Self Assessment Exercise (with download worksheet)

The Self Assessment Exercise is a great way to evaluate your satisfaction within the different areas of your life.

This is a great exercise to do either alone or with a friend to help you pinpoint the areas in your life that need more attention.

The Self Assessment Wheel contains eight areas that might be considered when evaluating your personal success. You’ll designate two numbers two each area: one will be your current state and the other will be your desired state. Each will be based on a 1-10 scale where 10 represents complete fulfillment.

Heart Healthy Living

Healthy habits
Hints to help you establish a daily routine

For some of you, it will be easy to remember to take your Ecotrin^® every day. Others may need a little help. Why? Quite simply, a change in your day-to-day behavior isn’t always easy. And although you know the benefits of taking Ecotrin^®, there are times when you simply forget. We know how that goes. That’s why we’ve created this section dedicated to helping you follow your Ecotrin^® routine.

Here are some tips to help you remember to take your daily Ecotrin^® aspirin:

• Use a calendar to note the date and time after you’ve taken each dose to help you keep track of when you have taken your Ecotrin^® and other medications.
• Wear your watch every day, then use your Ecotrin^® bottle as a watch holder at night. Just slip your watch over the bottle, then when you put your watch on every morning, you’ll be reminded to take your safety-coated Ecotrin^®.
• Make Ecotrin^® another part of your wellness routine. Do you take a walk every day? Stretch every morning? Taking safety-coated Ecotrin^® with these routines is a good health habit.
• Keep your Ecotrin^® bottle in the same place as your other daily medications or where you keep your vitamins. Ecotrin^® is specially designed for everyday use.
• Written reminders can help you to establish a new routine. Write yourself a note to help you remember to take your Ecotrin^® every day. Post the note on the refrigerator, your bathroom mirror or even in your silverware drawer.
• Just keeping your closed Ecotrin^® bottle on your kitchen counter or night stand (away from small children) will help you keep it top of mind. And help you make it a healthy habit.

Heart Healthy Tips

Weight management

Obesity is caused by a combination of genetic and environmental factors. While you cannot change your genetic background, you can certainly modify your environment to decrease the likelihood that you will become obese. Pay attention to the number of calories that you consume (particularly fat calories) and also become more physically active if you want to decrease your risk of heart disease.

Obese individuals are likely to have additional risk factors over and above their obesity. When it comes to heart disease, obese individuals have a greater than 70 percent chance of having at least one additional risk factor and a greater than 50 percent chance of having at least two additional risk factors over and above their obesity.

Individuals who have a tendency to carry additional fat around their abdomen area are said to have “abdomen obesity.” These individuals are also said to have an “apple” shape. Individuals who carry additional fat around their hips and thighs are said to have a “pear shape.” Abdominal obesity is a stronger risk factor for heart disease than excess weight carried on the hips and thighs.

Blood pressure

Lifestyle decisions can have a significant impact on blood pressure. Maintaining proper body weight, not smoking cigarettes, limiting alcohol intake to no more than “moderate” consumption and remaining physically active can decrease your risk of hypertension or help manage high blood pressure.

Hypertension is the most common reason for outpatient visits to physicians every year in the United States. Every adult should know their blood pressure in order to combat the problems of the “silent killer.”

Oftentimes medications are required in addition to lifestyle measures to control blood pressure. Most importantly, if you have high blood pressure, you should always check with your physician about what combination of medication and/or lifestyle changes are best for you.

Hypertension (or high blood pressure) is called the silent killer because high blood pressure itself typically does not cause noticeable symptoms. However, longstanding hypertension can significantly increase the risk of both heart disease and stroke.

Cigarette smoking

Cigarette smoking is the leading cause of preventable death in the United States each year. This habit claims over 400,000 lives every year. Cigarette smoking increases your risk of lung cancer 20 to 30 times and your risk of heart disease by two to three times.

Each year, about 1.2 million smokers are able to quit successfully. After only one year off cigarettes, cardiac risk from smoking is cut in half. Fifteen years after you stop smoking, your risk of CHD is similar to a person who never smoked.

Male smokers who quit smoking cigarettes between the ages of 35 and 40 add an average of five years to their lives. Female smokers add three years to their lives. Even men and women who quit between the ages of 60 and 69 can increase their life expectancy.

It is possible to quit smoking cigarettes. With modern smoking cessation programs, 20 to 40 percent of participants will successfully stop smoking. The new aids now on the marketplace to help people quit smoking may help the success rate climb even higher.

