Running his way to better health

Mr Mohanadas Kandiah (picture) was only 28 when he was diagnosed with high cholesterol and high blood pressure. His heart palpitations and breathlessness were an everyday affair, and severe enough to warrant a medical downgrade while he was working as an airforce regular.

Nearly three decades on, there is no trace of either disease in the 56-year-old dealer at a stockbroking firm, whose blood pressure and cholesterol levels are now within the healthy range.

His magic pill? Exercise.

“I remember asking myself if that was how the rest of my life would be like, while holding a huge plastic bag of medications from the pharmacy,” said the ambassador of Exercise Is Medicine Singapore, which is part of a global initiative aiming to make exercise a standard part of medical treatment.

Mr Kandiah made drastic changes to his unhealthy lifestyle. He quit smoking and drinking, picked up running and was eventually able to stop taking medication. At 35, he participated in his first marathon and has since completed about 250 races.

“I could feel the changes to my body very quickly after I started exercising. To give you an idea of how a healthier lifestyle can change your health, my marathon timing went from 5 hours 30 min to 3 hours 59 min within 11 months of quitting smoking,” he said.

Mr Kandiah urged patients with lifestyle diseases to look at their root cause of their illness, and get active with the help of their doctors.

“The root cause (of many chronic diseases) is mainly a bad lifestyle. If people can start tackling the main problem through exercise and lifestyle changes, they’ll find that life can be so much better for them,” he said. EVELINE GAN