logo
Wellness In The Workplace
LoneStart HeartSmart Issue
February 2007
More In This Issue
Sign Up
Quick Links
It's American Heart Month
hearts

This month instead of telling you why you need a workplace wellness program, and about how well the LoneStart Wellness Initiative can meet your needs (we’ll get back to that in March), we thought we’d offer something for you to share with your employees. In tribute to the American Heart Association's “American Heart Month,” and the month we honor the big red heart on Valentine’s Day, we’re devoting this issue to ways to keep it healthy, provide some statistics you and your employees may not know, and offer heart health help that we hope will prove beneficial.

Please forward and share this newsletter—or the link to the newsletter, with your employees. We hope this information will prove to be a reminder of how important heart health is, and that we all have a role to play.

conversation hearts
What Is Heart Disease?

You probably hear plenty about what you can do to prevent heart disease. But maybe you're not quite sure exactly what heart disease is. Is it the same thing as cardiovascular disease, coronary artery disease or other names you often come across? Following are a few of the more common terms.

  • Heart Disease: Any disorder that affects the heart. More or less synonymous with cardiac disease and coronary heart disease.
  • Cardiovascular Disease: A disorder that affects the heart or blood vessels and includes stroke and hypertension. You may be born with some types of cardiovascular disease or acquire others later on, usually from a lifetime of unhealthy habits, such as weight gain, lack of physical activity and smoking.
  • Coronary Artery Disease: Coronary Artery Disease (CAD) is a disease of the coronary arteries that supply the heart muscle with oxygen rich blood. Signs of CAD may include chest pain and heart attack.
food heart
You can make a real difference.

Diet is one of the most powerful influences on risk of heart disease. In fact, what you eat is so important to cardiovascular health that changing your diet can cut your risk for heart disease in half. Simply reducing the consumption of foods high in saturated and trans fats, and eating more high-fiber vegetables, fruits, legumes and whole grains, can significantly improve the health of your blood vessels and heart. So, look for ways to make positive nutritional substitutions.

An inactive lifestyle is also a high risk factor for heart disease. Regular moderate-to-vigorous physical activity helps prevent cardiovascular disease. (On an average day a fit person’s heart may beat 50,000 times less than the heart of a sedentary person. In one year that sedentary person’s heart must beat an extra 17 million times.) Exercise can help control blood cholesterol, diabetes and obesity, as well as help lower blood pressure in some people. In general, the more vigorous the activity, the greater your benefits. However, even moderate activities help if done regularly and long term. Park further away. Take the stairs (even if you use the elevator and get off a few floors early). Walk. Stretch. (Be sure to check with your doctor before starting an exercise program if you are physically inactive.)

What you can do to promote a healthy heart:
  • Look at the Nutrition Facts label on the foods you buy for guidance. The general rule of thumb is that foods that provide 5 percent of the daily value (DV) of fat or less are low in fat, and foods that are labeled as providing 20 percent or more of the daily value, are high in fat. Low is better.
  • People who are sedentary are almost twice as likely to suffer heart attacks as are people who exercise regularly.
  • Find ways to put your body in motion.
  • A blood pressure level of 140 over 90 mm Hg (millimeters of mercury) or higher is considered high. The NHLBI recently set a new "prehypertension" level of any reading above 120 over 80 mm Hg.
  • Poor eating habits and physical inactivity both contribute to high blood pressure. With high blood pressure, the heart works harder, your arteries take a beating, and your chances of a stroke, heart attack, and kidney problems are greater.
  • According to the NHLBI, table salt increases average levels of blood pressure, and this effect is greater in some people than in others.
  • Pay attention to serving sizes and portions. Remember, your stomach is about the size of two fists together. Eating more than this is too much.
  • Learn new heart healthy recipes and how to substitute healthy ingredients for unhealthy ones. (See Downloadable PDF for LoneStart Recipes)
heart and tape
Food plays a critical role in preventing and managing heart disease. To keep your heart healthy, avoid unhealthy fats and eat a diet rich in fruits, vegetables, whole grains and legumes and one that includes heart-protecting omega-3 fatty acids. (People who eat beans at least four times a week have a lower level of heart disease—at least 19 percent lower—than people who eat beans less than once a week. American Heart Association). Fruits and vegetables, along with legumes and whole-grain breads, are also rich in fiber, which protects your heart by lowering your blood cholesterol and glucose levels. For additional protein sources, look for skinless poultry, lean meat, fish, and fat-free or low fat dairy products. In smaller amounts, unsaturated fats (olive oil, avocados and nuts) are also heart healthy choices.

Foods that can harm your heart—and should be avoided—include those made with refined flours and sugar or contain high fructose corn syrup, fried foods, salty foods, and foods that contain saturated and trans fats (such as pastries, salty snacks, fatty meats, fried chicken or fried fish and french fries.

