World Heart Day 2021: Check theme and significance, get to know about these rare heart diseases - Find details here

World Heart Day 2021: September 29 is celebrated every year as World Heart Day. The World Heart Day is created by the World Heart Federation to inform people across the world that Cardiovascular disease (CVD) including heart disease and stroke, is the world’s leading cause of death claiming 18.6 million lives every year.

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Theme and significance

Often there is a saying that it is the heart that connects a human being with other, or even the rest of the world. The theme for this year's World Heart Day is reminiscent of the say. According to the official website of World Heart Federation, the theme for this year's World Heart Day is 'Use Heart to Connect'.

In May 2012, the world leaders committed to reducing global mortality from non-communicable diseases (NCDs) by 25 per cent by 2025. It has to be noted that CVD is accountable for nearly half of all NCD deaths making it the world’s number one killer. The World Heart Day is, therefore, the perfect platform for the CVD community to unite in the fight against CVD and reduce the global disease burden.

As per World Heart Federation, this day is a global campaign during which individuals, families, communities, and governments around the world participate in activities to take charge of their heart health and that of others. Through this campaign, the World Heart Federation unites people from all countries and backgrounds in the fight against the CVD burden and inspires and drives international action to encourage heart-healthy living across the world.

Rare and neglected CVDs

According to World Heart Federation, while each individual disease is rare, collectively rare diseases are common, affecting approximately 5% of the world’s population. There are more than 6,000 known rare diseases, some of which affect the heart and circulatory system.

80 per cent of the rare diseases are genetic in origin and often present at an early age. The patients with rare diseases also suffer from delays in diagnosis due to a lack of medical knowledge and poor awareness of these conditions and this in turn contributes to a considerable social and financial burden for affected individuals as well as their families and caregivers.

One of these diseases is called transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy or ATTR-CM, which is a form of cardiac amyloidosis. ATTR-CM is a rare, underdiagnosed and fatal condition, resulting in progressive heart failure. It mainly affects men over age 60 but can also affect women.

Another is Kawasaki disease which is actually becoming increasingly common and is the leading cause of acquired heart disease in children.

There are also conditions related to the heart which inflict great health burdens on those living in low- and middle-income countries. Chagas disease is a neglected tropical disease caused by a group of parasites called Trypanosoma cruzi.

Rheumatic heart disease (RHD) is a condition which affects 39 million people worldwide. Every year, the disease claims 291,000 lives, mostly in low and middle-income countries. RHD most commonly occurs in childhood and can lead to death or life-long disability.