Say NO to Passive Smoking

Enough! We got to put a stop and prevent ourselves from being the passive smokers.

I was enjoying lunch with my family at a beef noodle restaurant located at OUG (Oversea United Garden), Kuala Lumpur on 12th November 2007 (Saturday).

It was kind of irritation while 2 young men sitting behind us light up the cigarettes and start puffing the second hand smoke. Within seconds, the air conditioned restaurant is filled up with the toxic gas.

I believe majority of us do not like it but can’t help to put a stop. A spontaneous decision is made where from then onward, I will snap their photos and published it at this blog.

What we could do is embarrass them by publishing forwarding their faces around the cyber world. You may help to reduce the passive smoking by spreading this article to your friends.

It is time to say NO to Passive Smoking!

A Chat With Dr. Devi Shetty, Heart Specialist

A chat with Dr. Devi Shetty, Narayana Hrudayalaya (Heart Specialist) Bangalore was arranged by WIPRO for its employees .

The transcript of the chat is given below. Useful for everyone.

Qn: What are the thumb rules for a layman to take care of his heart?
Ans:1. Diet - Less of carbohydrate, more of protein, less oil.
2. Exercise - Half an hour's walk, at least five days a week; avoids lifts and avoid sitting for a longtime.
3. Quit smoking.
4. Control weight.
5. Control blood pressure and sugar.

Qn: Is eating non-vege food (fish) good for the heart?
Ans: No

Qn: It's still a grave shock to hear that some apparently healthy person gets a cardiac arrest. How do we understand it in perspective?
Ans: This is called silent attack; that is why we recommend everyone past the age of 30 to undergo routine health checkups.

Qn: Are heart diseases hereditary?
Ans: Yes

Qn: What are the ways in which the heart is stressed? What practices do you suggest to de-stress?
Ans: Change your attitude towards life. Do not look for perfection in everything in life.

Qn: Is walking better than jogging or is more intensive exercise required to keep a healthy heart?
Ans: Walking is better than jogging since jogging leads to early fatigue and injury to joints.

Qn: You have done so much for the poor and needy. What has inspired you to do so?
Ans: Mother Theresa , who was my patient

Qn: Can people with low blood pressure suffer heart diseases?
Ans: Extremely rare

Qn: Does cholesterol accumulates right from an early age (I'm currently only 22) or do you have to worry about it only after you are above 30 years of age?
Ans: Cholesterol accumulates from childhood.

Qn: How do irregular eating habits affect the heart?
Ans: You tend to eat junk food when the habits are irregular and your body's enzyme release for digestion gets confused.

Qn: How can I control cholesterol content without using medicines?
Ans: Control diet, walk and eat walnut.

Qn: Can yoga prevent heart ailments?
Ans: Yoga helps.

Qn: Which is the best and worst food for the heart?
Ans: Fruits and vegetables are the best and the worst is oil.

Qn: Which oil is better - groundnut, sunflower, olive?
Ans: All oils are bad .

Qn: What is the routine checkup one should go through? Is there any specific test?
Ans: Routine blood test to ensure sugar, cholesterol is ok. Check BP, Treadmill test after an echo.

Qn: What are the first aid steps to be taken on a heart attack?
Ans: Help the person into a sleeping position, place an aspirin tablet under the tongue with a sorbitrate tablet if available, and rush him to a coronary care unit since the maximum casualty takes place within the first hour.

Qn: How do you differentiate between pain caused by a heart attack and that caused due to gastric trouble?
Ans: Extremely difficult without ECG.

Qn: What is the main cause of a steep increase in heart problems amongst youngsters? I see people of about 30-40 yrs of age having heart attacks and serious heart problems.
Ans: Increased awareness has increased incidents. Also, sedentary lifestyles, smoking, junk food, lack of exercise in a country where people are genetically three times more vulnerable for heart attacks than Europeans and Americans.

Qn: Is it possible for a person to have BP outside the normal range of 120/80 and yet be perfectly healthy?
Ans: Yes.

Qn: Marriages within close relatives can lead to heart problems for the child. Is it true?
Ans: Yes, co-sanguinity leads to congenital abnormalities and you may not have a software engineer as a child.

Qn: Many of us have an irregular daily routine and many a times we have to stay late nights in office. Does this affect our heart? What precautions would you recommend?
Ans: When you are young, nature protects you against all these irregularities. However, as you grow older, respect the biological clock.

Qn: Will taking anti-hypertensive drugs cause some other complications (short / long term)? Ans: Yes, most drugs have some side effects. However, modern anti-hypertensive drugs are extremely safe.

Qn: Will consuming more coffee/tea lead to heart attacks?
Ans: No.

Qn: Are asthma patients more prone to heart disease?
Ans: No.

Qn: How would you define junk food?
Ans: Fried food like Kentucky , McDonalds, samosas, and even masala dosas.

Qn: You mentioned that Indians are three times more vulnerable. What is the reason for this, as Europeans and Americans also eat a lot of junk food?
Ans: Every race is vulnerable to some disease and unfortunately, Indians are vulnerable for the most expensive disease.

Qn: Does consuming bananas help reduce hypertension?
Ans: No.

