Ticker Trap

MYTH: Cholesterol medicines mess up the liver.
FACT: Cholesterol-control drugs do have side effects. But they are mild, can be detected through blood tests and are reversible. Such drugs are very effective in lowering the risks of death and disability through diseases of the blood vessels.

MYTH: That pain can’t be my heart… it isn’t severe enough/ my left arm is not affected/ it’s just indigestion.
FACT: Such beliefs are probably the most common—and the most dangerous. ‘‘That little discomfort in your chest while walking up the stairs may be a warning. The indigestion that is just a little worse than usual may be the signs of a heart attack in progress,’’ says Dr Chandra.

MYTH: A few drinks every day are good for you.
FACT: ‘‘Alcohol in moderate amounts—two ounces of liquor, 16-24 ounces of beer or two glasses of wine — seems to increase the amount of HDL (‘good’) cholesterol. Larger quantities of alcohol, though, clearly damage the heart muscle,’’ says nutritionist Dr Shikha Sharma. A teetotaller could try tea (particularly green tea) or grape juice.

MYTH: An aspirin a day keeps the doctor away.
FACT: The ‘multi-tasker’ drug has long been known to reduce the risk of heart attack. ‘‘While experts in the west advocate the use of aspirin every day after 50, it has side effects. Frequent use of aspirin benefits only the high-risk (those with high BP, obesity, family history of cardiac disease),’’ says Dr K K Talwar, head of the department of cardiology at AIIMS.

MYTH: Women don’t get heart disease/ I’m too young for a heart attack.
FACT: Women generally don’t get heart disease at as early an age as men, but they catch up quickly. Though female hormones decrease the incidence of blocked arteries, heart attacks can still occur. Heart attacks can also occur among 20 and 30-year-olds, and are not at all uncommon among the 40-plus.

MYTH: Stress kills. Quit work, or else…
FACTS: Several personality traits and psychological conditions are associated with an increased risk of serious heart disease. Type As who experience hostility and a continued sense of time urgency are the most vulnerable. Depression and social isolation are also important causative negatives. ‘‘Work’’ or ‘‘stress’’ are not necessarily bad for our hearts or ourselves. They can be enjoyable and help us grow and maintain our mental, emotional, and physical health.

MYTH: Sex is taboo.
FACT: Sexual intercourse exerts about as much strain on the heart as walking briskly up a few flights of stairs. So within a month or so after a heart attack or uncomplicated heart surgery, feel free to resume your sex life. Feel pleasure, not pressure.