"Creating Heart-Healthy Environment" World Heart Day Theme 29th Sept 2015

          Every year on 29th of September, World Heart Day is celebrated throughout the world. It is an annual international campaign initiated to spread awareness among the people about heart related diseases and how to prevent from it.

         World Heart Day was founded in 2000 to inform people around the globe that heart disease and stroke are the world’s leading causes of death, claiming 17.3 million lives each year. The World Health Organization (WHO) has stressed on the need to reduce consumption of salt as it is linked to approximately 2.5 million people dying annually from heart diseases.

World Heart Day 2015 Theme

        This year, World Heart Day’s theme is creating heart-healthy environments. The places in which we live, work and play should not increase our risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). But individuals frequently cannot make heart-healthy choices due to environmental factors, such as the availability of healthy food or smoke-free zones.  

HEART DISEASES

Lack of exercise, overeating, unhealthy eating diet, high blood pressure and cholesterol are some of the factors that increase the risk of heart diseases.

Sign and symptoms of heart diseases

     It is not necessary that all heart problems will come with a warning signs. Not everyone has the same warning signs and symptoms of a heart attack.

For some, it can begin with a sudden chest pain while it may happens slowly with mild pain or discomfort to some. Those who have had a heart attack in the past will not experience the same symptoms the next time.

Here are a few signs and symptoms of heart diseases:

• Chest pain or discomfort
• Upper body pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach
• Shortness of breath, which may occur with or without chest discomfort
• Nausea, vomiting, light-headedness or sudden dizziness, or breaking out in a cold sweat
• Sleep problems, fatigue, or lack of energy

How to prevent heart diseases

      Nowadays one cannot make heart-healthy choices because the places in which we live in and work increase the risk of heart diseases due to environmental factors, such as the unavailability of healthy food or smoke-free zones.  But if we are careful, heart diseases can be prevented if we take proper care of our heart through healthy diet and proper physical activities. Little changes in lifestyle like smoking cessation, healthy eating, exercise, proper sleep and managing diabetes, blood pressure and stress, regular check ups, etc. can reduce the risk of heart disease.Heart disease and stroke not only affect older people but also children because of poor diet and physical inactivity. One should create a healthy heart environment to prevent oneself from heart related diseases.