WIN THE FIGHT AGAINST HEART DISEASE!
Consider these 5 tips to lower your risk for heart disease:
1) Keep your weight well-managed – Having an appropriate body weight will not only help you feel better physically, but will also help keep your blood pressure under control. If you’re not sure how to lower your weight or manage your blood pressure, ask your doctor for diet tips, or talk to a registered dietician.
2) Engage in regular physical activity – You’ll feel better and it will help keep your heart in good health. By staying active you reduce your risk for a heart attack and stroke.
3) Stop smoking – Smoking is a major risk factor! So, do what you can to reduce or eliminate smoking in our day.
4) Decrease alcohol consumption – Practice moderation when it comes to drinking.
5) Manage your stress – Your blood pressure rises as you experience stress. Take a few deep breaths and remember to keep calm in stressful situations.
Remember these lifestyle tips for future reference.
You always have control over your own health and lifestyle.
A healthy heart is a happy heart!
June is Skin Cancer Awareness Month, and EPBSMC would like to help in educating people to take steps to prevent skin damage and recognize potential skin cancer. Early identification and treatment of skin cancer helps reduce the risk of advanced disease and complications and, in some cases, may result in cure. If you have any of these conditions, you can have your skin examined by your physician, who may recommend you to a dermatologist, which is a physician who specializes in treating the skin. As with any potential cancer, it’s important to know what you can do to reduce your chances of developing it. In the case of skin cancer, protecting yourself from the sun’s damaging ultraviolet rays is recommended as your best protection. So practice good sun safety, avoiding sunburn, protect your skin to help prevent skin cancer. For more information on skin cancer, ask your physician or visit The Skin Cancer Foundation.
Skin Cancer Awareness
According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, more than one million new skin cancers are diagnosed each year – that’s more than all the new annual cases of breast, prostate, lung, and colon cancer combined. About 20% of Americans will develop skin cancer at some point during their lifetimes, so it’s important to know what to look for:
On The Job Workout
The Wooden Leg
For lower-body strength: Sit in your chair, extend one leg out straight in front of you and hold for two seconds. Then raise it up as high as you can, and hold it again for two seconds. Repeat with each leg 15 times.
Health Habit Challenge
Exercise for better Health!
According to the Centers for Disease Control & Prevention more than 60% of Americans do not get enough regular exercise. Advantages to exercise include: weight control; maintain healthy bones muscles and joints; reduce high blood pressure risk and diabetes; promotes psychological well-being; reduces risk of heart disease and premature death.
So get out there and MOVE IT, MOVE IT, MOVE IT!!
Health Habit Challenge
Get Enough Sleep!
According to the National Sleep Foundation, more than 2/3 of older adults suffer from sleep problems and many Americans do not get the minimum amount to stay alert! Sleep is vital to good health, mental and emotional well-being. Adults should get at least 7-10 hours of sleep each night. Kids need more sleep depending on their age.
Lung Cancer Prevention
Inhale your Fruits & Vegetables!
Most of us associate lung cancer with being caused by bad air that we inhale into our lungs - cigarette smoke, air pollution, radiation exposure, and toxic chemical. While reducing inhalation exposure, especially smoking, is clearly the best defense against lung cancer, there is increasing evidence that proper diet and nutrition may play a protective role in reducing lung cancer risk as well, whether or not you are a smoker.
While everyone knows that cigarette smoking is the major contributing risk factor for lung cancer, it is also true that more than one in ten people who get lung cancer are non smokers. Lung cancer is one of the most lethal types of cancer - while it accounts for only 13% of cancer, lung cancer is responsible for nearly one third of all cancer deaths.
