The Heart of the Matter - LPNI
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The Heart of the Matter
LPNI
Health Topic – September 2022
In the USA, February is
generally the month for highlighting heart health. February, the month of
Valentine’s Day is used to take advantage of the public’s interest in and
recognition of hearts in commercial cards, construction paper hearts made by
children, heart candy and red flowers, heart messages of various kinds, red
clothes and heart-patterned scarves, socks and the like. The American Heart Association has various
forms of publicity readily available, even more than the usual amount.
However, the World Heart
Federation (WHF) housed in Switzerland recognizes heart health in
September. Activities of this
organization promote World Heart Day which this year is Tuesday 29 September. Other activities, programs and campaigns of
the WHF include Go Red for Women, heart health for children and youth,
workplace wellness, heart advocacy among other groups and programs. In May of
2012, select world leaders committed to reducing global mortality from
non-communicable diseases (NCD) by 25 per cent by the year 2025. Cardiovascular
Disease accounts for nearly half of all NCD deaths, making it the World’s
Number One killer.
One of the most recent
heart health concerns is related to the COVID-19 pandemic and its variants.
While it is a respiratory disease it has been found to have an appreciable impact
on heart health. This includes decrease
in the heart’s ability to function optimally, decrease in physical exercise,
negative changes in dietary habits and perhaps even more so, through the
decrease in social and interpersonal interactions, the human elements that
“warm the heart”. Heart health has been seriously impacted by an essentially
respiratory disease. The journal, Nature Medicine Vol. 28, pp. 589-590, published
a research study of nearly 154,000 U.S. veterans. The authors Xie, Xu, Bowe and Al-Aly reported
the sweeping effects of COVID-19 on heart health.
What are some things that
we know hurt hearts? These include the elevation of the stress hormone
cortisol, elevation of cholesterol, triglycerides, blood sugar, and blood
pressure. The effects of the pandemic promoted behaviors that were heart
unhealthy: isolation, boredom, excessive eating, excessive intake of alcohol
and other such behaviors. There were changes in a number of lifelong habits and
practices such as attending church and church-related social groups. These institutions
just ceased to meet, and the connection with others through the technology of Zoom
was often not available to many who especially benefited from physical and
close contact with others in the former formats.
There are 10 common-sense
behaviors that we already know help with heart health. Listed by Kendall
Crosslands Communities in March of 2022, these are to eat several servings of
fruits and vegetables daily, eat a good breakfast, add more nuts to the diet,
take a walk 10 minutes at a minimum, relax and take deep breaths for several
minutes several times each day, wash hands frequently, enjoy a hobby and social
interactions with others, laugh, take good care of your teeth, and get a good
night’s sleep.
On 29 September, make an
extra special effort to do something extra special to celebrate your heart!!!
Jamie
Spikes, PhD, RN, Parish Nurse
St.
Luke’s Lutheran Church
Manhattan,
KS, USA
Some
material gathered from www. http://www.CNET.com.