Month: January 2015

BALTIMORE — A website saved her life. Julia Allen, the national spokesperson for the American Heart Association’s Go Red for Women’s campaign, says www.goredforwomen.org can save many more lives if everyone becomes aware of and makes good use of the website.

“If you say nothing else about me or about this cause, please just point everyone to the website,” said Allen, who survived two heart attacks in one day in 2013. “There’s nothing like a heart attack to make you change the way you eat and lose a little weight.”

Allen is also helping to spread the word about the American Heart Association’s National Wear Red Day, which takes place on Friday, February 6, 2015.

Heart disease is the number one killer of women and is more deadly than all forms of cancer, according to heart association officials.

Allen says the statistics are even more deadly for African-Americans and other minorities. African-American women are less likely than Caucasian women to be aware that heart disease is the leading cause of death. Diabetes, smoking, high blood pressure, high blood cholesterol, physical inactivity, obesity and a family history of heart disease are all greatly prevalent among African-Americans and are major risk factors for heart disease and stroke, heart association officials said.

What’s more, African-American women have almost two times the risk of stroke than Caucasians, and more likely to die at an earlier age when compared to women of other ethnicities. Tjhe unsettling statistics include the fact that cardiovascular diseases kills nearly 50,000 African-American women annually and of African-American women ages 20 and older, 49 percent have heart disease and only one in five African-American women believes she is personally at risk.

Further, just 52 percent of African-American women are aware of the signs and symptoms of a heart attack and as little as 36 percent of African-American women know that heart disease is their greatest health risk.

In Allen’s case, the married mother of three boys ages 14, 11 and 7, said she had always put her family and friends’ needs ahead of her own.

She worked a full-time job, helped to get her children off to school each day and participate in various activities while also preparing regular meals for the family.

Allen said she first felt a heart attack come on while at work. Then, even as she felt pain in her chest, she went home to make an after school snack for her boys before finally deciding to drive to the hospital.

“I didn’t want to believe I could be having a heart attack,” she said. “But, I had at least two that day. And, really, I looked on the internet and came across the American Heart Association’s website and I was able to check my symptoms and I found that I had six of the seven symptoms and that’s when I knew that I was definitely having a heart attack.”

Allen had also ignored the red flags she said were present, such as being anemic and a strong family history of heart disease.

Doctors told Allen that an artery in her left ventricle was 80 percent blocked, but because of where the blockage was, it couldn’t be repaired with a stent. Treatment was done by medication, which helped the area repair by building new capillaries.

Allen, now 46, has made important changes to her lifestyle to reduce her heart attack risk. She eats healthier foods and makes more time for exercise. Instead of waiting in the bleachers while her kids play sports, she brings exercise clothes and walks around the track.

“My 14-year-old is my biggest supporter. He makes sure that I exercise and that I keep active,” Allen said.

Thanks to a loving husband, family and supportive friends, Allen says she has also been able to reduce her stress and she regularly makes healthy lifestyle choices. She became a volunteer with the heart association where she works to raise awareness about heart disease and its affects as the top killer of women.

“I would encourage people to talk to their primary care physician and listen to him or her. Know your family history,” she said. “And, if something seems out of whack, go to the doctor. Don’t ignore it.”

For more information about Go Red For Women or about heart disease, visit www.goredforwomen.org.

(NEWS AND EXPERTS) — More than a third of adults in the United States, 35.1 percent, are obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control. Nearly 70 percent are at least overweight, and obesity in adolescents has quadrupled in the past three decades.

“Despite all the attention, an unhealthy amount of body fat remains an insidious problem,” says Dr. Eleazar Kadile, who specializes in treating patients with obesity and associated chronic disease.

“Most of us know we’re facing a national health crisis, yet diets for millions of Americans continue to be based in heavily processed foods. Obese people often live in perpetual shame, and many others believe they are right to blame the overweight and obese for their problem.”

Dr. Kadile, director of the Center for Integrative Medicine and author of “Stop Dying Fat” (www.kppmd.com), says poor attitudes and lack of understanding contribute significantly to this national crisis, which contributes to our national healthcare difficulties. He debunks five myths about being overweight and obese.

