Introduction to Heart Disease

What is Heart Disease?

The term heart disease actually applies to a number of illnesses that affect the circulatory system, which consists of heart and blood vessels. It is intended to deal here only with the condition commonly called "Heart Attack" and the factors, which lead to such condition.

Heart attack is the popular term for sudden pain in chest with breathing difficulty arising out of certain heart conditions. Heart attacks can be suddenly fatal, but the great majority- an estimated 85 percent are not. The patient recovers under proper treatment and goes on to live many useful years.

Like all muscles and organs of the body, the heart also needs nourishment and food which it gets thorough its own arterial system. The arteries, which supply blood to the heart muscle, may lead to impairment of its function. The sudden narrowing of the artery may result in the sudden stoppage of blood supply to the heart muscle. Such attacks of narrowing of arteries are called angina. If the damage takes place it is called infarction.

Infarction can also occur because of a blood clot, big enough to interfere with blood supply, is formed in the coronary artery. This formation of blood clot is called trombosis and the clot itself is known a thrombus. The term coronary heart disease is usually applied to diseases of the heart secondary to defective or interrupted supply of blood to the heart muscles through the coronary arteries.

Besides the sudden narrowing of coronary arteries such as in anginal attacks or thrombosis the blood supply to heart muscle could also be impaired by certain long term and (chronic) conditions like arteriosclerosis and atherosclerosis.

Arteriosclerosis is a condition when certain arteries (may be all) start losing their elasticity and their walls, due to some unknown factors, become thickened and hardened. When this happens. Blood pressure inside the arteries tends to become high and which in its wake puts more stress and strain on heart.

Recent researches in connection with heart diseases have demonstrated a high correlation between fats in the diet, cholesterol level and atherosclerosis. Cholesterol is fat like substance found in animal fats, oils and some tissues of the human body.


Some Early Signs Of The Heart Trouble


It has been said earlier that any disturbance in the supply of blood to heart muscle leads to its functional impairment.

It will be useful to discuss here such factors, which may lead to disturbances in the supply of blood to heart muscles. Certain conditions increase the strains on the heart. Among these are lack of rest, over exertion or prolonged hard labor which create an excessive body demand for oxygen that the heart, muscle must supply through pumping more blood. If the blood vessels are inelastic on account of arteriosclerosis fibrous thickening or narrowing of passage (atherosclerosis) additional work on the part of the heart will be needed to push blood through these vessels. Other indirect factors that may result in causing disturbance in blood supply are indigestion of food, anger and other emotional excitements.

There are some early symptoms, which may be important to watch for. Their appearance calls for a visit to the doctor for a check up. The symptoms are:


1. Dizzy spell or fainting fits
2. Discomfort following meals, especially if long continued.
3. Shortness of breath, after slight exertion.
4. Fatigue with out otherwise explained origin.
5. Pain or tightness in the chest a common sign of coronary insufficiency is usually constrictive in nature and is located behind the chest bone with radiation into the arms or a sense of numbness or a severe pain in the center of the chest
6. Palpitation

Some causative factors of heart trouble

Heart disease has been more frequently found in certain persons who show peculiar personality physical and mental traits. It will therefore, be worthwhile to discuss these factors. Coronary heart disease is considered to have multiple causative factors i.e., no one single factor perhaps could be identified as one causing a heart attack.


Heredity - There is ample evidence to show that incidence of heart disease is more in persons whose direct predecessors like fathers, grandfathers, mothers, brothers have suffered from similar disease. Coronary artery disease is found to run mainly in families. A strong family history of the disease is important in diagnosis.


Stress- Heart disease has often been identified with certain personality patterns. It is labelled as personality disease or a high executive disease, that is, it strikes persons with a certain personality. A certain study has shown that there was four times as much coronary disease among aggressive type of individuals.

In addition to this other factors such as family responsibilities, interpersonal relationship, financial worries, leisure interests, habits of eating drinking and smoking etc. may play a part that may effect one's heart.


Smoking - It has been found by some workers that death rate among those who had heart attack was 50-150 percent higher in those who were heavy cigarette smoker than non-smokers.

Physical Exercise - There is a fairly general trend towards encouraging regular physical effort of a kind suited to age and condition of the person concerned. As a preventive as well as a remedial measure exercise is of great importance. There is abundant evidence to suggest that a stressful sedentary life without much exercise provides a situation fraught with coronary danger. Death rate from coronary heart disease is lower among those who do strenuous physical work.

