Heart Attack – Ayurvedic View

Ayurveda is a traditional healing system that is believed to have originated in the Indian subcontinent nearly 5000 years ago. It is called the ‘science of life’ and is fast becoming popular all over the world. Ayurveda lays emphasis on healthy living. In order to keep illness at bay, ayurveda stresses on hygiene, yoga, exercise and herbal preparations. And in order to cure ailments, it emphasises the importance of diet, physiotherapy, spiritual practices and ayurvedic medicines.

Ayurveda believes that three doshas administer the human body: Pitta, Kapha and Vata. While three sub-doshas manage the health of the heart: Pitta Sadhaka (emotional balance), Kapha Avalambaka (sense of security) and Vata Vyana (blood flow and beat). Ayurveda states that the heart gets affected by factors such as mental stress, mental fatigue, high blood pressure, etc. So, in order to have a healthy heart, one should have a healthy mind too. And ayurveda does this by taking a holistic approach which nourishes the physical heart and the emotional heart.

According to ayurveda, the heart is a vital organ of the body that apart from pumping blood to various parts of the body is also considered to be a seat of the mind and soul. It considers the heart as an organ that not only keeps the body alive by circulating blood, but also is responsible for controlling and monitoring emotions as well. The heart is said to be the focal point of ten important channels through which prana (life air) and blood is carried to the rest of the body. The heart is also said to be the store house of ojas, an important fluid that keeps us alive. The heart thus needs sincere care. The ayurvedic term for a heart disease is ‘Hrudroga’.

Ayurveda recommends adopting a healthy lifestyle and dietary habits to find a key to a healthy heart. One should also strive to reduce weight, reduce cholesterol levels and blood pressure level. Ayurveda believes in prevention rather than cure. So you should take care to keep your heart healthy.

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Heart Attack – Ayurvedic Diet and Lifestyle

A healthy heart is the key to good health. The heart being a vital organ of the body needs dedicated care. In order to avoid heart diseases, one also needs to take care to keep levels of blood pressure and cholesterol regulated.

Ayurveda recommends that a good, balanced and nutritious diet can go a long way in keeping the heart healthy and preventing heart attacks. It also recommends that one should follow a healthy lifestyle that promotes a healthy heart. Here are a few tips on diet and lifestyle to keep heart attack at bay:

Fat

Animal fat is very harmful for the heart. So, one should avoid foods such as red meat, milk, cheese and butter.

Sodium

Increased blood pressure levels increases the risk of a heart attack. Reduce consumption of sodium in order to lower level of blood pressure and thus reduce risk of heart attack. Try and avoid canned food and adding additional salt to your food.

Fresh Fruits

Fresh fruits contain minerals, vitamins, fibre and antioxidants that keep the heart healthy.

Fresh Vegetables

Consume fresh vegetables as they too contain various vitamins and minerals. Try eating them raw or barely cooked as over cooking destroys their nutrient levels.

Lean Meat

The body needs proteins to strengthen the heart muscles. Consume lean meat as animal fat can be harmful for health.

Water

Drinking lots of water daily is not only good for the heart but also for the overall health of your body. Drinking warm water is considered more helpful than cold water.

Alcohol

Research proves that moderate consumption of alcohol is good for the heart as it raises the good cholesterol and reduces plaque accumulation in the arteries. But excessive consumption can have an ill effect as it leads to high blood pressure, increases fat in the body and weakens the heart.

Smoking

Cigarette smoke contains numerous chemicals that can cause serious damage to the body. Smoking increases fat levels in the body, damages blood vessels, damages the artery walls and lead to clotting of blood.

Exercise

Exercising regularly makes the heart stronger, reduces level of fat in the blood stream and also reduces deposition of plaque in the walls of the arteries. One must exercise at least 3-5 times in a week.  

Stress

In today’s world, stress is an important aspect that everyone has to deal with. Indulge in stress reduction techniques such as, massage, yoga, meditation, tai chi, etc. to reduce stress levels.

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WEIGHT REDUCTION – AYURVEDA MEDICENE

