With balance and moderation, you can enjoy the holidays the healthy way. Choose fresh fruit as a festive and sweet substitute for candy. Select just one or two of your favorites from the host of tempting foods. Find fun ways to stay active, such as dancing to your favorite holiday music. Be active for at least 2½ hours a week. Help kids and teens be active for at least 1 hour a day.

The holiday season is in full swing. This means a lot of holiday gatherings with large amounts of food. During the holiday season we tend to eat and drink a lot more calories. As you enjoy the holidays, remember to balance the calories you consume with the calories you burn.

Family, fun…and FOOD! It’s what the holidays are all about, right? But that doesn’t mean you have to pack on the holiday pounds. Balance the calories you consume with the calories you burn, and avoid any holiday weight gain.

Take the Extra Calories Out of Cooking!

• If you’re heading out to a party — holiday, birthday or any sort — eat a light, healthy snack before you go. Broth-based soups, cereal with skim milk, or just plain fruit are all good options! This will help curb your hunger and decrease your visits to the buffet table.
• Modify recipes to reduce the amount of fat and calories. For example, when making lasagna, use part-skim ricotta cheese instead of whole-milk ricotta cheese. Substitute shredded vegetables, such as carrots, zucchini, and spinach for some of the ground meat in lasagna.
• Bring a low-fat, holiday dish to the party. Need some suggestions? Visit CDC’s Healthy Recipes for details.
• When eating or snacking in front of the TV, put the amount that you plan to eat into a bowl or container instead of eating straight from the package. It’s easy to overeat when your attention is focused on something else.
• You’ve tried the leftover turkey sandwich, right? Now try the leftover turkey salad! Add a few pieces of turkey to a generous portion of mixed greens, tomatoes, raw broccoli, carrots, or any of your favorite vegetables. Toss with a light salad dressing and some dried cranberries for an authentic holiday taste.

Rethink Your Drink!

• Choose water, diet, or low-calorie beverages instead of sugar-sweetened beverages.
• For a quick, easy, and inexpensive thirst-quencher, carry a water bottle and refill it throughout the day.
• Limit your alcoholic beverage intake. Alcoholic drinks can have many calories, especially holiday favorites like eggnog. Try to drink water or low calorie beverages instead.

Get Active, Healthy, and Happy!

• Make a goal with a friend to achieve the new Physical Activity Guidelines! Visit CDC’s Physical Activity for Everyone for details.
• Regular physical helps with weight control, reduces the risk for many diseases, and strengthens muscles, bones and joints.
• Sign up for a 5K walk or run to keep your mind focused on physical activity goals. Maintain your physical activity during the holidays — better yet, try and get more active!
• Find fun, creative ways your friends and family can spend time being active instead of eating.

For more information: http://www.cdc.gov/Features/HealthyHolidays/

Most residential fires occur during the winter months. Keep candles away from children, pets, walkways, trees, and curtains. Never leave fireplaces, stoves, or candles unattended. Don’t use generators, grills, or other gasoline- or charcoal-burning devices inside your home or garage. Install a smoke detector and carbon monoxide detector in your home. Test them once a month, and replace batteries twice a year.

Fall-Related Injuries During the Holiday Season — United States, 2000–2003

Although fall-related injuries occur throughout the year, few studies have analyzed seasonal patterns, and none have examined the extent of such injuries associated with holiday decorating. To characterize nonfatal fall injuries associated with decorating or related activities, CDC analyzed data from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System All Injury Program (NEISS-AIP) for three winter holiday seasons. This report summarizes the results of that analysis, which indicated that, during 2000–2003, an estimated 17,465 persons were treated in U.S. hospital emergency departments (EDs) for holiday-decorating–related falls. Approximately 62% of those injured were aged 20–49 years; approximately 43% of injuries were caused by falls from ladders; and males were 40% more likely than females to be injured. Prevention strategies should focus on raising awareness about falls and promoting safety practices during the holiday season.

