World Heart day takes place on 29th September every year and is the World Heart Federations and the world’s biggest platform for raising awareness about cardiovascular disease, including heart disease and stroke. Presently, cardiovascular diseases are the leading cause of death in the world. In the early 2000s, roughly 17 million people worldwide died from cardiovascular diseases annually. The majority of these deaths were the result of coronary heart disease or stroke – that’s more than victims of cancer, HIV and AIDS, and malaria.
According to the World Heart Federation, at least 80% of the premature deaths (because of cardiovascular diseases) can be protected by controlling four main risk factors such as unhealthy diet, tobacco use, lack of physical activity and use of alcohol.
What benefits does it have?
It is essential for the absorption of calcium from the gut and lack of it leads to Osteomalacia (soft bones). So the lack of Vitamin D can lead to even spontaneous fractures when the levels get very low. The initial symptoms are generalized muscle pain and weakness. Research has also shown that it is effective for an array of conditions like prevention of cancer, respiratory infection and tooth loss in elderly; it also helps for weight loss. Study shows people with low Vitamin D level may develop type 2 diabetes and it also helps in significantly increasing HDL (good cholesterol). There is a lot of research going on to find out a number of beneficial effects of Vitamin D.
So considering its benefits, its deficiency can be easily prevented by just taking diet rich in vitamin D along with adequate sunlight exposure, the skin is a powerhouse of Vitamin D production, just a week’s exposure to sun can replenish enough Vitamin D to compensate for almost one and a half months of no exposure to sun . So if you have any of the fore-mentioned symptoms or you are not adequately exposed to sunlight. Kindly get your Vitamin D levels checked cause it is a silent condition affecting people with little or no sunlight exposure and the deficiency can be treated very easily with supplementation.
- The death rate due to cardiovascular diseases declined by a significant 41% in the USA between 1990 and 2016
- In India though, it rose by around 34% from 115.7 to 209.1 deaths per one lakh population in the same period
- Ischemic heart disease and stroke were estimated to account for around 15-20% and 6-9% of all deaths in India and USA.
This year’s global campaign for World Heart Day (29 September) focuses on looking after our own hearts and the hearts of our loved ones with the slogan ‘My Heart, Your Heart and Our Heart’.
Why?
‘My Heart, Your Heart and Our Heart” is about creating a sense of commitment around the common cause of heart health. It is a concept that encapsulates the values of World Heart Day. It is simple, warm, emotional and translatable. The aim of this theme is to educate, inspire and motivate people to keep their hearts healthy and, to engage with them emotionally to encourage our people to, share, hear, see, be informed and be motivated to create change.
This year, our campaign focuses on creating a global community of Heart Heroes … people from all walks of life who are acting now to live longer, better, heart-healthy lives by making a promise.
- A promise to our families to cook and eat more healthily
- A promise to our children to do more exercise and help them to be more active, to say no to smoking and help our loved ones to stop
- A promise as a healthcare professional to help patients give up smoking and lower their cholesterol
- A promise as a policymaker to support policies that promote healthy hearts
- A promise as an employee to invest in heart-healthy workplaces
How?
Sometimes, when we’re feeling stressed and running around taking care of everybody else, the healthiest thing we can do is to stop and consider how we can take care of ourselves. Only when we take care of ourselves, we can take care of others better. So how can we take of our precious hearts?
- Have a yearly check-up
- Maintain your blood cholesterol
- Maintain your blood pressure
- Be smoke-free
- Manage diabetes
- Achieve and maintain a healthy weight
- Manage diabetes
- Eat a variety of healthy nutritious foods - Eating a varied diet of healthy foods can help with your weight, blood pressure and cholesterol. Eat less salt. Replace unhealthy fats with healthy fats. Limit alcohol intake.
- Be physically active - Regular, moderate physical activity is great for your heart health. It’s never too late to start and get the benefits. It’s also important to sit less during your day and break up your sitting time
- Look after your mental health - Stress at work is associated with a 25% increase in the risk of a heart attack. Having a good social life with family and friends will help to keep their hearts healthy.
‘My Heart, Your Heart and Our Heart’
This year’s campaign will centre on a statement of intent –. a common goal – inspiring our people to make their own promise to keep their hearts healthy. A promise that people can commit to. A promise to which people can make their own individual commitment – their own promise. A promise that is centred on a common goal –that heart health is for everyone. ‘Because of every heartbeat matters’.
The theme for this year’s World Heart Day is ‘My Heart, Your Heart and Our Heart’, which represents a promise to yourself, the people you care about and the individuals around the world to take steps in reducing our risk to Cardiovascular disease.
