For thy healthy heart

Sujal Torgal Patil

World Heart Day is commemorated on September 29 every year as a part of an international campaign to spread awareness about heart disease and stroke prevention by the WHO. This is the perfect day to make the necessary changes in one’s diet, lifestyle, stop addictions, adopt exercise and do it all in the name of keeping your ticker in good working order, and improving the health and well being of people the world over.

The World Heart Federation has found that heart disease and strokes are the world’s leading cause of death, killing 17.1 million people every year – that’s more than the victims of cancer, HIV and AIDS and malaria. Ironically in the past two decades the incidence of deaths due to heart diseases has decreased in the US whereas it has significantly increased in India, causing more than one quarter of all deaths in the country in 2015 and also affecting rural populations and young adults the most. Incidences of cardiac patients who are less than 25 years of age undergoing bypass or other cardiac surgeries are not uncommon these days owing to haphazard diet and lifestyle.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are disorders of the heart and blood vessels and include coronary heart disease (heart attacks), cerebro-vascular disease (stroke), high blood pressure (hypertension), peripheral artery disease, rheumatic heart disease, congenital heart disease and heart failure.

We all know that the heart is one of the most vital organs in the body. Just look at the veritable fort of the bone and tissue structure that surrounds it in the chest cavity. The blood vessels carry blood to and from the heart. It is the pump that circulates the blood in the whole body. Heart attacks and strokes are usually acute events and are mainly caused by a blockage that prevents blood from flowing to the heart or brain. The most common reason for this is a build-up of fatty deposits, calcium, and macrophages on the inner walls of the blood vessels that supply the heart or brain. Strokes can also be caused by bleeding from a blood vessel in the brain or from blood clots. Survivors of a heart attack or stroke are at high risk of recurrences and at high risk of dying from them.

According to ayurveda hridaya or heart is not just an organ but a vital point (marma) and any kind of physical, physiological or emotional damage can lead to a deranged heart or death. If hridaya doesn’t function properly the other organs and tissues are also affected and damaged due to lack or inadequate supply of nutrition and oxygen.

Hridaya is the chetana-sthana (site of life). Though all the types of tridosha (vayu, pitta and kapha) are related to hridaya in terms of nutrition, it forms a specific site of prana vayu, sadhaka pitta and avalambaka kapha and ojas (the subtle essence of vitality and immunity). An imbalance in these leads to structural and functional failure of the heart. The heart is also integrated with the subtle body which permeates and informs the physical body, extends beyond the physical form and is more energetic in nature. As a result, the heart is an important junction of the various channels through the subtle body, and therefore according to the science of yoga, it is intimately connected to the heart chakra as well. The heart is important not just physically but spiritually and emotionally.

Modern medicine attributes risk factors like overeating, improper dietary practices, lack of physical activity, various addictions, stressors, uncontrolled metabolic disorders like hypertension or diabetes and a family history to predispose cardiac disorders.

 

Ayurveda emphasises on all these risk factors along with some important precursors given below.

 Excessive or frequent consumption of hot food (hot in terms of temperature as well as potency), heavy food, sour, salty foods, over eating, frequent eating (even before the previously taken food has been digested).

 Excessive physical exertion and laborious work.

 Injuries – physical or mental trauma.

 Excessive thinking, stress and anxiety.

 Excessive indulgence in sex (activity and thoughts).

 Forcibly withholding natural urges like urination, sneeze, yawn, etc.

 Excessive physical exercise: excessive workouts, running, walking, etc, without considering the threshold.

 Administration of strong purgatives, excessive administration of purgation therapy, strong enemas, frequent and excessive vomiting, improperly done panchakarma treatments or other detox.

 Excessive toxins in the body.

 Excessive emaciation due to various reasons.

 

The above dietary, somatic and psychological factors individually or collectively vitiate the doshas and derange the rasa dhatu. When rasa dhatu enters the heart it deranges anatomically and functionally giving rise to various kinds of cardiac disorders.

The production of ama is the leading cause with reference to today’s era. Ama is the product of improper digestion of food due to inefficient digestive capacity. Hypercholesterolemia or the atherosclerotic plaque that clogs blood vessels thereby leading to various heart diseases can be understood as one of the forms of ama. This clearly explains the importance of eating right for patients even those who have undergone cardiac surgeries like bypass or angioplasty.

 

To be continued…

(Writer is CMO at Traya Natural Health Centre and can be reached at wellnesstraya@gmail.com)