Avera Heart Hospital of South Dakota has launched "Heart Healthy Holidays," an informational campaign designed to help people survive the food, fun, shopping, and stress of the season. The public can access the Web-based campaign on the hospital's home page, www.southdakotaheart.com. We hope you'll join our efforts to give this gift of health to the community by providing this important information to your readers, viewers and listeners. We're ready to help you by providing experts for these and other story ideas. Please contact Lindsey Meyers at 605-977-7022 or e-mail at lindsey.meyers@medcath.com. Thank you and here's wishing you and yours happy, heart healthy holidays!
For most of us, the holidays can be stressful. In addition to our regularly scheduled activities, there are parties to plan and attend, cooking to be done and shopping to complete. We all know that stress isn't good for our hearts, but believe it or not, there are ways you can plan your shopping excursions that will actually benefit the health of your heart. Follow our intrepid shopper from car to mall to find out how shopping smart can benefit your heart.
Heart Healthy Gift Ideas for Everyone on Your List
Keeping the health of your heart and the hearts of your loved ones in mind during the holidays is easy. There are many gift options in all price ranges. From stocking stuffers to treadmills, won't it be wonderful to know that your special gift will say, "Happy, heart healthy, holidays!" Join our heart healthy shoppers as they scour the stores for gifts from fitness center memberships to exercise DVDs, from heart healthy holiday gift baskets to gift certificates for heart healthy cooking classes.
For many of us, sticking to our exercise schedule doesn't make the list of holiday activities. But, keeping fit and being good to your heart don't have to be casualties of the season. Our fitness expert has some tips to help you maintain your exercise routine. And, we even have some pointers to help you plan a heart healthy holiday party, or attend a party and maintain your commitment to health.
Our dietitians have come up with many delectable holiday treats, from appetizers to main courses to desserts. Heart health is "in" and fat and calories are "out." Join our experts in the kitchen to create tasty seasonal cuisine and to experiment with new healthy twists on old holiday favorites like egg nog, pumpkin pie and stuffing. (A great opportunity for a morning show segment, or ideal spread for holiday food section.
Thanks to advances in technology, Avera Heart Hospital of South Dakota is able to provide individuals with immediate information about the health of their heart thanks to the HeartSaver CT scan. A completely painless, non-invasive procedure that does not involve any needles or exercise, the HeartSaver CT scan takes 30 minutes or less to complete. The scan captures images of the heart and identifies any calcium blockages of the arteries that may indicate an elevated risk of heart disease. The patient is given a calcium score ranging from very low to low to moderate to high risk. The patient also receives copies of the images of his/her heart. If the individual's calcium score is high risk, test results are immediately forwarded to his/her personal physician for follow up consultation and treatment. It's easy - and affordable -- to purchase a gift certificate for a Heart CT Scan for loved ones or yourself this holiday season.