A number of aids are now available to help people stop smoking. Recent research programs have shown that nicotine replacement therapy, combined with social support and skills training and problem solving, can help people stop smoking.

Cholesterol

Cholesterol is a naturally occurring substance that is carried in the bloodstream and is essential for life itself. We have two sources of cholesterol. Some (approximately 80 percent) is produced by the liver. The other 20 percent comes from foods that we consume.

Cholesterol is carried around the bloodstream attached to proteins that are called “lipoproteins.” Based on the density of these proteins, they may be separated into “Low Density Lipoproteins” (LDL) and “High Density Lipoproteins” (HDL) and other densities. Low Density Lipoproteins are associated with increased risk of heart disease, whereas elevated levels of High Density Lipoproteins are associated with decreased risk of heart disease.

Proper nutrition

The most important, single nutritional principle you can follow to lower your risk of CHD is to lower the fat in your diet. No more than 30 percent of calories should come from fat and no more than 10 percent from saturated fat.

Saturated fat typically comes from animal sources, although some fats from plants such as cocoa butter, palm oil and coconut oil are also saturated. Typically, saturated fats are solid at room temperature.

Monounsaturated fats come from vegetable sources such as olive oil, canola oil and peanut oil, and are typically liquid at room temperature. Recent evidence has suggested that monounsaturated fats, particularly as consumed in a Mediterranean diet that features olive oil, can significantly lower the risk of heart disease by raising the level of HDL without raising total cholesterol.

Fruits, vegetables and grains are all healthy foods and come in an almost endless variety. Eating more complex carbohydrates is easy and will result in a diet which is full of flavor. A good time to include more grains in your diet is by starting the day with a breakfast that has a whole grain cereal and also fruit.

It is important to control the amount of salt in your diet in order to lower your risk of developing hypertension or help control your hypertension if you already have it. Several important principles include salting your food without tasting it, cutting down on processed foods, and increasing your intake of fruits and vegetables.

Physical activity

Regular physical activity is one of the best ways of lowering the risk of heart disease. People who are regularly active (accumulating 30 or more minutes of moderate physical activity on most, if not all, days) cut their risk of heart disease by half.

It is important to draw a distinction between physical activity and exercise. Many people don’t realize that simply getting out of their easy chair and increasing the physical activity in their life by ways such as raking the leaves, or mowing the lawn, or a half hour of vigorous gardening, if done on a regular basis, can substantially lower the risk of heart disease.

“Moderate” intense physical activity is the best way to go in terms of reducing cardiovascular risks. The easiest way to know if you are exercising at a moderate level is to determine whether or not you can carry on a normal conversation while you are exerting yourself. If you are out of breath carrying on a normal conversation, you are exercising too hard!

When it comes to aerobic activities and physical activity, the best strategy is to mix and match activities so that you always have a variety in your physical activity program to fight boredom.

Talk to your doctor before starting any physical activity program.

If you experience any symptoms, such as chest discomfort during a walk, slow down or stop and discuss the symptoms at the earliest possible time with your physician. Don’t leave your common sense at home!

The Heart and Heart Disease

The heart is a muscle and needs blood. But because the heart is the only muscle that supplies blood to itself, it has to stay in good physical condition, as do the two coronary arteries through which blood travels. Healthy arteries let the blood flow freely. They expand to allow more blood through when you’re active. When you walk up a flight of stairs, the heart beats faster to supply the additional oxygen your muscles need for the extra effort. When more oxygenated blood is needed and your heart can’t supply enough blood to itself or elsewhere, there are three things that commonly happen: angina, heart attack or stroke.

Angina is chest pain; actually, it is heart pain. A feeling of apprehension or fear of death usually accompanies this pain. It is a warning and it feels like one. If you have angina, you should see a physician immediately. For use during an emergency, heart patients are sometimes given nitroglycerine, which dilates the blood vessels and arteries.

A heart attack is when your heart is deprived of oxygenated blood for too long and part of the heart muscle literally dies. This, of course, can be fatal, but the good news is that more and more people are surviving heart attacks to lead long and productive lives.

It’s not always easy to tell if you are having a heart attack because symptoms vary. You may have chest pain or pressure in the chest, but it can also be in the left arm, back or jaw. The symptoms are sometimes similar to those you would experience with angina, but they usually last longer and won’t go away. You may feel sick, experiencing shortness of breath, nausea, rapid heartbeat, sweating, dizziness or weakness. If you think you are having a heart attack, seek medical attention immediately. Time is of the essence since the damage of a heart attack may be reduced with proper attention.

