Features
Path to deliverance from suffering
By Dr. Justice Chandradasa Nanayakkara
The Buddha declared ‘the world is established on suffering, is founded on suffering’ (Dukke loko patititthhito). All problems in life bring about unsatisfactoriness as we attempt to put an end to them, they give rise to another. Solution of one problem leads to a another problem in many other diverse ways. We are constantly confronted with fresh problems in our daily life and problems go on incessantly and interminably. Such is the nature of suffering, and it is the universal characteristic of sentient existence. Suffering constantly appears and passes away only to reappear in other forms. Suffering and impermanence continually present challenges and people are faced with various life obstacles that are out of their control. Suffering can be either physical or psychological. Buddha declared everything subject to origination is subject also to dissolution”. The law of anicca or impermanent stipulates that all contingent existence is transitory. Nothing is in exact state it was in the previous instant and nothing remains the same for two consecutive moments. What is built eventually crumbles and fall, whoever is born will eventually die, and what comes together will eventually separate. Corona virus pandemic which is raging the whole world has brought in to sharp relief the fact of suffering. Dukka is inescapable and ubiquitous and it constitutes the first of the four Noble Truths in Buddhism. This does not mean every facet of life or every one of our experiences is miserable. Buddhism does acknowledge that life can be replete with pleasures and delights of various kinds. But they are ephemeral and impermanent.
In one of the discourses recorded in Anguttara Nikaya, the Buddha offers the following simile to explain the fleeting nature of human life. “Just as a dew drop on the tip of a blade of grass will quickly vanish at sunrise and will not last long, so too Brahmin, human life like a drop of dew, it is limited, brief and fleeting and it has much suffering, full of tribulation …. none who is born can escape death. Therefore, given the limited and fleeting nature of human life, it becomes important for Buddhists to tread the path leading to the deliverance from suffering.
In the first Noble truth, the Buddha defines the truth of dukka thus: “What monks, is the Noble Truth of Dukka? Birth is dukka, decay is dukka, death is dukka, sorrow, lamentation, pain displeasure and despair are dukka; union with the unpleasant dukka, separation from the pleasant dukka, not what one wants is dukka; in brief, the five aggregates of clinging are dukka. These monks, is the Noble Truth of Dukka”.
The solution for the aforesaid problems of dukka (unsatisfactoriness) of life is the Noble Eightfold Path propounded by Lord Buddha more than 2600 years ago. This is the only way to the cessation of suffering and also a vital step in emancipating ourselves from interminable cycle of rebirths.
It is said that this path leads to the cessation of dukka. This path consists of a set of eight interconnected factors or conditions, that when developed together, leads to the cessation of dukkha.
The eight factors of the paths are 1. Right Understanding (sammaditthi) 2. Right Thought (sammasankappa) 3. Right Speech (sammavacca). 4. Right Action (sammakammanta) 5. Right Livelihood (sammaajiva) Morality or Virtue Group sila 6. Right Effort, (sammavayama). 7. Right Mindfulness (samma sati) 8. Right concentration (samma samadhi).
These eight factors aim at promoting and perfecting the three essentials of Buddhist training and discipline. For the purpose for coherent and better understanding of the eight divisions of the path have been grouped according to under mentioned three heads.
The first two are classified as Wisdom (panna), the second three as Morality (sila) and the last three as Concentration (samadhi). These three stages in the Eightfold Path are encapsulated in a Buddhist stanza (sabba papassa akaranan – kusalassa upa sammapada – sacitta priyo dapanan – etan buddhanu sasanan). To ease from all evil to cultivate good to purify one’s mind that is the advice of all Buddhas.
