Ask a Health Advocate: How can quitting tobacco help my heart?

What is the leading cause of death of smokers aged 35 or older?  If you answered lung cancer, you’d be wrong.  Heart disease claims more smokers’ lives every year than lung cancer.  

Cigarette smoking is the main preventable cause of death and illness in the U.S.

To reduce your risk of heart disease and other health conditions, it’s important to quit tobacco as well as aim to reduce your exposure to secondhand smoke.

Smoking harms your heart

The chemicals in tobacco smoke hurt your heart and blood vessels in many ways.  Here are a few examples:

·     Stresses your heart. Smoking raises your blood pressure and heart rate, making your heart work harder than normal.  Over time, this stress can weaken your heart, making it less able to pump blood to other parts of the body. This increases risk of heart disease, including heart attacks.

·     Thickens your blood. Smoking makes your blood thicker, making it more difficult for your blood to carry oxygen. It can also increase your chance of forming blood clots that block blood flow to your heart and brain. Over time, thick blood can damage blood vessel walls, increasing your risk of heart attack or stroke.

·     Increase fatty deposits. Smoking lowers your HDL cholesterol (sometimes called "good" cholesterol) and raises your LDL cholesterol (sometimes called "bad" cholesterol). Smoking also increases your triglyceride level. Triglycerides are a type of fat found in the blood. Over time, these fats narrow the arteries and block normal blood flow to the heart and brain, which may cause a heart attack or stroke. 

How you can reduce your heart disease risk

Quitting smoking reduces your heart disease risk immediately, and your risk continues to decrease over time.

·     Your risk is cut in half 1 year after quitting. If you have not developed heart disease within 15 years of quitting, your risk is nearly the same as the risk in someone who has never smoked.

·     Deaths from heart disease are reduced by one-third in people who quit smoking compared with people who continue smoking. Repeat heart attacks are reduced by about the same amount.

·     Lower risk of sudden cardiac death, second heart attacks, and death from other chronic diseases for those who already have heart disease

·     Your risk of atherosclerosis and blood clots declines over time after you quit smoking. Atherosclerosis is a condition where plaque builds up in the arteries, which can lead to heart attack or stroke.

Quitting tobacco isn’t easy, but it can be done with the right resources and support. In fact, there are more former smokers – nearly 50 million -- than current smokers in the U.S.  Are you ready to put out that last cigarette? If you’re a Health Advocate member with access to the Wellness Coaching program, call your Wellness Coach and ask how you can quit. If you are not a Health Advocate member, we encourage you to check out the free tobacco cessation resources available on smokefree.gov. 

Have a question for a Health Advocate? Email nhess@healthadvocate.com, and your question may be the topic of an upcoming “Ask a Health Advocate” column!

Ask a Health Advocate: I have heart disease. How can advocacy help me?

According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), there are currently 26.8 million Americans who have been diagnosed with heart disease--that's 12% of Americans. Heart disease includes a variety of conditions related to the heart, such as heart attack, coronary heart disease, congenital heart disease, and congestive heart failure. WebMD notes that heart disease is the leading cause of death for men and women in the United States.

Managing heart disease can mean undergoing major lifestyle changes. There is no quick fix for heart disease--but there's a lot you can do to manage the disease and live healthier to reduce the risk of your heart disease worsening. You don't have to make these changes alone, either. You can enlist an advocate to help you. Your employer may offer an advocacy service as part of your employee benefits package; you might seek out a consumer-based advocacy service such as Health Proponent; or you could simply designate a trusted family member or friend to help you better manage your heart disease. Check out the many ways an advocate can help you in this situation:

* An advocate can connect you to the proper medical personnel. A primary care physician or a cardiologist can help treat your heart disease. A nutritionist could help you design a low-cholesterol, heart-healthy diet. A wellness coach could help you plan an exercise regimen. If mortality-related thoughts brought about by your heart disease are making you stressed or anxious, a mental health specialist can help you better handle these thoughts.

* An advocate can help make sure that medical providers take your insurance, and they can set up appointments for you or help arrange transportation to and from these appointments.

* Let your advocate help reduce your stress by having them handle a number of financial issues for you, such as researching pricing for medical procedures and services as well as negotiating costs of medical treatment with insurance companies and medical providers.

* The advocate can also help you by reducing your insurance-related stress. If your insurance company says they won't pay for a treatment or procedure, ask your advocate to handle the insurance company's denial and file an appeal on your behalf.

* Has a medical provider recommended surgery or prescription medication to treat your condition? Your advocate can handle lining up a second opinion for you so that you have the opinions and advice of two medical professionals and can make an informed decision about the type of treatment you're most comfortable with.

* If you smoke, know that an advocacy program like Health Advocate offers a Tobacco Cessation program as part of their benefits. Quitting smoking will not only save you money, but also has heart-healthy benefits!

* Let your advocate be responsible for reminding you about your yearly checkups and other important health screenings (they can set these appointments up for you, too).

* Some advocacy services offer Nurse Lines that members can take advantage of. Nurse Lines, staffed by registered nurses, often have extended hours and in some cases are available 24/7. Members can call the Nurse Line to talk to the nurses about any strange symptoms they're having and whether or not those symptoms necessitate a trip to the emergency room, urgent care, or other medical facility.

* An advocate can do the research on experimental heart-related treatments and clinical studies that you may qualify for.

