“I do not eat oily food at all and do yoga everyday. I still have a block in my heart. Why?”
I have lived a very simple life without basic food and no extra oils. I also practice yoga everyday. However, recently I have been diagnosed with 2 blockages in my heart. Why?
5 Answers
The risk is mainly genetic, but you can guard against it by:
1) checking that your blood pressure is normal or low (less than 125/80) and treating it if not
2) taking a statin regularly
3) obviously, not smoking
Oily foods do NOT increase the risk; regular moderate exercise (but not just yoga) does reduce it. You have to remember that it is quite natural to die of coronary disease and if you're over 40, evolution is "not interested in" keeping you alive. So, unnatural drug treatment is worthwhile if you want to live to a ripe old age.
1) checking that your blood pressure is normal or low (less than 125/80) and treating it if not
2) taking a statin regularly
3) obviously, not smoking
Oily foods do NOT increase the risk; regular moderate exercise (but not just yoga) does reduce it. You have to remember that it is quite natural to die of coronary disease and if you're over 40, evolution is "not interested in" keeping you alive. So, unnatural drug treatment is worthwhile if you want to live to a ripe old age.
Heart disease occurs for many reasons including diet, exercise and lifestyle but genetics is often dominant and may not be impacted by the things you are doing. Leading a healthy lifestyle still reduces the risk of heart disease even when there is genetics working against you. If you did not do the things you did, you may have ended up with even more blockages at an even younger age.
Julia G. Ansari
Cardiologist
There are other risk factors such as family history of heart disease, aging, and others like diabetes, high blood pressure, kidney disease, and smoking that increase the risk of having coronary disease. It is great that you eat well and exercise, but you can't change your genetics, and as we all get older, aging is our most important risk for developing coronary disease. Think of it as a 50-year-old house that might have been maintained well, but even after 50 years, you start having plumbing issues, roof coming down, etc. At the end of the day, it is wear and tear!