FEBRUARY IS…
Heart Month
Children’s Dental Health Month
National Cancer Prevention Month
Chocolate Lovers’ Month
Wise Health Consumer Month
AMD/Low Vision Awareness Month
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A Generous Gift
Erica Comber of Comber Physical Therapy (left) supports the Lackey Free Clinic with a donation to Kelly Cash, the clinic’s community outreach director. The Lackey Free Clinic has provided skilled and compassionate health care to the uninsured living at or under the federal poverty level in Hampton Roads for 16 years.
High-Risk Hearts
Middle-age blood pressure changes affect lifetime heart disease, stroke risk
An increase or decrease in your blood pressure during middle age can significantly impact your lifetime risk for cardiovascular disease (CVD), according to research in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.
Researchers found people who maintained or reduced their blood pressure to normal levels by age 55 had the lowest lifetime risk for CVD. In contrast, those who had already developed high blood pressure by age 55 had a higher lifetime risk.
To learn if you are at risk for high blood pressure, and ways to prevent and treat it, visit heart.org/hbp.
LOVE That AP
Nike+ GPS: $1.99
iPhone and iPod Touch users can forgo an expensive GPS watch and instead track their runs or walks with this inexpensive app that calculates time, distance, average pace and calories burned through each run as well as total miles. You can also view your route when you’re done; rate your mood, weather and other conditions; and receive motivational messages from friends on Facebook as you work out. Integrates with your device’s Music feature, allowing you to quickly change songs or hear your preset “PowerSongs” when you need a boost.
Annual Children’s Consignment Sale
King of Glory Lutheran Church will host the 17th Annual Children’s Consignment Sale on Friday, March 2, from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., and Saturday, March 3, from 8 a.m. to noon. This is Williamsburg’s only nonprofit consignment sale, with 100 percent of profits donated to local charity groups including Olde Towne Medical Center, CASA, CHKD, Avalon families and FISH, to name a few. Shoppers who bring a jar of peanut butter for FISH will be given early entrance at 10:30 on Friday.
How Does Cold Weather Affect The Heart
Many people aren’t conditioned to the physical stress of outdoor activities and don’t know the dangers of being outdoors in cold weather. Winter sports enthusiasts who don’t take certain precautions can suffer accidental hypothermia.
Hypothermia means the body temperature has fallen below 95 degrees Fahrenheit. It occurs when your body can’t produce enough energy to keep the internal body temperature warm enough. It can lead to heart failure, says the American Heart Association. Symptoms of hypothermia include lack of coordination, mental confusion, slowed reactions, shivering and sleepiness.
Children, the elderly and those with heart disease are at special risk. As people age, their ability to maintain a normal internal body temperature often decreases. Because elderly people seem to be relatively insensitive to moderately cold conditions, they can suffer hypothermia without knowing they’re in danger.
People with coronary heart disease often suffer angina pectoris (chest pain or discomfort) when they’re in cold weather. Some studies suggest that harsh winter weather may increase a person’s risk of heart attack due to overexertion. People who are outdoors in cold weather should avoid sudden exertion, like lifting a heavy shovel full of snow. Even walking through heavy, wet snow or snowdrifts can strain the heart.
Just Say NO to Bullying
The Virginia School Board Association designated January as “Bullying Prevention Month,” and school divisions across the state held public awareness events aimed at understanding and preventing bullying, a significant problem that causes an estimated 160,000 U.S. children to miss school every day. You can help by watching out for these six types of bullying and reporting it.
1. Physical bullying includes any physical contact that would hurt or injure a person like hitting, kicking, punching, etc. Taking something that belongs to someone else and destroying it would also be considered a type of physical bullying.
2. Verbal bullying is name-calling, making offensive remarks, or joking about a person’s religion, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, or the way they look. Verbal aggression is when a bully teases someone. It can also include a bully making verbal threats of violence or aggression against someone’s personal property.
3. Indirect bullying/Emotional bullying (also called “Relational Aggression”) includes spreading rumors or stories about someone, telling others about something that was told to you in private. An example would be if a student started a rumor that a boy in her class likes playing with dolls, and if the reason that the student made up the story was because she thought others would laugh at them or tease them—his would be indirect bullying.
4. Social alienation is when a bully excludes someone from a group on purpose. It also includes a bully spreading rumors, and also making fun of someone by pointing out their differences.
5. Intimidation is when a bully threatens someone else and frightens that person enough to make him or her do what the bully wants.
6. Cyberbullying is done by sending messages, pictures, or information using electronic media, computers (email & instant messages), or cell phones (text messaging and voice mail).