Even for patients, who have survived coronary attacks, there has lately been a change in the thinking in marked contrast in earlier ideas. The doctors are now a day advocating, after the initial prescribed rest, walking up the stairs, going on hikes, bicycles and other forms of exercise. The quantum of exercise in each case must of course be decided by the attending physician.


Diet and obesity - Certain studies have shown 50 percent increase in heart attacks in employees who were over weight similarly diet and amount of fat are matter of vital importance in incidence of heart disease. The sound advice which could be given is to lead a life of moderation in matter of diet and activity an also to avoid obesity. Large fatty meals and strenuous exercise after them is not conducive to a healthy heart.

Saturated fats are likely of animal origin like whole milk, cream, butter, cheese meat, fat, etc. They raise blood cholesterol level. On the other hand unsaturated fats are of vegetable origin and they tend to lower blood cholesterol levels like maize oil, cottonseed oil sunflower oil and fat of fish.

Heart Attack
(Myocardial Infarction)
What is a heart attack?
A heart attack (myocardial infarction) is the death of heart muscle due to the loss of blood supply. Usually, the loss of blood supply is caused by a complete blockage of a coronary artery(an artery that supplies blood to the heart muscle) by a blood clot.

What are the features of a heart attack?
Pain: is the cardinal symptom of a heart attack. The pain is often described as a tightness or heaviness in the chest. It is often severe enough to be the worst pain that can be experienced. the usual location of the pain is in the center of the chest but it frequently radiates to the left arm or the jaw.

Some heart attacks though can pass unrecognized; these painless attacks are called as ‘silent infarcts’ and are particularly common in diabetics.

Anxiety: fear of impending death.
Breathlessness,
Nausea and vomiting,
Sweating, pallor and a fast pulse.

Sudden death: loss of blood supply disturbs the orderly transmission of electrical impulses in the heart and as a result the heart stops to effectively pump blood. Permanent brain damage and death can occur unless oxygenated blood flow is restored within five minutes. Approximately 40% of people suffering a heart attack die before reaching to the hospital.

What causes a heart attack?
A heart attack is almost always caused by the formation of a blood clot on a cholesterol plaque located on the inner wall of an artery to the heart (coronary artery). It is believed that the process of formation of these plaques starts in the late teens. Over a period of time the accumulation of cholesterol plaque causes thickening of the artery walls and narrowing of the arteries; a process called atherosclerosis.

Ultimately, the arteries narrow to an extent where they are unable to supply enough blood to the heart muscle during periods of increased demand like during exercise or excitement. This results in a condition called ischemia which leads to chest pain called as angina.

Occasionally, however, for unknown reasons, the surface of the cholesterol plaque can become sticky, causing blood clotting. When a blood clot forms on top of this plaque, the artery becomes completely blocked, causing death of the heart muscle (heart attack).

Many factors have been found to influence this plaque formation. It can be accelerated by smoking, high blood pressure, elevated cholesterol, and diabetes. Whereas, factors like exercise, low fat diet, avoiding stress seem to help in retarding this process.

Overweight (Obesity)

Obesity Definition

Over weighted persons are at increased health risk than normal persons. They are more prone to chronic diseases like heart diseases, type-2 diabetes, high blood pressure, stroke, and few types of cancers.

What is obesity?

Excess amount of body fat is Obesity.

Excess weight of muscles, bone, fat and water in the body (like body builders and athletes) is Overweight.

Is fat necessary to our body ?

Certain amount of body fat does the following function

1. Heat insulation.
2. Absorption of shock.
3. Storage of energy. Etc.

According to Ayurveda the functions of body fat are described as follows

“Medaha sneha swedaudhrudatwam pushtim asthyancha”

This means in normal conditions the body fat keeps the body moisturized , causes sweating , gives energy to body (by storing energy) and nourishes bones. (By protecting them from shock).

Distribution of fat

Women have more body fat than men. In women usually the fat accumulates around hips giving them a pear shape. In men it accumulates around belly giving them an apple shape. The obesity related problems start when fat accumulates around waist.

Obesity Causes.
When a person consumes more calories than he burns then the excess calories get stored in the form of fat causing obesity.

Genetic factors–Obesity tends to run in families. If parents are fat then the offspring also show a tendency to accumulate fat. Even the diet and lifestyle habits which are practiced in family also contribute to obesity.

Environment. – A person’s eating habits and the level of physical activities a person has also contribute for excess deposition of fat. When a person eats food containing more calories and has a sedentary work then the calories consumed are more than calories burnt. The excess amount calories are stored as fat.

Psychological disturbances.- There is a tendency to over eat in response to negative emotions like boredom, sadness or anger. This leads to obesity.

