HELPING YOUR HEART: KEEP NORMAL WEIGHT
Your heart may be strong enough to perform many functions singly, but if it is called upon to perform several simultaneously, it may not be able to do so and trouble will result.The worst possible combination would be for a cardiac patient to eat a large meal at noon, go outside immediately and dig in his garden in the hot sun, and then become enraged with his wife or neighbor over some trifle. To understand the reasons for this also helps explain the common news items in our papers about persons who developed a heart attack while shoveling snow. With these facts in mind, the post-coronary patient can save himself a great deal of trouble. To be forewarned is to be forearmed. A basic underlying rule for such patients should be to avoid unnecessary mental or physical strains.We cannot do a great deal to change the basic situation. It is impossible for us to replace the scarred tissue remnant of previous living muscle with new muscle. The changes that have occurred as a result of the aging process cannot be reversed. Although in some instances the coronary blood vessels can be operated upon and blood flow can be increased through the vessels, in many instances this cannot be done. How fortunate it is, indeed, that the patient may have a powerful weapon at his disposal to overcome his own situation and increase his life span. That weapon is moderation.The person who weighs 200 pounds demands more from his heart when he walks down the street at a leisurely pace than the person who weighs 150 pounds. Each of those 50 additional pounds requires increased blood flow. A great many coronary patients in our society are grossly overweight. If this excess weight is lost, if the person is trimmed down to bare muscle and bone, he can increase his reserve heart capacity and thereby be able to do a great deal more without symptoms of cardiac trouble. When your doctor tells you to lose 20 or 30 pounds, he means it for your good. The rewards are enormous and may possibly be measured in months and years of additional life.*14/309/5*
