DIABETES RISK. increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes and gaining weight. risk factors were smoking, high blood pressure, diabetes, …

LETS TALK
S A S A F E P L A C

|WINTER 2005 HEALTHY BODIES ? SOUND MINDS ? A SAFE PLACE TO|
|WORK |

E TO WO
World AIDS Day

WOMEN, GIRLS, HIV AND AIDS was the theme of the 2004 World AIDS day
According to UNAIDS, a joint United Nations program on HIV/AIDS, there are
many ways in which HIV and AIDS affect women Among them are:

? Transmission In 2004, most HIV infections are coming from heterosexual
sex, in which women are more likely to become infected than men

? Mother-to-child transmission of HIV accounted for 90 percent of all
babies infected in 2003 HIV also can be transmitted through breast milk

? Sexual violence affects women around the world It can be even more
damaging when it involves the transmission, sometimes deliberate, of HIV

? Discrimination Women who have HIV may experience discrimination in their
job prospects, economic and social position, access to health care and
education

? Men are the most common route of HIV transmission to women In fact, most
women infected with HIV caught the virus from a husband or partner

If you would like confidential information about
HIV/AIDS, contact the CDC
National AIDS Hotline, 24 hours a day, seven days a week, at 800-342-2437;
TTY, 800-243-7889

HIV and AIDS: Are You at Risk?

IN 2002, MORE THAN 42,000 AMERICANS became infected with HIV, the virus
that can lead to AIDS, a potentially fatal disease with no known cure
Knowing
the facts about HIV and AIDS can help you protect yourself

HIV and AIDS Facts
AIDS - acquired immunodeficiency syndrome - is the disease you get when HIV
- human immunodeficiency virus - destroys your bodys immune system Your
immune system normally helps you fight off illness, but when it fails, you
can
die from diseases that people without AIDS would survive

HIV can be transmitted:
? By having unprotected sex - sex without barrier protection - with someone
who has HIV
? By sharing a needle and syringe to inject drugs or sharing equipment used
to
prepare drugs with someone who has HIV
? From a blood transfusion or blood clotting factor you received before
1985

HIV cannot be transmitted:
? By working with or being around someone who has the virus
? From sweat, spit, tears, drinking fountains, phones or toilet seats
? From insect bites or stings
? From donating blood
? From a
closed-mouth kiss

Protect Yourself
? Insist on knowing your partners HIV status before engaging in sexual
intercourse
? Dont share needles and syringes used to inject drugs or steroids or used
for
tattooing or body piercing
? Use male latex condoms However, no protective method is 100 percent
effective,
and condom use cant guarantee absolute protection
? Dont share razors or toothbrushes
? If you are exposed to someone elses blood, assume it is potentially
infectious
and treat it accordingly

See a Doctor
The only way to know for sure if youre infected with HIV is to be tested
For HIV counseling and confidential testing information, call the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention CDC National HIV/AIDS Hotline at 800-
342-2437

Sources: CDC National AIDS Hotline, 800-342-2437; CDC Division of HIV/AIDS
Prevention, wwwcdcgov/hiv; wwwaidsinfonihgov; and
wwwcdcgov/hiv/generalhtm

what s new

Late-Breaking Health News

SOFT DRINKS INCREASE DIABETES RISK
An eight-year study of 91,249 women found those who drank higher amounts of
sugar-sweetened beverages had an increased risk of developing type 2
diabetes and gaining weight The study was published in the Journal of the
American
Medical Association

Soft drinks are the leading source of added sugar in the US diet and may
increase the risk for diabetes because they contain large amounts of high
fructose corn syrup, which raises blood glucose in the same way as sucrose
does

Winter 2005
2

The study found women consuming one or more sugar-sweetened soft drinks per
day had an 83 percent increased risk for type 2 diabetes, compared with
those who consumed less than one of these beverages per month

Nine controllable risk factors are responsible for 90 percent of heart
attacks, according to the results of an international study of 30,000
people
from 52 countries published online by The Lancet Cardiovascular disease is
estimated to be the biggest cause of death and disability worldwide
According to the study, the controllable risk factors were smoking, high
blood pressure, diabetes, abdominal obesity, diet, level of physical
activity, alcohol consumption, cholesterol level and stress

