Heart conditions on the rise invest in the health of your heart

Did you know that the heart is the strongest muscle? Based on its weight; with all muscles of the jaw working together, it can close the teeth with force as great as 25 kilogrammes on the incisors or 90.7 kg on the molars.

The heart pumps blood to all parts of the body. It can beat for over three billion times nonstop in a person's life. It goes without saying that the heart is the engine of the body. No wonder, the world set aside today as the World Heart Day.

It is being commemorated under the theme: At the heart of health. The theme highlights the fact that a healthy heart is crucial for a healthy body.

"This year's theme views the heart as an engine of the body; it is centrally located and its main function is to pump blood to all parts of the body. Therefore, for any part of your body to be healthy, the heart must be healthy," Dr Michael Oketcho, a consultant cardiovascular surgeon at the Uganda Heart Institute (UHI), says.

On this day, we pause to remind ourselves about the heart, possible conditions that can affect it and in turn affect our health. As we think about the heart, people also refl ect on what they can do as individuals to improve the state of health of their heart.

"We want people to know that to a greater extent, they are in control of what happens to their heart. There are many preventive measures they can take, even those who have been affected already can undertake measures to improve on the health of their hearts," Oketcho explains.

According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the number one cause of death annually.

An estimated 17.7 million people died from CVDs in 2015, representing 31% of all global deaths. Of these, 7.4 million were due to coronary artery heart disease and 6.7 million were due to stroke. CLICK HERE FOR MORE ON THIS STORY 

ADVERTS 

UGANDA HEART INSTITUTE COMMEMORATING WORLD HEART DAY

NORVIK HOSPITAL