The eight steps of the path are not expected to be realised in sequence, one after the other. Rather, they are considered a unity, an organic whole. They are interdependent and interrelated. All eight factors are preceded by the word “Right” classified as Right, which means perfect. It is a mode of transcendence and leads to the transcendence to arise, namely sotapanna sakadagami, anāgāmi and arahant. No doubt, it is a difficult feat to be achieved. The Noble Eightfold path is in effect the path to Nibbana., Which avoids the extreme of self-mortification that weakens the intellect and the extreme of self-indulgence that retards moral progress. Although it is generally spoken as a path to be treaded, in actual fact eight steps signify mental factors to be practised. All eight factors should converge simultaneously, each supporting other and reach a sufficient level of development to experience of sotapanna, sakadagame, anāgāmi or arahant. It is said the path proceeds from a lower state of purity to higher state and factors of the path should coalesce at a certain level of perfection. Path is not meant to be practiced a little each day.
According to Walpola Rahula, the divisions of the Noble Eightfold Path s should be developed more or less simultaneously, as far as possible according to the capacity of each individual. They are linked together and each helps the cultivation of the others.
As far as the Right Understanding in Wisdom group of the Noble Eightfold Path is concerned it is the understanding of things as they really are, particularly the clear comprehension of the Four Noble truths. The Right Understanding has been treated as the first step as an intuitive understanding as it provides the necessary motivation and impulse to start on the Eightfold Path. Importance of understanding in general sense can be seen from the Buddhas own statement.
“Do not be guided by hearsay or by tradition, legendary lore or what has come down in holy scriptures; nor on grounds of reason or logical inference; nor because of preconceived opinions or simple likelihood, nor because of a teacher’s authority. Only when you know for yourselves: these things are good and beneficial, are praised by the wise, and when taken up and carried out lead to welfare and happiness-then you should make them your own and live in accordance with them Anguttara Nikaya.”
Right Thought in the Wisdom group is threefold and it denotes the thoughts of selfless renunciation or detachment, thoughts of love and thoughts of non violence, which are extended to all beings. Cultivation of such thoughts enables a person to act accordingly at the appropriate time. One should practices benevolence and goodness in relation to indifferent people as well as those who are inimical or unfriendly. Persons should not entertain thoughts of selfish desire, ill will hatred and violence in all spheres of life whether individual, social or political.
Next group is Morality (Sila), based on love and compassion, in which are included three factors of the Noble Eightfold Path: namely Right Speech, Right Action and Right Livelihood. (Nos. 3, 4 and 5 in the list).
Right speech means abstention (i) from telling lies, (2) from backbiting and slander and talk that may bring about hatred, enmity, disunity and disharmony among individuals or groups of people, (3) from harsh, rude, impolite, malicious and abusive language, and (4) from idle, useless and foolish babble and gossip. When one abstains from these forms of wrong and harmful speech one naturally has to speak the truth, has to use words that are friendly and benevolent, pleasant and gentle, meaningful and useful. One should not speak carelessly: speech should be at the right time and place. If one cannot say something useful, one should keep ‘noble silence’.
Right Action aims at promoting moral, honourable and peaceful conduct. It admonishes us that we should abstain from destroying life, from stealing, from dishonest dealings, from illegitimate sexual intercourse, and that we should also help others to lead a peaceful and honourable life in the right way.
As far as the Right Livelihood, in the Noble Eightfold is concerned, it should be stated that Lord Buddha has not expatiated much on it,. As the major part of one’s daily life is taken up by one’s employment, the way one earns his or her livelihood has ethical and social implications either positive or negative. Buddha simply declared that a layman should not pursue certain trades which are considered to be morally and ethically wrong. For this purpose, he listed five trades which he considered to be inimical and harmful to the people and the society. They are trading in poison, trading in weapons, trading in meat, trading in intoxicants and trading in humans (diganikaya).
However, these forbidden trades are the very ones that have increased phenomenally as a result of the free marketing forces and globalisation in the world today.
Next stage is concentration (samadhi) group which Embodies three other factors of Noble Eightfold Path namely Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.
These three factors Right Effort, Right mindfulness, and Right Concentration constitute mental culture or concentration. Together these three steps encourage and enable one to be self-reliant attentive and calm. Right effort means undertaking our tasks with energy and vigor with a will to carry them through.
