New Delhi/Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], September 23 (ANI/PNN): World Heart Day (WHD) - September, 29 is a gentle reminder to look into whether our heart is healthy or not. For every beating heart, beating cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) is extremely important. However, heart health statistics are not very promising and approximately 12 lakh youngsters die from cardiac arrest every year in India.

Considering the dire need to curb the steady rise in the incidence of heart diseases -hypertension and heart failure in India, JB Pharma has initiated the #Heart2HeartChallengeIndia with the support of HEAL Foundation to spread awareness amongst the masses to check whether their hearts are healthy or not by involving simple steps. The #Heart2HeartChallengeIndia is very simple - you have to climb 60 steps (4 floors) in a minute, make a video of it, share it on your social media, tag 5 people, inviting them to take this challenge to check their heart health.

The challenge takes its inspiration from a study published in Rev Esp Cardiol (Engl Ed) "Time to climb 4 flights of stairs provides relevant information on exercise testing performance and results" in 2020. The same study was published as a press release by the European Society of Cardiology under the heading "Test your heart health by climbing stairs". As per a study, finding climbing 4 flights of stairs in under a minute can be linked with low mortality.

Dilip Singh Rathore, President - India Business, JB Pharma, said, "As per the WHO report, nearly 63 per cent of total deaths in India are due to non-communicable diseases, of which 27 per cent are attributed to cardiovascular disease (CVD) which affects 45 per cent of people in the 40-69 age group. Raised blood pressure is among the most important risk factors for CVDs. Moreover, it remains poorly controlled due to low awareness about hypertension, lack of appropriate care through primary care and poor follow-ups. Considering the need to spread awareness around World Heart Day falling on September 29, we have initiated the 'Heart2Heart Challenge India' campaign - yet another gentle reminder to the masses to pay heed to their heart health, to make India heart-healthy."

[1] Time to climb 4 flights of stairs provides relevant information on exercise testing performance and results - PubMed (nih.gov)

[1] Test your heart health by climbing stairs (escardio.org)

The purpose of this campaign is to drive awareness on checking heart health individually because if one is unable to climb 60 steps (4 floors) in 1 minute, it is the primary sign that one's heart is suboptimal (not working well) as the European Society of Cardiology has demonstrated it. And it would be a good idea to consult a doctor and get your BP checked, to take preventive or curative measures whatsoever required to keep your heart healthy.

Speaking about bringing heart health awareness, and about the alarming state of hypertension in India, Dr Swadeep Srivastava, Founder & Chairman, HEAL Foundation, said, "As per the WHO report, only about 12 per cent of people with hypertension in India have their blood pressure under control. And uncontrolled blood pressure is one of the main risk factors for cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) such as heart attacks and stroke are responsible for one-third of total deaths in India. The Heart2Heart Challenge India campaign is a novel attempt to mitigate the deteriorating heart health conditions of Indian people, and to stride by the Government of India's target to reduce the 25 per cent prevalence of hypertension (raised blood pressure) by 2025. The campaign has multiple steps which include four flight challenges, learning accurate measurement (BP RIGHT KARO) of blood pressure, and cholesterol testing. We are hopeful that people will participate in the challenge wholeheartedly and by World Heart Day we scale the height equal to 7 mountain Summits of the world to create a world record."

To spread this message across about 2500 JB employees, including senior management from across multiple locations, will participate in the campaign, and take the challenge by inviting more and more people from their groups to take the challenge and pass on the healthy heart and timely BP monitoring message in the community to make it public.

Disclaimer: The outcome of the challenge is to provide you with an indicative assessment, this is not a substitute for medical advice. You should NOT take Heart2Heart Challenge if you are already diagnosed or are at risk of any heart/lung condition. Consult your doctor for more clarification.

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