Welcome to the NVFC Heart-Healthy Firefighter E-News. The NVFC Heart-Healthy Firefighter Program was designed to healp firefighters become more heart-healthy and lower the incidence of heart attack related deaths in the fire service. We hope that you enjoy this newsletter and that it benefits not only you, but others in your fire department, family and community.

1. Mike Bitney Wins Fired Up For Fitness Challenge Award
2. NHLBI Study: High Blood Pressure Not Well Controlled Among Older Men and Women
3. September is National Cholesterol Education Month
4. NVFC Heart-Healthy Tip
5. Small Steps

Washington, D.C., August 9, 2005 - The National Volunteer Fire Council (NVFC) is pleased to announce that the winner of the first annual Fired Up For Fitness Challenge is Michael Bitney of Spooner, Wisconsin. Mike, a 45-year old District Attorney, joined his local fire department after being moved by the events of September, 11th, 2001. Mike first read about the Fired Up For Fitness Challenge in Fire Engineering magazine and requested more information from NVFC. After reading the statistics on firefighter fatalities from heart-attacks Mike made the decision to not become another statistic. Mike started walking and working out at the gym regularly. His wife and kids soon noticed a difference in not only his physique but also his attitude towards his new lifestyle. According to Mike, "Instead of dreading getting out of bed or getting off the couch to go to the gym or go for a walk, I dreaded missing a workout." Mike now exercises five days a week for at least an hour.

Since starting the Challenge back in January, Mike has lowered his blood pressure, cholesterol levels and standing heart rate. "No longer am I among the first guys to have to changes air bottles when packing out. I've also found that regular exercise helps me deal with the real stress of being a husband, a dad, a coach, a prosecutor, a firefighter and a friend. I haven't reached all my goals, but thanks to the NVFC Fired Up For Fitness Challenge, I am well on my way there. More importantly, I am committed to continuing my journey to better health and better living." The NVFC salutes Mike Bitney and others who have made the decision to become heart-healthy.

The award ceremony for the Fired Up For Fitness Challenge will be held at the NVFC booth, #317, at Fire Rescue International at 3:00pm on Saturday, August 13th, 2005. The Challenge is an online program where firefighters can log their daily physical activity and at certain milestones are rewarded. To date, over 1300 individuals are logged on to the Challenge. Mike will receive a Cable Cross machine donated by FreeMotion Fitness valued at over $6,000. Remarks from the NVFC, FreeMotion Fitness and the U.S. Fire Administrator will take place.

In addition to the presentation, NVFC performed blood pressure and body composition screenings, and cholesterol screenings. The cholesterol screenings each take only about seven minutes to complete. Participants are given the opportunity to meet privately with a health counselor to discuss their test results. Participants also received valuable information on lowering their cholesterol and blood pressure, nutrition, smoking cessation and more.

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Courtesy of the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

Nearly three-quarters of men and women age 80 and older have high blood pressure, but their conditions are frequently not kept under control, according to new data from the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute’s (NHLBI) long-standing Framingham Heart Study. In this age group, only 38 percent of men and 23 percent of women had blood pressures that met targets set forth in the National High Blood Pressure Education Program’s (NHBPEP) clinical guidelines.

Full study results were published in the July 27, 2005, edition of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

This study shows that while the rate of high blood pressure increased with age, numbers of people receiving treatment for the condition did not. Seventy-four percent of people age 80 and older had high blood pressure, compared with 63 percent of those age 60 to 79 and 27 percent of those under the age of 60. However, less than two thirds of hypertensive patients in the two older age groups received treatment.

High blood pressure, also called hypertension, is a major risk factor for the development of heart disease and a leading cause of many life-threatening conditions such as stroke, heart attack, and kidney failure.

“Many more men and women are now living healthy and active lives into their 80s and 90s. As clinicians, we should not loosen our management of high blood pressure just because a patient has had the good fortune to reach an older age,” said Daniel Levy, M.D., director of the Framingham Heart Study and a study co-author. “For these patients, managing high blood pressure may make the difference between living many more healthy years, or spending those years recovering from a debilitating stroke or heart attack.”

Investigators from the Framingham Heart Study, a landmark epidemiological study that began in 1948, analyzed data from its original cohort of participants, enrolled in 1948-1952, and their offspring, enrolled 1971-1973. In all, this study included 5,296 participants contributing 14,458 total examinations over the period studied. High blood pressure was defined as a systolic blood pressure of greater or equal to 140 mm Hg or diastolic blood pressure greater than or equal to 90 mm Hg, or taking medication for reducing blood pressure. Normal blood pressure is less than 120 mm Hg systolic and less than 80 mm Hg diastolic.