For this analysis, the holiday season was defined as November 1–January 31, when decorating or related activities (e.g., stringing and removing outdoor lights) usually occur. A fall-related injury was defined as one received when a person descended because of the force of gravity and struck a surface at the same or lower level. A case was defined as an unintentional fall-related injury that occurred to a person during the holiday season and included a product description (e.g., holiday lights) or a brief narrative in the NEISS-AIP database that listed decorating or a related activity as contributing to the injury.

Males sustained more injuries than females (58% versus 42%, respectively), although the rates for males (9.6) and females (6.7) did not differ significantly (relative rate [RR] = 1.4; CI = 0.8–2.1) (Table). The majority of falls were from ladders (e.g., while hanging holiday lights), followed by roofs (e.g., while mounting an artificial Christmas tree on the roof), furniture (e.g., while standing on a table decorating a Christmas tree, standing on a chair hanging holiday decorations, or standing on a step stool when hanging a tree topper), stairs, and porches. Other falls were caused by tripping over or slipping on holiday-related objects (e.g., tree skirts or ornaments). Among 46% of injured persons, injuries occurred to the extremities (i.e., arm/hand and leg/foot); most persons (88%) examined in EDs were treated and released, and 12% were hospitalized. Fractures were the most commonly reported injury (34%); approximately half (51%) of the fractures were caused by falls from ladders. Of those who fell from ladders, nearly half (47%) were hospitalized.

Prevention strategies for ladder safety:

– Ensure the ladder is on secure and level ground before climbing.

– Space the base of the ladder 1 foot away from the wall for every 4 feet it extends up.

– Stay centered between the rails of the ladder.  Do not overreach or attempt to move the ladder while positioned ON the ladder.

– Do not stand on the top two rungs of the ladder.

– To reach a roof, extend the ladder at least 3 feet beyond the edge of the roof.

– Keep the area clear around the top and bottom of the ladder.

– Ensure step ladders are locked open securely.  Never use a folding step ladder when it is closed.

For more information: http://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5348a1.htm

Impaired Driving

Every day, 36 people in the United States die, and approximately 700 more are injured, in motor vehicle crashes that involve an alcohol-impaired driver. The annual cost of alcohol-related crashes totals more than $51 billion. But there are effective measures that can help prevent injuries and deaths from alcohol-impaired driving.

How big is the problem?

• In 2006, 13,470 people died in alcohol-impaired driving crashes, accounting for nearly one-third (32%) of all traffic-related deaths in the United States.
• In 2007, over 1.4 million drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of alcohol or narcotics. That’s less than one percent of the 159 million self-reported episodes of alcohol-impaired driving among U.S. adults each year.
• Drugs other than alcohol (e.g., marijuana and cocaine) are involved in about 18% of motor vehicle driver deaths. These other drugs are generally used in combination with alcohol.
• Half of the 306 child passengers ages 14 and younger who died in alcohol-related crashes in 2006 were riding with drivers who had a BAC level of .08 or higher.
• In 2006, 45 children age 14 years and younger who were killed as pedestrians or bicyclists were hit by alcohol-impaired drivers.

Who is at risk?

• Males: Male drivers involved in fatal motor vehicle crashes are almost twice as likely as female drivers to be intoxicated with a blood alcohol concentration (BAC) of 0.08% or greater. It is illegal to drive with a BAC of 0.08% or higher in all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
• Young people:
  • At all levels of BAC, the risk of being involved in a crash is greater for young people than for older people. In 2006, 19% of drivers ages 16 to 20 who died in motor vehicle crashes had been drinking alcohol.
  • Young men ages 18 to 20 (under the legal drinking age) reported driving while alcohol-impaired more than any other age group.
  • Of the 1,746 traffic fatalities among children ages 0 to 14 years in 2006, about one out of every six (17%) involved an alcohol-impaired driver.
• Motorcyclists:
  • Nearly half of the alcohol-impaired motorcyclists killed each year are 40 or older, and motorcyclists ages 40-44 have the highest percentage of fatalities with BACs of 0.08% or greater.
  • Among drivers killed in fatal crashes, 30% have BACs of 0.08% or greater.
• Drivers with prior driving while impaired (DWI) convictions: Among drivers involved in fatal crashes, those with BAC levels of 0.08% or higher were eight times more likely to have a prior conviction for DWI than were drivers who had not consumed alcohol.

