Balanced Living

February 2007

Beating Heart Disease

February is American
Heart Month

If you're at risk for heart disease, we have good news for you. Many people can take steps to significantly reduce their chances of developing it. Even if you already have atherosclerosis or have had a heart attack, there's a lot you can do to prevent future heart problems.

Cardiac catheterization, bypass operations, angiography, stents and statins are helping many people with heart disease live longer. Even so, heart disease is still the most common cause of death in the United States, according to the American Heart Association (AHA). You can help make sure you don't become a statistic by taking steps to lower your risk.

Risk Factors
Some risk factors are beyond your control: You can't change your gender (males have a higher risk), your family history or your age (risk increases with age).

Other major risk factors, however, can be modified. You can help lower your risk for developing heart disease by making positive lifestyle changes. Even if you already have heart disease, doing these things can help you prevent a future heart attack:

Stop smoking. The AHA says Smokers are two to four times more likely to develop heart disease than non-smokers.
Control high blood pressure. If you have blood pressure higher than recommended, work with your health care provider to lower it. Dropping just 12 to 13 points can lower your risk of having a heart attack by 21 percent.
Control high cholesterol. If you have high cholesterol, particularly if you have high LDL("bad") cholesterol, work with your provider to lower it. Even a 10 percent reduction in your total cholesterol may decrease your risk for heart disease by 30 percent.
Lose extra weight. If you are overweight or obese, even dropping just 10 pounds can make a difference.
Get physically active, with your doctor's approval. Being inactive can raise your risk by 50 to 140 percent. That makes it just as dangerous as smoking, high blood pressure, or high cholesterol.
Control diabetes. If you have diabetes, maintain control. About 75 percent of people with the condition die from cardiovascular disease, not diabetes.

You can tackle several risk factors at once by doing just three things: eating healthier foods, exercising, and taking your medications as instructed.

Diet and Health
Watching what you eat can reduce your risk for heart disease, says Joel Fuhrman, M.D., a member of the American Academy of Family Physicians. Limit foods that are high in calories and saturated fat, because they can lead to gain, as well as high cholesterol levels.

Dr. Fuhrman recommends these foods, which are high in nutrition:

Dark green leafy vegetables such as spinach. These vegetables contain vitamins C and K, and folate. These nutrients may lower your risk for heart disease and some cancers.
Beans and other legumes. They're high in protein and a good source of fiber, which is good for your heart.
Blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries. They contain antioxidants, fiber, and vitamins.
Pomegranates. Pomegranate juice may help lower high cholesterol in people with diabetes.
Walnuts. These nuts are high in fat, but it's not the saturated kind. Walnuts contain omega-3 fatty acids, which may help reduce cholesterol.
Flaxseeds. Also high in unsaturated fat, these are another good source of omega-3s.

Power of Exercise
Exercise can cut your risk for heart disease by helping you lose weight and control your blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol levels, the AHA says. Exercise for 30 to 60 minutes of moderate exercise on most days. Brisk walking, running, swimming, and cycling all qualify. Remember, talk with your doctor before starting to exercise, especially if you already have heart disease.

Feeling unmotivated? Keep this in mind: If you weigh 200 pounds, you could lose 14 pounds in a year by adding a brisk 1-1/2-mile walk to your daily routine and eating sensibly. Not very athletic? Pick an activity that doesn't require new skills. Hate exercising alone? Ask a friend to join you.

Take Your Medication
Following a healthier lifestyle may be enough to keep your blood pressure, cholesterol, or even diabetes in check. But, if it isn't doing the trick, your health care provider may recommend prescription medication, the AHA says.

Read the label on your medication, as well as any information provided by your pharmacy regarding your prescription. If you're taking more than one medication, consider filling all your prescriptions at one pharmacy. This may help you prevent possibly dangerous interactions. Let your provider know about any side effects, but never stop taking medicine on your own.

For more information:
https://fhahelps.personaladvantage.com/heart_health
http://www.americanheart.org

Get Health Smart!

February is Wise Health Consumer Month

February is Wise Health Consumer Month, a time for people to empower themselves to make better health decisions. That includes learning new ways to manage stress.

Stress is the body's non-specific response to any increased demand that's placed upon it. Even positive changes -- getting married or changing careers -- can be stress-provoking.

