Tag: wellness

Tips to Control High Blood Pressure

tsc-high-blood-pressure-mdnHigh Blood Pressure Risk Factors

It is important to keep your blood pressure under 140/90 mm Hg. Blood pressure higher than that is considered dangerous. Below is a list of high blood pressure risk factors. People with any of these risk factors should have their blood pressure checked every time they visit their doctor. For those who fall into several risk categories, experts recommend purchasing a blood pressure cuff and a stethoscope and taking your own pressure reading every week.

  • Cigarette smoking or being exposed to secondhand smoke on a daily basis
  • Diabetes (a fasting glucose higher than 125 mg/dL)
  • Kidney disease
  • Family history of hypertension
  • Being obese or overweight
  • Leading a physically inactive, sedentary lifestyle
  • Men over the age of 45
  • Women over the age of 55
  • Taking oral contraceptives
  • Elevated cholesterol levels
  • Frequently consuming alcoholic beverages
  • Being African American

via Tips to Control High Blood Pressure.

Smoking Shortens Life Span By At Least 10 Years

ap-women-smoking-4_3_r536_c534People who smoke take at least 10 years off their life expectancy, a new study has found.On the other hand, those who kick the habit before age 40 reduce the excess risk of death associated with continued smoking by about 90%, according to the study in Thursdays New England Journal of Medicine.

via Study: Smoking shortens life span by at least 10 years.

The Risk of Mindless Eating

food-sandwichWhat does it mean to mindlessly eat?

Most of us don’t overeat because we’re hungry. We overeat because of family and friends, packages and plates, names and numbers, labels and lights, colors and candles, shapes and smells, distractions and distances, cupboards and containers.

Studies show that the average person makes around 250 decisions about food every day – breakfast or no breakfast? Pop-tart or bagel? Part of it or all of it? Kitchen or car? Yet out of these 200+ food decisions, most we cannot really explain. Mindless Eating shows what these decisions are and how to make them work for you rather than against you.

via Mindless Eating.

Knowing Your Numbers Could Save Your Life

Know_NumbersIf the oil light comes on in your car do you ignore it or do you bring it to a mechanic to tell you what’s wrong and how to fix it? It’s the same way with your health except you can replace the car but not your health. That’s why it’s so critical to know and monitor your target numbers.

Below are the healthy ranges to work toward. You’ll often see these written out with clinical terms like mg/dL and mm Hg. Your medical provider can explain those terms. For you, the important thing is the numbers themselves:

  • Blood Pressure – less than 120/80
  • Cholesterol Total – below 200
  • LDL – below 130
  • HDL – above 50 for women – above 40 for men
  • Triglycerides – below 150
  • Glucose (fasting) – between 70 and 99
  • BMI – between 18.5 and 24.9

It’s important to monitor your numbers regularly by getting an annual physical, blood work and reviewing them with your doctor. It’s to late after you are sick because much of the damage to your body will not be repairable.

via Know Your Numbers.

America’s High Blood Pressure Burden

High-Blood-pressureHigh Blood Pressure is often referred  to as “The Silent Killer”. Here are the facts:

  • About 1 in 3 U.S. adults—an estimated 68 million people—has high blood pressure.
  • 69% of people who have a first heart attack, 77% of people who have a first stroke, and 74% of people with chronic heart failure have high blood pressure.
  • High blood pressure is also a major risk factor for kidney disease.
  • High blood pressure was listed as a primary or contributing cause of death for about 348,000 Americans in 2008.
  • Costs directly attributable to high blood pressure for the nation total almost $131 billion annually in direct medical expenses and $25 billion in lost productivity.
  • Less than half (46%) of people with high blood pressure have their condition under control.
  • Almost 30% of American adults have prehypertension—blood pressure numbers that are higher than normal, but not yet in the high blood pressure range. Prehypertension raises your risk of developing high blood pressure.
  • Reducing average population sodium intake from 3,300 mg to 2,300 mg per day may reduce cases of high blood pressure by 11 million and save 18 billion health care dollars annually.

via CDC – DHDSP – High Blood Pressure Facts.

