World Health Day is seen on 7 April every year. The theme during the current year is building a fairer, healthier world for everybody. As the World Health Day is around the corner, read here to find out about the significance of a solid heart.
The heart is a vital organ of the body as it pumps blood all through the whole circulation and maintains a constant supply of oxygen and nutrients to all organs in the body. It is hard at work all during that time and beats about 2.5 billion times in a normal lifetime. A few significant functions of the body are affected and show a concurrent decline when the heart stops pumping as efficiently as it ought to.
The disease pattern in India is moving from communicable to non-communicable disease (NCD) pattern. This change has happened rather rapidly in consonance with quick urbanisation. NCDs include heart disease, type 2 diabetes, hypertension and obesity. These are likewise called lifestyle diseases as they predominantly happen because of the lifestyle or daily habits of a person. Way of life diseases are not, at this point thought about selective to affluent countries as the low-and middle-income nations report most deaths from NCDs.
Heart diseases in India have some unique characteristics, which are a reason for concern. One is their escalating prevalence and it would perhaps not be incorrect to say that there is a epidemic of heart diseases in India. Another stressing viewpoint is that heart diseases in India are happening at a lot more youthful age, very nearly 10 years sooner than their western counterparts. The prevalence of premature coronary artery disease in the more youthful age bunch is rising.
The significant danger factors adding to heart diseases and other NCDs include smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity (pot-belly obesity in particular), high cholesterol, sedentary life, alcohol consumption, unhealthy diet containing high amounts of saturated and trans fats, high salt and sugar), poor sleep hygiene and stress. In the young, smoking, dyslipidemia and high blood pressure are the major risk factors. These are modifiable danger factors and thus can be controlled.
Here are a few tips to keep the heart healthy:
- Deny tobacco
- Eat an variety of foods and eat in moderation
- Include each of the 7 colors and six tastes for an even diet
- Eat a heart-healthy diet with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables. Avoid saturated/trans fats, refined white food varieties (white sugar, white flour and white rice), packaged and processed foods. Lessen salt in diet. food labels to know the sodium content content. Limit sodium intake to less than 2,300 mg in a the very beginning (teaspoon of salt).
- Maintain a healthy body weight. Keep in mind, shorter the waist line, longer the life line
- Exercise consistently for at any rate 30 minutes 5 days in a week
- Know your numbers: Every grown-up should realize their blood pressure, blood sugar and cholesterol level
- Manage stress through meditation and activities such as yoga
- Sleep well for st least 7-8 hours
- Practice mindful eating. Know about the hunger and satiety signals. Utilize every one of the five faculties while eating: colors (eye), smells (nose), flavors (taste), textures (touch) and sound while chewing (ear) of the food
- Take the 6-minute walk test (6MWT): If you can walk 500 meters in six minutes, you don’t have critical basic heart disease
- Remember the equation of 80: Maintain your lower BP, fasting sugar, LDL (bad cholesterol), heart rate and waist circumference below 80; walk 80 minutes a day; brisk walk 80 minutes a week; walk with a speed of at least 80 steps per minute.
This World Health Day, make a vow to save your heart health!