How can deaths and injuries from impaired driving be prevented?

Effective measures include:

• Aggressively enforcing existing 0.08% BAC laws, minimum legal drinking age laws, and zero tolerance laws for drivers younger than 21 years old in all states.
• Promptly revoking the driver’s licenses of people who drive while intoxicated.
• Utilizing sobriety checkpoints.
• Implementing health promotion efforts that use an ecological framework to influence economic, organizational, policy, and school/community action.
• Using multi-faceted community-based approaches to alcohol control and DUI prevention.
• Requiring mandatory substance abuse assessment and treatment for driving-under-the-influence offenders.

Other suggested measures include:

• Reducing the legal limit for blood alcohol concentration (BAC) to 0.05%.
• Raising state and federal alcohol excise taxes.
• Implementing compulsory blood alcohol testing when traffic crashes result in injury.

For more information: http://www.cdc.gov/MotorVehicleSafety/Impaired_Driving/impaired-drv_factsheet.html

Welcome to the holiday season — that whirlwind of gift-giving holidays, marketing blitzes, holiday parties and activities galore that begins right after Halloween, builds to Thanksgiving, and continues, gaining momentum, through the end of the year.

While this season is meant to bring feelings of love and cheer, it’s also the harbinger of holiday stress for many. In fact, according to a poll conducted on this site, more than 80% of us find the holiday season to be ‘somewhat’ or ‘very’ stressful — that ranks navigating the holidays right up there with asking for a raise! What is it that has us all so hot and bothered?

What Causes Holiday Stress?

• Doing Too Much
  All things in moderation, as the saying goes. The problem with the holiday season is that we often experience too much of a good thing. While stress itself is necessary for our survival and zest for life (researchers call this positive type of stress “eustress“), too much stress has a negative impact on our health, both mental and physical. Too many activities, even if they are fun activities, can culminate in too much holiday stress and leave us feeling frazzled, rather than fulfilled.
• Eating, Drinking and Spending Too Much
  An overabundance of parties and gift-giving occasions lead many people to eat, drink, and be merry — often to excess. The temptation to overindulge in spending, rich desserts or alcohol can cause many people the lasting stress of dealing with consequences (debt, weight gain, memories of embarrassing behavior) that can linger long after the season is over.
• Too Much Togetherness
  The holidays are a time when extended families tend to gather. While this can be a wonderful thing, even the most close-knit families can overdose on togetherness, making it hard for family members to maintain a healthy balance between bonding and alone time. Many families also have ‘roles’ that each member falls into that have more to do with who individuals used to be rather than who they are today, which can sometimes bring more dread than love to these gatherings.
• Not Enough Togetherness
  For those who don’t have these family issues, loneliness can be just as much of a problem. As the world seems to be gathering with family, those who rely more on friends for support can feel deserted and alone.
• Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD)
  An often unrecognized problem that comes with the holiday season is actually a by-product of the seasons changing from fall to winter. As daylight diminishes and the weather causes many of us to spend more time indoors, many people are affected to some degree by a type of depression known as seasonal affective disorder. It’s a subtle, but very real condition that can cast a pall over the whole season and be a source of stress and unhappiness during a time that people expect to feel just the opposite.

Minimizing The Holiday Stress

The great thing about holiday stress is that it’s predictable. Unlike many other types of negative stress we encounter in life, we know when holiday stress will begin and end, and we can make plans to reduce the amount of stress we experience and the negative impact it has on us.

Here are some tips you can try to help reduce holiday stress before it begins so that it remains at a positive level, rather than an overwhelming one:

• Set Your Priorities
  Before you get overwhelmed by too many activities, it’s important to decide what traditions offer the most positive impact and eliminate superfluous activities. For example, if you usually become overwhelmed by a flurry of baking, caroling, shopping, sending cards, visiting relatives and other activities that leave you exhausted by January, you may want to examine your priorities, pick a few favorite activities and really enjoy them, while skipping the rest.

• Cut Corners
  If you can’t fathom the idea of skipping out on sending cards, baking, seeing people, and doing all of the stuff that usually runs you ragged, you may do better including all of these activities in your schedule, but on a smaller scale.

