The national stroke and heart charity says it wants to empower the public to be aware of eight small steps which can deliver profound benefits to cardiovascular health.<\/p>\n
They include managing stress, eating for a healthy heart, moving more, quitting smoking and vaping, monitoring blood pressure, cholesterol and blood sugar, aiming for your best weight, drinking less alcohol and taking your prescribed medication.<\/p>\n
\u201cA total of 75% of people who had heart attacks in Ireland between 2017 and 2020 did not know they had any risk factors, so were completely oblivious to the dangers,\u201d said Janis Morrissey, Deputy CEO and Director of Services at the charity.<\/p>\n
\u201cEveryone has the power to prevent serious heart events by taking steps now.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe recognise that heart health is shaped by many factors beyond individual choice, including where we grow up and our access to green spaces, clean air, education and healthcare.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut we\u2019d urge the public to make small changes where possible, it is an investment but a massive return on your future heart health.\u201d<\/p>\n
One man who suffered a heart attack, heart disease and had to have 19 stents inserted, urged the public to take stock of their heart health and take small steps to help reduce their risk of heart disease and stroke.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Mark-Sherry-Love-Your-Heart1.jpg\")
Heart patient Mark Sherry says he knows he could have reduced the risk of his cardiac issues.<\/p>\n
Mark Sherry, 68, was a healthy father-of-two before sudden chest pains during a gym session when he was in his forties sparked off a series of cardiac issues which has significantly changed his life.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought I\u2019d be gone at this stage but I\u2019m doing better than I had anticipated,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Sherry, an accountant from Delgany, Co Wicklow, received his first stent after experiencing intense chest pain and shortness of breath while at his local gym in 2006.<\/p>\n
A cardiologist identified blockages in his main coronary artery and he was diagnosed with heart disease.<\/p>\n
A decade later in 2016, he was horse riding alone and experienced a \u2018full blown heart attack\u2019.<\/p>\n
He later changed his career, confronting an \u2018unsustainable\u2019 stressful lifestyle, has improved his diet, is physically active, and cut out alcohol completely.<\/p>\n
Now working in the National Museum of Ireland as Head of Finance and Procurement, he said his outcome would have been much worse without the intervention of his cardiology team, cardiac rehab at St Vincent\u2019s University Hospital and support from the Irish Heart Foundation\u2019s Nurse Support Line and Heart Support Facebook Group.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of us might think we are bulletproof, and I know I could have reduced the risk of this happening to me,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no indication that there was anything wrong. Following these steps could mean the difference between a healthy, functioning heart or a lifetime of checks, stents, scans and major life changes.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sarah O\u2019Brien, HSE, Healthy Eating & Active Living Programme, Health & Wellbeing, said: \u201cEvery September, the Irish Heart Foundation\u2019s Heart Month initiative puts the spotlight on the importance of preventing heart disease and stroke.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis new campaign is very welcome. With a broad focus on increasing awareness of the eight steps we can take to reduce our risk of heart disease and stroke, it is relevant to everyone of us.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd is a timely prompt to pause, take stock and learn more about the small steps we can take to improve our health now and into the future. \u00a0It is also an opportunity to find out about the supports available from the Irish Heart Foundation and HSE to help with moving more, quitting smoking, eating healthier, reducing alcohol and managing stress.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"People in Clare have been urged to take small steps to reduce their risk of heart disease and…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":622166,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[103,61,60],"class_list":["post-622165","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-health","tag-health","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622165","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=622165"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/622165\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/622166"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=622165"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=622165"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=622165"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}