So what role can diet play in prevention against lung cancer? A World Health Organization report suggested that lung cancer incidence could be cut by 12% if everyone ate at least four cups of vegetables and fruits per day. Studies have linked diets high in carotenoid fruits and vegetables with a lower risk of lung cancer, even among heavy smokers (Oranges, tangerines, papayas, peaches, red peppers, and carrots). Diets high in pytoestrogens such as soy, flaxseed, and beans also are linked to lower incidents of both lung cancer and breast cancer. Having adequate selenium in the diet seems to be important, too (found in whole grains, beans, poultry, seafood, sunflower seeds, Brazil nuts). Taking supplements of the above nutrients don't seem to have protective benefit - the nutrients have to be consumed as fruits and vegetables.
The best prevention against lung cancer is to stop smoking and avoid secondhand smoke and toxins. But whether or not you smoke, go for a colorful variety of fruits and vegetables in your regular diet. Fruits and Veggies are 'smokin'!
Taking Control of Your Diabetes
Improving Self-Management! It's important for people with diabetes to be proactive when living with diabetes. For example, you may have to wear protective shoes to avoid inadvertent cuts or abrasions to your feet because wound healing may be delayed. Or you may have to take extra care to obtain an annual flu shot because complications of flu can be severe in diabetic patients.
According to the American diabetes Association (ADA), approximately 21 million Americans have diabetes, and more people are being diagnosed every year. Diabetes is associated with many health problems, disability and premature death. Knowing how you can improve your lifestyle to better control diabetes is the key to reducing related complications, such as heart disease, stroke, blindness, kidney disease and amputations.
Actions you can take include:
SWINE FLU Q&A
What is swine flu?
Swine flu is a respiratory illness in pigs caused by a virus. The swine flu virus routinely causes outbreaks in pigs but doesn't usually kill many of them.
Can people get swine flu?
Swine flu viruses don't usually infect humans. There have been occasional cases, usually among people who've had direct contact with infected pigs, such as farm workers. This seems to be different; the new swine flu outbreak is spreading from human to human, in the same way as seasonal flu, through coughing and sneezing by infected people. There are no signs that people can get the swine flu from eating pork.
What are the symptoms of swine flu?
Patients should watch for symptoms such as a fever of more than 100 degrees, body aches, coughing, a sore throat, respiratory congestion and, in some cases, vomiting and diarrhea.
The World Health Organization (WHO) is developing a profile of the "typical case" of swine flu, but thus far, the symptoms appear to be essentially the same as those for the usual winter flu. The only way to definitively diagnose swine flu is to have laboratory testing done to determine the exact subtype of the virus.
The symptoms are similar to those of regular flu — fever, cough, fatigue, lack of appetite.
What is different about the current swine flu?
The current virus causing concern is a new variation of the H1N1 virus, and contains elements of human influenza and avian influenza. The current swine flu virus concerns health experts because it has shown the ability to pass from human to human. When a person gets the swine flu virus, it takes 48 hours before the infected person actually begins to feel ill.
Once a person becomes ill, they can stay that way for anywhere from 48 hours to seven days. So far, in the United States, the cases of swine flu have been mild. There is no vaccination for the swine flu system. U.S. and WHO officials said they are beginning work on a vaccine, but that could take months to develop.
Are there drugs to treat swine flu in humans?
There are four different drugs approved in the U.S. to treat the flu, but the new virus has shown resistance to the two oldest. Two prescription anti-viral drugs -- Tamiflu and Relenza -- have proved effective in combating the swine flu virus in victims in the United States. The Obama administration has released 12.5 million courses of the country's stockpile of 50 million courses of Tamiflu.
Health officials and doctors don't recommend people go to the hospital if they are experiencing flu-like symptoms. Rather, they should contact their doctor. It’s only natural for a virus to spread in workplaces and places like schools, where there is a lot of interaction. Initially it may be hard to distinguish the symptoms of a swine flu from any other flu.
How can patients protect against the outbreak?
1. Wash hands frequently: This will lessen the chance of carrying or transmitting any viruses that normally get stuck on the hands in day-to-day activities. Try to avoid rubbing eyes or touching nose with dirty hands. Wash hands often with soap and water, especially after coughing or sneezing. Alcohol-based hand cleaners are also effective.