Send cards, for example, but only to those with whom you maintain regular communication. Or, don’t include a personal note or letter in each one. Find a way to simplify. The same goes for the baking — will anyone be enraged if you buy baked goods from the bakery instead? If you find ways to cut corners or tone down the activities that are important to you and your family, you may enjoy them much more.

• Change Your Expectations For Togetherness
  With family and friends, it’s important to be aware of your limitations. Think back to previous years and try to pinpoint how much togetherness you and your family can take before feeling negative stress. Can you limit the number of parties you attend or throw, or the time you spend at each? Can you limit your time with family to a smaller timeframe that will still feel special and joyous, without draining you?

Also, when dealing with difficult relatives, it’s okay to set limits on what you are and are not willing to do, including forgoing your visits or limiting them to every other year.

For those who experience loneliness during the holidays, consider inviting a group of friends to your home. If virtually everyone you know is with family during the holidays, you might consider volunteering to help those less fortunate than yourself. Many people report these experiences to be extremely fulfilling, and your focus will be on what you have rather than what you lack.

• Set A Schedule
  Putting your plans on paper can show you, in black and white, how realistic they are. If you find a time management planner and fill in the hours with your scheduled activities, being realistic and including driving time and down time, you will be able to see if you’re trying to pack in too much. Start with your highest priorities, so you will be able to eliminate the less important activities. Be sure to schedule in some time to take a walk in nature each day if at all possible, as exercise and exposure to daylight can drastically reduce or even eliminate the symptoms of SAD. (If climate or other factors prohibit this, try to find some time to sit by a window and look out; several minutes of exposure to natural light, even if through a window pane, can help.)

• Breathe!
  This sounds like a no-brainer, but sometimes we forget to take deep breaths and really give our bodies the oxygen we need. It’s great if you can take ten minutes by yourself to do a breathing meditation, but merely stopping to take a few deep, cleansing breaths can reduce your level of negative stress in a matter of minutes, too. If you visualize that you are breathing in serenity and breathing out stress, you will find the positive effects of this exercise to be even more pronounced.

With a little planning and a few minor but significant changes, this holiday season can bring the love and joy it was meant to bring, and leave you feeling fulfilled rather than drained.

Signs of stress:  headache, sleep disturbances, difficulty in concentrating, short temper, upset stomach, job dissatisfaction, low morale.

For more information: http://stress.about.com/od/understandingstress/a/holiday_stress.htm

Staying Safe and Healthy at Home

Many people prefer to remain indoors in the winter, but staying inside is no guarantee of safety. Take these steps to keep your home safe, healthy, and warm during the winter months:

• “Winterize” your home.
  • Install weather stripping, insulation, and storm windows.
  • Insulate water lines that run along exterior walls.
  • Clean out gutters and repair roof leaks.
• Check your heating systems.
  • Make sure that your heating system is clean, working properly, and ventilated to the outside.
  • Inspect and clean fireplaces and chimneys.
  • Install a smoke detector.
  • Have an alternate heating source and alternate fuels available.
  • Prevent carbon monoxide emergencies.
    • Install a carbon monoxide (CO) detector to alert you of the presence of the deadly odorless, colorless gas.
    • Learn symptoms of CO poisoning: headaches, nausea, and confusion.
    • Keep grills and generators out of the house and garage.
• Be prepared for weather-related emergencies, including power outages.
  • Stock food that needs no cooking or refrigeration, and water that is stored in clean containers.
  • Keep an up-to-date emergency kit, including battery-operated devices (if possible, a NOAA Weather Radio), extra batteries, extra medicine, and baby items.

