The president-elect of the Indian Association of Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeons and the Chief Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgeon at Wockhardt Hospitals, Bangalore and Director of Wockhardt Hospitals India Ltd, Dr Jawli was recently conferred with the ‘Award for Medical Excellence in India’ by Harvard University. 

Dr Jawli’s claim to fame also includes over 15,000 surgeries to date, apart from a host of awards. This year’s theme for World Heart Day is ‘Team up for health hearts’. Excerpts from the chat...

What is your prescription to Bangaloreans to keep heart diseases at bay?

A very concise advice—go back to the Indian way of life. It involved sleeping early, bathing early,  chanting of mantras, meditation, performing yoga and having a well-balanced diet. All these have had a scientific basis. There is a great deal of breathing exercises involved during chanting which is very good for health. A research paper in the New England Journal of Medicine has proved that the chanting of Homer’s ‘The Iliad’ caused a significant reduction in cardiovascular risk factors. A study was carried out for a period of 18 months on people who performed chanting and those who did not.

What is the prevalent rate of heart diseases in the City?

Any statistical figure would be wholly incorrect as usually what is reported is minimal and that unmentioned is quite a lot. The incidence of coronary artery disease in Bangalore is on the rise, unlike developed western cities.

As there is no reliable data, a very rough estimate is that the incidence of heart diseases in urban Karnataka is about 11 for every thousand and in rural Karnataka it is slightly lesser, say 7 or 8 per thousand. 

However, what is really disheartening is that the age of heart diseases is lowering and the nature of the disease is becoming more virulent. Again, when compared with North Indians, South Indians seem to have a more unfavourable form of the disease with smaller coronary arteries.

 They have more diffuse forms of the atherosclerotic disease. In layman terms, this means many will be less suitable for Angioplasties or stenting and may require bypass surgeries which will be demanding technically.

Do you think the kind of lifestyle led by the youth these days make them easy victims to heart diseases?

Not really. If we look at the youngsters today, having a trim, good body is in. Many have a habit of frequenting the gym. Smoking was a fad in my teens but is not considered something great now. Today, people are health-conscious and the Lalbagh and Cubbon Park are packed with walkers and joggers in the mornings which was never the case earlier.

What about the alcohol indulgence?
Well, pure alcohol is not the culprit. What happens is that anyone who drinks also indulges in a lot of unaccounted junk food contributing to high cholesterol levels. The other drinks had along with it and snacks definitely boost up the calorie content in the body.

Are women still on the safer side with respect to heart diseases?

Of course, women are inherently protected due to their hormones. However, the stress of nuclear families, changing life styles, smoking and reduced physical activities is taking a toll on their health. The women in previous generations did so much of physical work within their homes and surroundings even without realising it and this enabled them maintain their health.