Precautionary Measures for Heart

Tons have already been written on today’s theme – Precautionary Measures for Heart. And yet, we have decided to focus this week on such a theme because it is like medicine which is required to be administered at regular intervals for curing an ailment. Today’s article also serves a similar purpose. The following paragraphs shall highlight certain aspects that can be adhered to for maintaining healthy heart.

a) Staying Active:

Our body’s ability to effectively pump oxygen to your heart declines each decade as you age, so it’s important to exercise regularly. It’s never too late to begin an exercise program. Regular exercise helps to manage weight & blood pressure, stress and heart performance.

b) Having Balanced Diet:

Balanced diet implies having region-specific food that we enjoy across India. So, a quintessential Bengali diet will certainly include maach bhat(& other seasonal vegetable) if not chicken in penne pasta. However, one can certainly indulge in sin foods like mistiand singara once in a while. But one should put a limit on salt and refined sugar. If possible one may add nuts and olive oil.

c) Losing Weight:

Are we really going to add anything new that you do not know? Perhaps not. Yet it is important to reiterate this once again. Instead of concentrating on limiting all foods that are bad, try eating foods that are good (& easily digestible) like three to four servings of fruits and vegetables every day. It is always advisable adopt a go-slow policy on the issue of weight loss. The adage- slow and steady wins the race – holds absolutely true. This way one can sustain weight lost over a period of time.

d) Regular Health Check-up:

Regular health check-up can identify heart ailments before ending up having heart attack. Preventive check-up should begin early in life and continue as we age. One should ideally keep a tab on blood pressure, blood sugar, blood counts and cholesterol.

e) Listening to one’s body:

Listening to one’s body implies being sensitive to sings of trouble which may include shortness of breath, leg swelling, chest pain, unexplained fatigue, heart palpitation, sudden change in exercise tolerance etc. Often we ignore such indicators during younger days only to repent later.

We hope the points discussed above will find resonance with our readers. Your comments on the same shall be appreciated.

DOCTOR VISIT AT HOME: What is there in it for me?

We, at Porosh, are often asked about the service - Doctor Visit at Home (DVH). Queries are far-ranging but usually repetitive. Hence, we felt this week’s article should focus on clarifying some of the issues for the larger audience. Let us first understand DVH is an integral component of the two packages that Porosh offers – Sneho & Aastha. Under these two packages DVH is scheduled once a quarter. However, prior appointment of the doctor needs to be taken. Doctor’s cosultancy fee and conveyance expenses are taken care by Porosh. No separate payment needs to be made by the client. However, if DVH is required more than once in a quarter then all the relevant expenses are borne by the client. Here, it is pertinent to mention that the empanelled doctors of Porosh are available across the city of Kolkata be it Salt Lake, or Behala. Usually general physicians accompany us for these visits. It may further be noted that all the doctors are univocal in admitting the clients, in case of emergency, to the nearest hospital, or nursing home of their preference especially if it is at night. During day-time emergency situation a few hours lead time is required for attending the client as all of them are practising doctors. For critical cases, admission to hospital, or nursing home is always advisable. When it comes to helping our clients who have availed Parisheba even for them DVH can be arranged after having taken prior appointment of the doctor. Unlike Sneho & Aastha, DVH during emergency at day-time is not available.

Osteoarthritis – A Few Insights

One of the typical symptoms of osteoarthritis is knee pain. “Can knee pain be treated through medicine?,” is an oft repeated question. The answer to this is an unequivocal no. The good news is that such pain is curable through surgery.

It is a widely held belief that osteoarthritis is an age related problem that is unavoidable. Not so. Arthritis is attributable to lifestyle issues that a person invites on oneself by way of watching movie/ serial for long hours, not doing enough simple physical activities like regular walk and reckless eating. Surprising as it may appear the root cause of arthritis related problems is in one’s mind. Usually at a certain stage in life one tends to feel that physical ailments is unavoidable and thus makes oneself susceptible to various ailments.

Similarly, pain in the hip and shoulder leading to spondylitis are also treatable by surgery.