How to power your life

October 04, 2016 01:32 am | Updated November 01, 2016 10:41 pm IST

Ask any hardcore substance addict (try this only when they are sober) how his or her very first experience was, and they will for sure tell you it was not a very pleasant one. The violent cough of the first puff, the distaste of the first sip, the bitterness of the powder, hits them first; the feel-good factor and ecstasy that ends up in an unbreakable bond comes slowly, and much later. That’s why we urge you to start the new addiction programme now, whatever be the initial hiccups.

Every patient is different, from shy and submissive to bold and aggressive; some are dead scared of injections while others go in for heart surgery with a smile. But the ‘argumentative’ types are special and the most difficult to handle; give them a piece of advice and they would be ready with an instant counter-argument. But it is these argumentative ones who teach the old doctors a new trick or two, by asking odd and embarrassing questions, forcing us to dig up old medical journals or try surfing the Net. That’s exactly what happened when this young man asked me: “I am not overweight, neither do I have diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease. Then why do you want me to exercise?” The answer to that question is far from simple.

fMRI, or functional Magnetic Resonance Imaging, is a system that can track blood circulation and show the intensity of activation of a localised area of the brain during a specific activity. Reading, for example, activates the occipital cortex, speaking lights up the speech area, while decision-making switches on the frontal cortex.

In a study researchers looked into the fMRI pattern in those who do regular exercise, and found that a ‘C’-shaped structure, the caudate nucleus, a part of the basal ganglia, become highly active. This is caused by flooding of that area by a neurotransmitter called dopamine. This area is the reward area of the brain, and such activation makes the person feel happy. They also discovered that exercise released a hormone called BDNF (Brain Derived Neurotrophic Factor) and endorphins, which resulted in such activation. While BDNF neutralised stress, endorphins took away the pain and fatigue of the exercise. But what stumped the researchers was that the pattern of activation matched the fMRI imaging pattern of a nicotine or cocaine addict. The fMRI image of a cocaine addict who is high and a health freak doing exercise had an uncanny similarity from the perspective of neurochemistry and brain imaging.

Lack of exercise is a technology problem. Today we don’t even walk to our neighbour to chat; we pick up the mobile instead. And then there is the lure of sitting back at home knowing that the world of entertainment is just a click away, right in front of us, in our bedroom on LCD TV in high definition.

Some 150 minutes of exercise a week translates into 30 minutes a day for five days a week, which you can split it up into two 15 minute sessions of brisk walking. And that 15 minutes of apparent ‘waste-of-time’ would not only reduce your ‘waist-in-time’ but also reduce the chances of your developing high blood pressure, diabetes, heart disease and stroke, each by 30 per cent. A similar reduction of chance of depression and consequent improvement of self-confidence would be a bonus. For the eight-to-five creatures, who claim to be too busy, we advise them to walk or cycle to office.

The theme of World Heart Day, which fell last week on September 29, was, ‘power your life’ and stay heart healthy. You can do that by getting hooked on to a new addiction – ‘daily exercise’. All you need is to hold on till the initial hiccough is over – and then it would be bliss. No legal restrictions, side-effects or withdrawal problems.

“You also might catch some new Pokémon,” added my son.

( Dr. Tiny Nair is a cardiologist.tinynair@gmail.com )

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