I removed my heart blockage without surgery 20 years back and am still active

The heart is the most vital organ of any living being. This organ loses its powers with age and once the symptoms become visible, one seeks medical advice. The patient has to go in for medication as the medical team pores over the findings of various tests. Usually, the suggestion of the learned professionals is surgery. However, I did nothing of the sort when doctors advised that option. It happened in 2003 when I was in service. I still had one year left to retire and the doctors said – ‘don’t worry - you will not need to pay anything because the company will bear the expenses since you are still an employee.’ It did not convince me. Yes, my heart was weak. I was taken to the hospital from my office and preliminary investigation in Mumbai showed my LVEF to be far below limits. In those days, the cardiac scene was practically not there in Nashik and I had to go to Mumbai. I dreaded the very thought of lying unconscious on the operation table as surgeons tried to repair my damaged heart. I had never undergone any surgery until then and even now, there are no such scars on my body.

Well, when I returned back from Mumbai, a woman who worked in my section gave me a local Marathi magazine in which there was a medicine prescribed to improve the functions of the heart. It consisted of three ingredients. These were basil leaves, fresh lemon and ‘khadi’ shakkar. This is a form of sugar that comes in the form of lumps. I would pluck 10 to 12 basil leaves, clean them and make a paste with the ‘khadi’ shakkar using a marble-stone mortar and pestle. I would then put the paste in a cup, mix the juice of a fresh lemon and swallow the mixture on an empty stomach. Simultaneously, I would munch a pod of garlic along with my morning tea. I continued this ‘medication’ for nearly six months. When I next went for checkup in Mumbai, the LVEF value had gone up to a satisfactory level. I did not go for any surgery and am as fit as a fiddle even today. My age is 78.

Durga Puja from outside India and within –

13 Best Durga Puja in London UK 2022

14 Best Durga Puja in New York USA 2022

2022 Durga Puja Calendar for Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Tourist hotels in Puri, Darjeeling and Digha –

GosaniYatra or The Durga Puja of Puri

Darjeeling hotels brim with tourists

How Can You Enjoy Durga Puja At Affordably Priced Hotel In Digha?

Some popular stories of this blogger –

Money is flying in the wind - Kolkata could rename itself as the City of Crorepatis

Cheetahs went extinct in India in 1953 and the first batch of 12 new animals will arrive from South Africa soon

Tropical storm Kay strikes parts of Southern California with winds of over 100 mph

North Korea declares itself as a nuclear weapons state

The Royal family and the world paid tributes to Queen Elizabeth II who passed away peacefully at the age of 96

Virat Kohli scores a century against Afghanistan in Asia Cup 2022, India registers a convincing win

Bengalis of Kolkata love mouthwatering dishes and Khaibaar Pass helps them choose the best

Kolkata loves variety in foods and the Kokattans have their favorite food joints

Prince William and Kate head to school with their kids George, Charlotte and Louis

The power of tulsi leaves – it keeps at bay the pacemaker

The clinic sent their assistant to install the Holter Monitor on my wife and informed that she could carry on her normal activities and he would come next day to remove the equipment – the report would be given subsequently. This Holter monitor was a new concept in cardiac therapy – it recorded the condition and functioning of the heart on a continuous basis for 24 hours and helped the cardiologist to take a decision. In this case, the decision was ‘install a pacemaker’.

However, my wife was not willing to undergo the procedure right then in Kolkata – she wanted to return to Nashik and discuss the pros and cons with my son and with the doctors who treated her regularly. The doctors in Kolkata reluctantly agreed to let us go but, there were problems of another kind in store for us. And, that was to arrange return rail reservations. I made four trips on four successive days to the city booking office of the railways and did not succeed to get Tatkal tickets. There used to be a separate queue for senior citizens and women but, invariably, by the time I reached the counter, there was no vacancy!
Ultimately, I had to request a distant relative to arrange tickets. He was an employee of the railways and had necessary contacts and he arranged Tatkal tickets by the Howrah-Pune Duronto Express.
We reached Pune and from there our son drove us down to Nashik where we discussed the line of action based on the test results of Kolkata. My wife underwent another Holter monitoring and the hospital recommended ‘install pacemaker’.
Incidentally, the hospital had a huge display board at the entrance that read – ‘Pacemaker available on EMI basis’.
It was then that I decided to carry out the tulsi experiment on my wife. We decided to go for a walk in the morning for an hour or so and, on return, take the tulsi medication. I also began to maintain a record of the BP and Heart beat on a daily basis. And, gradually, the heart beat began to pick up.
I had succeeded in keeping at bay the pacemaker, thanks to tulsi leaves. (to be continued …),br>
A few more must reads -

Nashik Kumbhmela 2015 – a once in 12-years pilgrimage

Trip to Nashik should take in Shirdi and the Ajanta and Ellora caves

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the epic Ramayana

Nashik, a tourist center with links to the Mahabharata

Kumbhmela 2015 in Nashik – guided tours to wineries and vineyards

Nashik transforms from a place of pilgrimage to an industrial hub


Bogus tour operator charged out-of-towners $200 each way for a trip that is free

WHO says cigarette smuggling into India has increased fourfold

Marvels of technology – robotic cheetah created by MIT, it can jump over obstacles

Noise pollution leads to obesity – those living near airports or busy streets are affected

Giant barrel jellyfish 5-ft long, 3-ft diameter and weighing 5-stone each found off Dorset coast

ICU beckons me for a second time

Marriages are made in Heaven

Teen, instigated by his mother, bludgeons a Delhi bus driver to death in broad daylight

Dozens of corpses found in bamboo cages in Thai human trafficking camp