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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How to Maintain a Healthy Immune System

There are so many things that we have little control over. We can't control what genes we get, how old we are, or what viruses are circulating in our environment, but there is a lot we can do to prevent illness. Remarkably, many of the same habits that protect you from diseases like diabetes, cancer, and heart disease also help your immune system fight infections.

Most viruses can't hurt you until they get inside your body. So, we can help our immune system if we avoid viruses and cut off the ways they travel. Viruses can spread through the air, but not usually for very far. Keep your distance—at least 6 feet—from others, and be a good neighbor by wearing a mask in all public areas.

Viruses that cause the most common illnesses—respiratory infections, including the common cold, flu, and the new COVID-19—travel into the body through your mouth, nose, and eyes and make their way to the areas they infect, like the lungs. The best way to break this chain is to clean your hands frequently, and don't touch your face with hands that have touched anything else. In addition, you can reduce the number of viruses in your environment by cleaning frequently touched objects with a bleach- or alcohol-based cleaner.

Vaccinations are your next line of defense. Immunizations, like the flu shot, introduce a small and harmless part of a virus or bacteria. The vaccine gives your immune system an opportunity to make antibodies against the virus. A vaccinated immune system responds more quickly and effectively when illnesses are introduced. What's more, when we all get vaccinated, we decrease the likelihood that anyone will get sick. If you are unsure about whether you or your children are up to date on their vaccinations, call your primary care provider’s office.

Your third line of defense is living a healthy lifestyle. It is clear that the same things that help the rest of our bodies function also improve the strength of our immune response. Likewise, things that hinder our bodies' ability to function compromise the immune system.

Regular exercise might be the most powerful way to maintain a healthy immune system. By increasing heart rate and blood flow, we allow the cells and substances of the immune system to move through the body freely and do their job efficiently. Similarly, things that slow the movement of cells and substances, like smoking or drinking alcohol in excess, may decrease the body’s ability to function and decreases the immune response, as well.

Getting adequate sleep may also positively affect the immune response. Chronic sleep deprivation has been shown to decrease the beneficial boost in immunity from vaccinations.

Our emotional state, too—whether we are stressed, lonely, or depressed, for instance—affects our immune response so much that a relatively new specialty called psychoneuroimmunology now studies the connection. One pioneering study, conducted in the early 1980s, found that college students operating within a stressful 3-day exam period had fewer of the cells that fight tumors and viral infections. In simple terms, the students almost stopped producing immunity boosters and infection fighters.

Finally, physicians have concluded that eating a mostly plant-based diet—including fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, whole grains, and lean protein—supports overall health and may also support immunity. Nutritious foods include important vitamins that the immune system needs to function, such as beta carotene, vitamin C, vitamin D, and zinc. Note, however, that supplements that claim to improve immune function have not yet been shown to do so to the extent necessary to protect against infection and disease. It is better to eat whole foods that are rich in vitamins rather than take supplements.

Always consult with your provider before making changes to your exercise plan or trying a new supplement and if you have any medical concerns. Physicians and the other professionals working in their offices also provide help for developing a plan for a healthier life. Call your primary care office or 802-447-5007 to find a primary care provider.

Healthy habits, like those that protect your body from disease and infection, are not always easy to adopt or maintain. Perhaps knowing just how important they are to maintaining a healthy immune response will provide the extra motivation necessary to make them a priority.

Kim Fodor, MD, is an internal medicine physician at SVMC Internal Medicine.

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