Studies show a little bit of stress actually can be a good thing. Short-term stress, the type that produces a fight-or-flight response, boosts the immune system, preparing it for possible infection or injury, according to a major review of stress-and-immunity studies in the July 2004 issue of Psychological Bulletin, published by the American Psychological Association (APA).

But, when stress becomes chronic or prolonged, it can wear you down.

The first step to beating stress is understanding the different types of stress you may encounter. Stress management is complicated and confusing, because there are different types of stress--acute stress, episodic acute stress, chronic stress, and traumatic stress--each with its own characteristics, symptoms, time course, and treatment approaches.

Acute stress is the most common form of stress. It comes from demands and pressures of the recent past and anticipated demands and pressures of the near future. Acute stress is thrilling and exciting in small doses but too much is exhausting. A fast run down a challenging ski slope, for example, is exhilarating early in the day. That same ski run late in the day is taxing and wearing. Skiing beyond your limits can lead to falls and broken bones. By the same token, overdoing on short-term stress can lead to psychological distress, tension headaches, upset stomach, and other symptoms.

Episodic Acute Stress occurs in people who suffer acute stress frequently. Their lives are so out of control, they are living in a seemingly constant state of chaos and crisis. They're always in a rush, but always late. If something can go wrong, it does. They take on too much, have too many irons in the fire, and can't organize the slew of self-inflicted demands and pressures clamoring for their attention.

Some people's personalities seem to set them up for Chronic Acute Stress. If the descriptions describe what you're doing to yourself, think about how you can make some personal changes to get your life back under control. You might even want to think about contacting your EAP program for a referral to a professional who can help you make some of the changes you might like to make.

Traumatic Stress, if not handled properly at the outset, overpowering trauma--accidents, rape, verbal, physical, psychological, or sexual abuse, being in the presence of extreme violence, a brush with death, natural disasters (hurricanes, earthquakes, floods, landslides), death of a loved one, or imprisonment,--can become a special kind of chronic stress known as post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

For more information:
https://fhahelps.personaladvantage.com/stress

Start a Racquet

February is National Girls and
Women in Sports Day

Tennis and racquetball are fun and competitive, and experts say they can also provide an outstanding aerobic workout.

Racket sports alternate bursts of high-intensity exercise when points are played, with brief rest periods when the ball is picked up and served.

This stop-and-start activity resembles interval training and provides more aerobic benefit than a sustained activity, such as running a marathon. "Interval training puts stress on the heart and then allows it to recover. That trains your body to work efficiently and recover quickly," says Jack L. Groppel, Ph.D., executive director of L/G/S Sport Science Center in Wesley Chapel, Fla. The company works with professional tennis players.

One key to getting a good aerobic workout in tennis or racquetball is to keep the rest periods brief; that way, the heart continues to work at an aerobic level, but without the sustained stress.

It's also important to prepare for your game as you would for a workout. Start with at least 10 minutes of warm-up activity followed by another 10 minutes of stretching.

Optimum Tennis
Tennis builds strength in your upper body, legs, hips, and abdomen and improves your speed and overall flexibility. You burn 450 calories in an hour of moderate play.

During an hour of tennis, beginners typically spend seven minutes running and the other 53 minutes walking around picking up balls. At the intermediate level, an average point takes 5 to 10 seconds of intense activity -- enough time to get your heart rate into the aerobic range and keep it there between points.

To get the most from your workout, you and your opponent should agree to play for the aerobic benefit, as well as for fun. Instead of firing aces past each other, plan on a volley-and-return match that keeps you both moving. Scatter your shots around the court to maximize the distance you both run. Also limit the number of serves, or play for total points instead of using traditional scoring.

Tips for a Top Tennis Game
Here are other suggestions for getting the most training benefit from your tennis game:

Play singles, not doubles. You'll have to go after more balls and cover more territory.
Choose slow court surfaces. Points last longer on slower courts, so you do more running and hitting.
Be aggressive. Go after every shot, even if it's going out. Run, don't walk, back to your position.
Keep moving. Run in place or walk quickly in circles while your opponent is gathering balls or during other pauses.

