Mahatma Gandhi was hypertensive: What could have been the cause of his hypertension?

 Being of lean physique, it would appear that Mahatma Gandhi would be a fit person. The iconic image of the Mahatma leading the Dandi March, where he seems to be striding ahead of the others, certainly gives an impression of a person who is physically fit.

But the health records, released to commemorate his 150th birth anniversary indicate otherwise. Gandhi ji had hypertension and was reportedly on medication (sarpagandha or Rauwolfia serpentina).

We have his ECG tracing done at Calcutta  (now Kolkata) dated 28^th Oct., 1937. The record show that his heart rate was 72 per minute and was regular. On 26^th October, he had very early and slight fullness of neck veins, which were not present on 28^th Oct. His BP reading on 26^th Oct. was 194/130; on 28^th Oct. the BP was 150/98. He was prescribed adequate rest by the doctor “Adequate mental and emotional rest with 8 hours restful sleep in 24 hours are indicated” as the records show.

Let’s try to analyse his health status based on this information.

Mahatma Gandhi had hypertension and his ECG shows no left ventricular hypertrophy. There were only a few anti-hypertensive medications available then. Also, echocardiography was not available at that time.

Lifestyle factors, in particular obesity, are determinants of BP levels. Excess of body fat is a major factor predisposing to hypertension. Excess body fat, especially central obesity, is associated with metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. This is ruled out.

Arteriosclerosis is ruled out as his diastolic BP was very high. In arteriosclerosis, the systolic BP is raised more than diastolic BP.

His BP on 26^th Oct. was 194/130; on 28^th Oct. it was 150/98. This is accelerated HT.

Gandhi ji lived by the principles of satya, ahimsa, sarvodaya and satyagraha. Yet he was hypertensive.

He had been advised adequate rest with adequate sleep by the doctor.

Could the stress of the country’s freedom struggle have been a factor in the genesis of his hypertension?

We can only speculate.

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Dr KK Aggarwal

Padma Shri Awardee

President Elect Confederation of Medical Associations in Asia and Oceania   (CMAAO)

Group Editor-in-Chief IJCP Publications

President Heart Care Foundation of India

Immediate Past National President IMA

HCFI Update:The Science behind Anna Hazare Movement, Satyagraha & Gandhigiri

Gandhigiri always works, whether it was Mahatma Gandhi, the movie “Lage Raho Munnabhai” or the Gandhian Anna. The Gandhian principles were so framed that it always united the common man, said Padmashri and Dr B C Roy National Awardee Dr K K Aggarwal President Heart Care Foundation of India and MTNL Perfect Health Mela.

Dr Aggarwal said that four basic principles Gandhi taught are of Satya (truthfulness); Ahimsa (non violence); Sarvodaya (welfare for all) and Satyagraha. The word Dharma means to hold together. All the above four principles can hold people together and hence forms the backbone of dharma.

Yoga-shastras as well as the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali propagate truthfulness as one of the main components for living a disciplined life or to start yoga. Satya means oneness in your thoughts, speech and actions. Bapuji’s three monkeys also had truthfulness represented in one of the monkeys who talked about ‘bura mat bolo’. In fact, Gandhi believed that “there is no religion higher than truth”

Gandhi preached the concept of “experimenting with truth” — a phrase that formed the subtitle to his autobiography. He taught how to learn through trial and error, often admitting to mistakes and changing one’s behaviour accordingly. Non observance of truthfulness is the root cause of any corruption in the society.

Ahimsa is the next principle and teaches us the path of non violence. Again it has to be practiced not only in actions but in thoughts and speech also. It also forms the basis of Jainism and Hinduism as a religion.

Sarvodaya or welfare for all is the third Gandhian teaching. Vedic philosophy also emphasizes on the welfare for all. It talks about “bahujan hitay-bahujan sukhay” (‘the good of the masses, the benefit of the masses). Gandhi found in it a composite concept of social welfare & economic justice. Any action which is aimed and seems to be aimed at the welfare of the people will e accepted by every one in the society.

Satyagraha is the protest based on satya (path of truthfulness) and non violence and includes peaceful demonstrations, prolonged fasts etc. It’s a non violence based civil resistance. Satyagraha is formed by two Sanskrit words Satya (truth) and Agraha (holding firmly to or firmness). Gandhi said “Satyagraha is a weapon of the strong; it admits of no violence under any circumstance whatsoever; and it ever insists upon truth”. Gandhi said if you are firm in the truth in the long run you are going to win. It is base on the law of persistence.

The current Satyagraha by Anna Hazare is using all the principles of Gandhigiri and is already in its way to success.