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As
a thousand tonnes of steel glide smoothly down the Khandala ghats, a
new sound resonates and echoes in the tunnels. The sound of yoga. It is
Durge leading his regular co-passengers on the Sinhagarh Express into
pranayama.
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Durge
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The
first of March circa 2006 is a date Shatrughan Shankar Durge is
unlikely to forget for the rest of his life.
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On
that day he had a heart attack.
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For
many people who survive a heart attack, it signifies the beginning of
the end. For Durge, it was the beginning of peak, athletic fitness.
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Everyday
(except Sunday) since 07/07/06, six weeks into my "heart bypass without
surgery" programme, Durge’s daily workout at the crack of
dawn, consists of 90 minutes of brisk walking, climbing 10 floors and
40 minutes of yoga in the evening.
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Background
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Durge
is 50, has studied upto the fifth standard and works as a private
courier on a salary of Rs 3,750/- per month. He stays in Lonavla and
comes to the Mumbai office of his company daily He has a wife and two
sons aged 10 and 17. Durge has been hypertensive (high blood pressure)
since the last four years and a type2 diabetic for a couple of years.
He is on medication for both conditions
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What
happened
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A
few hours after reaching office on March 1st, 2006 (01/03/06), Durge
started feeling uneasy. Thinking it was gas, he had a soda. But after a
while he started sweating, getting a severe pain in the chest, left arm
and back. His boss and colleagues took him to a neighbouring
cardiologist Umesh Thakker, MD, who took an ECG (electrocardiogram) and asked them to
rush him to hospital. Observe from the doctor’s notations
that he mentions "acute infarction" (heart attack) and the blood
pressure reads 170/120.
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Durge
was admitted to the Asian Heart Institute which operates in association
with The Cleveland Clinic Foundation of USA. The hospital confirmed the
doctor’s diagnosis that Durge had a MI (myocardial
infarction/heart attack)
(click to see report-2). After four days
when his condition became stable, Durge was discharged at his own
request (click to see report-2 and 2a).
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Durge’s
family doctor in Lonavla, Sachin Bhise, MD, sent him to Ruby Hall
Clinic hospital in Pune, where Suhas Hardas, MD, did an angiography (click to see report-3 and 3a). This
showed one artery was blocked 100 percent, another 95 percent, a third
80 percent and the fourth 60 percent. He was asked to undergo a CABG
(bypass operation) surgery immediately or he would be risking his life (click to see report-3a).
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Where
was the money to come from, thought Durge, his world crashing around
him. Durge sat at home for over two months, worrying and brooding,
while his friends and relatives managed to collect Rs 90,000/-, not
even half the amount required for the operation. It did occur to me
that I could rob a bank, says Durge, but the idea had to be banished
because every 10 yards I needed to pop a sorbitrate under the tongue.
Is there another option, another alternative, wondered Durge. Can my
clogged and blocked arteries be opened without surgery, can the heart
bypass operation be avoided? Is there a heart bypass without surgery?
Questions and doubts tormented Durge, his mind was in a mess. Unknown
to Durge, the gods had heeded his wife's prayers, his turmoil was about
to end.
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Durge
resumed work on 11/05/06 otherwise he would have lost his job. He
walked very slowly but still needed to take a few sorbitrates
sub-lingually daily. In the last week of May (27/05/06) Durge came to
meet me.
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On
that very day itself, I started Durge on my Yoga Bypass Programme by
teaching him a string of pranayamas. Durge took about a week to get
them right. I asked him to do a glycosylated hemoglobin test and to get
a glucometer. He did the test on 01/06/06 (click to see report-4) but told me he
could not afford to spend nearly a month’s salary on a
glucometer.
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From
the 11th of June (11/06/06) Durge did not get the angina pain again and
stopped taking sorbitrate. On the 18th of June (18/06/06), for the
first time since his heart attack, Durge walked for a full 60 minutes.
The pace wasn’t brisk, but it wasn’t slow either.
On the 7th of July (07/07/06), Durge walked for 90 minutes at a brisk
pace and then climbed 10 floors. This was done alongside me in Mumbai.
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been
accomplished within six weeks. I asked him to get a second angiogram
done. When I have the money, I'll get the angiography done and buy a
glucometer as well, Durge replied. Fair enough. |
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Durge
is a happy man today and admits that it won’t be necessary to
rob a bank after all.
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| Postscript: So did Durge manage to collect money
to do a second angiogram? Did the second angiography provide MEDICAL
PROOF that "heart bypass without surgery" was possible or, in other
words, that blocked arteries could be opened without surgery? |
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| The answer to both the questions is YES. |
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| Durge did the second angiography on September
20th, 2006 (20/09/2006). Of the four arteries which were blocked 100
percent, 95 percent, 80 percent and 60 percent, only the one blocked
100 percent reduced to a blockage of about 80 percent. The blockage in
the other three arteries had been wiped clean. Since Durge continues
his daily workout protocol till today (90 minutes of race-walking, 40
minutes of yoga and climbing 10 floors, six days a week), the fourth
artery also must have become clear within the next four weeks or so. |
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| Since Durge continues his daily workout protocol
till today (90 minutes of race-walking, 40 minutes of yoga and climbing
10 floors, six days a week), the fourth artery also must have become
clear within the next four weeks or so. Durge and I are willing to take
on anyone willing to pay for a third angiography and lay a big wager
that his arteries are totally clear and would put the inside of a
well-oiled rifle barrel to shame. |
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| The moral of the story is that heart bypass without operation, without trauma, without risk is here to stay. |
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Medical proof that clogged
arteries can be opened easily without surgery.
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