Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU, Mar 6: An extra-large body needs an extra-large amount of blood. When you gain weight, your heart has to pump more blood than it did before. Instead of beating more often, the heart grows slightly larger so it can move more blood with each beat. The increased flow often leads to high blood pressure, which is a major cause of heart disease.
This vital information was shared by Head, Department of Cardiology in the Government Medical College and Super-speciality Hospital (GMC&SSH) Jammu Dr. Sushil Sharma while interacting with commoners during a day-long camp at Gorakh Nagar here today. He said: “Even if your blood pressure doesn’t climb, your heart can suffer from extra workload.
“When the chambers of the heart grow larger, they slowly lose some of their squeezing power. Eventually, they may not be able to completely empty themselves with each beat. As blood starts pooling in your heart, you can develop congestive heart failure.” He maintained that excess body fat can set off a cascade of other changes in the body that raises the risk of heart trouble.
“If the fat is distributed in the midsection, the risk is higher; a waist measurement of more than 35 inches in women and 40 inches in men spells an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Large amounts of belly fat can blunt the effects of insulin, making you vulnerable to type 2 diabetes, a condition that seriously threatens the heart,” said Dr. Sushil. He was of the opinion that extra fat in the body can also lead to extra fat in the blood.
Dr. Sushil said that overweight people often have high levels of artery-clogging LDL cholesterol and if too much cholesterol sticks to your arteries, a condition called atherosclerosis, you can suffer a heart attack or a stroke. He added that extra weight can also be a sign that you’re hurting your heart in other ways and many people are overweight because they eat high-fat diets and shun exercise.
Dr. Sushil stressed that other people who gained weight with pregnancy and age have found it difficult to get back on an exercise regimen. “No matter how much you weigh, fat-filled foods and lack of exercise can damage your arteries and weaken your heart. Finally, even taking into account its contribution to high blood pressure, excess cholesterol, and glucose intolerance, obesity alone is still associated with an increased risk of heart disease,” added Dr. Sushil.
Along with Dr. Sushil Sharma, team of Doctors which screened the patients included Dr. Mohi Kalsotra, Dr. Dhaneshwar Kapoor, Dr. Achint Singh, Dr Jasleena and Dr. Atul Sharma. Paramedics and Volunteers who were part of the team included Kashmiri Lal, Kamal Kishore, Sanjay Sharma, Gaurav Sharma, Vikas Kumar, Rajeev Vohra and Aman Gupta.
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