February 2008 Wear Red!

Support the Fight Against

Heart Disease
February 1, 2008 is
National Wear Red
Day - a day when
Americans nationwide
will wear red to show
their support for women’s heart disease
Four Reasons to Love awareness. This observance provides
an opportunity for everyone to unite in
Dark Chocolate
this life-saving awareness movement by
You’ve probably heard that chocolate showing off a favorite red dress, shirt,
can actually be good for you. But you tie, or Red Dress Pin.
may not know that only dark chocolate
offers healthy antioxidants. Dark
One in four American women die of
chocolate has been linked to several
heart disease, and most fail to make
healthybenefits. It can:
the connection between risk factors—
• lower blood pressure such as high blood pressure and high
This isn’t a license to gorge on dark
• improve cholesterol cholesterol—and their personal risk of
chocolate. A little goes a long way.
Research shows that 3.5 ounces a day is developing heart disease. Challenges
• prevent diabetes by improving remain, and many women still do
enough to get the heart-healthy benefits
function of the hormone insulin,
without packing on the pounds. not take heart disease seriously and
which helps regulate blood sugar
personally.
• lower risk of heart disease http://www.webmd.com/content/
article/102/106574.htm The Heart Truth—a national awareness
campaign for women about heart
disease—created and introduced the
Red Dress as the national symbol for
National Children of Alcoholics Week women and heart disease awareness
February 10-16, 2008 in 2002 to deliver an urgent wakeup
call to American women. The Red
The National Association for Children
of Alcoholics (NACoA) has designated February 10-16, Dress reminds women of the need to
2008 as National Children of Alcoholics Week to raise protect their heart health, and inspires
awareness of the many children who suffer the consequences them to take action.
of having parents who are alcoholics and drug dependent. NACoA’s
mission is to advocate for all children and families affected by alcoholism National Wear Red Day is a joint effort
and other drug dependencies by: of the National Heart, Lung, and Blood
• raising public awareness Institute; Office on Women’s Health,
U.S. Department of Health and Human
• providing leadership in public policy at the
national, state, and local levels Services; WomenHeart: the National
Coalition for Women with Heart
• advocating for appropriate, effective and
accessible education and prevention services Disease; American Heart Association;
and many other groups.
• facilitating and advancing professional
knowledge and understanding http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/
hearttruth/wrd/
http://nacoa-stage.shs.net/

Affectionate Writing Can Reduce Cholesterol
This Valentine’s Day, why not consider
writing notes to the ones you love?
It could make you healthier!
According to new research, writing
down affectionate thoughts about close
friends and family can reduce your
cholesterol levels. Researchers random-
ly assigned participants to experimental
and control groups. The experimental
group wrote with affection about one
person in their lives for 20 minutes on
three occasions over a five-week peri-
od. The control group wrote mundane
descriptions of their activities over
the week.
The results from two separate studies
demonstrated that after only 25 days,
Challenge Yourself!
The American Cancer Society has
launched its Great American Health
Challenge. Log onto www.cancer.org,
complete a five-minute survey and you
will instantly get a personalized health
action plan to share with your doctor,
including what cancer screenings you
may need. You can even complete
the survey for a loved one.
the experimental group who had
written affectionate notes, showed a
Other features include access to a
significant reduction in cholesterol.
virtual personal trainer, virtual dietician
The researchers also found that those
and help to quit smoking.
who wrote directly to someone showed
greater reductions in cholesterol than
It’s quick, it’s easy and it’s part of
those who wrote in the third person
keeping your resolution to take care
about someone.
of you!
Floyd, K., Mikkelson, A. C., Hesse,
C. & Pauley, P. M. (2007) Affectionate
Writing Reduces Total Cholesterol:
Two Randomized, Controlled Trials.
Human Communication Research,
33(2), 119-142.
http://www.blackwell-synergy.com/
http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/03/
affectionate-writing-can-reduce.php
The Wellness Newsletter is brought to you by the NYS Office of Alcoholism and
Substance Abuse Services Office of Health, Wellness, and Medical Direction.
Peggy Bonneau, Editor