Staying Safe and Healthy Outdoors or While Traveling

Many people spend time outdoors in the winter working, traveling, or enjoying winter sports. Outdoor activities or travel in winter can expose you to hazards to your safety and health, but you can take these steps to prepare for them:

• Have appropriate clothing to wear outdoors: layers of light, warm clothing; mittens; hats; scarves; and waterproof boots.
• Keep a supply of salt, cat litter, or sand to sprinkle on icy patches.
• Learn safety precautions to follow when outdoors:
  • Work slowly when doing outside chores.
  • Be aware of the wind chill factor.
  • Take a buddy and an emergency kit when you are participating in outdoor recreation.
  • Avoid traveling when the weather service has issued advisories.
  • If you must travel, inform a friend or relative of your proposed route and expected time of arrival.
• Prepare your car for winter.
  • Service the radiator and maintain the antifreeze level; check the tire treads.
  • Keep the gas tank full to avoid ice in the tank and fuel lines.
  • Use a wintertime formula in your windshield washer.
  • Keep a winter emergency kit in your car in case you become stranded. Include blankets, food and water, and plastic bags (for sanitation).
  • Learn safety rules to follow in case you become stranded in your car.
    • Stay with your car unless you can reach a safe location no more than 100 yards away.
    • Run the engine and heater only 10 minutes during every hour.
    • Keep a downwind window open.
    • Make sure the tailpipe is not blocked.

Helping Other People

Be sure to check on family and neighbors who are in greater danger from cold weather hazards. Young children, older adults, and people with chronic illnesses are more likely to have health problems caused or worsened by cold weather.

Keeping Your Pets Safe and Healthy

If you have pets, bring them indoors. If you cannot bring them inside, give them adequate shelter to stay warm outside. Also, make sure they have access to unfrozen water.

Preparation Is the Key

No one can stop the onset of winter, but if you follow these suggestions, you’ll be ready for winter when it comes.

For more information: http://www.cdc.gov/Features/WinterWeather/

• Happy Holidays from Monroe County EMS!!
• Wash your hands often
• Clean hands saves lives.

Keeping hands clean is one of the most important steps we can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. It is best to wash your hands with soap and clean running water for 20 seconds. However, if soap and clean water are not available, use an alcohol-based product to clean your hands. Alcohol-based hand rubs significantly reduce the number of germs on skin and are fast acting.

When washing hands with soap and water:

• Wet your hands with clean running water and apply soap. Use warm water if it is available.
• Rub hands together to make a lather and scrub all surfaces.
• Continue rubbing hands for 20 seconds. Need a timer? Imagine singing “Happy Birthday” twice through to a friend!
• Rinse hands well under running water
• Dry your hands using a paper towel or air dryer. If possible, use your paper towel to turn off the faucet

When should you wash your hands?

• Before preparing or eating food
• After going to the bathroom
• After changing diapers or cleaning up a child who has gone to the bathroom
• Before and after tending to someone who is sick
• After blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing
• After handling an animal or animal waste
• After handling garbage
• Before and after treating a cut or wound

Remember: If soap and water are not available, use alcohol-based gel to clean hands.

When using an alcohol-based hand sanitizer:

• ·          Apply product to the palm of one hand
• ·          Rub hands together
• ·          Rub the product over all surfaces of hands and fingers until hands are dry.

For more information: http://www.cdc.gov/cleanhands/

However, this year, the organization is taking a bolder, more audacious approach. With nearly 24 million children and adults in the United States living with diabetes, and an additional 57 million Americans at risk, simple awareness will no longer suffice. One out of every three children born today will face a future with diabetes if current trends continue. Diabetes is not merely a condition. It is an epidemic disease. Drastic action is needed, and a new hope is required.

So, this November join the American Diabetes Association in officially launching a national movement to Stop Diabetes(SM) – help us confront it, fight it, and most importantly, stop it.

Key Messages

· Starting with American Diabetes Month, the American Diabetes Association will

encourage people across the country to take the pledge to Stop Diabetes.

· Stop Diabetes will be a movement. A movement is an idea that gains momentum one person at a time.

· Stopping Diabetes will take courage, hope, and commitment.

· It will also take action.

· Join the American Diabetes Association in November, and helps us launch the Stop Diabetes movement by:

– Sharing. Inspire others to join the movement by sharing your personal story. Beginning November 2, visit stopdiabetes.com and join us on Facebook and Twitter to learn about all the exciting ways to be a part of the Stop Diabetes

movement. Invite your family, friends, and co-workers to join this effort as well.

– Acting. Whether you want to run, walk, bike or simply tell a friend, there will be many ways to help us build momentum for the Stop Diabetes movement.

