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Why every Indian must give importance to heart failure

The rate at which the world is growing is amazing! Humans have collaborated to make this world a better place like never before. But in this tryst, it is us, humans, who are suffering the most. This rapid pace is affecting our lives, thus making it all the more important to check the implications it has on our health. As per Harvard Medical School, it is estimated that may be half of the premature deaths are caused due to unhealthy lifestyle choices, such as insufficient exercise, poor diet, and smoking. Such factors contribute to an increase in the risk of heart-related diseases. With a changing world, one must keep a close look at the sign of heart-related complications.
Yes, cardiac arrests are on the rise, however, one area which is silently adding to our country’s health burden is the underdiagnosed and misdiagnosed issue of Heart Failure. Mostly, the term Heart Failure is considered synonymous to a Heart Attack. But that is not true. Heart Failure is a silent disease, where the heart muscle becomes too weak or too stiff to work properly. It is often ignored because of its common symptoms. Thus, makes the widespread awareness around Heart Failure extremely important.
What’s worrisome is that India carries 40% of the global heart failure burden alone. And the fact is, that it is only getting worse with increasing diabetes and hypertension. Another point to note here is that Heart Failure patients in India are 10 years younger than their western counterparts.
To combat this issue and to build awareness around heart failure, Beat Heart Failure was kickstarted by Times of India in partnership with Novartis in 2019. The initiative has successfully reached lakhs of people and has specifically engaged 6.5 lakhs plus people to take the symptom checker – a tool that helps them understand the symptoms of Heart Failure.