Healthy living guide
Healthy living Part of The Body series
1
Health at Hand 24 hour medical support for you and your family. Through our telephone health information service, Health at Hand, you have access to a qualified and experienced team of healthcare professionals, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Whether you are calling because you have late night worries about a child’s health, or you have some questions that you forgot to ask your GP, it’s likely that Health at Hand will be able to provide you with the help you need. The team of nurses, pharmacists, counsellors and midwives is on hand to give you the benefit of their expertise. They can answer your questions and give you all the latest information on specific illnesses, treatments and medications as well as details of local and national organisations. They can also send you free fact sheets and leaflets on a wide range of medical issues, conditions and treatments, and will happily phone you back afterwards to discuss any further questions you may have from what you have read.
Health at Hand – 0800 003 004 Health at Hand is available to you anytime – day or night, 365 days a year. You can also email Health at Hand by going to our website: www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members If calling from outside the UK please dial +44 1737 815 197 – international call rates apply. Please remember to have your membership number to hand before you call.
Please note: Health at Hand does not diagnose or prescribe and is not designed to take the place of your GP. However, it can provide you with valuable information to help put your mind at rest. As Health at Hand is a confidential service, any information you discuss is not shared with our team of Personal Advisers. If you wish to authorise treatment, enquire about a claim or have a membership query, our team of Personal Advisers will be happy to help you.
Just one number to call – 0800 003 004
If you are calling from abroad, the telephone number is: +44 (0)1737 815 197. Please remember to have your membership number to hand before you call.
We may record or monitor calls for training, quality assurance and as a record of our conversation.
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
What does – healthy living mean?
Healthy living really means trying to adopt a lifestyle and diet that reduces your chances of developing certain preventable diseases and looking after your body so that it can look after you. Hopefully, the information in this guide, along with our Healthy eating
guide (number 2) will help you to adopt a healthy lifestyle and show how simple things can make a big difference and that staying healthy can be fun and does not have to be boring.
In this guide Exercise – page 2 Cholesterol – page 10 Stress – page 13 Relaxation – page 18
1
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
Exercise You are fit when your heart, lungs and muscles are working efficiently and you can carry out routine activities without being exhausted or breathless. Physical fitness is made up of three components
Strength – this comes from your
muscles and it is the ability to exert enough force to push, pull, lift or carry a heavy load.
Flexibility – reliant on the ability of your joints, muscles and tendons to move easily.
Endurance – depends on how efficient your heart, lungs and muscles are, and whether you can exercise at a steady rate for a long period of time – without rest. Your overall fitness is dependent on how regularly you engage in some form of sustained, vigorous physical exercise. Staying fit not only reduces your chances of developing certain conditions it will help you to avoid obesity with all its potential complications and also enables you to get more out of life.
How much exercise is good for you? Obviously, some exercise is better than none. On the other hand, it is possible to overdo exercise, especially if you have been ill and try to do too much too quickly. Generally speaking, it is recommended that, for health benefits to occur, adults should do a total of at least 30 minutes a day of at least moderate intensity physical activity on five or more days a week (see next page). Children and young people should achieve a total of at least 60 minutes of moderate intensity physical activity each day and at least twice a week this should include activities that strengthen the bones such as weight-bearing exercises (e.g jogging, tennis, squash, rugby, football etc, which produce high physical stresses on the bones). This level of activity needs to be continued throughout life in order for it to continue to benefit the individual. Many people will want to do more exercise as part of a sport or for pleasure which, as long as they take sensible precautions in relation to any health problems they have, is beneficial both physically and psychologically.
2
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
What sort of exercise is beneficial? As with the previous section, some is better than none even if it simply makes you feel psychologically better. However, for there to be proven health benefit, the exercise or activity must be of at least moderate intensity. This is the sort of activity that increases the respiratory rate and the heart rate and causes a degree of sweating but not so vigorous as not to be sustainable for more than a few minutes or leave the person feeling exhausted. This kind of activity has been found to make the heart, lungs and muscles work harder and cause them to become stronger and more able to cope with further exercise. Examples of moderate intensity activities include
painting and decorating
walking at 3mph or more hoovering
golf, tennis, badminton mowing the lawn
cycling at about 12 mph.
varied. For instance, as can be seen from the list above, moderate exercise includes many daily activities. It has also been found that small bursts of activity lasting 10 to 15 minutes are just as beneficial, if totalling at least 30 minutes a day for adults and 60 minutes for children, as performing the recommended amount all in one go. For most people, the recommended levels of activity can be achieved by a change in small areas of their life. For instance, a child could walk to and from school (if practical and safe), get involved in school sports activities and active play and at the weekend do some swimming, cycling or walking. An adult could walk or cycle to work or the station, go to the gym or get involved with sport two to three times a week and at the weekend cycle or walk. A retired person could take a daily walk, do some gardening or DIY and take every opportunity to walk rather than drive or climb the stairs instead of using the lift and at the weekend take a long walk or go swimming.
