We spend most part of our waking hours at the workplace, meeting work schedules and enhancing productivity, in a bid to improve our career. Amid this entire humdrum, have you spared a thought to the fist of life and the driving force, which beats without a break- Your Heart. September 26th, 2010 is World Heart Day, a yearly event held to increase awareness about heart disease which claims the lives of 17.1 million people annually.

Heart attack, also called myocardial infarction, is the death of the heart muscle due to loss of blood supply caused due to blockage in one or more of the coronary arteries supplying the heart. The other names for heart attack include acute myocardial infarction, coronary thrombosis, and coronary occlusion. Heart attack is a life-threatening event and everyone should know the warning signs of it.

Coronary artery bypass grafting is an open-heart procedure to relieve the blockages of the arteries of the heart. After a heart attack certain areas of the heart do not receive adequate blood supply and these areas are starved of oxygen and nutrients and this result in areas of the heart that are ischemic. By performing CABG these areas are re-perfused using 'free vein or arterial bypass' that connect the normal areas of the arteries to less perfused areas and 'bypass' the blocked arteries.

Cardiac catheterization is a radiological procedure for both diagnosis and treatment of heart conditions. It involves the insertion of a long thin flexible tube called catheter a vein or an artery to the heart. Cardiac catheterization can be done at any age, including for new borns. The procedure approximately takes an hour or more depending on the condition for which it is performed.

Yoga is an alternative system of healing, its power being widely harnessed to prevent and treat various diseases of the heart. Yoga has an important role in the prevention of cardiovascular diseases that includes recurrence of heart attacks, hypertension and coronary heart diseases. Yoga influences the hypothalamus directly, the area of the brain that controls endocrine activity, and helps prevent heart attacks.