* If you suspect that office-related stress could be contributing to your heart disease, check into whether an EAP + Work/Life service is part of your advocacy company's benefits. EAP + Work/Life can give you suggestions on how to maintain a better work/life balance that could result in you being less stressed, which is also a heart-healthy change.

Managing your heart disease is a lifelong commitment. It could require years of treatment and a medical team that includes many different medical professionals. This could result in piles of paperwork and bills to sort through, many phone calls to your medical team or insurance company, translating explanations of benefits or doctor-ese, resolving billing errors or insurance claim denials, and having overnight stays in the hospital. All of these things can be intimidating and stressful. You don't have to endure it alone. Recruit a health advocate to do the leg work for you so that you can focus on being as healthy as possible.

Curious about how a health advocate can help you? Email your questions to nhess@healthadvocate.com.

The Cold, Heart Facts: How Winter Affects Heart Health

With a big snowfall, many hospitals fill up with heart attack patients – with the likely catalyst often attributed to the physical effort in trying to clear off sidewalks and driveways.

But it’s not just hospitals in snowy towns that are seeing an increase in heart attack patients. More heart attacks occur in the winter across the entire country – by some estimate, roughly 50 percent more than in summer months, with even higher spikes in some snow-less Sunbelt states. Blame falling temperatures and other aspects of winter’s wrath…not just seasonal snow.

Here’s why a sudden drop in temperature and decreased daylight can hurt your cardiovascular health – especially if you already have high cholesterol, hypertension or other risk factors:

Decreased blood flow: Cold temperatures constrict arteries, leading to decreased blood flow to make your heart work harder (even if you’re not shoveling snow).

Blood clot risk: Cold-constricted arteries can also trigger tears or splits in the plaque that lines the walls of arteries. When that happens, blood clots can form, triggering a heart attack or stroke (which also occurs more frequently during winter).

Vitamin D deficiency: Winter’s shorter days mean less sunlight – and less Vitamin D, which is primarily absorbed through the skin. Although inconclusive, some studies suggest an association between low D level and cardiovascular disease.

         

Try these tips to protect your heart health during winter’s wrath:

Heed Mom’s advice to dress warmly. When you shiver or feel uncomfortable, it can raise heart rate and blood pressure. In addition to a “warm” coat, wear a hat to prevent heat loss (one-third of body heat escapes from an uncovered head), gloves, and especially a scarf if you have asthma, COPD or other respiratory conditions.

Start slowly and don't overdo it. When it’s frigid, try to exercise indoors. Short intervals of activity alternating with periods of rest are best during cold temperatures – especially when exercising outdoors or if you’ve started a new exercise regimen (take note, New Year’s Resolutioners).

Curb the comfort foods. It’s not just those holiday feasts that trigger wintertime weight gain. During the cold and darker winter months, many are more likely to overeat – especially on high-calorie, low-nutrient foods.

Mind your meds. Considering that cold weather may constrict arteries, it’s especially important to take any medications such as blood thinners and aspirin as prescribed during cold weather.  

Consider a Vitamin D supplement. Ask your doctor if you might benefit from supplemental D. The recommended daily intake for adults is 600-800 units (IUs).

Don’t smoke. It’s unwise 365 days a year, but nicotine also potently constricts blood vessels, causing a “double whammy” impact. 

If you have questions or concerns about your heart health, talk to your primary care physician. Don’t have a doctor lined up?  If you’re a Health Advocate member, call us for help locating a local, in-network doctor. We can even help you schedule the appointment, transfer your medical records, and more!

Ask a Health Advocate: How can I maintain a heart-healthy lifestyle?

Great question! Our lifestyle choices can go a long way towards reducing our risks for heart disease –a disease which claims more than 17 million lives around the world every year, according to the World Heart Federation. Although medicine has come a long way, lifestyle choices can make a difference in how long and how well we live. There is a lot you can do to maintain a heart-healthy lifestyle, including getting regular exercise, eating a heart-healthy diet, and keeping your stress level low. Read on to learn how to make these changes, and why they are good for your health.

Regular Exercise. Being inactive is one of the top risk factors for heart disease. Regular cardiovascular (“cardio”) exercise has many benefits for your heart, including lowering blood pressure, controlling sugar levels, maintaining a healthy weight, increasing good cholesterol levels, and reducing stress.
Examples of cardio include:

·         Walking, running, or hiking

·         Playing sports like soccer, basketball, tennis, volleyball, or boxing

·         Riding a bike, swimming, or kayaking

A Heart-Healthy Diet. When you eat, you aren’t only feeding your stomach--you’re feeding your heart, too. You can reduce your chances of developing atherosclerosis, the blocked arteries that cause heart disease, with a heart-healthy diet. Heart-healthy foods include salmon, nuts, olive oil, lean meats and low-fat dairy. Fiber-rich foods can help lower your cholesterol, and so can fruits and vegetables which are full of antioxidants, beta blockers and vitamin C. Steer clear of foods with high trans fat levels, such as fried food, and foods with high amounts of salt and sugar, like packaged snacks, sweets, and soft drinks.

Keeping Your Stress in Check. As much as we would like to be able to eliminate all stressors in our life, that’s not usually possible--but we can control how we cope with our stress. There are many healthy things you can do to reduce your stress level. Try exercise, relaxation techniques like meditation or yoga, finding a new hobby to enjoy, taking a vacation or a day off, or spending time with a loved one.

Have a question for a Health Advocate? Email nhess@healthadvocate.com, and your question may be answered in an upcoming “Ask a Health Advocate” column!