Strokes occur when a part of your brain doesn’t get enough blood. This may cause certain portions of the brain to die. Depending on which portions are affected, you may “forget” how to perform certain physical and mental functions, like writing, walking and speaking, or your facial muscles may become paralyzed. Thanks to better procedures and techniques, however, stroke victims today have a much better chance than ever before of recovering to lead normal lives.

A way to tell if you are having a stroke is that you may experience weakness or paralysis of part of your body, difficulty speaking or seeing, or other mental or physical problems. They often are referred to as transient ischemic attacks or TIAs. These symptoms may be temporary or they may be permanent. In any event, they should be treated as warnings. You should get medical attention immediately. One-third of the people who have TIAs eventually have strokes, but swift medical attention may reverse the tide.

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Sleep Better

There are several things you can try to do to sleep better:

• Avoid taking naps or sleeping during the day.
• Go to bed at about the same time each night and get up at about the same time each morning.
• Have a warm bath before going to bed to help you relax.
• Avoid substances that interfere with sleep close to bedtime (e.g., caffeine, nicotine, or alcohol).
• Make sure your bed is comfortable.
• Make sure your bedroom is dark and quiet- not too hot, not too cold and not too humid.
• Avoid strenuous exercise late in the evening.
• If you are preoccupied with anxieties, try to take time to solve them before going to bed. If you cannot solve them, try “letting go” by writing them down and leaving them until the next day.
• If you cannot get to sleep soon after going to bed, get up and do something else, such as reading a book, rather than tossing and turning in bed.
• If you are still having trouble sleeping then you may want to consider using a nighttime sleep aid such as Nytol^®. However, if your sleeping difficulties persist for more than two weeks you should consult your doctor.

Fast dissolving Nytol^® Quick Caps are available in packages of 16, 32, and 72 caplets.

For the convenience of a liquid gel in a Maximum Strength dose, choose Nytol^® Quick Gels in packages of 8 softgels.

Sleep Safe and Sound

A Sominex^® guide to getting a good rest
What I need is a good rest (you are not alone.)

Sleep disorders affect millions of Americans, causing fatigue and sometimes, more serious health problems. In the U.S. alone, one in three adults experience insomnia - trouble falling or staying asleep - at least occasionally.

Sound sleep is rejuvenating and vital for a healthy lifestyle. Sleeplessness, on the other hand, can drag you down and have a negative impact on your mood, energy, job performance, relationships, and ability to function at a high level.

A lack of sleep can even be dangerous: People who fall asleep while driving because of nighttime insomnia cause more than 100,000 accidents and 1,500 deaths each year. Fortunately, we are learning more about insomnia and how to tackle this national health problem. Thanks to recent advances, sleep specialists are able to help most troubled sleepers. And for those with short-term insomnia, over-the-counter sleep aids such as Sominex^® can help. A good night’s sleep generally means a predictable sleep pattern, or the right combination of alternating rapid eye movement (REM) and non-REM sleep. An appropriate mix of REM and non-REM sleep will allow you to wake up feeling refreshed and well rested.

Do you wake up feeling rested?

Different people require different amounts of sleep. The popular myth is that we need less sleep as we grow older. That’s wrong. The fact is most of us sleep fewer hours as we age because our bodies become less capable of maintaining a sleep state. We get less of the deeper stages of sleep (non-rapid eye movement or non-REM) and more of the lighter stages (REM sleep). The amount of sleep you need is best judged by how you feel upon awakening and during the day. Although 7.5 to 8 hours is optimal, nearly 50 percent of adults require more sleep. If you feel sluggish during the day, you may need more sleep.

To determine if you need more sleep, use this simple test. Go to bed one hour to 90 minutes earlier for ten days. Keep a diary and note how refreshed you feel throughout the day. Your ability to carry out difficult tasks should improve. If more sleep is not helping you feel more refreshed, you may have a sleep disorder. Talk to your doctor if this is the case.

What’s keeping you awake?

There are many sleep stealers. Many sleep experts consider stress to be the primary cause of short-term sleep difficulties. School or job-related pressures, or a serious illness or death in the family, are a few possible triggers of stress and sleeplessness. Fortunately, these types of sleep problems often vanish when the stress subsides. But if these short-term problems aren’t managed properly from the start, they can persist. If sleep problems do persist for more than a week or are recurrent, consult a physician.