According to Ayurveda over weight occurs due to imbalanced vata, pitta, and kapha systems. Chief cause of obesity is overeating, irregular eating habits and not following the rules of eating. Treatment should be based on four factors: proper diet, exercise, meditation and use of proper herbs having hot and penetrating qualities. The best part of using the herbal supplements is that they are absolutely safe to use, and no side effects.
Few Ayurvedic medicines and Treatment are:
1)    To increase the tissue fire of fatty tissue, herbs like guggulu, Carthamus tinctoris, Careya arborea, and shilajatu are effective.
2)    Formation of ama is treated by toxin burning herbs like trikatu and catechu. Aggravation of vata is treated by medicated enemas of cleansing type.
3)    Channel blocking is treated by fat reducing – lekhana – herbs, which have scraping action to open channels like chitraka and barberry. Externally the same herbs are used for massage with Acorus calamus.
4)    Eat regularly old rice, green gram, kulattha, bread of yava, kodrav, horsegram, and old honey, lentil, tirkatu, iron oxide, sarshapa and sesame oil.
5)    Application of agaru paste on the body, consumption of shilajatu regularly and performing lekhana basti repeatedly is of great help.
6)    Garcinia Combogia, Cinnamomum Tamala, Guggul and Senna Leaves: These four herbs combine to form an powerful yet mild herbal weight loss diet which aids in slimming efforts.
7)    Triphala is the most popular Ayurvedic herbal formula of India. It uniquely cleanses and detoxifies at the deepest organic levels without depleting the body's reserves, good for weight reduction.
8)    To reduce weight has food, which are dry and light in quality, without oils and fatty substances. Drink warm or hot water, which should preferably be treated with herbs having pungent and bitter taste.
9)          Yavaloha churna, Varadi qwath, Varanadi qwath tablet, Slimit capsule, Lomedas tablet, Slimim are commonly used Ayurvedic medicines to reduce fat.
10)        A strict fat free diet, moderate excercise, peaceful mind and essential ayurvedic  medicines will help to burn the excess fat without any side effect.


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Heart Attack – Signs and Symptoms

A heart attack occurs when the blood flow gets restricted to a certain section of the heart muscle. Due to lack of blood, the heart muscle does not receive adequate oxygen and begins to die. This restriction in the flow of blood is usually caused by a blood clot in any of the blood vessels that lead to the coronary arteries. It may also be caused by narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the heart muscle. Blood flow to the heart muscle needs to be restored between 20 to 40 minutes of a heart attack. Or else, the heart muscle becomes dead and is replaced by scar tissue.

The signs and symptoms of a heart attack differ from person to person. Usually chest pain and feeling of pressure in the chest are the most common symptoms of a heart attack. Listed below are the other common signs:

·         Crushing chest pain that may spread to the left shoulder

·         Pain or pressure in the neck or jaw

·         Pain or pressure in either arm (more commonly, left)

·         Upper back ache

·         Pain or squeezing sensation beneath the breastbone

·         Pain or pulsation between shoulder blades

·         Shortness of breath after little exertion

·         Dizziness

·         Discomfort post meals

·         Sweating

·         Nausea or vomiting

·         Headache

·         Heartburn or indigestion

·         Palpitation

·         Vague feeling of illness

Many times there are no symptoms or signs of a heart attack. It is important not to ignore even if there are mild signs of a heart attack. A delay in treatment can lead to irreversible damage of the heart muscle and can also lead to death.

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Heart Attack – Ayurvedic Panchkarma

The heart is a vital organ of the body that needs dedicated care. Keeping a healthy heart is essential for general well-being and is a key to good health. Ayurveda believes that the heart not only performs the fundamental function of pumping blood to various parts of the body but is also considered to be the seat of the mind and soul.

The heart keeps the body alive by circulating blood to all parts and also controls and monitors various emotions. The ayurvedic term for a heart disease is ‘Hrudroga’. According to ayurveda, the primary causes of all hrudroga are stress, tension, smoking, alcoholism and consumption of unhealthy and fatty food. There are a number of herbal drugs and therapies that have been formulated to fight heart attack and its after-effects. Some such herbs are amlaki, haritaki, guduchi and so on.

In ayurveda, panchkarma is a treatment used to detoxify the body, build up the immune system and restore balance and well-being of the body. This is a five-fold therapy that aims to cleanse the body of all toxic materials so that it can use energy efficiently. For a specific type of disease and the corresponding toxins in the body, a particular type of Panchkarma measure is selected. Here are the five parts of the Panchkarma therapy:

Vamana (Therapeutic Vomiting)

This refers to induced vomiting in order to get rid of excess kapha in the body. This is especially useful in treating the heart as any heart disease builds up kapha in the body.

Virechana (Therapeutic Purgation)

In this purification process, a number of herbs are used as laxative to cleanse the body of all pitta doshas in the body. This process is especially useful in curing hypertension which is a major cause of heart attack. 

Asthapana (Therapeutic Enema with Herbal Water)

This process of purification is conducted to placate excess vata in the body. It mainly helps in curing disease affecting the lower portion of the body. It also helps in allaying heart pain.

Nasya (Medication through Nose)

This process involves boiling water with medicinal herbs and then inhaling the vapour. It usually alleviates problems related to kapha.

Blood Letting (Rakta Moksha)

This process helps in removing toxins in the bloodstream that have been absorbed through the gastrointestinal tract. It relieves several pitta disorders.

Apart from undertaking various ayurveda medication and therapies, one also needs to bring about a conscious change in diet and lifestyle in order to maintain a healthy heart.

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