What may be a relief to many people is that the types and timing of exercise that have beneficial effects can be
continued
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
3
Exercise
continued
Are you fit for it? Activity
Strength
Flexibility
Endurance
Basketball
2
2
3
Dancing
2
3
2
Gardening
2
2
2
Golf
2
2
2
Housework
3
2
3
Running (long distance)
3
2
3
Football
2
2
3
Squash
3
3
3
Swimming
3
2
3
Tennis
3
3
3
Walking
1
1
2
Weightlifting
3
2
1
Key
3 = High Level
2 = Medium Level
1 = Low Level
What are the benefits of exercise? For adults First, for a long time it has been known that exercise can help to prevent heart disease which is the biggest cause of death in the UK, accounting for almost 40% of deaths. Inactivity has been proven to be a major risk factor for heart disease whether or not the individual has other health problems such as diabetes or high blood pressure. Exercise halves the chances of someone dying of a heart
attack and is thought to have this effect partly by helping to lower blood pressure and cholesterol (a type of fat in the blood) levels as well as by preventing obesity. Even in people who have already had a heart attack, rehabilitation programmes including exercise have been shown to be effective in reducing death from subsequent heart disease. Second, the risk of having a stroke is reduced by almost 30% in active people,
4
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
probably for similar reasons as for the prevention of heart attacks. Third, exercise obviously can play an important part in preventing or treating obesity. Since obesity doubles the risk of death from all causes, doubles the chance of developing heart disease, having a stroke or becoming diabetic and increases the risk of certain cancers as well as contributing to osteoarthritis, then these alone are good reasons to take regular exercise. Fourth, it has been found that people who are physically active have a lower overall risk of cancer. Exercise has particularly been shown as a protective factor against
colon cancer
breast cancer in women after the menopause. It may also possibly help to protect against lung, prostate, testicle, womb and ovarian cancer. It is not known exactly how exercise exerts this protective effect but is thought to be partly due to altering hormone levels and various anti-tumour defence mechanisms in the body. In addition, exercise can have beneficial effects for people with osteoarthritis
(wear and tear arthritis) in maintaining their joint movement although too much exercise in this group of people can be detrimental. Also, weight-bearing exercise can slow the progression of osteoporosis by maintaining the strength in the bones although the type of exercise must be carefully judged according to how advanced the condition is. Obviously, someone with very delicate bones should be very careful. A daily walk, however, would go a long way towards preventing further loss of calcium from the bones. All this is in addition to the great psychological benefit that is gained by avoiding the couch potato approach to life. There can be other spin-offs that may come from meeting people who are also taking part in similar activities. For children In children, the beneficial effects of prevention of heart disease, obesity, diabetes and cancer are likely to apply as they do for adults. Also there is evidence that physical
Physical activity is important for a child’s psychological and emotional health with inactive children showing more signs of stress.
continued
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
5
Exercise continued activity is important for a child’s psychological and emotional health with inactive children showing more signs of stress. A particularly important additional aspect of health in children is to improve the bone density to prevent osteoporosis in later life. Why this is so important is due to the way in which the bones gain and then lose calcium as we get older. A person’s bones are at their strongest in their late 20s or early 30s at which point the skeleton has its maximum level of calcium. After this point calcium, and therefore strength, is lost with every year of age. The crucial part that exercise plays is two fold.
As far as possible it is good to make exercise fun, especially for children. It can be a way of doing things as a family and a way for the child to meet new people and make friends. For older people As for younger adults, the same protective effect against heart disease, obesity, cancer and diabetes all apply. In addition, regular activity is very important for older people in maintaining their mobility and independence and keeping strength in their bones and muscles.
First, the maximum strength of someone’s bones relates strongly to how much activity they have done in childhood as the bones develop; especially around the ages of 12 in girls and 14 in boys. Weight-bearing exercise (generally speaking anything which is performed on the feet eg running, racket sports etc) is especially important as it encourages the bones to absorb calcium to become as strong as possible. Second, the degree of loss of calcium from the bones after the age of maximum strength is delayed by continuing weight-bearing activity.
6
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
One practical effect of this is to reduce the risk of suffering from falls with the subsequent possibility of fractures of the hips etc. There is also some evidence that taking part in regular sport or activity can help to maintain brain function.
