soon I aim to get rid of the medications totally.

Obviously, the programme has something that8217;s missing in medications, one would think. But Sathe cautions,8220;No one really knows how this happens. What we do know for sure, is the five factors of and statin the drug used to stabilise the plaque and prevent ruptures that work in tandem.8221;

Besides the benefits of better stamina and a near pain-free life, some patients get rid of the side effects of excessive medication too. Says Unkule, 8220;Yoga helps the system by getting rid of toxins like gas, acids, and so on.8221;

In 1991, the average age of people with heart disease was 50 to 60 years. Within four years it had reduced to 40 years. Today, even 30-year-olds are having heart attacks. Awareness has increased and this is reflected in the increasing number of young people who are not CAD patients. Says Unkule 8220;People are realising that prevention is better than cure. The current session of this programme has 80 participants, 25 percent of whom are not patients.8221;

A faulty lifestyle leads to a defective heart in such patients. By improving the quality of life, reversals are possible as these 200 patients have proved. As Hiremath puts it quot;Everyone over 30 should practice this lifestyle.8221;