Q: Sir, My mother underwent Bypass surgery three months back and is feeling well now. She is a known diabetic for nearly 15 years. My questions is can she have any heart problem again and what precautions do we have to take.

A:Coronary artery bypass surgery is essentially a palliative procedure and not curative in nature. One has to take care of the basic risk factors which in the first place led to blockages. As I can gain from your email, she is diabetic and therefore she should take all precautions for control of diabetes like diet control and adequate drugs and monitoring of the blood sugar levels. Other risk factors like high cholesterol, obesity and stress should also be taken care of. She must do regular exercises and 20 minutes of brisk walking at least 4-5 times in a week, preferably every day of the week, is desirable. Even the diet should have low salt and low fat content and this is usually dictated by the cardiologists who are seeing you. Regular medication has to be taken and monitoring of these medications as well as other risk factors has to be done for life-long.