Healthy Oats Upma
Dr. Amal Louis has the distinction of being the first to perform OCT guided Angioplasty in Tamil Nadu. He has done a lot of research in heart failure and telemonitoring for heart failure. He was also the first in Europe to use Telemonitoring in heart failure patients.
Dr. Amal is the pioneer in Enhanced External Counterpulsation therapy (EECP) in UK, first in UK for patients with chest pain, few years before EECP was introduced in India. His expertise lies in Angiography, Complex Coronary Interventions, Angioplasty, Pacemaker Implantation Complex Echocardiography, Multislice CT Angiography and Cardiac MRI.
Q. If I have a family history of cardiac problems, am I more likely to suffer a heart attack?
A. Yes, especially if you have a family member who had a heart attack aged less than 65 years. If you have an older family member who had a heart attack, it doesn’t increase your risk.
Q. Are there precautions I should take after 40 to reduce chances of getting cardiac problems?
A. Certainly, healthy diet, regular exercise up to 150 minutes per week or 300 minutes per week if you are overweight will reduce the chances of getting cardiac problems.
Q. What are the early signs of a heart attack?
A. Usually chest pain on exertion (walking or strenuous work) is the early sign. However, heart attack can occur without chest pain, hence the need for regular master health check-up.
Q. What is the difference between HDL and LDL Cholesterol and how do they affect me?
A. LDL Cholesterol is the bad cholesterol that takes cholesterol stored in the liver to blood vessels and other parts of the body. HDL cholesterol counteracts this mechanism; hence it is good cholesterol.
Q. What causes high blood pressure and how often should I get my BP checked?
A. Blood pressure is usually due to stiffness of the blood vessels which happens as you get older, however this can happen earlier due to poor diet, lack of exercise, stress and increased salt in the diet. If you do not have high BP, check once every 6 months.