– Learning. The American Diabetes Association has many resources throughout the country to help Stop Diabetes. If you, or a loved one, already have diabetes or are at risk for developing it, we can provide medical, lifestyle and motivational information to prevent this disease from taking control of your life and the lives of

those around you.

– Giving. Sign up with your local American Diabetes Association office to help raise money for diabetes research, federal and state advocacy and public

education.

Prevalence

· Nearly 24 million people have type 1 or type 2 diabetes.

· Another 57 million people have pre-diabetes and are at risk for developing type 2 diabetes.

· One out of every 3 children will face a future with diabetes if current trends continue.

The Toll on Health

· The death rate from diabetes continues to climb. Since 1987, the death rate due to diabetes has increased by 45%, while the death rates due to cancer, heart disease, and stroke have declined.

· About 60-70% of people with diabetes have mild to severe forms of nerve damage that could result in pain in the feet or hands, slowed digestion, sexual dysfunction, and other nerve problems.

· The rate of amputation for people with diabetes is 10 times higher than for people without diabetes.

· Two out of three people with diabetes die from heart disease or stroke.

· Diabetes is the leading cause of new cases of blindness among adults.

· Diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure.

Cost of Diabetes

· The total national cost of diagnosed diabetes in the United States is $174 billion.

– Direct medical costs reach $116 billion, and the average medical expenditure among people with diabetes is 2.3 times higher than those without the disease.

– Indirect costs amount to $58 billion (disability, work loss, premature mortality).

· The cost of caring for someone with diabetes is $1 out of every $5 in total healthcare costs.

For more information in English and Spanish call 1-800-DIABETES or visit

www.diabetes.org.

High blood cholesterol affects over 65 million Americans. It is a serious condition that increases your risk for heart disease. The higher your cholesterol level, the greater the risk for developing heart disease. You can have high cholesterol and not know it. Lowering cholesterol levels that are too high lessens your risk for developing heart disease and reduces the chance of having a heart attack or dying of heart disease.

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute offers helpful resources to use during National Cholesterol Education Month.

Why Is Cholesterol Important?

Your blood cholesterol level has a lot to do with your chances of getting heart disease. High blood cholesterol is one of the major risk factors for heart disease. A risk factor is a condition that increases your chance of getting a disease. In fact, the higher your blood cholesterol level, the greater your risk for developing heart disease or having a heart attack. Heart disease is the number one killer of women and men in the United States. Each year, more than a million Americans have heart attacks, and about a half million people die from heart disease.

How Does Cholesterol Cause Heart Disease?

When there is too much cholesterol (a fat-like substance) in your blood, it builds up in the walls of your arteries. Over time, this buildup causes “hardening of the arteries” so that arteries become narrowed and blood flow to the heart is slowed down or blocked. The blood carries oxygen to the heart, and if insufficient amounts of blood and oxygen are reaching your heart, you may suffer chest pain. If the blood supply to a portion of the heart is completely cut off by a blockage, the result is a heart attack. High blood cholesterol itself does not cause symptoms. So many people are unaware that their cholesterol level is too high. It is important to find out what your cholesterol numbers are because lowering cholesterol levels that are too high lessens the risk for developing heart disease and reduces the chance of a heart attack or dying of heart disease, even if you already have it. Cholesterol lowering is important for everyone–younger, middle age, and older adults; women and men; and people with or without heart disease.

High Blood Cholesterol: What you need to know

What Do Your Cholesterol Numbers Mean?

Everyone age 20 and older should have his or her cholesterol measured at least once every 5 years. It is best to have a blood test called a “lipoprotein profile” to find out your cholesterol numbers. This blood test is done after a 9- to 12-hour fast and gives information about your:

■ Total cholesterol

■ LDL (bad) cholesterol – the main source of cholesterol buildup and blockage in the arteries

■ HDL (good) cholesterol – helps keep cholesterol from building up in the arteries

■ Triglycerides – another form of fat in your blood

If it is not possible to get a lipoprotein profile done, knowing your total cholesterol and HDL cholesterol can give you a general idea about your cholesterol levels. If your total cholesterol is 200 mg/dL* or more or if your HDL is less than 40 mg/dL, you will need to have a lipoprotein profile done.

