Don’t lose heart, strive to lead a normal life

Cardiac specialist says heart patients must strive to retain their ability to live a normal life

Hyderabad: The moment individuals suffer a heart attack or undergo heart surgery, their scope of physical movement gets curtailed quickly. Often, they are urged to take rest at home and avoid much physical and mental exertion.

If such patients stay at home for long durations, they not only risk losing their livelihood but also could end up unknowingly doing more harm than good to their heart’s condition.

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“Society in general makes a negative assumption that it’s too risky for heart patients to lead a normal active life. A sense of fear against leading an active lifestyle is instilled among patients and this mindset has to change,” says senior cardiologist from Hyderabad, Dr Muralidhar Babi.

The cardiac rehab specialist, who has enabled a large number of heart patients in Hyderabad to bounce back, says that heart patients must strive to retain their ability to live a normal life.

“If patients lead a sedentary life after a heart episode, then there are chances that they might suffer a second or third heart attack. It’s important for them to get back their ability to earn their living after such health setbacks and this is possible,” he said.
Can heart attack patients lead normal life?

Under supervised guidance, heart patients can work towards strengthening their heart muscles by leading an active lifestyle, says Dr Muralidhar, who has founded the CardiacRehab facility in Hyderabad.

Recently, a 37-year-old cab driver, Parshuram Bheempal, who experienced a heart attack and his ejection fraction, which is the percentage of blood pumped out of the heart with each heartbeat, dropped to an alarming 41, managed to rejoin his work.

“I worked tirelessly with a lot of discipline to strengthen my heart muscles. Today, EF has improved to 52, which has allowed me to regain my job,” he says.

Through his facility, Dr Muralidhar, a strong believer in the mantra of exercise being the best medicine, has developed a protocol to rehabilitate heart patients.

“For three months, I dedicated myself to the rigorous programme of Cardiac Rehab to regain my heart strength. I suffered a heart attack in April 2021 and today I can run a 10K effortlessly. This has helped me to join my profession after two-year of hiatus,” says Surendra, a manager by profession.

Dr Muralidhar points out that a lot of heart patients also make the mistake of taking up tough physical work without the supervision of doctors. “There is a need of leading an active life under the supervision and guidance of doctors,” he says.