Right Effort (sammavayama) in general sense means cultivating positive attitude towards whatever we undertake to do. It means undertaking our tasks with enthusiasm and energy with a will to carry them through. In other words, if we fail to put effort into whatever we do, we cannot hope to succeed. But the effort must be controlled and balanced so that effort should not become too tense or too extreme. Similarly, it should not become too slack and not abandoned. Right effort (sammavayama) involves persevering four great efforts”. (1)The effort to avoid the arising of evil, unwholesome thoughts that have not arisen ye, by exercising right restraint of the senses and self-control, (2) the effort to overcome, to dispel quickly evil, unwholesome thoughts that have already arisen. (3) the effort to develop noble wholesome thoughts that have not yet arisen, (4), the effort to maintain noble, wholesome thoughts have already arisen Therefore, it is evident that the function of the right effort is to maintain constant endeavor and diligence in checking unhealthy thoughts, and to cultivate, promote and maintain wholesome and pure thoughts.
The second step of the Noble Eightfold Path that is embodied in the category of Concentration (mental development) is Right Mindfulness. Right Mindfulness is essential in our ordinary mundane activities. Mindfulness simply is awareness or attention avoiding a distracted and clouded state of mind.
It should be noted Right Mindfulness is the basis for all of the other components on the path. Unless one is mindful, there cannot be a right view, intention, speech, action livelihood, effort and concentration. Mindfulness is all about presence of mind and paying attention to what is happening in the present moment. Mindfulness leads to serenity, insight, deep concentration or wisdom. It does not lead to undirected unguarded thoughts. Right mindfulness is developing an accurate and precise awareness of the present moment unclouded by ideas beliefs, memories and expectations.
Right mindfulness is essential requirement in our daily life. Mindfulness simply is awareness or attention, avoiding a distracted and clouded state of mind. This would be necessary even in our ordinary mundane activities. For example, when a person is driving a vehicle, or crossing a busy street or doing some other task which requires attentiveness if one is unmindful of what one is doing there bound to be mishaps. It should stated that most of the majors traffic accidents that occur in Sri Lanka is due to lack of mindfulness. Therefore, practice of mindfulness plays an important role in our day today activities as enunciated in buddhism. The practice of mindfulness has been, developed to include four particular applications. They are application of mindfulness with regard to body (kayanupassana), (b) feelings or sensations (vedanupassana), (c) states of mind (cittanupassana) and (d) mental objects (dammanupassana). The discourse on “The Setting Forth of Mindfulness” (Satipatthana sutta) deals dials with it.
Right Concentration is the steady fixing of the mind on a single object to the exclusion of all others. This is call samadhi or one-pointedness of the mind. The practice of concentration helps us to maintain the mind in a state of balance. It also refers to the sphere of meditation, and specially to the four jana (absorption). Meditation in Buddhism is classified into two systems, concentration of mind (samatha) and insight (vipassana) of these two, concentration has the function of calming the mind.
According to Buddhism there are forty subjects of mediation which differ according to the temperaments of individuals.
It is said that before practising samadhi an aspirant should select carefully the subject of meditation. In the past, it was customary for aspirants who are bent on meditation to seek guidance of a competent teacher to choose suitable subject according to his temperament.
–– Ven. . Naradha
By Basab Dasgupta
The most disruptive and divisive series of events that I have seen during my life in the US was what happened after George Floyd’s death while in police custody in Minnesota in 2020.Widespread protests and violence, destruction of businesses, surge of Black Lives Matter (BLM) movement, attack on police officers, call to defund the police which in turn led to an increase in criminal activities in big cities, burning of American flags all continued for months. It turned the clock back decades as far as the racial harmony between blacks and whites was concerned.