Other sleep disorders

While many Americans suffer temporary sleep problems, millions more suffer from chronic disorders that may require medical attention.

Sleep apnea

Sleep apnea is a major cause of sleeplessness and daytime drowsiness. An estimated 10 to 30 percent of adults snore. For most, snoring has no serious consequences. For people with sleep apnea, the consequences are no laughing matter. People with sleep apnea repeatedly stop breathing for short periods during the night and often snore loudly. Typically, they wake themselves with a gasping snore and fall right back to sleep, often without being aware of this recurring cycle. Sleep apnea can develop in people who breathe normally while awake. If left untreated, obstructive sleep apnea can contribute to high blood pressure, heart attacks and stroke. If you suspect you are suffering from obstructive sleep apnea, talk to your doctor as soon as possible.

Restless legs syndrome

Men and women are equally affected by restless legs syndrome, a discomfort relieved by moving the legs. Another variation is “nocturnal myoclonus,” brief muscle contractions that cause leg jerks lasting a second or two, often for an hour or more several times a night. Like sleep apnea, restless legs syndrome and periodic limb movements may cause hundreds of nighttime disturbances that result in restless sleep.

Parasomnias

Parasomnias are sleep disorders that interrupt the sleep process. Sleepwalking, sleep eating, sleep talking, nightmares, and sleep terrors are all examples of parasomnias. Episodes of sleepwalking increase the risk of dangerous falls. Sleepwalking is most common in children and usually disappears during puberty. Researchers have recently described another parasomnia: A sleep-related eating disorder that typically occurs in women in their late 20s. This problem is characterized by eating during sleep disruptions. People with this disorder may gain weight, risk choking while eating, or injure themselves while preparing food. While sleep talking is a relatively harmless parasomnia in which a person talks during sleep and is unaware of what he or she is saying, it can be an irritating and distressing problem, particularly for the bed partner. Nightmares are a more common example of parasomnia. These frightening dreams usually awaken a sleeper from the dreaming stage of sleep and can be frequent in children. In adults, stress and trauma can trigger nightmares. Sleep terrors are characterized by a sudden awakening, accompanied by a loud scream. People with sleep terrors often go back to sleep immediately after the episode and may not remember it the next morning. Sleep terrors are more common in children than adults, and appear to run in families.

Know when to see your doctor

Consider getting medical advice if you’ve had trouble sleeping several times over the past month. For shortterm sleep problems caused by stressful periods, changes in schedules or jet lag, sleep medications can provide relief when used appropriately and according to directions. Over-the-counter sleep aids, such as Sominex^®, harness the sleep-inducing properties of antihistamines, their primary ingredient, to help you get the rest you need. Sominex^® has been proven to be safe and effective in treating short-term sleep problems. Prescription medications are available only through physicians. Talk to your doctor about whether a prescription medication would be helpful for you. Ask your doctor how the medication works, and what the benefits and risks are. Make an informed decision and sleep well.

Tips for catching your ZZZs

• Establish regular, healthy sleep patterns
• Treat yourself to relaxing pre-sleep rituals, like taking a soothing warm bath or light reading before bedtime.
• Avoid caffeine six hours before bedtime. Caffeine is a stimulant that can interfere with sleep.
• Avoid alcohol and smoking one to two hours before bedtime.
• Designate another time to worry. If you are a bedtime worrier, set aside another time, maybe 30 minutes after dinner, to writing down problems and possible solutions.
• Go to bed only when you are tired.
• Don’t nap in place of bedtime sleep.
• Use your bed for sleep, not as an office or a place to watch television.
• Get up at the same time every day, no matter what time you went to sleep.
• Get active! Regular exercise improves sleep, but don’t work out within three hours of bedtime.
• Trust an over-the-counter sleep aid, like Sominex^®, when short-term insomnia is troubling you.

A new approach

If your doctor has determined that no physical disorder plays a role in your insomnia, consider sleep restriction. This new anti-insomnia treatment is based on the finding that many insomniacs spend excessive amounts of time in bed, hoping to make up for lost sleep. Go to bed much later than usual and stay in bed only as long as you sleep, even if that’s only three or four hours. Then get up at the same time each morning. Once you sleep this way five days in a row, sleeping at least 90 percent of your time in bed, you may go to bed 15 minutes earlier. After a week or two on the curtailed sleep schedule, you should start to sleep better. After a few months, you should be sleeping as long as desired. You may try this on your own or under the supervision of a sleep specialist.

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