The two factors identified from the study as carrying the highest risk were
smoking risk value of 29 - nearly three times the risk for heart attack
for smokers compared with those who had never smoked and high cholesterol
risk
value 325
Other important risk factors for heart attack were stress, diabetes, high
blood pressure and abdominal obesity

Methamphetamine is fast finding its way into the workplace, a new report
found
Employers who screen job applicants and workers for drugs saw the number
testing positive for methamphetamine rise 68 percent last year, according
to Quest Diagnostics Inc, the countrys largest drug testing company

The report - which looked at more than 7 million workplace drug tests
performed last year - shows the methamphetamine positive rate jumped, along
with a smaller rise in positives for opiates such as heroin

These are the largest increases of any drug or drug class for as long as
weve been tracking the individual categories of drug tests, says Barry
Sample, director of science and technology for Quests workplace drug
testing business

VITALITY-ON-DEMAND VITALITY-ON-

A world of additional health information available via your computer

You may think of this publication as just a newsletter But would you
believe its also an access index to one of the largest databases of family
health and personal self-care data around? With our free Vitality-on-Demand
VOD service, you can
get
all of the information you need any time you want it

Visit wwwvitalitycom for more articles and to search for topics you

would like to learn more about

Its simple And its free

Winter 2005
3
Via the Internet: Visit our home page at wwwvitalitycom and press the
Vitality-on-Demand button to search by keyword Or click on Special Reports
to access the articles listed below

SPECIAL REPORTS

120 How to Quit Smoking
541 Sensible Weight Loss
542 Lowering Your Cholesterol
543 Reducing Your Stress
544 Walking for Fitness
545 Workstation Comfort
546 Fixing an Aching Back
547 Start An Exercise Program
548 Controlling Allergies
549 Lowering Health-Care Costs
550 Living With Arthritis
551 Dealing With Headaches
552 High Blood Pressure
DEMAND

Relaxing Ways to De-Stress

WE LIVE IN TENSE, TURBULENT AND STRESSFUL TIMES

But you can easily avoid adding to the turbulence, says Mike George, a
meditation
teacher and author of 1,001 Ways to Relax In fact, you can become one of
those people for whom the world has a great need: those who can stay calm
in a crisis, cool in the midst of chaos and focused on the positive when
everyone around you is inclined to reinforce the negative If you can
stay
relaxed and calm, it helps others do the same

Here are some of Georges suggestions for de-stressing your life
? FORGET YESTERDAYS MISTAKES
Today is a new day Your mind has been refreshed by sleep, and theres no
need
to believe that yesterdays misjudgments or misfortunes will repeat
themselves
? DECIDE TO BE HAPPY today, no matter what happens or who does what Its
within your power to make this choice
? DONT JUST DO SOMETHING, SIT THERE Simply take a few moments to
sit in stillness, gathering your strength Give your mind and body
permission to
relax
? UNRAVEL A PROBLEM Most problems have a number of strands tangled
together,
often in complicated ways You may find that identifying the pieces of the
problem in this way leads to a breakthrough in working out a solution
? THINK OF REASONS WHY YOU CAN DO SOMETHING, rather than why you cant -
all it takes is a shift in attitude
? REALLY LISTEN TO PEOPLE By paying close attention to others, you stay in
balance with them Actively listen to what other people are saying
? BRING AN OPEN MIND to new people, places and experiences

Winter 2005
4
Your way is only one of many ways, says George Open-minded people tend
to find more to enjoy
and less to be disappointed or stressed by

Schedule a Stress Management Health and Wellness seminar in your office by
calling the FOH EAP at 800-222-0364 and asking for the Training
Coordinator

Barbara Floria spoke with Mike George, a meditation teacher and author of
1,001 Ways to Relax, Chronicle Books, 2004 For more information, visit
wwwrelax7com

How to Beat Cabin Fever

When cold or inclement weather forces us indoors, sometimes even the
closest families find themselves getting on each others nerves Suddenly
the house seems smaller, the adults are short-tempered, the kids are whiny
or fighting with each other Everyone seems on edge

This is the time to get up and get out People pay too little attention to
the need to get out, to be active and to find something interesting to do
Here are some ways to get your family out of a rut:

? Go for a walk Its a good way to be out and active and meet other
people
If the weather is bad, walk at a local mall

? Plan a mini-vacation, like a weekend or day trip To break up a routine
thats become monotonous, you need new things to look forward to

? Invite company over It shakes up the cast of characters, and children
are always better
behaved around company

? Create separate space: Moms night out Dads afternoon out An outing
with friends for the kids

? Instead of just letting them sit in front of the television, engage your
children with imaginative pursuits like arts and crafts, puzzle solving,
thought-provoking games or helping you cook

Dealing With Cranky Coworkers

Cranky coworkers or bosses can make your work life difficult, but you can
take
steps to improve your situation Follow this simple formula: Stop, look and
listen,
then respond

Stop
Dont respond to your coworker with sarcasm, ridicule or anger This will
only escalate the problem And dont take your boss cranky remarks
personally;
stress may cause some managers and supervisors to act crabby Also, dont
deplete your energy by obsessing about what you should have said

Winter 2005
5
Look
Observe when the crankiness occurs Do you notice it most during a certain
time of the day or on a particular day of the week? Does it occur when the
person is dealing with a lot of work stress or personal hardship? Take note
of when and where the crankiness occurs to identify any pattern, which will
make the grouchy behavior more predictable and less
threatening

Listen

Whats the cranky persons real message? Are you in any way part of the
problem?

Respond

Although some people may purposefully use on-the-job crankiness to get
their way, others cant help themselves Its a reflection of their inner
turmoil

Heres how to give an assertive, yet compassionate response:

Step 1 Agree
In a neutral tone of voice, agree with any part of the cranky persons
statement
that may be true, and ignore the false claims

For example, if your boss complains you dont care about the company
because you turned in your report late, reply with, Youre right, I did
turn in my report late last week

Step 2 Reflect
Next, reflect on how the cranky person might be feeling by saying, You
seem
frustrated or You look like youre under a lot of stress It will
pleasantly surprise the grouch that someone else cares

Step 3 Ask
In a neutral tone of voice say, I dont like to be talked to in that way
because
it sounds angry and disrespectful Would you please speak to me in a calmer
tone
of voice?

Consequences
Cranky people often continue behaving badly because their targets remain
silent
By responding, youll make the offender feel somewhat uncomfortable,
and
most
people wont make changes until they experience such discomfort

If you take the above steps, youll feel happier because youll be standing
up for yourself in a compassionate, respectful manner

Helpful Tips

As soon as youre given a responsibility, communicate to your boss what
kind of authority youll need to carry it out A good manager will
appreciate that youre
thinking about what youll need to perform your job successfully
Mens Fitness, Woodland Hills, CA

Winter 2005
6
Never just shrug your shoulders at one of your accomplishments Youve
achieved something, so you should acknowledge your successful effort and
reward yourself The recognition you give yourself will motivate you to do
more good work
The Everything Time Management Book by Bob Adams, Adams Media Corp, 2001

To relieve tension: Sit in a chair and inhale deeply When you exhale,
rotate your shoulders and spine so youre looking over the back of the
chair, then grasp the chair back with your hands Hold for a count of
three As you twist, imagine wringing all the tension out of your body like
water out of a washcloth Switch and stretch to the other side
First for Women, Englewood Cliffs, NJ

Business letters that
arent brief and to the point may not spark a prompt
reply because it takes more time to write a response to a complicated
document
Esquires Things a Man Should Know About by Ted Allen and Scott Omelianuk,
Hearst
Communications Inc, 2001

If youre concerned with results, rather than your career, youll likely
have more success climbing the ladder at work
Mens Health, Emmaus, PA

Assign a closing time to a meeting to ensure it doesnt drag on A tight
finish time will encourage participants to work more efficiently, with
fewer interruptions
Time Management by Marc Mancini, McGraw-Hill, 2003

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|Information published in Lets Talk is the opinion of the sourced |
|authors Personal decisions regarding health, finance, exercise and |
|other matters should be made after
consultation with the readers |
|professional advisers All models are used for illustrative purposes|
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|Copyright 2004 Health Ink Vitality Communications All editorial|
|rights reserved |