health

If health insurance premiums are wreaking havoc on your budget, and waiting on Obama to fix it isn't working, you may have an option.  If you have the option to increase your deductible (wait, don't panic) and therefore reduce your premiums, you could likely reduce your over all cost of coverage and actually improve your benefits by doing this and adding a supplemental "mini-medical" plan.  Let me explain:  Let's say you are currently paying $500 per month toward family major medical with a $1000 deductible.  You're perfectly healthy and you have never used it (

Halloween can bring out the sweet-toothed monster in all of us! Consider these tips to keep your ghosts and goblins a little healthier along the way….

1. Feed ‘em First – make sure your kids are fueled up before they go trick-or-treating with a healthy snack or meal, so they don’t dip into their treats.

2. Pillow Cases are for Pillows – give the kids smaller treat bags like recycled grocery bags so they won’t bring home too many sweets, and keep the pillow cases and trash bags at home!

3. Surprise ‘em with Health, not Horror – Be the healthy house on the block by offering treats like pre-packaged snack-sized dried fruit, pretzels, or baby carrots.

Heart failure patients are at higher risk for fractures, including debilitating hip fractures, than other heart patients and should be screened and treated for osteoporosis, Canadian researchers reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

One year after an emergency room visit, 4.6 percent of heart failure patients experienced a fracture compared to only 1 percent of other heart patients.  The one-year rate for hip fractures was 1.3 percent for heart failure patients compared to only 0.1 percent for other heart patients.

After researchers adjusted for other risk factors, heart failure patients had four times the risk of fracture and 6.3 times the risk of hip fracture as patients with heart attacks, chest pain or rhythm disturbances.

The typical Western diet — fried foods, salty snacks and meat — accounts for about 30 percent of heart attack risk across the world, according to a study of dietary patterns in 52 countries reported in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Researchers identified three dietary patterns in the world:

·       Oriental: higher intake of tofu, soy and other sauces;

·       Prudent: higher intake of fruits and vegetables; and

·       Western: higher intake of fried foods, salty snacks, eggs and meat.

The Prudent diet was associated with a lower heart attack risk than the Oriental, researchers said.

First, the bad news: More American adults have hypertension (high blood pressure) and prehypertension than ever before.

Now, the good news: The percentage of those getting treated for and controlling high blood pressure has also increased.  As a result, even the bad news has a good news aspect: more people are living with rather than dying from hypertension.

The bad news–good news portrait of the disease — reported in Hypertension: Journal of the American Heart Association — emerged from an analysis of data from two national health studies.  Researchers at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), of the National Institutes of Health, said the nation’s obesity epidemic is a major factor in the increased prevalence of hypertension.  

With Halloween right around the corner, it’s time to start thinking about what treats you’re going to hand out to the tots. Should you let the kids have the sugar that they’re expecting and hoping for or should you be the house on the block with the healthy stuff?  

According to the Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint initiative of the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation, you may want to pick the healthy stuff as today’s generation of children may become the first in American history to live shorter lives than their parents.  Many kids today are suffering from “adult problems” such as high blood pressure, Type 2 diabetes and high cholesterol.  All risk factors for cardiovascular disease.

To help prevent those diseases and teach your children how to make healthier food choices, consider these tips to keep the ghosts and goblins a little healthier along the way, and Happy Halloween!

Feed ‘em First – make sure your kids are fueled up before they go trick-or-treating with a healthy snack or meal, so they don’t dip into their treats.

Have you ever wondered why some fruits stay fresher, longer? Why the news keeps telling you to stay away from this and don’t eat that! Or what’s REALLY in the foods you eat and the products you use?

Native Sun Natural Foods Market presents owner Aaron Gottlieb for his seminar “You Are What You Eat, Live & Breathe: Hidden Toxins.” Gottlieb will discuss the different types of toxins, their effects on your health, and how you can avoid them at home, at your local supermarket, and during your daily life.  

Weight Watchers has announced the launch of Lose for Good, a campaign created to empower people to get healthier while also giving back to others in need.  The program addresses two global epidemics – obesity (1) and chronic hunger and malnutrition (2).  
 
For every pound lost by Weight Watchers Members in Jacksonville and across the country, Weight Watchers will donate the cost of one pound of food -- up to one million dollars. The six week campaign kicks off on September 7th and ends October 18th.  The funds will go to two hunger-fighting organizations:  Share Our Strength, which works to make sure no child in America grows up hungry, and Action Against Hunger, which helps feed people in troubled parts of the world. These organizations will use the funds to enhance existing programs.  
 
