Happy Labor Day Weekend

Join our PALS Renewal and PALS Renewal/BLS class this Saturday at HealthPro's OC/Mission Viejo Campus.  Call 951-279-6110 or register online at hpec.org.

Activity Trackers

Wearable activity trackers in the mainstream 

Wearable fitness devices have moved into the mainstream helping people pick up the pace of their daily activities.
The devices are flooding the marketplace as the technology and sports industries create “wearable fitness coaches” for customers interested in tracking their activity levels, food intake, heart rates and sleep patterns.
Most of the new devices are designed to be worn on the wrist, although a few models can be carried in a pocket or clipped onto clothing. Nearly all track the number of steps taken and time of activity. Some models go beyond and monitor sleep, heart rates or even perspiration.
Data from the wristband or clip-on device is synced to a computer or mobile phone to give users charts and graphs of their progress. They can use the data to chart their performance over time or see how they stack up with others. Devices sync with their own applications — or to outside apps like MapMyFitness, Runkeeper or MyFitnessPal.
Prices vary — from $50 to more than $200 — based on the amount of data tracked and additional functions.  Manufacturers include Basis, Fitbit, Jawbone, LG, Misfit, Samsung and TomTom. Some models are designed for cycling or swimming, or import smart phones functions like social media or texting.
Although fitness enthusiasts were among the first to wear trackers, online nutrition and weight loss communities are becoming interested in them too, according to Angela McIntyre, a research director covering wearable computing for Gartner, Inc.
Calorie tracking and counts, along with food diaries, can help users monitor their diet. Some commercial weight loss companies are now selling fitness bands as add-ons to help their customers stay active and lose weight.
As Americans overall have become increasingly sedentary – expending less calories and being less active,  leading to weight gain — over the years, many people are turning to activity tracking versions to help them pick up the pace of their daily activities.
“Yes, they are here to stay,” McIntyre said, adding that the quality of the wristbands and data they provide are good enough to help people become more fit.
About 3.3 million activity trackers were sold between April 2013 and March 2014, according to the NPD Group. Sales are projected to reach more than $1 billion in 2014.
The devices won’t jump-start the activity levels of fitness enthusiasts, who have been the first to embrace the activity tracker, said Kevin Tillmann, senior research analyst for the Consumer Electronic Association. Instead, they help them reach their fitness goals.
People with specific athletic training goals may prefer a sports watch or GPS-enabled device, because they can be paired with a heart rate monitor chest strap that provides more accurate information, McIntyre said.
However, using an activity tracker can motivate people who aren’t already active.
“What’s great about this is that there are so many of us who don’t have time to exercise.  I don’t have time to sleep,” McIntyre says. “If I have one of these devices that’s helping me track the exercise I do in a day, maybe I can find small little ways to get more exercise in my life.  I believe this is an important way that these can help regular people who aren’t so much into fitness.”
Former American Heart Association president Donna Arnett, Ph.D., has worn her activity tracker since January 2013 and said she’s never without it unless it’s charging.
“It keeps me walking — I have a set of friends that I compete with and I try very hard to stay on top,” said Arnett, also professor and chair of the Department of Epidemiology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham’s School of Public Health. Her goals are to walk 15,000 steps a day and get at least 6 hours of sleep every night.
Most current users wear their trackers every day, finding they help them stay motivated, monitor progress towards fitness goals, and track the amount and intensity of physical activity, according to a CEA survey.
Source:AHA
Strap on your activity tracker and head in to HealthPro for a heart pumping, calorie burning CPR class.  Sign up today at hpec.org or give us a call at 951-279-6110.

Back-to-School Lunches

Back-to-school food: 5 worst and best things to pack in your child's school lunch

Pre-packaged lunch trays like Lunchables may offer convenience, but they aren't nutritionally sound. This pepperoni and cheese combo has 440 calories and 760 mg of sodium, which is 40 percent of the recommended daily allowance for children ages 4 to 8. (Grant Butler/The Oregonian

 

The new school year is almost here. If you send your child to school with a packed lunch, you want to make sure it's not loaded down with lots of fat, sodium and dreaded high fructose corn syrup. Here are 5 suggestions for the worst things you can put in a school lunch, and 5 foods to consider:

Avoid at all cost

1. Highly processed lunch meat: Whether it's lunch meat you put into sandwiches that you make, or pre-cut slices found in products like Lunchables, lunchmeat is loaded with sodium and preservatives, and the cheapest brands may be made out of parts of animals that you really don't want to be eating – snouts, tails, who knows what's in there?
2. Pop tarts and sugary granola bars: These snack bars are swimming in sugar and have crazy-long lists of preservatives.
3. Kiddie yogurts: Those brightly colored yogurts that are marketed towards children are filled with artificial food coloring and loads of sugar.
4. Prepackaged fruit cups: Those plastic cups of pre-cut fruit are swimming in a syrup sweetened with high fructose corn syrup.
5. Fruit candy: No matter how much you try to convince yourself that there's fruit in gummy chews, there's no getting around how much high fructose corn syrup is in them. Let's call gummies what they really are: candy.

Why pre-packaged lunch boxes aren't good for a school lunchIt's back-to-school time, and some parents are stocking up on pre-packaged lunch boxes for their children's school lunches. Grant Butler offers three reasons why these convenient meals aren't the best choice.
Instead consider these

1. Pasta salad: An easy way to use leftover pasta, tossed with a light dressing, a few mixed vegetables, and lean protein like shredded chicken or beans.
2. Minimally processed protein: Instead of using lunchmeat containing who knows what, grill extra pieces of chicken and slice them for sandwiches. Other sandwich-filling options: low-fat cheese, peanut butter without added sugar, or hummus.
3. No-salt pretzels: Pretzels are a low-fat and delicious alternative to chips, but the salted variety is loaded with sodium. Buy no-salt versions instead, and pack half-ounce portions.
4. Veggie sticks: Most kids love carrot sticks, but consider expanding the range of veggie finger-food options to blanched green beans, slices of crunchy jicama, or raw zucchini spears.
5. Fresh fruit: The healthiest dessert option possible for a school lunch. Cut slices of apples and pears, spritz with a little lime juice to avoid browning, and pack in a small container. Or opt for kid-friendly berries.

Source:AHA
Pack a healthy lunch and join HealthPro for class this Fall.  Register online at hpec.org or give us a call at 951-279-6110.

Sometimes learning CPR IS a laughing matter

Learning CPR is no laughing matter – well, sometimes it is

Published: 10:19 am CDT, August 25, 2014

Fresh off receiving CPR training, actress-comedian Amy Sedaris recently visited “The Tonight Show” and taught host Jimmy Fallon how to perform the lifesaving technique.
Considering the nature of the show, the lesson took a lighthearted turn.
Enjoy their performance in the video below, then click on the video that follows for actual instructions in “Hands-Only CPR.” Keep going for a humorous lesson in Hands-Only CPR featuring actor-comedian Ken Jeong. And, to really learn how to perform CPR, visit here to sign up for a lesson in a classroom or online.

(Please note that at the start of the “Tonight Show” video, they make the common mistake of consider sudden cardiac arrest synonymous with a heart attack. Click here to learn the difference.)

 Source: AHA

 

HealthPro offers evening and weekend classes....sign up at hpec.org or give us a call at 951-279-6110.

Frequent ER Visits For Health Failure Place Burden on Healthcare System

Frequent ER visits for heart failure place burden on healthcare system

Published: 10:29 am CDT, August 20, 2014

Nearly 80 percent of hospitalized heart failure patients come to the emergency room, illuminating the burden the condition plays on healthcare systems, according to a new study in the American Heart Association journal Circulation: Cardiovascular Quality & Outcomes.
More than 5 million Americans are living with heart failure. The more than 1 million hospitalizations for that condition amount to an estimated direct cost of $31 billion annually.
Researchers analyzed data on more than 113,000 patients with more than 175,000 emergency room visits for heart failure in California and Florida hospitals in 2010-11. During the one-year follow-up, more than a third of patients had two or more ER visits – considered “frequent” visits.
Those more likely to have “frequent” ER visits for heart failure were:

• Non-Hispanic blacks
• Hispanics
• Medicaid-insured
• People with lower income

Heart failure patients with frequent ER visits accounted for more than half of all heart failure ER visits. More than 86 percent of these ER visits led to hospitalizations, accounting for more than half of all heart failure hospitalizations.
Researchers said if recurrent ER visits could be prevented, more than 62,000 ER visits and more than 53,000 hospitalizations could have been saved in the two states during this time. In Florida alone, that could have amounted to a savings of more than $1.06 billion in healthcare costs.
Many emergency room visits for heart failure are considered preventable through better management of patient risks and education. These new findings highlight the importance of improved research, risk assessment and secondary prevention for providers, as well as the need for policy strategies that reduce healthcare utilization for heart failure in an already stressed healthcare system, study authors said.
Source: AHA
Sign up for a class at HealthPro today - check us out online at hpec.org or give us a call at 951-279-6110.

Warning Signs of Heart Attack, Stroke and Cardiac Arrest

WARNING SIGNS OF HEART ATTACK,
STROKE & CARDIAC ARREST

HEART ATTACK WARNING SIGNS CHEST DISCOMFORT Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.  Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center of the chest that lasts more than a few minutes, or that goes away and comes back. It can feel like uncomfortable pressure, squeezing, fullness or pain.  DISCOMFORT IN OTHER AREAS OF THE UPPER BODY Symptoms can include pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, neck, jaw or stomach.  SHORTNESS OF BREATH with or without chest discomfort. OTHER SIGNS may include breaking out in a cold sweat, nausea or lightheadedness. Learn more about heart attack

STROKE WARNING SIGNS Spot a stroke F.A.S.T.: - Face Drooping Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile. - Arm Weakness Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward? - Speech Difficulty Is speech slurred, are they unable to speak, or are they hard to understand? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence, like "the sky is blue." Is the sentence repeated correctly? - Time to call 9-1-1 If the person shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 9-1-1 and get them to the hospital immediately. - Face Drooping Does one side of the face droop or is it numb? Ask the person to smile. - Arm Weakness Is one arm weak or numb? Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward? - Speech Difficulty Is speech slurred, are they unable to speak, or are they hard to understand? Ask the person to repeat a simple sentence, like "the sky is blue." Is the sentence repeated correctly? - Time to call 9-1-1 If the person shows any of these symptoms, even if the symptoms go away, call 9-1-1 and get them to the hospital immediately. Learn more about stroke

CARDIAC ARREST WARNING SIGNS SUDDEN LOSS OF RESPONSIVENESS No response to tapping on shoulders. No response to tapping on shoulders. NO NORMAL BREATHING The victim does not take a normal breath when you tilt the head up and check for at least five seconds. Learn more about cardiac arrest

If these signs are present CALL 9-1-1

 

 

Source:AHA

Sign up for a class at HealthPro online at hpec.org or over the phone @ 951-279-6110.