Binge eating disorder.

Diseases and conditions like Hypothyroidism, Cushing's syndrome, Depression, and certain neurological problems lead to overeating which in turn leads to accumulation of fat

In ayurveda the distribution of fat is described as follows .

Medastu sarvabhutaanamudarenvasthi thishtathi |

Ata evodare vriddhihi prayo medaswino bhavet ||

Fat gets deposited in and around belly in all living beings. It is also present in bone. Hence when a person becomes obese his stomach bulges out.

And also the characters of an obese person are described as

"Medo mamsa ativriddhatvaachalasphigudarastanaha"

The hips, belly and breasts of an obese person sag and sagged parts flap as that person moves. An obese person will not be active.

Medicines such as steroids and some antidepressants may cause weight gain.

Health risks due to Obesity >

Obesity leads to the following problems.

1. Type-2 diabetes
2. Heart disease.
3. High Blood pressure.
4. Stroke
5. Few types of Cancers
6. Gall stones
7. Liver diseases
8. Osteo arthritis.
9. Gout
10. Infertility
11. Irregular menstruation in women.

According to Ayurveda the obese persons are more prone to the following diseases.

1. Diabetes.
2. Kidney related problems.
3. Hepatitis.
4. Low libido.
5. Low energy levels.
6. Skin problems.
7. Fistula
8. Piles.
9. Filariasis . etc

Tips to reduce Obesity
Win the weight:

1. Determine with the help of your physician how much weight has to be reduced.
2. Set several short term realistic goals .
3. Reward yourself each time you make progress (Not food items).( Like I will buy a new sandals if I reduce this much pounds or Kgs)
4. Even small weight losses have shown to be beneficial.
5. Make gradual changes in eating habits. (The human body reacts negatively when calories are reduced by slowing basal metabolic rate. This makes weight loss harder.)
6. You will lose weight when you burn more calories than you consume. Hence eating less and being more active help in losing weight.
7. Sound eating habits keep you out of putting on weight.
8. Stay motivated to lose weight.
9. Slow weight loss is the safest and most effective. ( one to one and half pound per week).
10. Gradual weight loss, promote long term loss of body fat.
11. A person who is moderately active needs daily, 33 calories per kg of body weight to maintain his weight .
12. Reducing calories intake by 300 per day and increasing the physical activity to burn 200 calories per day results in weight loss of 400 Gms per week.
13. To satisfy basic nutritional needs eat a variety of foods every day. Choose from each of the five food groups milk, meat, fruit, vegetable and cereals. Balanced food plans encourage making wise choices about everyday food choices. This type of diet helps to stay at your proper weight for life.
14. Allow for an occasional treat.
15. Evaluate your eating pattern.
16. Try to cut down on foods high in fats and sugar.
17. Most successful weight – loss plans stress on reduction in both calories and the amount of fat eaten

Physical activity:

1. Determine the type of physical activity that suits your life style.
2. Regular aerobic exercise like brisk walking, jogging or swimming, is a key factor in achieving permanent weight loss and improving health
3. Health experts recommend exercising 30 minutes or more on all, days of the week for maximum benefits. The exercises should be moderately vigorous to be most effective but not exhausting.
4. Incorporate few simple measures to burn calories effectively. Like- taking an after dinner walk, using stairs instead of escalators or elevators, parking the car farther away to have a longer walk etc.
5. Exercises also improve sense of well being ,decreases stress and decreases appetite in some.

10 Essential Tips

1. Fry or sauté foods in a non-stick cook wear with low-calorie fat.
2. Baking or boiling is recommended instead of frying.
3. Eat high-fiber foods.
4. Use sugar substitutes while sweetening foods and beverages.
5. Opt for light menus in restaurants, or purchase low-calorie or reduced-fat products at the grocery store.
6. Never skip meals. Eat three to six times a day in smaller portions to avoid getting hungry.
7. Use a smaller plate at mealtime to satisfy your psychological need to see a full plate.
8. Eat and chew slowly. Stop eating before you feel full. (It takes 20 minutes for the stomach to tell the brain that it is full!)
9. Weigh yourself on a regular schedule, but don’t become a slave to your scale.
10. Reward yourself with pleasures other than food--buy some new clothes, get a different hair style, see a movie, visit a friend, etc.

Ayurvedic tips to reduce Obesity
Numerous tips to reduce obesity have been mentioned in ayurveda. The following ayurvedic tips help you to reduce the obesity.