Exercise for all Aerobic exercise For all-round health and fitness, there’s no better range of activities than aerobic exercises. Aerobic exercise is a physical activity that can be performed without a break for at least 12 minutes. Your muscles will slowly tire while your heart and lungs work harder, improving their performance and efficiency. Try one or more of these aerobic exercises.
Brisk walking – Walking quickly over just a short distance could make you tired and breathless. Build up your fitness and then aim to take three brisk half-hour walks a week.
Jogging – Don’t go jogging until you
can walk briskly for two miles without difficulties. Then alternate jogging and walking in 100 metre stretches until you can jog all the way.
Swimming – Start out at your own pace. You should aim to swim steadily and continuously for 20 minutes at a time. Alternate a swim day with a rest day to give muscles time to recover.
Some other aerobic exercises –
Aerobic dancing, cycling, ice-skating, rowing, skipping and stair climbing. The anaerobic alternative Anaerobic exercises involve periods of intense effort during which the blood supply does not provide the level of oxygen muscles need. Lacking oxygen, the muscles have to use anaerobic chemical processes to deliver the oxygen they require. One result of this is a build-up of lactic acid in the muscles causing fatigue, a heavy feeling and, sometimes, cramp. A typical example of an anaerobic exercise is weightlifting. The periods of intense activity involved in tennis and squash are also anaerobic exercises. Because these activities cannot be maintained over a continuous period, they are not ideal for improving heart and lung fitness.
7
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
Exercise continued Active answers Here are some conditions where exercise can prove beneficial. Condition
Exercises
Precautions
Arthritis
Swimming and cycling.
Ease up if joints become stiffer, sorer or more swollen. Gloves and socks worn when cycling can prevent stiffness.
Asthma
Swimming is best.
If exercise brings on symptoms, it may help to use your inhaler before activity.
Diabetes
Any sport should be safe. Tell the people you exercise with you’re diabetic in case you have a sudden drop in blood sugar.
You may need to increase carbohydrate intake before exercising. Carry some sugar or sweets with you.
Epilepsy
Most forms of exercise apart from boxing, wrestling or swimming that is not closely supervised. Tell the people you exercise with you are epileptic in case of a seizure.
Wear protective headgear in contact sports. Eat and drink enough before exercise; hypoglycaemia and dehydration can cause a seizure.
High blood pressure
Any sport apart from weight training and isometric* exercises.
Check with your doctor if taking beta-blockers.
Parkinson’s disease
Any exercise you can cope with will be beneficial.
Warm up thoroughly to get muscles working and joints moving.
Peripheral vascular disease
All forms of exercise will help arm and leg circulation. Exercise regularly.
If your condition develops gangrene or ulcers, rest limb.
Stroke
To help regain use of muscles and joints, do any exercise you can cope with.
Avoid weight training and isometric* exercise if you continue to have high blood pressure.
Varicose veins
Exercising the legs will normally help reduce pain and swelling.
Wear elastic support during vigorous exercise.
* Any exercise that makes a muscle contract without changing its length so that there is no visible movement of that part of the body.
8
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
Don’t overdo it You are over-exercising if you don’t give your body time to recover between sessions. If you are stiff and sore from your last workout, rest some more. You need to reduce your exercising if you have any of these symptoms
reduced appetite
difficulty sleeping
constant exhaustion
waking up tired and listless unplanned loss of weight
recurrent illness or minor injuries.
Preparing for exercise It is important to wear the right clothing whilst exercising. Proper footwear can prevent a variety of exercise-related problems and appropriately warm sportswear made out of modern fibres will keep body heat in without making the body too warm. In sunshine a hat should be worn to prevent sunburn. If you have recently had an operation or significant injury, seek advice from your GP or physiotherapist about the rate at which you should return to your sporting activities.
Vigorous exercise should be avoided if you are suffering from any acute illness, especially if it is causing a raised temperature or if you become more breathless than usual or develop chest pain or tightness whilst exercising (in which case you should seek medical advice as a matter of urgency).
continued
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
9
Cholesterol Cholesterol is a fatty substance which is found throughout the body and circulates in the bloodstream and is an important constituent of body cells.
Cholesterol is a fatty substance which is found throughout the body and circulates in the bloodstream.
It is also a component of certain chemicals such as bile acids, which help in the natural digestive processes of fat taken in the diet.
How is cholesterol formed? Nearly all of the cholesterol in the body is manufactured by the liver, whilst a small amount is derived directly from the diet, formed from the digestion of foods which contain fat. This diet-derived fat is of two types – namely saturated and unsaturated. The saturated form is found mainly in the following foods
meat and meat products (beef, lamb, pork, suet, lard dripping) derived from animal sources
dairy products (milk, butter, cream, cheese)
hard margarine and cooking fat cakes, biscuits, puddings and chocolate.
