Grace Weatherby
/ Categories: WELLNESS, 2023

Boost Your Heart Health this Holiday Season

The holidays are meant to be a time for good cheer and rejoicing. Unfortunately, for far too many Americans, the holidays are also when they’re most likely to experience a heart attack.

According to the American Heart Association, December 25 and January 1 are the top two days when Americans are most likely to die from cardiac arrest.

While it’s difficult to eliminate the stress and opportunities to overindulge, there are steps you can take to reduce your risk of suffering a cardiac event.

Here’s where to start:

1. Celebrate in moderation: If you’re headed to an event where food and drink will be plentiful, have a healthy snack before you go lessen the chance you’ll overeat. At the event, fill up first on high-fiber, low-calorie foods like raw fruits and vegetables. Follow that up with any lean proteins, like chicken or shrimp, which will work to slow your digestion and make you feel full. If you’re still hungry, take small amounts of carb-heavy foods, like bread, chips, pasta and, of course, cookies. Listen to your body and stop eating when you’re full.  

2. Keep moving: Even if your calendar’s full of events and gatherings, there’s always time for a bit of physical activity. A 10- to 15-minute walk after a meal or while you’re on the phone chatting with friends will do your heart good. Exercise is also a good way to work off or step away from any stress that may be weighing on you. 

3. Stick to a schedule: Traveling and/or hosting company can make it hard to stick to your regular routine over the holidays. But it’s important to take all prescribed medications as and when directed and to get a good night’s sleep. Falling out of rhythm or behind on either can place unnecessary stress your heart. If you need help staying on top of your needs, set an alarm on your phone to alert you it’s time to take your meds and or to step away from the fun to ensure you get a good and full night’s sleep.

In addition, it’s important to recognize the signs of a heart attack early before a lot of damage occurs.

If you or someone else experiences any of the following warning signs, don’t hesitate. Call 911.

  • Chest discomfort: Most heart attacks—especially in men—involve a sense of heaviness or uncomfortable pressure in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes. The pressure may go away and then return. 
  • Upper body discomfort: Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in the upper back, neck, jaw, one or both arms, or stomach.
  • Shortness of breath: This can occur with or without chest discomfort.
  • Heart palpitations: Palpitations, which may feel like a fast beating or fluttering heart, are more common in women.
  • Other signs: Other potential signs of a heart attack include breaking out in a cold sweat, lightheadedness, nausea, or vomiting.

The sooner medical treatment begins, the better the chances of survival and preventing heart damage.

Scott Rogge, MD, FACC, is the Medical Director at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center Cardiology

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Home Office How To

Did you know that many sources of chronic pain start in a poorly arranged office? Carpal tunnel, pinched nerves, overuse injuries can often be traced to chairs being positioned improperly or important tools being positioned outside easy reach. While reaching or straining once or twice wouldn't hurt us at all, doing so repeatedly day after day can cause painful and lasting injuries.

As an occupational health physician at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center, one of my responsibilities is to help employees of SVMC and other companies who have workplace injuries and recommend the adjustments they should make.

During a spike in work-from-home arrangements, I have heard about friends’ and family members' work-from-home set-ups. Some are working from laptops on their couches. Others are set up at kitchen tables. We know that their cats walk across their keyboards and their kids interrupt. Especially since Governor Scott has just indicated that remote workers will likely be the last to return to the traditional workplace, it's time to get our home office arrangements figured out.

That's why I would like to share the important details you need to arrange a healthful workspace and encourage all to invest the time (and sometimes a little bit of money) needed to implement them. Learning these points is key to avoiding injuries, as continued work-from-home policies, where feasible, will help maintain appropriate distancing needed to decrease the spread of COVID-19.

An adjustable chair is the first and most important component of an office set-up. Office chairs include crucial lumbar support and encourage good posture. When your forearms are resting on your desk or table, adjust the chair height up or down until your arms form a right angle. This is an important step in avoiding wrist pain and carpal tunnel, two of the most common office injuries. If, when your arms are in the correct position, your feet are not touching the floor, employ a footstool.

Position your monitor an arm’s length away. (If you can't see the screen from this distance, better go get an eye exam!) And raise the screen so that the top of the screen is eye level. This, too, will encourage good posture.

If you use two monitors, positioning them properly depends on how you use them. If you use them equally, the dividing line between them should be right in front of you. If you use one primarily and the other secondarily, position the more dominant screen directly in front of you. If you use a laptop, consider investing in a riser and an additional keyboard needed to raise the screen to eye level.

Put all of your other tools, including your mouse and phone, within easy reach. If you use the phone a lot, consider investing in a headset.

The only other recommendation I make is to stretch every 15 – 20 minutes. A list of helpful office-oriented stretches is available here. And every hour, be sure to get up and take a short walk or standing stretch.

If you follow these recommendations at home, you will be much more comfortable and are likely to be more productive, too, all while maintaining the social distance we need to keep COVID-19 infections low throughout this next phase of the pandemic. Most importantly, you will save yourself the pain and discomfort of office injury no matter where you're working.

Mark Zimpfer, MD, is a physician at Southwestern Vermont Medical Center's Occupational Health practice. 

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