Fortis pedals for Healthy Heart among Bangaloreans on World Heart Day
Bangalore: On the occasion of World Heart Day, Fortis Hospital, Bangalore has organized a two day event, ‘Charge your heart’ at Cunningham road followed by Garuda Mall to spread awareness regarding being heart healthy. The event is to be held today and tomorrow respectively. The hospital has set up a huge LED heart connected to a cycle. Continuous pedaling keeps the light on in the mounted heart. The initiative is aimed at educating people on importance of keeping the heart healthy and various ways to do the same.
World Heart Day is celebrated every year on 29th September with the intent of raising awareness about cardiovascular disease. The theme of this year’s World Heart Day is share the power which aims on how you power your heart and inspire millions of people around the world to be heart healthy.
Following the theme, the event has been encouraging people to get involved in physical activities for keeping their heart healthy. Dr Vivek Jawali, Chairman, Department of Cardio Vascular Sciences, Chairman of the Medical Advisory Council, Fortis Hospitals, Bangalore will be driving the initiative to be able to share the knowledge on heart related ailments due to poor lifestyle.
Speaking on occasion, Dr Vivek Jawali said, “India is going through an epidemiologic transition whereby the burden of communicable diseases have declined slowly, but that of non-communicable diseases (NCD) has risen rapidly, thus leading to a dual burden. People are becoming a victim of heart disease due to a lot of factors which comprises of sedentary lifestyle to lack of awareness regarding keeping one’s heart healthy. Other factors include smoking, history of hypertension or diabetes, waist/hip ratio, dietary patterns, consumption of alcohol, blood apolipoproteins (Apo), and psychosocial factors. Many of the heart patients these days are between 30-40 years of age. This is majorly because of lack of physical activities and unhealthy diet and overall unhealthy lifestyles. Simple 4 point formula of not smoking, keeping physically active, eating right and reducing excess weight will cut the risk of heart attacks & stroke by a large percentage. Moreover, the diagnosis and treatment procedures for heart diseases need a continuous development. Innovative methods need to be developed to overcome these challenges. Some approaches that could potentially improve the efficiency of care include incorporating information communication technology tools, advanced techniques and improving the quality of care given to patients.”
WHO states that approximately 4280 people in every one lakh die each year from sudden cardiac arrests in India alone. According a report by NCBI, Cardiovascular diseases are on a rise among younger people with over 50% of Cardiovascular Disease (CVD) mortality occurring in individuals aged less than 50 years. Population living in cities are three times more prone to heart attacks than people living in villages. Increasing rates of CAD in India in last three decades sends an alarm to look for the factors responsible for its increasing prevalence.
Dr Keshava, Consultant Interventional Cardiologist, Fortis Hospital, Cunningham road said, “Cardiovascular diseases have been gaining importance in India recently because of increased incidence of the disease. It is the first among top 5 causes of deaths in Indian population. I come across patients who suffer from heart related disorders due to lack of physical activities, and poor eating habits. ‘Charge your hearts’ is our initiative to include people and work towards a healthy cause. More than 500 people participated in event on the first day and we are hoping to see increase in this number one the second day. In the coming years, the Indian health system has to device Ischemic Heart Disease (IHD) prevention and control strategies, as a priority, to address the growing epidemic of IHD. Our approach is to provide and share best clinical practices at and beyond Fortis Hospitals and help people educating them about heart related ailments.”
Unhealthy diet is the major reason behind the heart related disorders especially among the youth. Due to change in lifestyle, modernization and too much exposure to junk food is leading to diabetes and hypertension at an early age, which is directly linked to heart problems. I believe the initiatives like this will promote awareness regarding healthy activities among the people”.
To lead a healthy lifestyle and prevent heart ailment it is extremely important to be physically active, stay away from smoking and keep a check on blood sugar and cholesterol levels.