•“It’s your fault that you’re fat.” Obesity is caused by complex imbalances within a person’s body and his or her environment. Some imbalances are exacerbated by poor dietary choices based on bad dietary information, personal history and psychological patterns. Together, the physiological, psychological, social and environmental causes of the disease of obesity create a predicament that obese people are drawn into and unable to get out of.

•Obese people are among the “fat and happy.” Large people can be masters at suppressing the indignities they suffer in society. The obese often have to pay first-class fare since cheaper seats for transportation are designed for thinner people. Most advertisements employ beautiful people who are thin, and rarely attractive actors who are larger. National campaigns to battle obesity do not focus on the factors beyond diet and exercise that keep people overweight. Obese patients also spend an average of nearly $1,500 more each year on medical care than other Americans.

•Obese and overweight people just need the right diet. There’s no shortage of diets promoted by beautiful people who promise amazing results. If only overweight people eat what they eat, then they’ll be beautiful, too. But that’s just not true. What and how one eats is just a part of an excessive body mass index level. Other important factors to achieving a healthy BMI include good information regarding one’s health, sustained motivation to change, continuous learning, vigilance and an ability to be extremely honest.

•Food is not an obese individual’s friend; exercise is. Eat less; exercise more; lose weight— those have been the commandments in the religion of weight loss. But most obese people have tried this and it hasn’t worked. More than being a source of pleasure, comfort and survival, food is medicine.

“I’ve developed a complementary set of protocols that target an obese person’s specific set of problems,” Dr. Kadile says. “Sometimes, you need to eat fat— the right kind— in order to burn fat. And, many exercises can actually harm an obese person. You can’t impose cookie-cutter solutions to this complex problem and expect them to work.”

•Fat people need to “just do it”— lose weight. This attitude is not based in reality; it’s an over-simplistic response for a frustrating problem.

“Morbidly obese patients need plenty of preparation,” he says. “When a patient comes to me, I go through a rigorous list of questions regarding medical and family history. I ask about eating, sleeping and activity patterns, as well as medical conditions, emotional patterns, stress histories, good times and bad times, etc. I also have them go through an extensive battery of medical tests. That’s the effective and safe way of doing it.”

In other words, “just do it” just doesn’t cover it.

Dr. Eleazar Kadile is the director of the Center for Integrative Medicine in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He is a complementary physician who specializes in treating patients with obesity, who may suffer from heart disease, hypertension, type-2 diabetes, arthritis, depression or ADHD. For more information, visit: www.kppmd.com.

New research suggests that prevention of infections and reducing stress-related illness might be as simple as a hug from a trusted person. The findings of this latest research were published in Psychological Science. It found that the physical act of hugging is associated with protection from the effects of depression and anxiety, as well as lessening the number of stress-induced infections and severe illness symptoms.

The research team studied hugging as an example of social support, because hugs are typically a marker of having a more intimate and close relationship with another person. People who have ongoing conflicts with others are less able to fight off cold viruses and infection. The interesting fact is what hugging represents to the participants. They stated that hugging made them feel more connected, more supported, more validated and intimate with the hugger, which had a direct effect on their immune system. The researchers went on to say that those who receive more hugs are somewhat more protected from infection. For more information about the study, visit: (http://www.myfoxhouston.com/story/27704132/six-ways-a-hug-a-day-keeps-illness-away).

If you’ve decided that this is your year to be on a health kick, in addition to watching your diet and exercising, you may want to add hugging to your list of daily activities. Here are six ways to protect your health and relationships with hugs:

*Studies show people who are hugged regularly by their close friends and family have reduced blood pressure, lower heart rates and feel more connected to one another.

*People who are contented in their marriages report frequent hugging and non-sexual touching.

*Couples who report hugging or cuddling frequently also report feeling more emotionally connected to their partner. They also reported feeling more secure than non-hugging/minimal-touch couples.

*Ten minutes of hand-holding or hugging greatly reduced couples’ reported stress and the harmful effects of stress on their body.

*The release of oxytocin in the body from hugging helps foster a healthy immune system.

*Children who grow up watching their parents hug feel more secure and perform better in school.

*As you begin the new year, don’t forget the most important gift you can give all year round, the gift of belonging, being valued and being emotionally connected to your loved ones. Something as simple as a hug can provide those feelings and it doesn’t cost you a thing.

Mary Jo Rapini, MEd, LPC, is a licensed psychotherapist. For more information about Rapini, visit: www.maryjorapini.com.