Archive for the ‘Personal’ Category

An alternative to Heart Transplant

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

Why reconstructing a patient’s own heart better tan replacing it with a new one. Now, you may not have to join the long queue for a donor heart to replace your own flagging one. A surgical procedure that fixes failing hearts may just save your life. A decade ago, a patient with a damage heart had no option but to wait for a heart donor. With the introduction of SVR, the list of heart transplant candidates has been trimmed down.

Now, a patient’s enlarged heart can be made smaller and remodeled from a round shape to its natural pear shape. It is essential to reduce the size and shape of the heart as close as possible to the original to make it work properly again. Think of it as an overhauled engine. It is better to live with your own rebuilt heart than with another person’s organ, which requires medications that compromise immunity.

Cycle of Life

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

Fitness gurus advise that just 30 minutes of exercise daily. In my frenetic world, I try to squeeze in time for some leg work. Instead of riding, I walk the 15 minute distance from our house to the nearest grocery and then walk back home when I’m done shopping. That already takes care of my day’s exercise quota. On Sundays, walking to church and back gets me 50 minutes of cardio workout. Experts have expressed concern that large and small cities worldwide are increasingly becoming hostile to pedestrians. And my neighborhood is no exception; most people I know would now rather take their car or ride a tricycle than use their bikes or legs to get around. Why? Because walking or biking in city a street poses hazards to one’s health.

In our own little way we can do much to promote more pedestrian-friendly communities. If you’re an officer in your homeowners associations or a member of your council, you can initiate tree-planting projects or building of benches or ledges to enhance people to walk.