World Heart Day: Why Heart Health is Important for You and Your Loved Ones?

Cardiovascular diseases are a reason for a large number of deaths caused by non-communicable diseases (NCDs). These NCDs affect around 38 million people globally and cause approximately 60% of all deaths in India [1]. According to the World Heart Federation, heart disease and stroke cause approximately 18.6 million deaths every year [2]. Therefore, continued attempts are being made to reduce the incidence of this global mortality by the year 2025. As a part of this mission, World Heart Day is observed to create awareness, fight cardiovascular diseases and thereby reduce their burden globally. This global campaign aims to educate people about risk factors associated with heart diseases and stroke. Read on to know more about World Heart Day, its significance and how it is observed every year.

Why is World Heart Day so important? 

The World Heart Day date is a significant one as it is a global campaign for everyone to join together to take good care of their and their loved ones’ heart health. This campaign emphasizes the importance of fighting against cardiovascular diseases with good habits. It encourages everyone to follow a healthy and active lifestyle for better heart health.

Some of the risk factors that can lead to heart attacks and stroke include the following.  

• Leading a sedentary lifestyle 
• Obesity
• Smoking
• Increased blood sugar, blood pressure and cholesterol levels
• Reduced consumption of healthy food and more of processed and packaged foods
• Excessive consumption of tobacco

Watch out for these warning signs of heart ailments and consult a doctor if required. 

• If you face any chest discomfort 
• If you feel dizzy 
• If there is heartburn, indigestion or stomach pain 
• If you have consistent pain on your left side that spreads to the arm
• If you feel tired very easily
• If you sweat profusely
• If you see swollen feet or ankles
• If you experience irregular heartbeat patterns

How did this global campaign emerge? 

If you are wondering about the history of World Heart Day, keep in mind that it was first started in the year 1999 by World Heart Federation in collaboration with the WHO. The idea of an annual event to raise awareness on the importance of heart health was suggested by Antonio de Luna. He was the President of World Heart Federation from the year 1997 to 2011.

Initially, World Heart Day was marked as the last Sunday of September. The first celebration of World Heart Day took place on 24th September 2000. This date was later formalized to one day and World Heart Day is celebrated on 29th September every year.

World Heart Day Creatives: How we observe it? 

Many public discussions, marathons, sporting events and concerts are organized to create World Heart Day awareness. Some key events also include stage shows, exhibitions and science forums to make people more aware of the importance of good heart health. World Heart Day in 2020 was celebrated with a tagline Use Heart to beat CVD. The 2021 tagline is Use Heart to Connect. This year the focus is more on digital health to create awareness, prevention and management of heart diseases for a healthy world.

The three key pillars forming the basis of World Heart Day include Equity, Prevention and Community. Equity is essential to bridge the gap between diagnosis and treatment so that treatment is accessible for everyone across the globe. Using digital tools to check if you are eating a healthy diet and avoiding tobacco is another initiative under the prevention pillar. Finally, connecting with your doctors, family and friends using digital technology forms the basis of the third pillar, which is community [3].

Now that you know when World Heart Day is celebrated and its importance, pay more attention to your and your family’s heart health. Get your blood pressure and cholesterol checked regularly and start adopting a healthy lifestyle. You can get your blood tests done by booking them online on Bajaj Finserv Health in seconds.

Eating nutritious meals and keeping your body active are some of the preventive measures you can follow for good heart health. In case you feel symptoms of stress on your heart, get connected to top specialists within minutes on the Bajaj Finserv Health app. Taking these proactive measures can help you and your loved ones achieve good heart health today and tomorrow.