*Cholesterol levels are measured in milligrams (mg) of cholesterol per deciliter (dL) of blood.

HDL (good) cholesterol protects against heart disease, so for HDL, higher numbers are better. A level less than 40 mg/dL is low and is considered a major risk factor because it increases your risk for developing heart disease. HDL levels of 60 mg/dL or more help to lower your risk for heart disease.

Triglycerides can also raise heart disease risk. Levels that are borderline high (150-199 mg/dL) or high (200 mg/dL or more) may need treatment in some people.

What Affects Cholesterol Levels?

A variety of things can affect cholesterol levels. These are things you can do something about:

■ Diet. Saturated fat and cholesterol in the food you eat make your blood cholesterol level go up. Saturated fat is the main culprit, but cholesterol in foods also matters. Reducing the amount of saturated fat and cholesterol in your diet helps lower your blood cholesterol level.

■ Weight. Being overweight is a risk factor for heart disease. It also tends to increase your cholesterol. Losing weight can help lower your LDL and total cholesterol levels, as well as raise your HDL and lower your triglyceride levels.

■ Physical Activity. Not being physically active is a risk factor for heart disease. Regular physical activity can help lower LDL (bad) cholesterol and raise HDL (good) cholesterol levels. It also helps you lose weight. You should try to be physically active for 30 minutes on most, if not all, days.

Things you cannot do anything about also can affect cholesterol levels. These include:

■ Age and Gender. As women and men get older, their cholesterol levels rise. Before the age of menopause, women have lower total cholesterol levels than men of the same age. After the age of menopause, women’s LDL levels tend to rise.

■ Heredity. Your genes partly determine how much cholesterol your body makes. High blood cholesterol can run in families.

Treating High Cholesterol:

The main goal of cholesterol-lowering treatment is to lower your LDL level enough to reduce your risk of developing heart disease or having a heart attack. The higher your risk, the lower your LDL goal will be. There are two main ways to lower your cholesterol:

■ Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC)–includes a cholesterol-lowering diet (called the TLC diet), physical activity, and weight management. TLC is for anyone whose LDL is above goal.

■ Drug Treatment–if cholesterol-lowering drugs are needed, they are used together with TLC treatment to help lower your LDL.

Lowering Cholesterol With Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC). The main parts of TLC are:

■ The TLC Diet. This is a low saturated-fat, low-cholesterol eating plan that calls for less than 7 percent of calories from saturated fat and less than 200 mg of dietary cholesterol per day. The TLC diet recommends only enough calories to maintain a desirable weight and avoid weight gain. If your LDL is not lowered enough by simply reducing your saturated fat and cholesterol intakes, the amount of soluble fiber in your diet can be increased. Certain food products that contain plant stanols or plant sterols (for example, cholesterol lowering margarines) can also be added to the TLC diet to boost its LDL-lowering power.

■ Weight Management. Losing weight if you are overweight can help lower LDL and is especially important for those with a cluster of risk factors that includes high triglyceride and/or low HDL levels and being overweight with a large waist measurement (more than 40 inches for men and more than 35 inches for women).

■ Physical Activity. Regular physical activity (30 minutes on most, if not all, days) is recommended for everyone. It can help raise HDL and lower LDL and is especially important for those with high triglyceride and/or low HDL levels who are overweight with a large waist measurement.

Drug Treatment

Even if you begin drug treatment to lower your cholesterol, you will need to continue your treatment with lifestyle changes. This will keep the dose of medicine as low as possible, and lower your risk in other ways as well.

There are several types of drugs available for cholesterol lowering including statins, bile acid sequestrants, nicotinic acid, fibric acid, and cholesterol absorption inhibitors. Your doctor can help decide which type of drug is best for you. The statin drugs are very effective in lowering LDL levels and are safe for most people. Bile acid sequestrants also lower LDL and can be used alone or in combination with statin drugs. Nicotinic acid lowers LDL and triglycerides and raises HDL. Fibric acids lower LDL somewhat but are used mainly to treat high triglycerides and low HDL levels. Cholesterol absorption inhibitors lower LDL and can be used alone or in combination with statin drugs. Once your LDL goal has been reached, your doctor may prescribe treatment for high triglycerides and/or

a low HDL level, if present. The treatment includes losing weight if needed, increasing physical activity, quitting smoking, and possibly taking a drug.