Step Up For a Healthier You
Getting fit and losing weight is typically found at the top of the list for New Year’s resolutions. To help you stay true to your goals, The Up Center, a regional non-profit social services agency, wants you to register for its 3rd Annual Step Up for The Up Center stair climb on March 25, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Norfolk’s Dominion Tower.
Participants will take on the challenge of walking or running up a minimum of 25 flights of stairs–or 580 total steps. Adults and children ages 8 and over can participate in either a noncompetitive or competitive category. Competitive climbers have the option of racing up 25, 50, or 100 flights of stairs. Prizes will be awarded to the fastest competitive climbers in their age categories and to overall male and female climbers. Competitive team prizes will be awarded for General, Corporate and Military teams.
A series of Warm Up training sessions, led by YMCA of South Hampton Roads trainers, will help individuals prepare for the stair climb by offering practice runs and a chance to meet fellow climbers. Warm Ups will occur on January 29, February 19 and March 11 from 1 to 3 p.m. at Dominion Tower.
All proceeds from registration and fundraising benefit The Up Center, which serves more than 10,000 people in need in Hampton Roads each year.
For more information, visit www.theupcenter.org or call (757) 622-7017.
Puppy Love
Jonie and Godrick are the newest residents at Atlantic Shores, a 100-acre retirement community in Virginia Beach. But Jonie and Godrick aren’t active seniors—rather, they’re two energetic black Labrador puppies, matched to the facility’s select staff and residents who will train the dogs to become service/companion animals through the national nonprofit Guiding Eyes for the Blind. The “Puppy Love” program, as it’s called at Atlantic Shores, was launched Oct. 27 and is unique in that it links generations by inviting students from Ocean Lakes and Corporate Landing elementary schools to learn about the important service the pups will one day provide as well as how to properly interact with guide dogs and their handlers when they see them out in the community. For updates and photos, visit atlanticshoresliving.com/puppy_love.
Holiday Gifts Bring Joy to Local Seniors
Home Instead Senior Care’s annual Be a Santa to a Senior program brought much cheer to local seniors this holiday season. Volunteers wrapped and delivered 8,000 donated presents to 2,000 seniors throughout the Peninsula and Greater Williamsburg. The program fosters human contact and social interaction for local seniors. “It is inspiring to see what the Be a Santa to a Senior program and those like it can accomplish,” says Hollie Krance of Home Instead Senior Care in Newport News (pictured at right). “The actual gifts are truly appreciated, however they also serve as a bridge to let our seniors know they are appreciated and will not be forgotten.”
Project Athena coming to Richmond!
Project Athena, a 501c3 nonprofit that helps survivors of medical or traumatic setbacks live an adventurous dream as part of their recovery, is bringing one of their unique Fundraising Adventures, a “Relay Marathon” to Richmond this July.
Teams of 4 will each run a 10K lap (for a cumulative “marathon” time) in downtown Richmond. The goal is to have at least 300 teams of “Fundraising Gods & Goddesses” as well as to honor 50 local survivors at the start (all of whom receive free entry and training.) All entry fees are a 100 percent, tax-deductible gift to the 501c3 Project Athena Foundation.
QUOTED
“They’ll keep making Twinkies.”
—Hostess Brands spokesman Erik Halvorson, following the announcement that the company will continue operations despite filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in January.
What’s In A Twinkie?
Calories: 150
Total Fat: 4.5 g
Saturated Fat: 2.5 g
Cholesterol: 20 mg
Sodium: 220 mg
Sugars: 18 g
Protein: 1 g
Two Richmond Hospitals Rank High
Bon Secours St. Mary’s Hospital and Memorial Regional Medical Center have been named among the top hospitals in the nation, and the only two in Virginia, for inpatient cardiovascular services by Thomson Reuters, an industry leader in health care data.
The Bon Secours hospitals are named for superior clinical outcomes, a recognition based on a comprehensive review measuring key areas that include mortality, complications, readmission rates, length of stay and costs. The study, in its 13th year, singled out 50 top hospitals among hospitals that treat a broad spectrum of cardiology patients.
“We are proud of our outcomes and honored to be recognized for the work we’ve done,” says Marc R. Katz, M.D., a cardiac surgeon and the chief medical officer of the Bon Secours Heart & Vascular Institute (H&VI). “Not only do our patients have access to the most advanced cardiac techniques, they benefit from a full range of treatment options, from medical management to cardiac rehabilitation and wellness programs.”
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