I must confess that I failed to be too sympathetic towards this movement. I strongly felt that the need for law enforcement is one of our top-most priorities and statistically speaking, there would be more black arrests because crimes are rampant in pre-dominantly black neighbourhoods. I thought that the police officer Derek Chauvin was doing his job in his effort to subdue George Floyd a known criminal with a long rap sheet. Yes, he might have used excessive force but that may have been explained by the situation. Even black conservative commentators like Candace Owens were critical of all the anti-establishment activities.
As part of my dislike for the BLM movement, I was intensely against all woke activism including football player Colin Köpenick’s refusal to stand during national anthems, Hollywood’s encouragement to make more racially inclusive movies featuring more black actors, Joe Biden’s choice for Vice President and Supreme Court judge nominee, combination of BLM with LGBTQ+ movements under the rainbow flag and the entire mantra of “diversity and inclusivity”.
My views changed almost overnight a few days ago when I heard the news of a 23-year-old graduate student, Jaahnavi Kandula of Indian origin, being run over by a police car in Seattle while crossing the street. The accident happened on 23 January 2023, but the video from the bodycam of a police officer was just released. The car was being driven by Kevin Dave who was on an emergency call and driving at 74 mph in a zone with 25 mph speed limit.
There was a photograph of the girl so cute, so innocent, so full of optimism for a bright future; she was going to graduate in December. Tears came to my eyes thinking of my own daughter at that age and the heartbreak of the girl’s parents.
It was shocking and horrific, but such tragic accidents do happen every day in America, and I could shrug it off as another act of God that I would never understand. However, the worst part was the comment of one of the police officers. It was reported that a police officer Daniel Auderer, who happens to be the vice president of the Seattle Police Officers’ Guild, laughed at the incident and made comments like “It’s a regular person”, “there is not much value to her life”, “just write a check for $11000” during a call to Mike Solan, the president of the guild. This was all caught on the body cam video.
I could not believe what I was reading and went to YouTube to see if the video had been posted. Sure enough, I found multiple clips, each containing the comments and laughter. It was not some mumbling and giggling; comments were loud and clear.
The chilling part was the laughter. It was evil, it was as if Satan himself was laughing. It was sickening. Equally shocking was what happened after the incident was brought to the attention of superiors. Daniel reportedly confessed to making those comments but explained away his reaction by claiming that he was laughing not at the dead girl but at how the lawyers would now jump into action arguing about “value of life”. Nothing happened to the officers, not even a suspension for a few days.
The decision was that there was no need to hold Kevin guilty or initiate a criminal investigation. Despite a suspicion that Kevin was under the influence of drugs, Daniel vindicated him by lying on his behalf that he was travelling at 50 mph, a manageable speed for a trained driver, and he was not impaired the so-called “blue wall of silence”.
Daniel was obviously stupid to minimize the value of this girl’s life. I am sure that he did not know that the current President of India is a woman in a country which also elected a woman prime minister in the largest democratic country almost 60 years ago. He does not know that some of the most important positions in the world today are held by Indian women, such as the Assistant Director General of WHO and chief economist of IMF. He probably did not know how to distinguish a woman of Indian origin from other women of colour.
He could not have any appreciation for a young woman coming here for higher studies leaving her family behind so that she could get a good job and help her family live a better life.
As I started to digest the whole episode, it gradually dawned on me. This police officer may not be an isolated example. Many of the other 600,000+ policemen probably share a similar background and attitude. Daniel is a bully, a racist, an uneducated person and brazen enough to openly make such statements because he is used to making such comments.
This is perhaps not surprising. Who wants to be a policeman? Clearly, he must be physically fit and strong. He cannot be well-educated because then he would have chosen a different profession. Who else would want to risk his life every day? He must be a bully because his job is to track down criminals. He is a racist because he has seen in his job that there are more people of colour who are arrested for suspicion of a crime. He probably grew up in an equally uneducated and unsophisticated family environment. We probably only get people like him to join the force.
The policemen in this country supposedly go through regular sensitivity training on race-related issues and how to be objective. Clearly expense for such training is being wasted in Seattle.
