KUALA LUMPUR: Former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad today recounted his recent elective medical procedure at the National Heart Institute (IJN), while sharing some insights into his 97 years of healthy lifestyle.
The Langkawi member of parliament said prior to his admission to IJN, he often experienced shortness of breath and it was later found that he was short of red blood cells.
"It was to the point that I couldn't even walk a few yards. My doctor's advice was for me to be admitted and he discovered that I was short of red blood cells.
"When that happens, the take up of oxygen is less and eventually you become weak and start experiencing shortness of breath.
"Their solution was very simple. They transfuse me with two pints of packed red cells, increasing the capacity of my blood to take up oxygen, and almost immediately I was able to breathe well and walk longer distances but that was the first part of the admission to the hospital," he said during a podcast session with Nonosugar Health today, aired on its Facebook page.
Dr Mahathir was first admitted to IJN on Jan 7 for the elective procedure and discharged on Jan 13. However, he was admitted again and later discharged on Feb 5.
During his second trip to the IJN, Dr Mahathir said he was recommended to go for a pacemaker surgical procedure - a small device implanted in the chest to control the heartbeat and prevent the heart from beating too slowly.
"Later, they told me I'm getting old and my heart will get weaker and it may stop but they (doctors) said nowadays, we have pacemakers. It will stimulate the heart to pump and so, I agreed to have a pacemaker.
"Unfortunately, during the course of the operation, I was infected with some germs and became weak. I was slightly feverish and not well at all.
"I thought I was dying so I said 'these are my last days' and I was prepared to die but the doctors didn't give up. A panel of doctors looked after me and discussed what to do (every day).
"They came to me and said today we're giving you a transfusion or medicine or injection and suddenly I found I was recovering. I was able to walk well, so, thank you to the doctors."
Aside from his usual "stop eating if the food is tasty" and "eat in small amounts", Dr Mahathir said he also continues to exercise regularly based on his maximum ability.
"I walk (outside), I do about 30 minutes on the treadmill and I cycle. I just do a moderate amount of exercise because most importantly, if you still eat too much, even exercising won't help you."
On keeping his mind sharp, Dr Mahathir said the trick was to think of his present self as the youth of his future.
"When you're old, even when you were only 30 years old, you start looking at your younger days thinking how wonderful it was, how you miss it but when you get to my stage, at 97, I think of myself as the youth of my future because in 10 years or three years, I will look back to these years as the great days of my youth.
"At whatever age you are, you'll find nostalgia. You'll think about how nice it was during school time but there were times in school when you didn't enjoy life at all. You're just remembering the good parts.
"So, the present age you are in is actually the youth of your future age because when you're 60, you'll think wow, 30 years old is fantastic and now, I think of 80-year-olds as young.
"When it comes to this, might as well live a nice life presently because the present is the youth of the future and that drives you."