Zarafshan Shiraz, Delhi
Heart attack is the most feared event across the spectrum of chronic lifestyle diseases and unfortunately, it is quite common as reports suggest that nearly 25% of people will die of cardiovascular causes. Although huge leaps of innovation are being made in treating heart disease, this disease is far from being solved and one of the critical research outcomes in recent years has linked chronic smoldering inflammation to heart attacks.
In an interview with HT Lifestyle, Dr Kaushal Chhatrapati, Senior Interventional Cardiologist, shared, “One of the frontline drugs given to all patients with heart diseases, ‘Statins’ have an important ‘anti-inflammatory’ effect, almost as important as their cholesterol reducing property. We traditionally think of inflammation as a local problem. We get injured, say after falling down and we injure our knee. The knee gets red, and hot inflamed. However, this same smoldering inflammation can exist in our body without any injury and cause lifestyle disease. Diabetes, high blood pressure and heart attack, all is known to be caused or aggravated in some ways by chronic inflammation in our body.”
Explaining what causes this inflammatory state in our body, he revealed, “Unhealthy diet habits are one of the major inflammatory markers. A high-sugar diet, foods high in trans fats(like packaged foods and street foods like Vada Pao) and ready-to-cook meals with high sodium content and preservatives are worse for inducing chronic inflammation. Obesity by itself is a chronic inflammatory state. Lack of sleep, air pollution, mental and physical stress and a sedentary lifestyle with a lack of exercise all induce a background state of chronic inflammatory state in the body. These are the modifiable risk factors, which we can easily change in order to cleanse our bodies of inflammation.”
Suggesting tips to deal with it, he said, “Most detox diets and detox foods claim to control inflammation. These detox diets are part of the burgeoning wellness Industry and 99% of these claims are fraudulent. Drinking juice or going for a body cleansing camp will far more likely clean up your body than your inflammation. When the dust settles, the best way to control the inflammation is good old-fashioned advice your grandma always gave you: eat right, sleep tight and exercise regularly and yes, a bit of meditation and prayer threw in the mix will make the prescription just right!”