I immediately thought of the BLM movement. Suddenly, I understood the rage and frustration of all the African American people joining the movement. I can now believe that the black folks are indeed stopped in much larg-er proportion than their white counterparts for minor offenses. I now believe that police have a very low assessment of their lives. I now believe in stories of police abuse and brutality.
I do not know how the Indian government or the Indian American community will react to this incident. I read headlines like “Biden Administration has promised swift action” and numerous comments expressing outrage and disgust below every YouTube post. Some are demanding “accountability”, but what does it mean? Should the police officer be fired? Should he be tried in a court of law like Derek? Should the police union be dismantled? Indians are peaceful people; they are not going to protest at the State capitol or burn police cars. I suspect that nothing will happen to Kevin or Daniel and the incident will gradually be forgotten.
What can I do? Should I join the BLM movement and encourage its leaders to generalize the name “BLM” to include Brown lives matter? I am sure that Mexicans will join in that effort. Should I say, “Enough with America” and go back to India? Should I organize a protest in front of a local police station? (The Statesman/ANN)
Today I just write to release my anger and to see if “a pen is mightier than a sword”.
(The writer, a physicist who worked in industry and academia, is a Bengali settled in America.)
There was a pall of silence over who accompanied our President to the Big Apple for the Big Meeting of the United Nations. Hence our curiosity was roused, minds scratched around for news. Cassandra WhatsApped a good friend of hers now living in California and asked her whether she knew who accompanied our Prez.
We thought in these hard times only the very essential and relevant to the occasion VIPs would be taken along: a lean contingent would be Prez Wckremesinghe’s orders. Cassandra hurried to her computer and googled. Plenty on President Ranil Wickremasinghe’s address to the UN General Assembly on 21 Sept., which was on the theme, “Rebuilding trust and reigniting solidarity and its relevance to Sri Lanka’s recent challenges.” Reading many articles Cass gathered that Prez RW had dealt with the country’s economic and other travails; global geopolitical landscape; climate action taken and to be taken; carbon reduction et al in his address at UNGA.
It was stated in one article that the Prez was accompanied by Minister of Foreign Affairs Ali Sabry, Secretary to the President E M S B Ekanayake, Foreign Secretary Aruni Wijewardena and other senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. So, she rested her mind that no extraneous hangers-on had accompanied the Prez.
Then came a newspaper write up that MPs Rohitha Abeygunewardena and Mahindananda Aluthgamage were in the contingent – stalwarts of the SLPP. What use were they in the context of the topics on which the Prez made his UN address? Were they experts on any issues that would have been discussed at side meetings? Experts on economics, geopolitical matters, climate change, balance of world power? NO! It seemed to be a pure (or rather impure) peace-making gesture and to keep quiet two demanders for Cabinet positions.
Sops to Cerberus in the way of a plane ride to and from, and a stay in one of the more expensive hotels in the Big Apple? Can you believe that the MPs and two die-hard Pohottu MPs and previous ministers want a joy ride and will do anything to get one? Also, that we poor Sri Lankans, suffering such slings and arrows of bad fortune in a bankrupt country with soaring prices to be paid for even the water we drink, food we so niggardly eat and electricity we so sparingly use have paid for these two to junket? We have to fork out taxes, even those with nothing to show as assets. And where does a huge amount of this collected money go? To pay for pleasure junkets for those we feel have no right to go to the UN General Assembly.
When Mahinda Rajapaksa was the President, he would take a huge group of persons who in the majority were completely redundant and of no use at all to these UN General Assembly annual gatherings. A worker in the UN in New York commented that most of those who went along dispersed soon after they had landed, in a fleet of cars hired for the visit, making a vehicle-hiring Sri Lankan in the US rich. Most of them were not even present when the Sri Lankan president made his address.
At least, they could have helped to reduce the mass of empty seats in the UN Assembly hall. Thus, it was surmised that he was repaying his catchers for being loyal to him – at our expense. No dissent, whether loud or soft, then. No one dared question why or wherefores. No one wanted to be taken on a white van ride; or worse, taken on the final journey. Cassandra must add here that a couple of brave women journos did speak up.
