For several years, I had been conducting awareness sessions on preventing heart diseases. A few days before this year’s World Heart Day, a friend’s husband in his mid-fifties suffered a massive heart attack and that made me doubt if such sessions make a difference. Over the years I had noticed a shift in the age profile of heart attack patients from 60 and above to 40 and below. The disturbing trend has evolved despite a greater understanding about the risk factors. The reason could be a chasm between what people know they should be doing and what they actually do.
I told my husband, “I have been telling ‘Know your numbers — BP, blood sugar and body weight’ — and propagating ‘Ek chammach kam and chaar kadam aage (one spoon less of salt, sugar and oil and four more steps of walking)’. It doesn’t seem to have made much impact.” He said, “That doesn’t mean you will stop telling people how to prevent a heart attack. Everyone has the right to make choices. Haven’t you seen the statutory warning and the ghastly picture of mouth cancer on cigarette packets? Has it made everyone quit smoking?”
He reminded me that ‘doctor’ is derived from a Latin word docere, which means ‘to teach’. I mulled over it and changed my strategy to “catch them young” and participated in the World Heart Day activities in some schools. Instead of I giving a talk, the children explained the circulatory system, demonstrated resuscitation measures, displayed blocks in arteries and opening them up with stents. They explained about healthy habits, heart-healthy food and even took a pledge. I hope that the benefits will reflect as longer and healthy lives for them
