Keeping the Doctor Away

Photo: Prabir Das

Are you constantly fretting over the pounds you have put on? Your anxiety  is quite common. In this city of air conditioned cubicles and corporate offices thousands of people are leading a life full of stress: their anxiety is not only about their office stub but also about the layers of fat they are adding to their body. Fitness is a matter of huge concern around the world, mostly among urbanised people. Crowds of joggers in parks of Dhaka are enough to tell us how serious the issue has become.
Nowadays thousands of joggers of all ages turn the park's walkways into racing tracks. Their sole aim is to burn some extra calories to keep themselves fit. Obesity, hypertension and diabetes are some of the most common diseases of the richer city dwellers who lead a sedentary life.  
Balanced diet and a nutritious meal play a major role to prevent the extra flab. Our taste for spicy food, coupled with the ever increasing appetite for high calorie fast food, is proportionately increasing the future patients of diabetes, hypertension and obesity. Chowdhury Tasneem Hasin, chief nutritionist of dietetics and nutrition department of United Hospital Limited says, “Diet related diseases are the leading cause of many fatal cardiovascular problems. Obesity, hypertension and high blood cholesterol are closely associated with it. To make people conscious we have organised awareness some raising sessions in different offices including The Daily Star on the occasion of the World Health Day.”
Like many other fatal diseases obesity can also be fatal and it is now considered the greatest single health hazard. And the only thing that causes obesity is an unbalanced and irregular diet. Hasin says, “A little awareness can save us from a fatal ailment. A controlled diet containing saturated fat and an increase in fruit and vegetables in your daily menu will do. It is not necessary to take costly foreign fruits like apple and orange, our local fruits are also rich in minerals and vitamins.” In one of these sessions a very practical question came from the audience, “Can you suggest any food which will curb fat?”
Many people actually think that there may be some mysterious diet which we can take as much as we want and in return it will decrease fat. Dr AM Shafique, an expert cardiologist of United Hospital Limited replies, “No, there is no food on earth which can reduce fat. Intake of food will only increase calorie, what we can do only is to control our way of food intake.”

Photo: Prabir Das

However nutritionist Tasneem Hasin gives some tips in this regard. She says, “It is true that no food can reduce belly fat which is the stiffest fatty tissue of human body. But what we can try is to increase the intake of fibrous food. Fibrous food needs elongated churning movement of the stomach. This elongated muscle movement in abdomen can contribute to reduce this fat.”
Unbalanced diet is also a major contributing factor for hypertension. Hypertension is persistently elevated blood pressure and it is one of the most prevalent cardiovascular problems. It is also common among children and teens who can get it from their parents. One of the fatal consequences of hypertension is stroke and heart failure which occur with acute pain in the chest.
A member of the audience has asked, “Doctor, I feel pain in my chest several times. Which pain should I consider seriously and which indicates a serious stroke or heart failure?” Dr AM Shafique says, “Every pain in the chest can be serious. Some of them can be caused by gastric. But acute pain in the left chest with sweating is the common symptom of heart failure and stroke. A patient with pain in the chest with sweating must be taken to the hospital as soon as possible.”
To avoid such possibilities, we must have a balanced diet. And it is not very difficult. Maintaining a 'sober' lifestyle is the key, which means you must avoid the habit of drinking and smoking. Tobacco and alcoholic beverage are one of the major causes of high blood pressure. They have also been proved fatal for the diabetic patients.  
Maintaining a sound life with a regular physical exercise can help prevent these health hazards. Leading a balanced life can indeed keep the doctor away.

The writer can be contacted at shahnawaz.khan@thedailystar.net