And to think there was a replay of this junketing in 2023, though reduced, under a Prez who understands well the plight the country is in and the need to save every rupee of government money. However, junketing was offered at the country’s expense. And by order of Prez RW. The two mentioned are very rich politicians.
Being suspicious
Cassandra experienced a happening that showed her how wary people are now, and untrusting. It is a natural outcome of the type of person the Sri Lankan is thought to be in these much-changed times. Do you remember when even in Middle East airports the Sri Lankan passport was treated with utter disdain and suspicion? Cass recalls that en route to Britain she had her passport and other Sri Lankan travellers’ passports confiscated on entry to the airport in Dubai and handed back only when the plane was re-boarding. She squirmed with embarrassment and resentment, but realised it was all because Sri Lankans had behaved shamefully dishonest and thus all Sri Lankans were branded untrustworthy.
Cass bought some tickets to enjoy a singing and dancing of Julius Caesar. The thousands she gave the young girl were found to be short. Saying she would get the balance from her driver, she instinctively took the tickets and was about to step out when she noticed the consternation of the box office girl. Suspicion, she realised, that she would not return. Cass apologised, placed the tickets on the counter, went out to get the Rs 500 needed and then, retrieving her tickets, commented it was so sad that the young one could not trust this old dame. She assured her it was no fault of hers; she was doing her duty, but people nowadays had killed the trust that was a given in years gone by. Even an absolutely honest and honourable person, grey-haired maybe and dignified, is treated with suspicion. What a sad state of affairs! But we ourselves are to blame since cheating and dishonesty are strong features of the present-day islanders of the Pearl of the Indian Ocean.
By Dr Mohan Jayatilake Consultant Cardiologist
Every year on the 29th of September, World Heart day is observed to raise awareness about cardiovascular disease (CVD), which is heart diseases and strokes. As heart diseases are a leading cause of death in the world people must be educated about them and the timely prevention to achieve this goal. World Heart day commenced in 1999 through the joint efforts of World Health Organization (WHO) and the World Heart Federation (WHF).
The theme of the World Heart Day 2023 is “Use Heart, Know Heart” emphasizing the importance of healthcare worldwide. This year’s campaign focuses on the essential step of knowing your heart first. The World Heart Federation has created this day to raise awareness about cardiovascular diseases.
The key message of World Heart Day this year aims to encourage people to look after themselves, others and nature as well. Putting a coordinated effort to improve ones’ own lifestyle and diet and motivating others to do the same can lead to a reduced number of CVD cases.
Heart diseases and strokes are the worlds’ leading cause of death claiming 17.9 million lives every year. According to WHO statistics 82% of deaths coming in from low and middle income countries are due to lack of resources.
Since a healthy heart is the gateway to a healthy life it is important to ensure the health of your heart. With the growing number of heart patients worldwide it has become a cause of concern since of late.The day is observed by organising events worldwide to make people aware about the warning signs of heart disease so that people can take steps accordingly to avoid this disease.
Together with members of WHF spread the news that at least 80% of premature deaths from heart disease and strokes could be avoided if main risk factors such as heavy smoking, unhealthy diet, reduced physical activity (sedentary lifestyle), stressful lifestyle, psychological issues, hypertension, diabetic and heavy alcoholism are controlled. Being obese and overweight, BMI (Body Mass Index) more than 25, is found to be one of the main risk factors that may harm your heart. Air pollution also can lead to coronary artery disease and stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer as short term and long term effects.
Fortunately now we have almost come out of COVID 19 pandemic which caused more vulnerable patients having severe cardiovascular events.
Events of the World Heart Day 2023
There are numerous events at the national and international level promoted by WHF. They disseminate information and hold discussions of various heart ailments at different platforms. Some of them like posters, podcasts and forums are quite popular. The day is marked by providing free fitness check-ups, fundraises, walks, runs, concerts and sporting events. All such events encourage people to stay active and be aware of their health.
