KEEPING THE HEART HEALTHY

Until the 1960s, heart disease was observed only in affluent people aged 60 years or more.

But by the 1990s, doctors had begun seeing heart patients who were in their forties, and even thirties, and they came from different sections of society. Several studies around that time found that the prevalence of heart disease in individuals with Type A personality constantly stressed because of their work or the pressure of time, perfectionists, cynics who found fault with others, sensitive and aggressive types was three to four times higher than the general population. People with anger, depression, and those unable to vent their feelings, also had higher incidence of heart problems.

Today, heart disease is reported more in young and middle-aged people than in the elderly. I have seen numerous cases of patients who underwent angioplasty to open blocked arteries, or had bypass surgery following a heart attack, and some months later they were back with complaints of chest pain or blocked blood vessels. This happened repeatedly. It was clear that conventional methods of treatment were merely palliative and did not address the root cause of the disease. But when we change the patients' lifestyle, it not only reverses their heart disease, but also every other disease of the mind and body.