Warning Signs: Heart Attack, Stroke, and Cardiac Arrest

Feb 23rd, 2006

Attitude is Everything

Feb 13th, 2006

The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important that the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think or say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company…a church… a home.

The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past… we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable.

The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude… I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you…we are in charge of our Attitudes.

Are your personal care & beauty products safe?

Feb 10th, 2006

Recently I’ve been reading about toxins found in personal care and beauty products. A movement is afoot to have more government monitoring of these products to protect our safety. A member of this group shared a cool website with me that you can use to see if your personal care products are safe: http://www.ewg.org/reports/skindeep2/

A Little Football Humor

Feb 6th, 2006

Life Support A man and his wife were sitting in the living room and he said to her,"Just so you know, I never want to live in a vegetative state, dependent on some machine and fluids from a bottle. If that ever happens, just pull the plug." His wife got up, turned off the football game, unplugged the TV and threw out all of his beer.

Go Red Day – Friday, February 3

Feb 6th, 2006

Did you know? Each day the average heart beats (expands and contracts) 100,000 times and pumps about 2,000 gallons of blood. What is Go Red For Women? Go Red for Women is the American Heart Association’s national call to increase awareness of heart disease – the leading cause of death for women – and to inspire women to take charge of their heart health. Women who understand their risks of heart disease, and know the steps to prevent it, are better equipped to avert this serious and mostly preventable threat to their health. Throughout the month of February, I’ll be sending you short posts about improving heart health. February 3 kicks off the Go Red for Women Campaign described below: Topeka (February 3, 2006) — Thousands of Americans will help women fight heart disease when they participate in the third year of the Go Red For Women initiative during February. Go Red For Women began in February 2004 to raise awareness that heart disease is the Number 1 killer of women. According to an American Heart Association survey, only 13 percent of women consider cardiovascular disease their greatest risk. Cardiovascular disease causes about a death a minute among females. In 2003, 55% of all CVD deaths in Kansas were in women, compared to 53 % of all CVD deaths in women nationally.

The presence of certain risk factors increases a woman’s chance of developing cardiovascular disease. In Kansas in 2004:

• 1 in 4 adult females were diagnosed with high blood pressure
• 1 in 3 adult females had high blood cholesterol (among those who ever tested for blood cholesterol)
• 1 in 6 adult females were current cigarette smokers
• About 1 in 4 adult females were obese
• 1 in 14 adult females were diagnosed with diabetes

The campaign provides women tips and information on healthy eating, exercise, and risk factor reduction, such as smoking cessation, weight management, blood pressure control and blood cholesterol management.

Activities across Kansas and the country include:

• Governor Sebelius signs proclamation. Governor Sebelius will sign a proclamation on January 30 that proclaims February 3 to be Go Red for Women day in Kansas.
• State legislators wear red. On February 2, the Governor and state legislators will be dressing red for pictures at the Capitol.
• National Wear Red Day. A national observance created by the American Heart Association, on Feb. 3, thousands of people, including employees at more than 3,000 companies, national and local news anchors and talk-show hosts will wear red to support the cause. The red dress and the color red are symbols for women and heart disease and Go Red For Women movement.
• National landmarks and monuments. National and local landmarks — including the Seattle Space Needle, Niagara Falls, the Empire State Building, Graceland and more — will be illuminated in red during February, which is American Heart Month, to further raise awareness of women and heart disease.

Get some good resources by visiting these web sites:

http://www.goredforwomen.org/

http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/hearttruth/index.htm

Pollution in Your community

Feb 2nd, 2006

Get an in-depth pollution report for your county, covering air, water, chemicals, and more. Just go here and enter your zip code. You can find out how your county ranks regarding smog and soot, air pollutants that increase the risk of cancer, and water quality. You can also locate the polluters and see how close they are to your home or workplace. I was distressed to see that in 2002 Douglas county was ranked one of the dirtiest/worst 20% of all counties in the U.S. in terms of total environmental releases. Find out how your community ranks here: http://www.scorecard.org/

Kale Chips

Feb 2nd, 2006

Stop the Presses! I tried this recipe this weekend – in a word "Yuck." Maybe I cooked them too long because they were incredibly crisp and brown in spots. Did anybody else try this and have success? Sorry for steering you down a dangerous road Cheryl If you want to go green…and eat more green vegetables, here’s a recipe for Kale Chips: Kale Chips Prep Time: 5 minutes Cooking Time: 10 minutes Yields: 4 servings Ingredients:1-2 bunches of kale Olive oil Directions: Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

• Remove kale from stalk, leaving the greens in large pieces.
• Place a little olive oil in a bowl, dip your fingers and rub a very light coat of oil over the kale.
• Lay out on a baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes or until it starts to turn a bit brown. Keep an eye on the kale, it can burn quickly.
• Turn the kale over and bake with the other side up.

Remove and serve. Variations: Try different kinds of kale or collard greens. You can sprinkle with a little salt or spice such as curry or cumin after rubbing on olive oil for a little added flavor. Source: Institute for Integrative Nutrition