Global leaders recognise the urgency to give priority to prevention and control of heart diseases and other non-communicable diseases (NCD).Which include cancer, diabetic, and chronic lung diseases.
How to contribute to observance of the event on World Heart Day
By undergoing heart health check at a center near you.
By managing your weight and keeping BMI index under control with less than 25.
By trying to stay active through different physical activities
By attending seminars to learn about different life saving activities like CPR
By attending fitness lectures and lessons of healthy living
According to this year theme also, use your heart for the betterment of others’ heart, by taking following steps to reduce the burden of heart disease. Stop smoking – Cigarette smokers are 2 to 4 times more prone to get heart diseases and strokes than non-smokers. Passive smoking inside the house will also harm your own heart and your family health, causing cardiovascular disease.
Avoid alcohol – Stressful conditions in life can lead to use of alcohol and smoking. Meditation, yoga, music or involvement with any other aesthetic will help to minimize stress and to move away from alcohol.
Healthy diet at home
Limit saturated fats and trans fats
Limit salt and sugar intake
Consume plenty of fruits and vegetables
Unhealthy diet is one of the main causes of obesity, diabetic and cardiovascular diseases. Rapid urbanisation, changing lifestyle and easy access of fast food have made the dietary pattern unhealthy.
Animal products mainly beef, pork and poultry with skin, mutton, lard, butter, cheese carry lot of saturated fats. Avoid having trans fats which are in baked, processed and fried food items, certain margarines and spreads. Take lean meats, poultry without skin, low fat dairy products, fish and nuts with vegetable oil in moderation.
Regular Exercise
Adults should do at least 150 minutes of moderately intensive physical activity or at least 75 minutes of high intensive physical activity per week. Families should limit the amount of time spent in front of TV or continuous reading to less than 2 hours a day in a seated position. Exercises should be a regular part of life.
Lose weight
World is now facing visible epidemic of obesity. It affects your cardiovascular health and also affect your wellbeing.To lose weight, do regular exercises, have healthy diet, cut down starch and sugar and alcohol. Have plenty of fruits and vegetables.
Manage stress
Psychological health can affect your cardio vascular health. Regular exercise and practice relaxation, reading, being with friends and family, adequate sleep, various hobbies maintain the positive attitude towards stress free life.
Know your numbers
Visit your doctor or health care professional, check your blood pressure regularly and take steps to control it and take regular medication.Know your cholesterol- high cholesterol is another factor for cardiovascular disease. Check regularly and control with dietary measures and medication. Know your blood sugar- Diabetic is another major factor for cardiovascular disease. Diet control, medication and professional advice required to control it.
Know your warning signs
To know the symptoms of CVD will help your survival because earlier the treatment better the chances of survival. Chest pain of tightening or burning in nature with pain radiating down the upper limbs or to the neck and jaw or back, associated with sweating and nausea are your warning signs.
Sudden weakness of limbs, slurring of speech, deviation of mouth, double vision could be due to a stroke. Knowing these symptoms and seeking urgent medical attention allow you to get treatment early to prevent life threatening complications.
Take your medicine regularly and correctly
If you are already diagnosed with heart disease or with stroke, taking your medication regularly will reduce another similar episode in future.
Breast feeding and lifelong health
Breast feeding is the best form of nutrition for newborn and infants according to WHO. Increasing public awareness is important. Infants who are breastfed tend to have lower cholesterol and blood pressure as well as lower rates of obesity.
Both undernourished and over nourished early in life can increase the risk of developing cardio vascular diseases. Maternal obesity during pregnancy has been associated with obesity in children which also increase the cardiovascular disease risk.
As always our emphasis will be on improving heart health across all nations in adult male and female as well as children. By adopting lifestyle changes, people all over the world can have longer and better lives through the prevention and control of heart disease and stroke. This was highlighted on this most important day to persuade people on maintain a healthy lifestyle.
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