Changes in lifestyle, environment can help balance life and release stress

Ankush Tewari (name changed), 36, a sales executive with a hardware company, had come to my OPD the other day. He had had a heart attack a year ago, and an emergency angioplasty with stent had been performed. In the last month, he again started developing extreme chest discomfort on walking. A repeat angiogram showed two new blockages of 90 per cent and 70 per cent. Tewari was scared, worried and hoping for a solution, as he believed his life was coming to an end.

I asked him about his lifestyle, and was disappointed: at a young age, he was in a very high-pressure job where survival and growth in business meant spending time with clients, taking them out for dinner and drinks, late-night partying, with smoking and alcohol. But now, looking at his two-year-old daughter and his young wife, he seemed so helpless. Well, Tewari had two more stents and is back in action, but clearly intent on a change in lifestyle and, importantly, to balance out his life and change his job profile.

Stress is known to release harmful hormones in the blood called endorphins, which cause constriction of the blood vessels, a fast heart rate leading to high blood pressure as well as change to the inner lining of arteries leading to buildup of cholesterol, causing thickening or clotting of blood leading to 'heart attacks'. When stress is constant, the body remains tense for days at a time. While this causes some people to smoke and drink in an attempt to release stress, both actually make the situation worse by increasing blood pressure and damaging arterial walls further.

Changes in lifestyle and environment- change in, say, jobs-regular exercise, yoga, meditation, spirituality, hobbies and short regular holidays, among others, help in balancing out life and releasing stress and its harmful effects on the heart.

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