What Killed Ranjan Das, CEO of SAP India?

A month ago, many of us heard about the sad demise of Ranjan Das from Bandra, Mumbai.

Ranjan, just 42 years of age, was the CEO of SAP-Indian Subcontinent, the youngest CEO of an MNC in India.

He was very active in sports, was a fitness freak and a marathon runner.

Just after Diwali, on 21st Oct, he returned home from his gym after a workout, collapsed with a massive heart attack and died. He is survived by his wife and two very young kids.

What is the Cause of Ranjan’s Untimely Death?

It was reported that Ranjan used to make do with 4-5 hours of sleep.

In an earlier interview on NDTV in the program ‘Boss’ Day Out’, Ranjan admitted that he would love to get more sleep (and that he was not proud of his ability to manage without sleep, contrary to what others extolled).

Lack of sleep will certainly lead to more stresses and other diseases and thereby putting stress on our bodies and hearts!

Here’s some findings:

· Short sleep duration ( <5 or 5-6 hours ) increased risk for high BP by 350% to 500% compared to those who slept longer than 6 hours per night. Paper published in 2009. As you know, high BP kills.

· Young people ( 25-49 years of age ) are twice as likely to get high BP if they sleep less. Paper published in 2006.

· Individuals who slept less than 5 hours a night had a 3-fold increased risk of heart attacks. Paper published in 1999.

· Complete and partial lack of sleep increased the blood concentrations of High sensitivity C-Reactive Protein (hs-cRP), the strongest predictor of heart attacks. Even after getting adequate sleep later, the levels stayed high!!

· Just one night of sleep loss increases very toxic substances in body such as Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Tumour Necrosis Factor-Alpha (TNF-alpha) and C-reactive protein (cRP). They increase risks of many medical conditions, including cancer, arthritis and heart disease. Paper published in 2004.

· Sleeping for <=5 hours per night leads to 39% increase in heart disease. Sleeping for <=6 hours per night leads to 18% increase in heart disease. Paper published in 2006.

Ideal Sleep

Sleep is composed of two stages: REM ( Rapid Eye Movement ) and non-REM. The former helps in mental consolidation while the latter helps in physical repair and rebuilding. During the night, you alternate between REM and non-REM stages 4-5 times.

The earlier part of sleep is mostly non-REM. During that period, your pituitary gland releases growth hormones that repair your body. The latter part of sleep is more and more REM type.

For you to be mentally alert during the day, the latter part of sleep is more important. No wonder when you wake up with an alarm clock after 5-6 hours of sleep, you are mentally irritable throughout the day (lack of REM sleep). And if you have slept for less than 5 hours, your body is in a complete physical mess ( lack of non-REM sleep ), you are tired throughout the day, moving like a zombie and your immunity is way down ( I’ve been there, done that ).

Finally, if you are a long-distance runner, like Ranjan was, you need an hour of extra sleep to repair the running related damage.

If you want to know whether you are getting adequate sleep, you can try the Epworth Sleepiness Test at http://www.stanford.edu/~dement/epworth.html

Interpretation: Score of 0-9 is considered normal while 10 and above abnormal. :-0

In conclusion:

Barring stress control, Ranjan Das did everything right: eating proper food, exercising (marathoning!), maintaining proper weight. But he missed getting proper and adequate sleep, minimum 7 hours.

If you are not getting enough sleep (7 hours), you are playing with fire, even if you have low stress.

Unfortunately, Ranjan Das is not alone when it comes to missing sleep. Many of us are doing exactly the same, perhaps out of ignorance.

Do you have enough hours of sleep each day?

Sleep is as important to the human body as food and water, but most of us don’t get enough sleep. Insufficient sleep or disruptions to the sleep¬wake cycle (such as those that occur with shift work or travelling to a different time zone) cause the physiological state known as fatigue.

A fatigued person is accident prone, judgement impaired and more likely to make mistakes and bad decisions. Staying awake for 24 hours leads to a reduced hand-to-eye coordination that is similar to having a blood alcohol content of 0.1. This is why sleep deprivation contributes to road accidents and work injuries.

How much sleep is enough?

Sleep requirements differ from one person to the next depending on age, physical activity levels, general health and other individual factors. In general:

• Primary school children – need about nine to 10 hours. Studies show that increasing your child’s sleep by as little as half an hour can dramatically improve school performance.
• Teenagers – need about nine to 10 hours too. Teenagers have an increased sleep requirement at the time when social engagements and peer pressure cause a reduction in sleep time. Lifestyle factors such as early school start times deprive them of the required sleep-in. There is evidence that around the time of becoming a teenager, there is a shift in the sleep – wake cycle to being sleepy later in the evening with a preference for waking later.
• Adults – need about seven to eight hours, depending on individual factors. We tend to need less sleep as we age, but be guided by your own state of alertness – if you feel tired during the day, aim to get more sleep.