1. Very good exercises. Exercises like brisk walking, jogging, playing out door games etc help to reduce weight.

2. Physical and mental exertion. Exerting physically like doing house hold works, walking to distant places to bring groceries, vegetables etc, walking long distances to bring the child back from school, walking to working place, climbing stairs etc are types of physical exertion. Exerting physically as much as you can help to burn more calories. Mental exertion like worrying or involving in finding solutions to problems also restrict food consumption in some and there by reduces the intake of calories .

3. Having sex frequently is also a good physical exertion.

4. Consumption of honey. This is advisable for non diabetic patients. Consuming 2 tea spoon of honey with a glass of herbal tea which includes weight reducing herbs help a lot in weight reduction. Honey along with these herbs scrapes and dissolves the Kapha and medha (body fat).

5. Sleeping for less hours. Avoiding sleeping in afternoons help to increase the burning of calories. This avoids slowing of basal metabolic rate.

6. Avoiding the food and beverages which increase kapha and medha. The foods which increase kapha and medha are sweets, sweetened drinks , large quantities of carbohydrates and oily food.

7. Consuming wheat products than rice products help to reduce obesity.

8. Using Green gram and horse gram help in reduction of kapha and medha.

The dangerous effects of mobile phone radiation

Are mobile phones disconnecting us from our divine birthright?
At Openhand we've long spoken of the dangerous effects mobile phones can have not just on our health but also to our energetic vibration. We've been guided to explore the myriad of ways in which our society - the "matrix" - in which we live, seems perfectly configured to distance us from our divine birthright - the miraculous full blown experience of unity consciousness. Mobile phones have been close to the top of the list of modern appliances that lower our vibration thereby identifying us more with the consciousness of separation. Ironic isn't it that the very gadget designed to connect us, may well be having exactly the OPPOSITE effect!....

I have long worked with biomagnetic energy. Having studied the martial arts since a young boy I was always fascinated by the amazing uplifting effects connecting to universal life energy can really have. It has launched for me countless experiences of multi dimensional living - what it really means to be alive and connected to all things.

It wasn't however until my full spiritual awakening around the age of 40 that I began to truly understand it. At that point the guiding hand of higher consciousness introduced me to a number of leading experts and "gurus" in this exciting field. One such meeting took place on a kibbutz in Israel with an amazing chap called Trond Bjornstadt, a martial artist and doctor who has a deeply profound ability to see and feel biomagnetic energy.

With one glance he was able to see imbalances in my field caused by various sporting extremes I had been engaged in during my life - rowing for example. So wonderful was his sensitivity that he'd turned his martial art practice "Moxite" into a method of healing children with cerebral palsy. As I watched him manipulating and healing deeply disabled children right before my eyes, I was reduced to tears.

Trond helped me increase my sensitivity to biomagnetic energy - universal life energy - by working closely with trees and plants. He also helped me feel the energy coming from the food we eat and also the effects of various electronic gadgets we might have around the home. It was he who brought my attention to mobile phones. Reportedly he'd taken a mobile phone on standby and placed it inside a frozen chicken which then cooked within a week!

Just imagine the effect it might be having on us and our children!

Of course if we are being profoundly honest with ourselves, in our hearts, have we not long suspected the dangers? Is it something we can continue to ignore? I would urge each of you reading this to read our article today in the Openhand Journal about the dangers of mobile phone radiation.

We've chosen extracts from a comprehensive report by Dr George Carlo, one of the world's leading scientists in the field of mobile phone radiation effects, which speak of the dangers and what you can do to protect yourself. It also speaks of the incredible underhand attemtps the mobile phone industry has taken to try to silence and discredit him. So what exactly are they hiding?

Why Cell Phones are Dangerous

A cellular phone is basically a radio that sends signals on waves to a base station. The carrier signal generates two types of radiation fields: a near-field plume and a far-field plume. Living organisms, too, generate electromagnetic fields at the cellular, tissue, organ, and organism level; this is called the biofield. Both the near-field and far-field plumes from cell phones and in the environment can wreak havoc with the human biofield, and when the biofield is compromised in any way, says Dr. Carlo, so is metabolism and physiology.

“The near field plume is the one we’re most concerned with. This plume that’s generated within five or six inches of the center of a cell phone’s antenna is determined by the amount of power necessary to carry the signal to the base station,” he explains. “The more power there is, the farther the plume radiates the dangerous information-carrying radio waves.”

