EECP expert Dr Pranav Kabra suggests actors and bodybuilders must use EECP therapy to reduce incidence of heart attack

MUMBAI: Bodybuilders are at a greater risk of heart attack than the average male of the same age, mostly after the age of 40 because of the stress on heart muscles and the complications that set in due to the consumption of performance-enhancing drugs, steroids and other medicines, opines cardiac and EECP specialist Dr Pranav Kabra.

According to a recent survey in the USA, bodybuilders who were tested had an extremely low ejection fraction due to dilated cardiomyopathy. The heart is a muscle and taking large doses of anabolic steroids and pain-killers caused their hearts to become so enlarged, that their beating capacity was reduced to that of an eighty-year-old, the survey found.

According to worldwide stats, as we have also seen in India, pro-bodybuilders are dying at a much faster rate than pro athletes in other major sports, or for that matter the average healthy male.

Heart and kidney malfunctions are the disproportionate causes, and performance enhancing drugs and anabolic steroids are the common culprits, opine experts.

Bodybuilders are dying under 50 of cardiovascular problems and heart disease at a shockingly high rate, says Dr Kabra, comparing the recent statistics.

Bodybuilding often involves consuming various unhealthy substances, drugs and steroids and many bodybuilders have died prematurely because of such so-called performance enhancing products, pain-killers and other related “health products”.

With the incidence of heart disease growing by the day, many patients are keen to know about the alternatives to angiography or bypass surgery. One of the sure methods to avoid bypass surgery and to prevent heart disease is to go in for EECP therapy, under trained and expert guidance of a cardiac expert.

EECP machines and equipment have evolved over the years and the latest EECP technology offers an almost 100 per cent success rate, opine experts in the alternative bypass or natural bypass scenario.

Explaining what EECP is all about, Dr Pranav Kabra, managing director of the Raksha Multispeciality Hospital at Malad in Mumbai, says, “Enhanced External Counterpulsation or EECP is a non-invasive alternative therapy and treatment for patients who are not fit for CABG or PCI. EECP has been shown to be an effective treatment strategy that can improve the quality of life of patients and help prevent further heart attacks.”

According to Dr Kabra, “Patients who have already undergone an angiography or bypass surgery can also take EECP treatment to improve their angina pain and avoid future surgeries. This is because unlike bypass surgery and angioplasty, EECP targets the entire heart altogether and improves overall heart and blood circulation. It is non-invasive and does not depend on drugs or other chemicals. Further, it also improves metabolism and helps achieve overall wellness and fitness.”

EECP therapy encourages and prods blood vessels to open new pathways for blood to flow to the heart. These pathways eventually become or form a “natural bypass” or a network of vessels within the human body that help relieve symptoms of angina if your coronary arteries are narrowed or blocked, Dr Kabra says.

When it comes to bodybuilders, EECP can help their bodies form new bypass blood vessels, reducing blockages and the pressure on the heart muscle, helping prevention of heart attacks in the long run.

EECP therapy also helps solve problems like erectile dysfunction, obesity, chronic fatigue syndrome and a host of other problems, improving the overall healthy living index of the individual.

To contact Dr Pranav Kabra for EECP therapy consultation contact: +91 93232 21100