Comments:

This is one cheap and easy way to keep fit. Highly recommended. Check out the following report to find out more.

SINGAPORE: It is the reason behind Fann Wong’s svelte figure, and her long-time boyfriend-turned-husband Christopher Lee’s fabulously taut body.

As fans of the sport and fitness experts can attest to, jumping rope – a popular childhood sport which you might have once engaged in – is one of the best and cheapest forms of exercise.

“Rope skipping is an excellent cardio exercise which is far less hard on the muscles and bones than jogging, according to the United States Olympic Committee Sports Medicine Council,” said Mr Lim Hun Teck, a senior physiotherapist at Raffles Hospital.

Not only does it improve your heart rate and blood pressure, it also beefs up bone density, strength as well as endurance, Mr Lim added.

It is also one of the greatest calorie-burners. “From an energy standpoint, rope skipping helps in burning about 70 to 110 calories for an exercise session of 10 minutes,” he said.

In fact, just 10 minutes of rope skipping is equivalent to that torturous 1.5km run, said Mr Hansen Bay, the programme director of Vitage Fitness and founder of Rope Sports Singapore.

Mr Bay founded the SkipFit System – a synchronised skipping programme which has been used in various schools here – with his coaches Alex Goh and Fifi Hana.

He said the childhood rope sport seems to be gaining popularity among Singaporeans. Since its launch in 2007, over 10,000 students and adults have participated in the skipping programme.

While the sport may look easy, getting started can be humbling and even frustrating.

“Many of us remember our first experience with rope skipping in school where we were simply given a rope – often a lousy one – and told to jump with no further guidance.

“As the exercise requires a good dose of arm-leg coordination, beginners may become frustrated when they continuously get entangled in the rope,” said Mr Bay.

From his coaching experience, Mr Bay said skipping novices may even become afraid of rope skipping when they accidentally “whip” themselves with the rope.

“Beginners also tend to develop bad habits such as jumping too high and landing incorrectly, thus resulting in injuries,” he added.

That’s why it is important to “start slowly”, advised Mr Lim.

“Try skipping for 20 to 30 seconds, then march on the spot for 30 minutes. Repeat the sequence. As your fitness improves, you can increase the time you skip.”

Going slow, and proper warm-ups and cool down stretches, would also allow one’s leg muscles to get accustomed to the new exercise, he added.

If you have joint problems or if you’re exercising for the first time, Mr Lim said it might be worth checking with the doctor prior to starting a new exercise regimen.

If you haven’t skipped since, say, primary school, consider these expert tips:

1. You need a lightweight rope with a cord that straightens easily, some fitness attire and a pair of well-cushioned shoes.

2. Founder of Rope Sports Singapore, Hansen Bay, recommended doing rope turns – simply swinging the rope while you bounce to the beat of music – prior to doing actual skipping. “You are more likely to experience success when you eventually jump into the rope. In addition, learning to skip to the tempo of popular songs is also fun and engaging,” he said.

3. While skipping, keep your elbows tucked into your sides while the rope turns around smoothly. Also keep your back straight and avoid leaning forward, said Raffles Hospital’s senior physiotherapist Lim Hun Teck.

Updated: I’m posting an update and this post will be Part 1 of 2.

Here are some simple guidelines to keep your immune system in optimal working order:

1. Drink your Noni

Boost your immune system. Check out our blog post on how you can give your immune system a full boost.

2. Optimize your vitamin D levels

Optimizing your vitamin D levels is one of the best way to avoid infections of ALL kinds. In fact, vitamin D deficiency is likely the TRUE cause behind the seasonality of the flu — not the flu virus itself. Your vitamin D level should be around 60 ng/ml.

3. Avoid Sugar and Processed Foods

Sugar decreases the function of your immune system almost immediately, so it’s important to keep your immune system strong.

4. Have Sufficient Rest

Lack of sleep will weaken your body’s immune system and make it harder for you to fight any infection.

5. Address Your Stress

We all face some stress every day, but if stress becomes overwhelming then your body will be less able to fight off the flu and other illness.

6. Exercise

Exercise improves your physique, strengthens your immune system and increases your circulation and blood flow throughout your body. The components of your immune system will be better circulated to detect any intruders.

7. Omega-3 Fats

Take a good source of animal based omega-3 fats like Krill Oil or the Omega 3, 6, 9 blend. This is crucial for maintaining good health.