A carrier wave oscillates at 1900 megahertz (MHz) in most phones, which is mostly invisible to our biological tissue and doesn’t do damage. The information-carrying secondary wave necessary to interpret voice or data is the problem, says Dr. Carlo. That wave cycles in a hertz (Hz) range familiar to the body. Your heart, for example, beats at two cycles per second, or two Hz. Our bodies recognize the information-carrying wave as an “invader,” setting in place protective biochemical reactions that alter physiology and cause biological problems that include intracellular free-radical buildup, leakage in the blood-brain barrier, genetic damage, disruption of intercellular communication, and an increase in the risk of tumors. The health dangers of recognizing the signal, therefore, aren’t from direct damage, but rather are due to the biochemical responses in the cell.

Here’s what happens:

Cellular energy is now used for protection rather than metabolism. Cell membranes harden, keeping nutrients out and waste products in.

Waste accumulating inside the cells creates a higher concentration of free radicals, leading to both disruption of DNA repair (micronuclei) and cellular dysfunction.

Unwanted cell death occurs, releasing the micronuclei from the disrupted DNA repair into the fluid between cells (interstitial fluid), where they are free to replicate and proliferate. This, says Dr. Carlo, is the most likely mechanism that contributes to cancer.

Damage occurs to proteins on the cell membrane, resulting in disruption of intercellular communication. When cells can’t communicate with each other, the result is impaired tissue, organ, and organism function. In the blood-brain barrier, for example, cells can’t keep dangerous chemicals from reaching the brain tissue, which results in damage.

With the background levels of information-carrying radio waves dramatically increasing because of the widespread use of cell phones,Wi-Fi, and other wireless communication, the effects from the near and far-fields are very similar. Overall, says Dr. Carlo, almost all of the acute and chronic symptoms seen in electrosensitive patients can be explained in some part by disrupted intercellular communication. These symptoms of electrosensitivity include inability to sleep, general malaise, and headaches. Could this explain the increase in recent years of conditions such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, and anxiety disorder?

“One thing all these conditions have in common is a disruption, to varying degrees, of intercellular communication. When we were growing up, TV antennas were on top of our houses and such waves were up in the sky. Cell phones and Wi-Fi have brought those things down to the street, integrated them into the environment, and that’s absolutely new. The recognition mechanism, where protein vibration sensors on the cell membrane pick up a signal and interpret it as an invader, only works because the body recognizes something it’s never seen before.”

As to increases in brain tumors tied to cell phone use, it’s too early to tell due to a lack of hard data, says Dr. Carlo. “We’re never going to see that in time to have it matter. Here in the US, we’re six years behind in getting the brain tumor database completed, and currently the best data are from 1999. By the time you see any data showing an increase, the ticking time bomb is set.”

Epidemic curve projections, however, indicate that in 2006, we can expect to see 40,000 to 50,000 cases of brain and eye cancer. This is based on published peer-reviewed studies that allow calculation of risk and construction of epidemic curves. By 2010, says Dr. Carlo, expect that number to be between 400,000 and 500,000 new cases worldwide.

“This means we’re on the beginning curve of an epidemic, with epidemic defined as a change in the occurrence of a disease that is so dramatic in its increase that it portends serious public health consequences,” says Dr. Carlo. “This is what’s not being told to the public. One of the things that I suggest to people who use a cell phone is to use an air tube headset. If you use a wired headset, the current moving through the wire of the headset attracts ambient informational carrying radio waves and thereby increases your exposure.”

Cell Phone Radiation: What You Need to Know


Originally developed for the Department of Defense, cell phones devices were never tested for safety. They entered the marketplace due to a regulatory loophole.

Questions about cell phone safety arose in the early 1990s, when a businessman filed a lawsuit alleging that cell phones caused his wife’s death due to brain cancer.

To address the questions surrounding cell phone safety, the cell phone industry set up a non-profit organization, Wireless Technology Research (WTR). Dr. George Carlo was appointed to head WTR’s research efforts.

Under Dr. Carlo’s direction, scientists found that cell phone radiation caused DNA damage, impaired DNA repair, and interfered with cardiac pacemakers.

European research confirmed Dr. Carlo’s findings. Studies suggest that cell phone radiation contributes to brain dysfunction, tumors, and potentially to conditions such as autism, attention deficit disorder, neurodegenerative disease, and behavioral and psychological problems.

Dr. Carlo brought safety information about cell phones to the public through his book, Cell Phones: Invisible Hazards in the Wireless Age, and by creating the Safe Wireless Initiative and the Mobile Telephone Health Concerns Registry.

The best protection against cell phone radiation is keeping a safe distance.

Always use a headset to minimize exposure to harmful cell phone radiation.