Q: I had a heart attack (I'm 62) about two months ago, and I am ready to go back to work. But that means commuting, some long hours, and stress - all of which I think contributed to my cardio event. Is going back to work the right thing to do? - Frank G., Durham, North Carolina
A: It sounds like you have a somewhat stressful job and studies do show that work environments that are stressful trigger behaviors that indirectly affect heart health (you eat more snack food, smoke) and have a direct effect on neuroendocrine stress pathways (you chronically secrete the heart-dinging stress hormone cortisol).
On the other hand, research finds heart attack patients have a more successful outcome if they engage in recreational and social activities. For many people, work provides this. A recent study out of the University of Potsdam in Germany, published in the European Journal of Preventive Cardiology, found that there are good reasons to get back to work, including building self-confidence and physical strength, and smart ways to do it. Here are the four steps the researchers suggest:
- Sign up for, and stick with, a cardiac rehabilitation program. (Usually low to no cost for all insurance plans.) You'll get help from a cardiologist, psychologist, social worker and occupational therapist on getting back into your work environment.
- Don't change jobs. Unless, for example, you have an implanted electrical device like a pacemaker and were working in an environment with electrical fields.
- If you can, start off a few hours a day, a few days a week or work from home sometimes. The study found that 67% of employed people with a heart attack return to work in two to three months, but after a year, 25% of them quit! A slower start and more flexible schedule might reduce that!
- Stay in contact with your general physician and adjust your workload if needed.
Q: I just got out of the hospital following a respiratory infection. My doc says I should try inspiratory muscle strength training, whatever that is! Does it work? - Jeremy D., Omaha, Nebraska
A: There are several recent studies that confirm the far-reaching benefits of inspiratory muscle strength training, but first, let's look at how it works.
If you've ever been in the hospital following a procedure that calls for anesthesia, you are usually given a plastic device called an incentive spirometer that you are supposed to use to keep your lungs clear. You suck in through a tube and float a tiny ball in a cylinder. In a nutshell, that's IMST.
But in recent clinical trials they've souped up the hospital spirometer and added pressure to the device. One researcher likened it to sucking hard on a straw that sucks back.
Pumping Air: This new IMST is used to strengthen the lung muscles, but the benefits don't stop there. According to researchers at the University of Arizona, not only can IMST training help folks like you recover from lung infections, it helps people with obstructive sleep apnea sleep better, and after six weeks of 30 inhalations a day, it seems to be associated with a noticeable drop in systolic blood pressure (the top number in 120/75, a measure of the pressure when your heart contracts). The researchers believe that this can greatly benefit the 65% of Americans with high blood pressure who simply don't get the recommended amount of exercise.
Those results got the attention of researchers at the Integrative Physiology of Aging Laboratory at the University of Colorado Boulder, who did their own research. Not only did IMST improve lung function and blood pressure, it benefited cognitive ability and memory. There's nothing like more oxygen to the brain to keep you sharp!
So, Jeremy, give it a try. Anyone dealing with respiratory issues or high blood pressure might want to ask their pulmonologist/cardiologist which model/device is best for them and add IMST to their rehabilitation routine.
Distributed by King Features Syndicate, Inc.
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