Make peace with your hearts

Sri Lanka Heart Association (SLHA) together with Unilever’s spread brand Flora and MTV has called on the public to make peace with their hearts as a part of a heart health awareness campaign launched to mark World Heart Day which falls on today themed “Make peace with your heart”, a press release said. In the face of disturbing statistics related to heart disease, public support for the cause of heart health is critical as heart disease is the leading cause of death in Sri Lanka with 10 recorded deaths each day – of which seven are found to have contracted heart disease due to an unhealthy lifestyle. The current trend in Sri Lanka is of people laying heed only after they are affected by a heart ailment.

Heart disease and stroke is also the world's largest killer, claiming 17.5 million lives a year – 80 percent in low- and middle-income countries. Alarmingly, the numbers have shown an upward trend over the years. Heart disease and stroke is largely preventable if the main risk factors, including high blood pressure, high levels of cholesterol and blood glucose, use of tobacco, inadequate intake of fruit and vegetables, overweight and obesity and physical inactivity are reduced. The key to achieving these results they believe is awareness and education.

The campaign will kick off with a short health walk on World Heart Day, at 7.30am from the Right Lawn of BMICH and continue to Borella junction and back to BMICH and will finally culminate in a Heart Health Lifestyle Fair which will enable participants to interactively learn about 'how to live a preventive lifestyle'.

This fair will feature all the elements required for a healthy lifestyle and will offer participants free heart health checks, heart health tips and educational sessions by renowned doctors and cardiologists from key hospitals.

The Lifestyle fair will be host to a range of interesting stalls showcasing gym equipment and demonstrations on the proper use of exercise machines, health food stalls, easy to fix health food recipes and several other activities related to keeping the heart healthy all in a family fun environment.