Weight Watchers is also rallying its vast community by encouraging its thousands of employees and loyal Members to participate in local food drives.  In Jacksonville, the food collected at the Mandarin Weight Watchers Center on San Jose Blvd. will be donated to North Florida Second Harvest to help fellow community members in need. “We are so excited that our members’ weight loss will be the community’s gain,” says local Weight Watchers Manager, Debbie Cartwright. “Lose for Good will help everyone in the community work towards the same goal of achieving a healthy lifestyle.”

National and Local Events, Tools Engage and Empower Kids to Take Charge of Their Health and to Be the Solution to National Childhood Obesity Epidemic

First Coast September 4, 2008,– September is Go Healthy Month, and the Alliance for a Healthier Generation is challenging kids nationwide and on the First Coast to celebrate their health by pledging to eat healthier and be more physically active.

To kick off Go Healthy Month, the Alliance is unveiling “myGo Healthy Challenge,”(www.igohugo.org) a new interactive, online tool offering a customized learning experience about healthy eating and active living.  The free program offers kids an educational alternative to playing video games by taking them on a Go Healthy adventure.

“As the obesity epidemic continues to take its toll on our nation’s children, the Alliance for a Healthier Generation is leading the way to engage kids, families, and communities to take action to help kids eat right and stay healthy,” said President Bill Clinton. “During Go Healthy Month the Alliance is aggressively engaging kids in this fight to ensure they don’t become the first generation to live shorter lives than their parents. We are challenging kids and their parents to commit to making healthy changes in their lives and to become part of the solution to this epidemic. Using the myGo Healthy Challenge online tool created by the Alliance is a great way for families to kick start positive changes that can lead to a lifetime of healthy living.”

myGo Healthy Challenge offers kids an educational alternative to playing video games by taking them on a Go Healthy adventure. Aimed at helping kids to increase their levels of physical activity and their abilities to identify and select healthier foods, the free, online program assesses the current health of kids, and helps them to set realistic health goals in a way that is fun and appealing!. Kids learn the basics of nutrition, how to get the whole family involved and to keep track of their successes. At the end of the adventure, they will receive a certificate of achievement.

“Childhood obesity is now regarded as the No. 1 health concern among parents in the U.S., topping drug abuse and smoking, but getting kids to understand why and what to do about it is challenging,” said American Heart Association President, Tim Gardner, MD, FAHA, and medical director of the Center for Heart & Vascular Health at Christiana Care (DE).  “Add to that, the decline in physical activity among children, with less than a third meeting recommended physical activity guidelines by the time they are 15 years old. We can’t ignore the serious health consequences of kids eating poorly and not moving enough, which include type 2-diabetes, high blood pressure and high cholesterol. During Go Healthy Month and through the new online tool, myGo Healthy Challenge, we hope to empower kids to make better choices now, to ensure an impact on their health and quality of life in the future.”

Throughout September, the Alliance will be hosting events and engaging young people across the U.S. in dialogue about solutions for healthy living. With nearly 25 million kids overweight or obese, and at risk for life-threatening conditions including type-2 diabetes, the Alliance is encouraging kids to take charge of their own health by making the right choices when it comes to healthy eating and physical activity and urging parents to embrace their role as adult allies in ensuring the health of their kids is their No. 1 priority.

JaxParks, American Heart Association, Police Athletic League, Jacksonville Children’s Commission, First Coast YMCA, Jacksonville Jaguars and Comcast have partnered to celebrate Nickelodeon’s Worldwide Day of Play on Saturday, Sept. 27 from noon until 3 p.m.  Nickelodeon will not run any programming for three hours and suggest that children instead spend time playing outdoors.   

“Go Healthy Month is a great opportunity for kids and parents to commit to make changes in their own lives that include healthier eating and increased physical activity,” said Ginny Ehrlich, executive director of the Alliance for a Healthier Generation.  “Throughout the month, young people across the country will be celebrating the importance of being healthy with lots of activities, events and forums. We hope that September is just the beginning of a year-long commitment to ‘going healthy.’”

Celebrates New Milestone and Top Schools

First Coast (August 2008) – Jump Rope For Heart, an American Heart Association program teaching students jump rope skills and philanthropy, will be going back to school for the 30th time this year.  The program promotes community service by raising money for the American Heart Association’s fight against heart disease and stroke, while teaching physical fitness to elementary students across the country.  More than 94 First Coast schools participated in the 2007-2008 school year.  

Congratulations to all 94 schools raising a combined $47,955.23 with a total of 1,747 participants.