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For health... despite wealth
TIMES ARE changing, so are the lifestyles, hence diseases too! Yes, today more and more people are suffering from "lifestyle" diseases if you believe. Problems such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure and high sugar levels are results of high lifestyles only.
Ask Dr. Arvind Lal, Managing Director of Dr. Lal PathLabs, and honorary physician to the President of India. These are serious conditions, and lead to many problems, including coronary artery disease - CAD - and heart attacks. CAD is three times more prevalent in India than in the West, and six times more in North India than in South India, he says.
"It is very important, not just to have a balanced diet, but also a balanced lifestyle. Work when it is time to work, exercise when it is time to exercise, sleep when it is time to sleep. Instead, today when it is time for work, people sleep, when it is time for sleep, people are out partying. In such a scenario, a person's health deteriorates," observes he.
One of the biggest problems is obesity, which can be fatal. There are several tests that should be done and the most important is a cholesterol check, and then comes the test of lipid profile, which should be done once a year. An important test for women over 30 is thyroid tests, as an overactive or an under productive thyroid are both harmful, he informs.
It is also very important to get yourself tested for diabetes once a year. Says Dr. Lal: "People suffering from diabetes are prone to silent heart attacks. With most people, a heart attack feels like having an elephant's foot right on the middle of your chest, but with diabetics, there is no warning. It affects the nerves, eyesight and kidneys. 70 per cent of all people with kidney failures are diabetics."
There are, however, some simple things we can do to improve our health. Comes a piece of advice from the doctor: "The most important thing is exercise. Just a brisk walk for 45 minutes, three to four times a week is good enough for most. A vegetarian diet is very helpful, and so is not smoking. If you drink, do it in a restrained manner, and eat food that is high in anti-oxidants, like green leafy vegetables and carrots."
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