Dr. P K Sasidharan
One more sudden death and I feel terribly sorry again thinking that I couldn’t help them.
After my son’s close friend who disappeared suddenly last week, now it is a 45 year young neurosurgeon who had gone for a car rally. After second round of car rally, it seems he got down the car for drinking water and suddenly had a massive heart attack and collapsed. He was taken to nearby hospital but he passed away on the way itself.
I remember one house surgeon who died due to acute myocardial infarction during a stressful situation, he was smoking too to relieve the stress.
Every such premature death should remind us of what we all should do in the society to prevent these unfortunate events happening again and again.
These events are just tips of the iceberg only.
These events did not happen that day.
They were walking around with this and all these can be predicted easily by studying the people for the abnormalities in their diet and lifestyle and all that we need to do is to modify the abnormalities.
One to one relation to the abnormality identified is difficult to obtain hence people don’t believe these useful tips.
Why such sudden deaths happen? We can say that was a massive heart attack- Or after autopsy we would say the whole right or left coronary artery was blocked- but why? Did it develop on that day? It was evolving slowly over months and years and one particular event just gave a mild push to unmask it
It is due to the unrecognised and accumulated slow changes that had been happening for months and years and finally evolving into a catastrophic event with some apparently minor provocations.
The provocation could be not taking enough water or being stressed too much and working without adequate rest and sleep.
The most important lifestyle abnormality that could be identified in such people is eating excess carbohydrates or it could be not eating a balanced diet providing the most essential macronutrient and micronutrients.
The commonest abnormality that I have identified is not eating vegetables and fruits regularly and eating excess carbohydrates and or using tobacco products.
Incidentally a heavy meal prior or dehydration that could precipitate the catastrophic event which was evolving over time.
Besides smoking, and dietary abnormalities it could be sedentary habits and unmanaged stress that lead to these events.
We should all be concerned about these minor unnoticed aberrations in our habits rather than spending hard earned money on so called wellness centres, Cath labs and transplant centres alone.
To all my friends here…
Do drink enough water every day (2.5 litres per day)
Ensure adequate ventilation in places of stay and work- adequate oxygen is more important than water.
Engage in some physical activity regularly and avoid weight gain and maintain normal body weight.
Reduce intake of carbohydrates in any form and increase high fibre vegetables instead at each meal( even if there is pesticide residue) and include fresh fruits regularly in the diet- attaching a diet chart which I have made and published already in my books.
Always ensure adequate rest and sleep.
Learn to manage your stress- you will get enough tips from your good family doctors.
Avoid eating the wrong foods and at wrong times and never eat to full stomach.
Let us make footpaths, cycle paths and public places for exercise rather than building wellness centres, health clubs and yoga centres.
The heroes in health care these days are people who do bye pass surgeries, transplants or those who run yoga centres and wellness centres where the benefits go to some occasional individuals and the benefits can be estimated and measured.
Let us engage in works where the benefits go more to the people and the society, where it is not easy to estimate the benefits.
You can’t have cath- labs at home or in the car to save these patients
But we can certainly have trained, dedicated and competent family doctors working in the community setting accessible to every family and individuals to scientifically modify their diet and lifestyle.
These diseases were evolving slowly due to the lifestyle abnormalities, it would have been the dehydration that acted as the final trigger in the neurosurgeon, it could be smoking or the undue stress sometimes that was the final trigger.
Let us focus on balanced diet and good lifestyle.
Sudden deaths in young individuals- why and what should we do?