8. Wash Your Hands

Washing your hands will decrease the likelihood of spreading a virus to your nose, mouth or other people. Be sure to use a simple chemical-free soap that you can switch your family to.

9. Eat Garlic Regularly

Garlic functions like a broad-spectrum antibiotic against bacteria, virus, and protozoa in the body. Unlike antibiotics, no resistance can be built up so it is an absolutely safe product to use.

10. Avoid Hospitals and Vaccines

Hospitals are prime breeding grounds for infections of all kinds, and could be one of the likeliest places you could be exposed to the swine flu.

Vaccines will not be available for six months at the minimum but when available they will be ineffective and can lead to crippling paralysis like Guillain-Barré Syndrome just as it did in the 70s.

Today, the Singapore government gave an update of the Mexican Swine Flu.

Mr Khaw Boon Wan, the Health Minister, spoke about the difference between SARS and the current Mexican Swine Flu. Describing it as a new war, he cautioned that the swine flu is more challenging, giving three reasons.

“Firstly, the swine flu is more contagious. Secondly, patients can be infectious before symptoms appear. Hence, border controls may not be fool-proof and there may be leakages.”

Lastly, Mr Khaw said that historically, flu pandemic tends to come in waves. While the initial wave may look mild, the second one can be quite lethal.

So the swine flu pandemic is likely to be long-drawn, and Mr Khaw added that the people must be mentally and psychologically prepared for the long haul.

I’ve just added a slideshow with information on the swine flu and how Tahitian Noni® Juice can help to strengthen our immune system.

Check out the slide show below.

Have you downloaded the free report on Swine Flu?

If you have not, please click here for more info.

Here are some fundamental facts about noni that we need to recognize.

TNJ Benefits

1. Is a Nutrient and not a Drug Response.

2. Benefits come from the Optimization or Normalization of our own intrinsic physiologic mechanisms.

3. This indicates Fundamental(Basic) Nutrient Deficiencies on a Global Scale.

Why do we specify Nutrient Response and not Drug or Pharmacologic effects?

1. The Dose/Response Curve shows increasing benefit to a point, then no further increase in benefits or effects even with a 100 fold increase in volume of TNJ consumed.

2. There is no overdose potential. None even with 4 liters in an 8 hour period, or the equivalent of 9 liters/day for 6 months(animal studies).

3. There is no toxicity nor side effects.

4. Affects only Abnormal Function, TNJ does not inhibit normal function. This is clearly seen in:-

a. High Blood Pressure

b. Hyperglycemia(high blood sugar)

c. Healing

d. Immunity (Autoimmune)

e. Stress

5. TNJ does not interfere with medications. In fact, TNJ increases medication benefits.

How did we develop Global Nutrient Deficiency?

The impact of 10,000 years of soil depletion, crop selection and crop limitation.

Our ancestors lived in the forests, fields, and marshes until domestication of animals and cultivation of grain made permanent villages necessary. They lived in full contact with all the nutrients our systems were designed to utilize. They ate more than 600 varieties of plants, fruits, nuts, roots and berries. Today we choose from 50 or less and most people eat 10 to 20 varieties.

Forests and fields are sustainable, they do not need fertilizer and they spring back up after forest or grass fires. That changes the first time you plow and disrupt the earth’s microbial systems. Dr Ralph Heinicke documented the progressively diminished pineapple volume and quality in Hawaii. They were forced to change fields every 12-13 years in spite of fertilizing.

Soil nutrients decreased steadily. Every year they would select the very best for the next seed crop. This is selection AWAY from most nutritional foods. The people also underwent selection and adaptation to the decreasing nutrients in their daily lives.

The physiologic systems they used regularly adapted to impaired nutrition. This we call Level I Function. (You can do this gradually over 10,000 years). The systems that were used infrequently did not have the opportunity to adapt. Level II systems(when we use our bodies at high performance/heavy load), and Levels III and above, that respond to overload, compromise, healing and repair are limited by nutrient deficiency. We see this clearly with Olympic level athletes that benefit from TNJ. We see abnormal function and damaged overloaded systems heal through the benefits of TNJ.

Validate the Gap in Nutrients and Knowledge

I invite all TNJ users, IPCs, and those interested in Health, to join in my personal goal to bring this understanding to the Healthcare Community.

a. We can use example patients to demonstrate our impaired physiologic function from the deficiencies of todays foods.

b. We can show the role of Nutritional Deficiency in Disease and the prevention potential of TNJ

c. We can clarify the role of Nutritional Deficiency in the limitations of Modern Medicine.

A useful resource would be the new DVD set, “Take Control of Your Health�. Read the sypnosis here: http://www.askdrrichardwilliams.com/take-control-of-your-health.html