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Heart and Cardiovascular Diseases in Women? {Women Stuff}

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Today is World’s Heart Day. So, I am borrowing this article from The Hindu Magazine, September 23, 2012. They had published a small article on how to take care of the heart. I shall try not to infringe on the copyright and am again asserting that this post may end up being a copy of the article. So, the entire credit for the post goes to the Hindu newspaper.

Symptoms of CVD in women

feeling of discomfort between breasts or behind breastbone
pain radiating over arms, back, neck, jaw or stomach
shortness of breath, weakness or fatigue
unusual anxiety or nervousness
indigestion or nausea 
sudden sweating, dizziness and collapse

Cardiovascular diseases are getting more prominent in women. Its no longer a man’s disease!!!Its especially dangerous if you smoke, drink or lead a sedentary life or have high blood pressure or sugar or cholesterol levels or are under huge amount of stress due to personal and professional problems.
In fact, even children are at risk from the condition called Cogenital Heart Defect. The improper development of heart during the pregnancy can result in this. Mothers who do not take care of themselves or their diet during pregnancy have a high risk of having children with this defect. Also, if you are a diabetic, your child is prone to heart-related problems.

How to Prevent?
Be physically active!!! Walk or exercise daily.
Avoid salt, sugar and fatty foods. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables. 
Maintain a healthy weight.  
Quit smoking and avoid respiratory irritants. 
Limit or stop alcohol. 
If you have lung problem, get influenza vaccination annually. 

The reason for these heart diseases are mainly the fatty deposits on the walls of the arteries. Interestingly, these deposits may occur on both the inner walls as well as the outer walls. And, in fact, there is absolutely no cure to remove the deposits on the Outer walls of the arteries so that makes weight management and diet a very important consideration in life.
If the arteries are blocked even partially due to these deposits, the blood flow is not smooth to the heart and heart may fall short of adequate oxygen and other nutrients needed to function properly. When this blockage gets severe, it can result in heart attack. Women of 50-52 are at more risk and especially if there has been a family history of coronary diseases.

So, how do you take care of your heart?

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Do you stop in middle of your exercises? {Your Opinion}

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This question is prompted by two facts. One of my friends with whom I regularly go for a walk always gets tired by the end of fourth round and prefers to sit down before continuing. We walk on a walking track of around 750 metres on which we prefer to take four rounds every night. Also, I have another friend whom I used to accompany occasionally on her walking trips and she used to totally halt in between the walks because she used to get tired. And, no it never used to be brisk or on a very difficult terrain either and not long even (around just 1km) and she always had jogging shoes on!!!

Yes, I do feel bad for people who are young and can’t walk even that much. This is when I always realize how important it is to be physically active because I do not desire to be in either of my above-mentioned friend’s place. I am lazy and that’s where it all ends. But, I just wanted you to ask if you stop in between when you are doing any mild form of exercise. Also, it opens up an interesting theory which I have been meaning to share with you all since quite long.

Did you know that when you are exercising, it is advised to vary your paces with time. So, for example, if you are walking, start slowly and then work up to a brisk walking pace and then suddenly slow your pace to slow walk and then keep on varying the speeds of your walk. Likewise, when you are cycling, going from vigorous to light to medium to heavy to vigorous is recommended. The reason is it improves stamina and burns more calories. But, at any point of time, stopping the exercise in between is never EVER recommended. If you are used to doing so, never ever do that!!! Always start slow and end slowly and if you feel you are tired, slow down but NEVER STOP.

So, for how long do you take your walks or keep your exercises going? Do you prefer to stop or vary your paces?

PS: For all the book lovers, check out my review of “The Krishna Key”, the latest anthropological thriller by Ashwin Sanghi here. Looking forward to seeing you there 🙂

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Dare to Change : Chuck gadgets away while walking

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So, this is specially for people who care to take a walk daily or even on weekends. I do try to maintain a routine of taking a walk everyday but yes, I do get tired sometimes and skip it. Sometimes, I am purely lazy as well. But, whenever I am out for walk, I have noticed a trend that many people walk/jog with their i-pods or mobiles plugged in their ears or if they are walking, they are carrying out a phone conversation most of the time. 
I do understand why people do it because I myself do it, in fact. It gets boring or monotonous to do exercise without having anyone with you so most of the time I also prefer to be on phone. But, I have also noticed that when I walk without having phones or anything to while away my time, I felt more peaceful and felt as if I did spend my time doing something worthwhile and the walk also refreshes me a lot. 
Otherwise, I don’t feel refreshed at all. So, probably, having something else dominate your mind while doing exercise is not a good idea. Try ditching phones and i-pods while doing exercise, especially, walks. This way you also connect with nature and enjoy the walks completely. Also, another issue which is important is that using head phones in the ears increases bacterial growth in the ears. So, try to reduce their usage as much as possible.
Do you go for walk? Do you also pass your time with FM’s and songs?
Previous Dare to Change challenges: