How would you rate the quality of air in your
workplace? More importantly what factors are you considering when rating it?
Anger really can trigger a heart attack.
But then, so can getting sick, being too hot, being too
cold, air pollution, lack of sleep, grief, overeating,
natural disasters, exercise and sex.
In fact, simply waking up is the worst thing you can do if
you're trying to avoid a heart attack.
Heart attacks, strokes and
cardiac arrests seem to come out of the blue, but actually
most occur upon rising in the morning, according to the July
2007 issue of the Harvard Heart Letter.
Before waking, our bodies release stress hormones into the
bloodstream to give us the energy to get out of bed, but
this also strains the heart slightly. That bump can cause a
cardiac event if one's arteries already are rife with
festering cholesterol-rich plaque.
The dehydration that normally occurs after a night of sleep
also puts a plaque-plagued circulatory system at risk. Also,
heart medications wear off during the night.
A bout of anger can increase the chances of having a heart
attack up to 14-fold for two hours following a flare-up, the
Letter states.
Strenuous exercise such as shoveling snow or running can be
a trigger, but exertion is much less likely to cause trouble
in people who exercise regularly. So stay in shape, the
authors advise.
Infectious diseases such as pneumonia and the flu can also
trigger heart attacks and strokes.
The fact is that most people sleep too little, rise and
shine, make love, shovel snow, eat too much, overheat, argue
and recover from the flu without getting a heart attack.
"Still, knowing what sets off heart attacks, strokes or
cardiac arrests can help you avoid triggers or blunt their
power," the Letter states.
As the thermometer rises, it's vital to
keep our body's internal climate from doing the same to
avoid suffering a heat stroke.
The body works hard and literally sweats in order to stay at
98.6 degrees Fahrenheit. Dehydration or sweltering humidity
can cause this cooling system to stop functioning and push
body temperatures up to a dangerous 106 degrees Fahrenheit
within 10 or 15 minutes. Such overheating can damage the
central nervous system, including the brain, spinal cord,
and other organs. Without treatment, heat strokes can fatal.
About 175 to 200 Americans die from heat-related illnesses
each year, according to estimates by the National Oceanic
and Atmospheric Administration.
Whether by being exposed to an extremely hot environment for
an intolerable length of time or by doing too much physical
activity in scorching weather, anyone is susceptible to a
heat stroke. The symptoms will also be apparent: hot, dry,
red skin; high fever; vomiting; confusion; seizures during
cooling; and unconsciousness.
"Heat stroke is not an accident," says
Marilyn J. Heine, M.D., an emergency physician in Bucks
County and a member of the Pennsylvania Medical Society.
"Over the summer, we see too many cases of heat-related
illness in the emergency room, but it's a condition that
generally can be prevented with a little effort and lots of
common sense."
To keep cool from the burning heat, it is important to
remember to limit strenuous activity, drink plenty of water,
wear loose clothing, and to avoid caffeine and alcohol which
can speed up dehydration. Additionally, find ways to chill
your surroundings by using a fan, opening windows, and
turning up the air conditioning.
Anger is Good For You
Go ahead, get angry
So in maddening situations in which anger or indignation are
justified, anger is not a bad idea, the thinking goes. In
fact, it's adaptive, Lerner says, and it's a healthier
response than fear.
Chronic, explosive anger or a hostile outlook on the world
is still bad for you, contributing to heart disease and high
blood pressure, research shows.
The new research supports the idea that humans have more
than one uniform response to stress and that fear and anger
provoke different responses from our nervous systems and the
parts of our brain, such as the pituitary, that deal with
tough situations.
The results were published in a recent issue of the journal
Biological Psychiatry.
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