According to the authors, the data suggest that the poor control rates may be due in part to poor selection of drug classes or from the use of a single drug for therapy. Among all ages studied, 60 percent of patients were treated with only one antihypertensive medication, and only 23 percent of men and 38 percent of women over age 80 were being treated with a diuretic.

Guidelines issued by NHLBI’s NHBPEP state that most high blood pressure patients will require two or more medications to get blood pressure down to target levels, and that a diuretic should be one of the medications used. Diuretics have been shown to be more beneficial in lowering blood pressure and protecting against adverse complications of hypertension.

The NHLBI’s hypertension guidelines are available online in the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on the Prevention, Detection, Evaluation and Treatment of High Blood Pressure. The guidelines are available online at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/guidelines/hypertension/index.htm.

To arrange an interview with Dr. Levy, please call the NHLBI Communications Office at (301) 496-4236. To interview the study’s lead author, Dr. Donald M. Lloyd-Jones of Northwestern University’s Feinberg School of Medicine, please call (312) 503-8928.

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September is National Cholesterol Education Month. Here are some simple tips from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute on keeping your cholesterol levels.

Here are some great ideas that you can adapt and apply to fit the needs of your program.

1. Use the publication High Blood Cholesterol - What You Need to Know, which has been revised in 2005 to reflect the ATP III update, to write a feature article in your newsletters.

2. Encourage your family, friends, and coworkers to have their cholesterol checked. Hand out the Chart your progress - Reach your goal worksheet so they can record their cholesterol numbers.

3. Contact your worksite health and fitness center and/or local congregation and ask them to cosponsor a cholesterol screening fair.

4. Send out a broadcast email with a link to the 10-year Risk Calculator. Encourage everyone to know their cholesterol numbers and to know their risk for heart disease.

5. Send out a weekly e-mail about preventing heart disease that contains a link to the Lifestyle Section of the Live Healthier, Live Longer Web page.

6. Decorate a bulletin board in your facility using the theme "Know Your Cholesterol Numbers, Know Your Risk." Post various cholesterol resources and educational flyers on the board.

7. Hand out Simple Steps to Help Reduce Your Risk.

8. Set aside 30 minutes each Monday afternoon during Cholesterol Month to participate in a group walk around your building or neighborhood. Try to repeat this 30-minute stroll on your own on most days of the week.

9. Sponsor a best recipe contest. See who can prepare the best tasting, low saturated fat, low cholesterol dish. Award a $10 grocery store gift certificate to the top three winners. (Ask the grocery store to donate the gift certificate). Get started with some of these heart healthy recipes.

10. Coordinate with your local grocery store and a local dietitian to give a grocery store tour demonstrating how to read food labels and choose heart healthy foods.

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Motivate and Lose the Weight

One of the biggest challenges when it comes to dieting is maintaining your level of motivation. To help keep your regimen on the straight and narrow, try weighing yourself just once a week instead of every day (daily weigh-ins can be discouraging), and keep a photo of the “old you” taped to your mirror to remind you of an unhealthy past that will soon be a distant memory.

Outwit Your Hunger Monster

The signals that tell your brain that your tummy is ready for more treats can be among the dieter’s worst enemies, and your ability to recognize and work with those signals could have a sizable effect on your dieting success. Two simple ways to outwit your hunger are to eat slowly (it can take up to 20 minutes for the brain to realize you’ve had enough) and don’t wait until you’re starving to eat, which can increase the chances of overeating.

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Courtesy of www.SmallStep.gov

Here are some small steps you can take on the way to becoming more heart-healthy….

1. Avoid food portions larger than your fist.
2. Mow lawn with push mower.
3. Increase the fiber in your diet.
4. Walk to your place of worship instead of driving.
5. Walk kids to school.
6. Get a dog and walk it.
7. Join an exercise group.
8. Drink diet soda.
9. Replace Sunday drive with Sunday walk.
10. Do yard work.

Stay tuned for more Small Steps in the next Heart-Healthy Firefighter E-News.

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If you have received this update from a friend and would like to be added to our e-mail list, please e-mail: nvfc-request@www.misteam.net?subject=subscribe.

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