The amount of food you eat (portion control) is also important to maintaining a healthy weight. Carrying too much weight elevates your blood pressure and can lead to type 2 diabetes, a major risk factor for heart disease. Losing as few as 10 pounds can help reduce this risk. (See Downloadable PDF, How to Make Healthy Recipe Modifications)
heartcheck

The following are the latest statistics from The American Heart Association unless otherwise noted. They're scary, eye-opening, true, and something we all should be aware of.
  • More than 2.500 Americans die from heart disease each day.
  • Every 20 seconds a person in the United States has a heart attack.
  • Studies show that under-educated people are more likely to suffer heart attacks.
  • Almost 6 million hospitalizations each year (in the United States) are due to cardiovascular disease.
  • Since 1900, cardiovascular disease has been the number 1 killer in the United States for every year but 1918.
  • Every 33 seconds a person dies from cardiovascular disease in the United States.
  • Men suffer heart attacks about 10 years earlier in life than women do.
  • When a woman has a heart attack, she has a poorer chance of survival than a man does. The poorer chance of survival is largely because women usually have vague symptoms that can result in delayed care.
  • Heart disease kills more women each year than all forms of cancer, chronic lung disease, pneumonia, diabetes, accidents and AIDS combined.
  • While heart disease and stroke kill one in very 3.7 men, one in 2.4 women lose their lives to heart disease and stroke. They are the No. 1 and No. 3 killers of women. By way of comparison, breast cancer kills one in 29 women. (See Women's Heart Health Facts PDF)
  • According to the American Heart Association, people who have excess body fat are more likely to develop heart disease, even if they have no other risk factors. Excess weight increases the strain on the heart and influences blood pressure and blood cholesterol.
  • The most life-threatening consequences of diabetes are heart disease and stroke, which strike people with diabetes more than twice as often as they do others. Most of the cardiovascular complications related to diabetes have to do with the the way the heart pumps blood through the body. (American Diabetes Association)
  • The risk of cardiovascular disease among people with diabetes is dramatic: a diagnosis of diabetes as an adult presents the same risk as already having one heart attack. More than 65 percent of deaths in diabetes patients are attributed to heart and vascular disease. (American Diabetes Association)
  • The estimated direct and indirect cost of cardiovascular disease in the United States last year was $403.1 billion.
  • Losing as little as 10 to 20 pounds can help lower your heart disease risk.
  • Americans can lower their risk of heart disease by as much as 82 percent just by leading a healthy lifestyle. (Department of Health and Human Services)
cardiogram
Act In Time

Heart attack and stroke are life-and-death emergencies and every second counts. Coronary heart disease is America’s No. 1 killer and stroke is No. 3. Knowing and reducing risk factors is something we can all do, and recognizing the warning signs and what to do if they occur, is something we all should know. The following information has been supplied by the American Heart Association and the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.

Heart Attack Warning Signs
  • Chest discomfort: Discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back should not be ignored. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.
  • Discomfort in other areas of the upper body: Can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.
  • Shortness of breath: Can occur with or without chest discomfort.
  • Other signs: May include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness.

Stroke Warning Signs
  • Sudden numbness or weakness of the face, arm or leg, especially on one side of the body.
  • Sudden confusion, trouble speaking or understanding.
  • Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
  • Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance or coordination.
  • Sudden severe headache with no known cause.

Cardiac Arrest—strikes immediately and without warning
  • Sudden loss of responsiveness (no response to tapping on the shoulders).
  • No normal breathing (the victim does not take a normal breath when you tilt the head up and check for at least five seconds).

How to Recognize A Stroke
 The American Stroke Association offers the following simple test if you think someone is having a stroke. If the individual has trouble with any of these tasks, call 911 immediately.
  • Ask the person to smile.
  • Ask him or her to raise both arms.
  • Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence, such as "It is sunny out today."

By adopting healthier lifestyle behaviors we can reduce our risk for these life-threatening conditions. So, let's stop being still and ill. Let's all be on the move to improve. Look for every opportunity to make better nutritional choices and to get your body in motion.

Help us be sure this e-mail newsletter isn't filtered as spam. Please add our return address (info@lonestartnow.com) to your address book. That may 'whitelist' us with your filter—and ensure that future issues get through. Thanks!

If your organization is ready to take responsibility for promoting healthy lifestyles and a healthy work environment, LoneStart is an effective, low-cost and easy-to-administer employee wellness program, which functions equally well as a stand-alone initiative or as a high-impact jump-start to existing or proposed employee wellness strategies.

Contact us today to find out how the LoneStart 21-Day Wellness Initiative will change your workplace.

Please share Wellness in the Workplace with colleagues.

Please forward this newsletter to friends and associates who will benefit from a workplace wellness strategy such as the LoneStart Wellness Initiative.

A Challenge. An Opportunity. A Solution.
The LoneStart 21-Day Wellness Initiative
phone: 512.894.3440