Foods low in saturated fat include fat-free or 1 percent dairy products, lean meats, fish, skinless poultry, whole grain foods, and fruits and vegetables. Look for soft margarines (liquid or tub varieties) that are low in saturated fat and contain little or no trans fat. Limit foods high in cholesterol such as liver and other organ meats, egg yolks, and full-fat dairy products.

Good sources of soluble fiber include oats, certain fruits (such as oranges and pears) and vegetables (such as brussels sprouts and carrots), and dried peas and beans.

For more information about cholesterol education, visit: http://hp2010.nhlbihin.net/cholmonth/

Cataracts are the clouding of the eye’s naturally clear lens, preventing the passage of light needed for vision.

Cataracts start out small and have little effect on vision at first. But as the cataract grows, it clouds more of the lens. Symptoms include painless blurring of vision, double vision in one eye, fading or yellowing of colors and sensitivity to light and glare.

Currently, there are no medications or exercises that will cause cataracts to disappear. If they don’t interfere with your life, you may decide surgery is not needed. But when they do begin to interfere, they can be treated surgically. Talk with your Eye M.D. about your options.

1.      During August’s Cataract Awareness Month, the American Academy of Ophthalmology and Eye M.D.s around the nation want to remind people they don’t have to live with cataracts.

• Cataracts are very common. Approximately 20.5 million Americans age 40 and older have cataracts.
• A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s clear lens. This prevents the passage of light needed for vision.
• Cataracts are a significant cause of blindness in some parts of the world; however, technological advances and the availability of new procedures in the United States mean that for most Americans, cataracts don’t lead to vision loss.
• More than half of all Americans develop cataracts by age 80.

2.      New advances and techniques have made cataract surgery one of the most successful and life-improving surgical procedures.

• Cataract surgery is the most frequently performed surgical procedure in the United States, with more than 1.6 million procedures performed each year.
• Cataract surgery is usually covered by medical insurance, including Medicare.
• Cataract surgery is usually done as an outpatient procedure under local anesthesia. In this procedure, the Eye M.D. makes a tiny incision through which he or she removes the cloudy lens and replaces it with a permanent artificial lens.
• Lasers are not currently used to remove cataracts. But they are sometimes used after cataract surgery to remove a film that can grow on the lens implant.

3.      If you think you may have a cataract, you don’t have to live with it. Talk to your Eye M.D. about your options.

• There are no medications or exercises that will prevent the formation or progression of cataracts or make a cataract disappear.
• Nutritional or vitamin supplements have been shown to be beneficial in populations with nutritional deficits, but due to the inconsistent results reported in clinical trials, recommendations cannot be made at this time.
• Although it is very safe and effective, cataract surgery is surgery and you need to carefully decide if it is right for you. If the cataract does not interfere with your life, you may decide surgery is not warranted.
• Talk to your Eye M.D. if cataracts are interfering with your lifestyle.

The more you learn about children’s eyes, the better you can help protect them!

The eyes of newborn infants should be evaluated in the hospital nursery. This examination can help detect several congenital eye problems, some of which can be very serious. – Read more

Between six months and one year of age, infants should be checked for good eye health by a doctor or other appropriately trained health care provider during routine well-baby care or other doctor’s office visits. – Read more

Similarly, children’s vision should be tested between 3 and 4, either during a well-child visit to the doctor, a visit to an eye doctor, or at a vision screening conducted by trained personnel such as those performed by Prevent Blindness America. – Read more

For more information about children’s eye problems, call 1-800-331-2020, contact us online, or contact the Prevent Blindness affiliate near you.

For a list of eye problems, information on getting professional eye care, and preventing eye injuries, please visit: http://www.preventblindness.org/vlc/taking_care_child.htm

You can also find free fact sheets on that website.

You can also visit http://www.preventblindness.org/