Qn: Can a person help himself during a heart attack (Because we see a lot of forwarded emails on this)?
Ans: Yes. Lie down comfortably and put an aspirin tablet of any description under the tongue and ask someone to take you to the nearest coronary care unit without any delay and do not wait for the ambulance since most of the time, the ambulance does not turn up.

Qn: Do, in any way, low white blood cells and low hemoglobin count lead to heart problems? Ans: No. But it is ideal to have normal hemoglobin level to increase your exercise capacity.

Qn: Sometimes, due to the hectic schedule we are not able to exercise. So, does walking while doing daily chores at home or climbing the stairs in the house, work as a substitute for exercise? Ans: Certainly. Avoid sitting continuously for more than half an hour and even the act of getting out of the chair and going to another chair and sitting helps a lot.

Qn: Is there a relation between heart problems and blood sugar?
Ans: Yes. A strong relationship since diabetics are more vulnerable to heart attacks than non-diabetics.

Qn: What are the things one needs to take care of after a heart operation?
Ans: Diet, exercise, drugs on time , Control cholesterol, BP, weight.

Qn: Are people working on night shifts more vulnerable to heart disease when compared to day shift workers?
Ans: No.

Qn: What are the modern anti-hypertensive drugs?
Ans: There are hundreds of drugs and your doctor will chose the right combination for your problem, but my suggestion is to avoid the drugs and go for natural ways of controlling blood pressure by walk, diet to reduce weight and changing attitudes towards lifestyles.

Qn: Does dispirin or similar headache pills increase the risk of heart attacks?
Ans: No .

Qn: Why is the rate of heart attacks more in men than in women?
Ans: Nature protects women till the age of 45.

Qn: How can one keep the heart in a good condition?
Ans: Eat a healthy diet, avoid junk food, exercise everyday, do not smoke and, go for health checkups if you are past the age of 30 ( once in six months recommended).

When Should A Baby Begin To Use A Pacifier And Rattle Teether?

Babies show various desires immediately following birth and throughout their various growth phases. These products are designed to be use according to the different stages of development

Pacifier (From Birth)
Satisfies the baby’s need to suck and promote development.

Rattle Teether (From Around 3 Month)
Satisfies the baby’s need to touch things with its mouth and hands. It also promotes sensory perception and a sense of touch.

Teether (From 5-6 Month)
Satisfies the baby’s need to bite and teaches baby to chew.

Why Babies Need To Use Their Own Toiletries

Babies' skin is thinner and more fragile; that's why it is so important to use products that are especially formulated and proven mild enough for their delicate skin. In adults' toiletries, the surfactant (cleaning effect) is harsher, causing dryness to baby's skin and skin irritation. However, mild surfactant used in baby toiletries cleans without removing natural moisture, maintaining baby's skin hydration and leaves baby's skin soft and smooth after use.

Don't Skip Breakfast

For those who always skip breakfast, you should stop that habit now! You've heard many times that "Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." Now, recent research confirms that one of the worst practices you can develop may be avoiding breakfast because the frequency of heart attacks, sudden death, and stroke peaks between 6:00 a.m. and noon, with the highest incidence being between 8:00a.m. and 10:00a.m. What mechanism within the body would be responsible for this significant jump in sudden death during the early morning hours?

Platelets, tiny elements in the blood that keep us from bleeding to death if we get a cut, can clump together inside our arteries due to cholesterol or plaque build-up in the artery linings. It is in the morning hours that platelets are most activated and tend to form these internal blood clots at the greatest frequency.However, eating even a very light breakfast prevents the morning platelet activation associated with heart attacks and strokes. Studies performed at Memorial University in St. Johns, Newfoundland found that eating a light, very low-fat breakfast would help in modifying the morning platelet activation. Subjects in the study consumed either low-fat or fat-free yogurt, orange juice, fruits, with source of protein coming from yogurt or fat-free milk.

So if you skip breakfast, it's important that you stop this practice immediately in the light of findings from this research. Develop a simple plan to eat cereals, such as oatmeal or Bran Flakes, along with six ounces of grape juice or orange juice, and if possible a fruit or two. This simple plan will keep your platelets from sticking together, keep blood clots from forming, and perhaps prevent a potential Heart Attack or stroke. So don’t ever skip breakfast.

5 Don'ts When You Are Sleeping

1. Don't Sleep with Watch
Watches can emit a certain level of radioactivity. Though small, but if you wear your watch to bed for a long time, it might have adverse effects on your health.

2. Don't Sleep with Phone

Putting the phone beside your bed or anywhere near you are not encouraged. Though some of us will use phones as alarm clocks, but please put the phone as far as possible. Scientists have proved that electrical items including mobile phone and television sets emit magnetic waves when used. These waves can cause disruptions to our nervous system. Therefore if you need to put your mobile phone near you, switch it off first.

3. Don't Sleep with Make-up
People who sleep with make up might have skin problems in the long run. Sleeping with make up will cause the skin to have difficulty in breathing and problem in perspiring. You will also need a much longer time to go into deep sleep.

4. Don't Sleep with Bra
Scientists in America have discovered those that wear bras for more than 12 hours have a higher risk of getting breast cancer. So go to bed without it.

5. Don't Sleep with Others' Spouse
You may never wake up again (joke).