Endurance Racquetball
Racquetball has plenty of training benefits, says Jim Hiser, a spokesperson for the American Amateur Racquetball Association in Colorado Springs, CO. "In a racquetball match played at moderate intensity, a player's heart rate quickly reaches an ideal training level -- about 75 percent of maximum -- and stays there throughout the session."

One racquetball game played to 15 points usually takes about 20 minutes. Players usually spend an hour playing a typical match of three games. During that hour, Mr. Hiser says, you burn 650 to 750 calories. Because racquetball demands lots of twists, turns, and dives, it also helps you maintain flexibility and fine-tune your concentration, balance, and reaction time.

Tips for a Top Racquetball Game
To achieve maximum training benefits from racquetball, Mr. Hiser recommends that you:

Use international rules, which allow only one serve per point. This forces you to get your serve in and starts the rally right away.
Play at a moderate skill level. Go for long volleys instead of trying to put away your opponent on every point.
Move quickly from point to point and game to game. If you pause to towel off or change gloves between games, "don't dillydally," Mr. Hiser says. "Stay on your feet instead of sitting to rest."

For more information:
https://fhahelps.personaladvantage.com/fitness
http://www.womenssportsfoundation.org

Protecting Your Home

Understanding Home
Owner's Insurance

Regardless of whether you rent or own, it's always advisable to have insurance on your home. Most homeowners don't have a choice, since their mortgage lender will require that they maintain a homeowner's policy. What a lot of people don't appreciate, though, is that it's also a good idea to have a renter's policy, if you're renting.

What Do Policies Cover?
An insurance policy will "indemnify" you for losses covered under the policy. A homeowner's policy should cover:

Losses to real property because of fire, lightning, vandalism, windstorms, freezing, and other perils covered under the policy.
Losses to personal items in the home that are damaged or destroyed by theft or the perils covered by the policy.
Personal property lost or stolen outside the home, such as goods stolen from your car.
Personal liability coverage for "bodily injury" in case a person is injured on the property.

A renter's policy will cover many of the same things, subject to additional exclusions or limitations on the real property coverage since the insured is renting.

Will My Insurance Company Hire A Lawyer For Me?
Another benefit to most policies covering your home is that the insurance companies are obligated to hire a lawyer for you, at their expense, to defend you if you are sued. This is called a duty to defend.

What Do Policies Exclude?
Every policy is different. However, typical exclusions include: liability arising because of intentional acts, losses covered under other policies (e.g., auto insurance), sexual misconduct, earthquakes, acts of war, and nuclear hazards.

You may be able to limit exclusions by requesting special coverage endorsements. Usually, this will cost more money.

How Much Liability Coverage Do I Need?
If someone is seriously injured on property that you rent or own, you could be sued for hundreds of thousands of dollars. Thus, for both homeowners and renters, the limits of liability for personal injury is a key consideration. One important factor, other than cost, in deciding how much insurance to get is your net worth. Ask your insurance agent for a recommendation.

How Much Property Coverage Do I Need?
If you are a homeowner, most banks and other lenders will require you to purchase property coverage for at least 80 percent of the market value of your home. But, 80 percent insurance can leave you without enough insurance money to rebuild if your home is completely wiped out in a fire or natural disaster.

The cost of rebuilding (called "replacement value") is often higher than the market value of your home (what it's worth if you sell it). This is especially true if you have an older home, or a home with unusual features such as stained or leaded glass, or unique architectural detailing.

You can also purchase homeowners insurance with what's called an "inflation guard clause" that increases the amount of insurance in line with increases in local construction costs, or by a given percentage as the inflation rate increases.

Insuring Personal Possessions
Standard homeowner policies limit coverage on certain types of personal property to specific dollar amounts. Furthermore, they typically insure personal property items only up to a certain percentage of policy limits. For example, if your house is insured for $300,000, there may only be $150,000 of coverage for your personal possessions.

If you have expensive furniture, jewelry, or collections, you may want to add a separate "schedule" on your insurance for specific items. That way, you know they're covered for the actual amount it would cost to replace them.

If you itemize specific personal property, it's a good idea to get appraisals and take photos, so that you can prove ownership should you have to make a claim.

Making A Claim After A Loss
Paying a bit more for home insurance to get the coverage you need is a smart investment against potential future disaster.

For more information:
https://fhahelps.personaladvantage.com/content?sub=10000410