It has been 8 years since I was diagnosed with Heart Disease (Coronary Artery Disease). My blood tests were mostly normal and there were no real red flags. And yet, there I was: at the 98th percentile of calcification of my arteries for my age.
Once I was over the initial shock, I realized I was actually incredibly lucky. Cardiovascular disease accounts for more deaths (32%) than the next 4 biggest causes of death combined (all the cancers, respiratory disease, diabetes and dementia). According to Stanford Health, among South Asians, heart attacks are happening earlier (25% of heart attacks occur under age 40, and 50% occur under age 50) and with higher mortality rates (there is a 40% higher chance of mortality from heart attacks among South Asians than the average population).
It led to me making a lot of changes to my lifestyle (food, exercise, sleep) in ways that did not require me to give up eating and doing all the things I love. To ensure my changes were medically, scientifically and nutritionally sound, I worked very closely with a number of amazing clinicians, dietitians and exercise trainers.
I am sharing a few of the improvements I have seen in my health parameters through this journey to demonstrate how effective these changes have been while being quite simple to implement. Moving forward, I will share my learnings and observations on these interventions through my GeneClinicX Instagram account and on my LinkedIn account, that I hope can help those of you that are looking for sustainable and fun ways to stay or become healthy. Your feedback and questions are very welcome!
82 comments
Piyush Pandey: Wow. I need to get this checked.
Nickhil Jakatdar: Piyush pls do asap! Hopefully, it’s all good news but not worth putting off for later just in case because that just in case for South Asians is often enough.
Srivatsa Udupa: Always love your insights NJ !!! Amazing story. 👏… Where I fail (miserably) is the consistency and discipline 😞
Nickhil Jakatdar: Thanks Vatsa! My biggest takeaway is that most of my interventions were very easy and fun to follow so the discipline needed is not much.
Amit Wadhwa: Congratulations and proud of your great attitude towards life.
Kedar Deo: Amazing, all I need is the will power like you do.
Pauline de Visser: That is an amazing accomplishment! Thanks for sharing, you inspire me 🙂
Nickhil Jakatdar: Pauline, Thank you. That means a lot.