Heart Disease-The Number One Killer

Sep 26, 2014
2 min read

World Heart Day is a health awareness event that is hosted every year on September 29. This year the theme Is: ' Heart Choices NOT Hard choices.'

This website is showing support for World Heart Day by contributing to worldwide awareness of cardiovascular disease(CVD).

Each year cardiovascular disease takes the lives of 17.3 million people, 7.3 million are deaths due to heart disease.

CVD is a non-communicable disease. Cardiovascular diseases are:

Coronary heart disease
Cerebrovascular disease (strokes)
Rheumatic heart disease
Congenital heart disease
Peripheral artery disease

Most of the 17.3 million people who die each year from CVD die from Heart Disease and Strokes.

It is important that the global efforts to fight cardiovascular disease do not rest on policy makers and world leaders only, but on individuals, families and homes.

We have one heart and not two, if the heart is bad it leaves us without a good one. Fortunately most of the deaths by heart disease can be prevented by:

Preventing CVD in the first place
Knowing the warning signs of a heart attack

Prevention

Heart disease can be prevented by eliminating the risk factors that cause cardiovascular disease. Awareness of these risk factors and their impact on heart health is a major step in preventing heart disease and heart attacks.

The main avoidable risk factors are: physical inactivity, smoking, overweight/obesity, unhealthy diet, air pollution and abuse of alcohol.

The majority of deaths can be prevented by healthy eating, regular exercise and not smoking. These lifestyle habits are key actions in preventing heart disease.

Your chances of developing heart disease are increased if any of the following is present:

High blood pressure
Overweight/obesity
High blood cholesterol
Diabetes
Sedentary lifestyle

In 16.5% of deaths high blood pressure has been a precipitating factor.

These are some actions that would benefit you and your family:

Ban smoking from home
Stock your home with healthy food for health eating
Limit the amount of time spent sitting for leisure-Less than two hours of watching

You can protect your health by being your first health insurance, by taking control of your health at home and by removing the risk factors for heart disease.

Heart Attacks

Knowing the warning signs of a heart attack can save a life. Over 70% of heart emergencies occur in the home with another family member present. Knowing the warning signs of a heart attack can save the life of a family member.

These are warning signs:

Chest discomfort
Discomfort or pain spreading to one or both arms, the back, the neck, jaw or stomach
Shortness of breath without discomfort
Shortness of breath with discomfort
Cold sweats
Nausea or vomiting
Unexplained weakness

If you suspect a member of your family or another person is having a heart attack, treat it as an emergency and call for emergency help. Take care of yours and your family heart health by being physically active, this includes all members of your family: children, adults and seniors. You can take control of your health and prevent cardiovascular diseases with our Disease Prevention Program.