I am curious….
{democracy:33}

We are back from Disney and I would like to say thanks to the bazillion- yes that is a word- miles of walking during the 5 days at the Disney parks… I actually lost a pound or two on vacation! Imagine that. I was sure that I would see the scale move in the wrong direction, but I lost 2 pounds. I sure did eat ice cream and more snacks then usual. It is not every day that you take the kids to Disney World right?
It was so much fun and the girls had to walk a ton as well. …read more

I was so impressed with my 5 year old- at the time- when we did this and since I am nearing the end here at AHL- I am sharing this with you yet again.  We will call her Siddy for short…. So here we go. Her cardiac I.Q. quiz is on…1. Ok, Siddy… what does your heart do?
“Beats. It runs your body by the veins and blood”
2. How big is your heart?
“As big as this.” (she put her fist up) “Daddy’s must be bigger then yours cause he is taller and has a bigger fist.”
3. Does your heart ever take …read more

We are currently on a family vacation at Disneyworld and I noticed today that there were so many AED machines very visibly labeled all over the park. How cool is that?
I think that this will help save so many and having them identified in the park brochures is another plus. Just my hearty observation for the day. By the way, the kids loved Hollywood studios!

Is the accumulation of work stress associated with higher risks of incident CHD and risk factors?
Is this association stronger among working-age populations?
Does work stress affect CHD directly through neuroendocrine mechanisms, or indirectly through behavioral risk factors for CHD, or both?

A few questions for you above. And I know you know the answers! Yes, yes and yes!!! We all know that stress increases ones risk for heart disease and work is no different. What is interesting about the research is that they concluded that stress at work leads to CAD through direct activation of ones neuroendocrine stress pathway.
via European Society of …read more

High blood pressure among our children… Working in an urgent care facility, I see every single age group and demographic every single time I work. But I am getting very bothered by the number of children whose blood pressure is alarmingly high! I mean like 152/96 and 146/94. That is no joke high!! What will happen to these children if there are no changes made?And I know that this is not very clinical and exactly factual, but most of these kids are overweight. Before you write a comment saying that I shouldn’t make generalizations, remember that I said it was …read more

I have now been caffeine an saccharin free for almost 3 weeks. Wow!! The caffeine thing is kicking mt butt. I have been using Splenda to sweeten things and have been really careful with what I am eating. I have only been doing fresh fruits, veggies, chicken, lean pork and yogurt.
I have had to switch to 1% lowfat yogurt- so it would not have the artificial sweetener- and it holds my hunger much better.
My scale is still a few pounds down so that is good. Here is to a great week!

Top 10 Hearty Trivia Facts
1. Author of Frankenstein Mary Shelley kept her dead husband’s, poet Percy Shelley, heart wrapped in silk until she died. Imagine how that smelled!
2. You can purchase the largest model of a human heart for a small price of $5795.95 US dollars. Um huh, I said five thousand. It is 8 times the size of an anatomical heart at 100×90×70 cm. Wow, that is a lot of money!
3. The smallest person believed to ever have open heart surgery was just over 25 weeks gestation and about 1.4 lbs. This was back in 2002 and …read more

Here are 5 fun facts, well not really fun but useful, to share with your kids, grandchildren, nieces, nephews, neighbors, students and… well, you get the point. It is so darn important to educate our youth. After all, they are our future…1. The human heart looks like a piece of red meat, aka steak or a raw hamburger patty. In fat or obese people the heart actually looks like it is covered in yellow goo, aka the fat tissue. Yellow… no good. Red… good!
2. Even though we are taught to put our hand over our heart on the left side …read more

Pounds lost: 2
Food changed: have given up all artificial sweeteners and caffeine as well as processed foods
Exercise: walking, sit ups, push ups
Blood sugars: between 84 and 110
Mood: overall good. It has been hard giving up caffeine. But I am over it now and feel a lot better. I have also been drinking about 15 cups of water a day.