DIL Walk is a not-for-profit foundation, established to create awareness about heart disease. Your donation would help DIL Walk maintain the website, organize annual DIL Walk in your community, provide education and develop resources, translate various resources, distribute those resources, organize various community awareness campaign throughout the year (i.e. DIL Walk day at local Churches, Temples, Gurudwaras, Mosques, and many community locations to help increase awareness of heart disease and how we could lower our risk. DIL Walk Board of Directors and Executive Committee members work on volunteers basis. They provide important insight into the development of resources, and help organize DIL Walk events. There is NO paid executive position at DIL Walk foundation. Its purely run by volunteers and it is a great example of an event organised by an community and for a community. Your support will help us keep this momentum going.

During annual DIL Walk events, all Canadian residents are invited to and with consent will get their waist circumference checked, blood pressure checked, random blood sugar checked, physical activity screen, etc. All participants are provided a package with FREE T Shirt, a booklet, and a passport with normal parameters. Participants also have an opportunity to attend free classes addressing following (but not limited to) topics: Heart Attack and Stroke Sudden Cardiac Death Ethnic Variations and their impact on the heart disease High Blood pressure High Cholestrol Diabetes Obesity Nurtition Physical Activity Medications Arrythmias Sleep Apnea Oral Health Cardiac Investigations and procedures After classes and measurements were done, all participants join Cardiologists, Family Physicians, Other Specialists, Nurses, Respiratory Therapists, Dietitians, Dentists, and many other allied health professionals in an excercise routine which includes, Laughter Yoga, Warm-up and Walk in the park. After excercise routine, all participants are provided with light lunches. They also get light snacks during the events. All participants are required to make a pledge that they will excercise on regular basis, quit smoking, east fresh fruits and vegetables as per Canada’s Food Guide, reduce salt and trans fat intake, and follow their doctors recommendations on regular basis.

There have been many reasons identified, but a through research is lacking. It is thought that due various genetic reasons, increased prevalence of diabetes and obesity, lack of excercise, foods rich in trans fats and salt, along with smaller heart arteries put them at higher risk than other communities. South Asians cut-off for obesity diagnosis (based on BMI or waist circumference) are also more stricter as compared to Caucasians (based on World Health Organization data). We would like to raise this important issue and push for more research in this very important area.

Generally, people from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, Nepal and some parts of Afghanistan are considered South Asians as they have similar gene pool which puts them at higher risk of heart disease. They may have born in Canada or in other western countries, they still carry higher risk as compared to other communities due to their parents origin.

There are many ways you can help DIL Walk. You can help raise funds, volunteer at the events, help develop resources, help distribute resources, and ask your friends and family members to support this non for profit one of a kind initiative by spreading word on facebook, twitter, and many social websites. Please Contact Ms. Raman Kapoor RD President, DIL Walk Foundation Email: dilwalk@gmail.com or 403-909-7222

Heart disease can be prevented and you have the ability to manage it! The first thing to do is learn your risk factors. Once you know these, then focus on controlling them. These include, but not limited to: high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, being overweight, inactive lifestyle, stress, and smoking. If you have heart disease, you can take positive steps to help further reduce your risk. Try these heart-healthy steps: Choose lower fat foods more often. Limit deep fried foods such as samosas, pakora, poori and gulab jamun. Enjoy being active. Walking is an easy, an excellent form of activity. Involve the whole family. Monitor and keep track of your blood pressure. Bring your results to your doctors appointments. Aim for a healthy weight. Keep your diabetes under control. Monitor your blood sugars regularly. Limit alcohol use. If possible substitute hard liquor for certain red wines that are shown to help reduce. Reduce stress. Take your medications regularly, as directed. Visit your doctor regularly and follow your doctor’s advice.

There are many ways your doctor can decide your heart attack risk. Most often used risk assessment tool is called framingham score which can easily be found online. This self assessment tool does have some drawbacks, as it has not been validated in certain ethnicities and can over or under estimate heart attack risk. Therefore, some doctors use QRISK2 score which has been validated by scientific literature in certain ethnicities. QRISK2 score also takes into account certain communities in U.K. that are considered to be higher heart attack risk due to low socioeconomic status. Please talk to your doctor to see which assessment tool is right for you to help understand your heart attack risk.