Safety – Begin With The End In Mind

mazeThe Second Habit in Steven Covey’s book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is Begin With the End in Mind. I think that is a great habit to apply to workplace safety. I have attached an Annual Safety Audit to the end of this message anyone can use as a road map to an effective safety strategy. It’s been my experience that most employers want to keep their employees healthy and safe because it’s not only good business but also the right thing to do.

Click on the link to download a copy of Annual Safety Audit:

dl.dropbox.com/u/13760500/RM365AnnualSafetyAudit.pdf

Coronary Heart Disease – 10-year risk

heart_disease

Since it’s beginning in 1948, the Framingham Heart Study, under the direction of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), has been committed to identifying the common factors or characteristics that contribute to cardiovascular disease (CVD). They have followed CVD development over a long period of time in three generations of participants.

Here are the Coronary Heart Disease Predictors:

  • Age
  • Diabetes
  • Smoking
  • JNC-V blood pressure categories
  • NCEP total cholesterol categories
  • LDL cholesterol categories

Click on the link below to calculate your risk of coronary heart disease.

via Coronary Heart Disease 10-year risk Framingham Heart Study.

Healthy Aging – Safe Exercise

exercise-heart-surgerySAFE EXERCISE PRACTICES

  1. Obtain medical clearance to exercise.
  2. Stop exercising if you feel pain.
  3. Don’t exercise when you are injured, sick, or running a temperature.
  4. Don’t over_strain during exercise.
  5. Don’t hold your breath during exercise.
  6. Always warm up.
  7. Always cool down.
  8. Drink plenty of water before, during and after exercise.
  9. Avoid heavy meals for about 2 hours before energetic exercise.
  10. Use sun screen, hats, visors, and sunglasses during outdoor daytime exercise. Think safety at all times (for example, should you be wearing fluorescent colors? Is it too cold, too wet, too stormy, too polluted, too hot, and/or too humid for safe exercise?)
  11. Use the right equipment and wear the right clothes for exercise (dress in layers, wear fabrics that allow heat to escape, wear good shoes).
  12. Work at an effective, yet comfortable, intensity level. You should be able to carry on a normal conversation while working out.
  13. Use good posture during exercise.
  14. Stop exercise and consult your physician immediately if you experience any of the following:
  •  chest pain or tightness in the chest, neck or throat;
  • considerable difficulty breathing;
  • abnormal heart rhythm; nausea’ dizziness, light headedness, or visual
  • interruption; excessive cold sweat; or extreme or lasting weakness or fatigue (after exercise)

via Safe Exercising.

What Triggers Behavior Change?

pasted-graphicBJ Fogg founder of  the Persuasive Technology Lab at Stanford University  designed  a behavior model to serve as a guide to identify what stops people from performing desirable behaviors. The Fogg Behavior Model shows that three elements must converge at the same moment for a behavior to occur:

  • Motivation
  • Ability
  • Trigger

When a behavior does not occur, at least one of those three elements is missing.

When designing health and safety processes it’s important to include all three elements to drive desired behavior change. To be successful you need participation, education and encouragement built into the process.

via BJ Fogg’s Behavior Model.

Workplace Health Programs Increase Productivity

Workplace health programs can increase productivity

In general, healthier employees are more productive.

  • Healthier employees are less likely to call in sick or use vacation time due to illness
  • Companies that support workplace health have a greater percentage of employees at work every day
  • Because employee health frequently carries over into better health behavior that impact both the employee and their family (such as nutritious meals cooked at home or increased physical activity with the family), employees may miss less work caring for ill family members as well
  • Similarly, workplace health programs can reduce presenteeism — the measurable extent to which health symptoms, conditions, and diseases adversely affect the work productivity of individuals who choose to remain at work

The cost savings of providing a workplace health program can be measured against absenteeism among employees, reduced overtime to cover absent employees, and costs to train replacement employees.

via CDC – Workplace Health – Business Case – Benefits of Health Program – Increase Productivity.