September 29th – World Heart Day

World Heart Day is an opportunity for everyone to stop and consider how best to use heart for humanity, for nature, and for you. Beating cardiovascular disease is something that matters to every beating heart.

Theme for this year: USE HEART FOR EVERY HEART:

• Use Heart means to think differently. To make the right decisions. To act with courage. To help others. To engage with this important cause. The heart is the only organ you can hear and feel. It is the first and last sign of life. It is one of the few things with the potential to unite all of us as people.
• For Every Heart involves the use of “FOR” and swings the focus from the actions themselves to the beneficiaries of the actions, allowing for wider application of the campaign while also making it more personal. We want World Heart Day messages to reach as many individuals as possible to help achieve cardiovascular health for every heart.

By the numbers: 

• 115,000 – the number of times our heart beats in a day.
• 6500 – the number of litres of blood pumped by the heart every day.
• 1893 – the year in which the first open-heart surgery occurred.
• 3,500 – the age in years of an Egyptian mummy in which the earliest-known case of heart disease was identified.
• 300 grams – the weight of the human heart.
• 96500 – the number of miles our blood vessel system can extend to.
• 680 kg – the weight of a blue whale’s heart.
• 5 litres – the amount of blood pumped by our heart each minute. 

(World Heart Federation, 2022)

More information:
World Heart Federation
National Today 
World Stroke Organization