2. Avoid close contact with sick people and crowds and increase your distance from people who are coughing and sneezing (called “social distancing”): The CDC advises people to cover their nose and mouth with a tissue when they cough or sneeze and throw the tissue in the trash after using it. Try to teach your kids to do the same. Influenza is thought to spread mainly person-to-person through coughing or sneezing of infected people.
3. If experiencing flu-like symptoms, don't go out -- stay at home. Call a health care provider, particularly if a person has been to Mexico, southern California and southern Texas. The CDC recommends that people who get sick seek immediate medical attention and limit contact with others to keep from infecting them.
4. Taking a trip to Mexico? Rethink your plans. Many airlines, including Continental, US Airways and American Airlines, are waiving cancellation fees on tickets to Mexico.
5. Stay informed and plan ahead: It's important to stay informed about what's going on in one's community, and whether the authorities -- such as the state or county health departments -- have issued any recommendations. It's a good idea to plan for what to do if school and public offices are closed.
6. Keep sick kids out of school, and stay home from work if you are sick. Aside from providing needed rest, such absences protect others from catching whatever you or your kid has. Keep at least a few feet's distance if you have the flu or are interacting with someone who has the flu. The communicable distance for most flu viruses is about three feet, so keep clear of this radius in order to avoid spread. If dealing with a flu case at home, make sure the flu sufferer (and even those who interact with this person) wear facial masks to lower the chances of spread.
7. Avoid surfaces and objects that may be handled by many people. For kids, this may include doctor's office toys, surfaces that a lot of other kids are touching. Keep all surfaces and objects around the house clean. This becomes especially relevant if there is someone in that house who is sick or has the flu already. Try to teach kids not to touch their faces. This is like mass transit for germs: straight from the hands to the eyes, nose and mouth.
8. We also suggest that you have enough food, household and pet supplies on hand for several days to several weeks to prevent the need to leave your house if you are ill or to being exposed to illness when out shopping.
Does a regular flu shot protect against swine flu?
The seasonal flu vaccine used in the U.S. this year won't likely provide protection against the latest swine flu virus. There is a swine flu vaccine for pigs but not for humans.
What Does a Public Health Emergency Entail?
Declaring a public health emergency allows states to free up their resources for prevention of the disease in question. That declaration gives the head of the Department of Health and Human Services authority to take rapid measures -- including authorizing contacts and mobilizing the national disaster system -- to respond to the disease, including allowing the use of unapproved drugs.
Scientists have not yet determined the reason why there are reported swine flu deaths in Mexico while cases in the United States have thus far been mild. The WHO noted that the U.S. cases have all been confirmed by laboratory analysis, while those in Mexico have not all been confirmed as yet. This means that health officials do not know how many people who died in Mexico perished because of the new swine flu virus.
However, the CDC is concerned that because the virus is genetically similar in the United States and Mexico, the United States will see more severe illness as new cases emerge, including death.
What is a Pandemic?
A virus can reach pandemic status if three conditions are met:
First, it must be an infection that has newly emerged. Secondly, it has to be able to cause serious illness in humans. And thirdly, it must be able to spread easily from person to person. Infections in this category can often spread beyond their continents of origin -- and potentially around the world.
Scientists around the globe are working hard to determine the threat level of the current swine virus. Right now, the virus is said to have "pandemic potential" because it is a new virus that can spread from person-to-person. If it turns out the virus can spread easily among people, the threat becomes more serious and the virus is more likely to trigger a pandemic.
It is not possible to predict a pandemic in advance, so health officials keep a close watch on viruses that have "pandemic potential" -- new viruses that have shown at least some ability to transmit to humans.
Is the Swine Flu a Global Threat?
The WHO has a six-phase approach for dealing with large outbreaks of viruses. The six alert levels help the organization determine the course of action it needs to take and the kind of guidelines and recommendations it needs to provide to countries.
The alert is now at level 5 – per the WHO, Phase 5 is characterized by human-to-human spread of the virus into at least two countries in one WHO region. While most countries will not be affected at this stage, the declaration of Phase 5 is a strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short.
