Actor Rajiv Kapoor breathed his last on Tuesday, February 9, 2021. The ‘Ram Teri Ganga Maili’ star has died of cardiac arrest. He was 58.
This morning he had a heart attack, and only after that Randhir Kapoor got him admitted to the hospital. Doctors declared him dead on arrival. Randhir himself has confirmed this, ‘I have lost my youngest brother Rajiv. He is no longer in this world. The doctors tried their best to save him. I am still in the hospital and waiting to meet his dead body.’
Why the heart is under strain?
Despite living a disciplined life and keeping a fitness routine, Cricketer Sourav Ganguly, Choreographer-filmmaker Remo D’Souza, and World Cup 1983 winning captain Kapil Dev suffered from heart attacks in the past few months.
When everything seems so bright from the outside, why the heart is under strain?
Let’s take a look at the role of cholesterol in your body, why a good diet and daily exercise do not always guarantee safe outcomes, how family history can be involved, and how can you manage your high cholesterol?
Dr Pawan Suri, Chief Cardiologist at SGL SuperSpeciality Hospital in conversation with HealthWire Media, has shed light on this subject.
People are puzzled by the fact that a sportsman, or a choreographer who swears by his fitness routine and does not indulge in health-threatening activities, has three “concerned” blockages. So where does a common man stand?
Both Sourav Ganguly and Remo D’souza do pursue a very restricted lifestyle but the reasons for heart disease may be high triglycerides, non-veg food, stress and anxiety.
A multifactorial disease is Coronary Artery Disease (CAD), or heart blockage disease. CAD is more of a lifestyle disorder, but often it is also rooted in family history.
The key factors are high cholesterol, high triglyceride, tension, family background, high PB, consumption of tobacco and alcohol, high sugar levels, lack of exercise, obesity, low intakes of fibre, low consumption of antioxidants.
Such individuals lead a life of high profile, which is often followed by mental pressure. Stress causes many health issues that disrupt the hormonal balance of the body, which can lead to irritability, anger, behavioural and psychological changes, diabetes, high BP, etc. All of these contribute to factors that make a person prone to heart disease and heart attacks.
Heredity plays a major part, too. There is a family history of ischemic heart disease in Ganguly.
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Cholesterol Problems In Teens
Many of us believe that a high cholesterol level is an age-specific problem. Very few of us are aware of the fact that the risks of high cholesterol can begin in infancy. It is likely that even young children have high cholesterol.
Children’s high cholesterol can be transferred from parents to children or can be caused by obesity and diet.
High blood cholesterol can contribute to plaque build-up in the arteries, which may cause a heart attack. Knowing childhood cholesterol and making an easy lifestyle and dietary decisions will help avoid significant health risks for your children.
Try To Bring Changes In Your Lifestyle
- Modify your diet to a more heart-friendly one: Attempting to shift your daily diet to a healthier one will help to some degree to regulate the amount of cholesterol.
- Cholesterol levels can be aggravated by saturated fats found primarily in red meat and full-fat dairy products. Cholesterol levels can be controlled by limiting or moderating saturated fats.
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- Substituting olive oil for butter and margarine can help to reduce LDL levels. Olive oil is less processed and is rich in antioxidants.
- Soluble fibre can decrease cholesterol absorption in the bloodstream.
- Workouts can decrease bad cholesterol, and raise good cholesterol. Take brisk walks, ride bicycles or swim every day for a while. Find an exercise partner, play a sport, or enter an exercise group
Your doctor can prescribe treatment with statins, which are cholesterol-lowering drugs if diet and exercise don’t work to lower cholesterol levels.