The unsaturated form is found in the following
vegetable oils
soft margarine
oily fish – for example, herring, mackerel, tuna, pilchards and sardines. The more saturated fats that are eaten, the higher the blood cholesterol is likely to be. This in turn increases the risk of developing coronary heart disease. Cholesterol is transported around the body in the bloodstream by attachment to specific proteins called lipoproteins. This is in conjunction with other small chemical substances (derived from the breakdown of fat) known as triglycerides. There are two types of lipoproteins each containing different amounts of protein and cholesterol. High density lipoprotein (HDL) This contains a high amount of protein and a relatively small amount of cholesterol. 25% of circulating cholesterol is carried by HDL. Low density lipoprotein (LDL) This contains a smaller amount of protein and a high amount of cholesterol. These are the major cholesterol carrying substances and about 75% of the circulating cholesterol is carried in the form of LDL.
10
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
Why is high blood cholesterol dangerous? If cholesterol is present in abnormally high quantities in circulating blood, the body is unable to process this amount of fat and so excess cholesterol builds up in the body. It may be deposited in various parts of the body – especially on the walls of the arteries where it forms clumps, or plaques. These can severely narrow and eventually block the blood supply in the arteries. This results in a loss of oxygen and glucose to the tissues and muscles supplied by these arteries which can then become damaged. Perhaps the most important area where this build up can occur is in the coronary arteries which form a network of blood vessels around the heart. If they are narrowed by cholesterol deposits, then damage can occur to the heart muscle. This may take the form of angina (chest pain) or even a heart attack. A similar problem can occur in the arteries in the legs, where impaired circulation can lead to pain on walking (called intermittent claudication) and, if very severe, can actually stop the circulation altogether.
A high level of A high level of HDL cholesterol HDL cholesterol is considered to is considered to be good in be good in protecting protecting against heart disease because against heart disease. it is thought to be able to remove fat lining the arteries and transport it to the liver for destruction. It is therefore sometimes known as “good cholesterol”. LDL cholesterol on the other hand is sometimes known as “bad cholesterol” because it carries fat in the blood and contributes to the narrowing of the arteries. A high level of LDL type can therefore be regarded as a risk factor for the development of arterial disease. There is no doubt that lowering of the blood cholesterol level will reduce the risk of developing coronary heart disease.
When should it be measured? There are often no symptoms associated with high cholesterol and doctors argue whether routine measurement should form part of health screening examinations.
continued 11
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
There are, however, groups at risk, who should be screened regularly
Those with a family history in either parent or sibling of high cholesterol levels. The condition is likely to be inherited.
Those patients who have a family
history of premature (or early onset) heart disease, or high blood pressure.
Those patients who are very
overweight, who are smokers or who themselves have suffered heart related symptoms. Along with high cholesterol, these constitute risk factors for coronary heart disease.
Those who have other medical
conditions such as alcohol problems, diabetes or kidney disease, all of which can be associated with high blood cholesterol.
Patients who have had a heart
What are the treatments? Treatment involves dietary modification and, where necessary, tablets to reduce the cholesterol level. Weight reduction, by avoiding dietary fat, will help reduce the cholesterol level. The following measures will aid in this
use skimmed or semi-skimmed milk grill, bake or steam foods rather than fry
eat smaller portions of meat and trim off any fat
eat low fat cheeses and margarine (spread margarine and butter thinly)
do not add fat or oil in cooking
make sure to eat foods labelled low in saturated fat if a specific low cholesterol diet is required.
attack, have angina or who have had coronary artery bypass surgery or those who have diseased arteries in their legs (so-called Peripheral Vascular Disease).
12
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
Stress Stress is a part of life. We all experience some stress in response to pressures we may face from day to day. With too much, illness could develop. The word stress may have a double meaning as it is used to describe both the stimulus and its effect. It is more precise to talk about stressors and stress responses, which can be either positive or negative, depending on their effect on well being. Eating healthily and taking regular exercise can help to improve your feeling of well being but life’s stresses can still affect your health unless you can recognise the signs of increasing stress and take action to reduce it. Social scientists have devised a list of life events and rated the relative stressfulness of each
the death of a spouse, 100 on the scale trouble with one’s employer, 23 being fired, 47
going to jail, 63
a change in sleeping habits, 16 getting divorced, 73.
Whilst many stressful events in life are not high on this scale, their repetition can have a disastrous cumulative effect.
How does it occur? The most common stressor is the constant demand of varied interruptions whilst trying to carry on the usual routines of everyday life. This sounds familiar to most people. The drain may take the form of impossibly high expectations The biggest from employers, stressors spouses or, come from perhaps, the relationships. bank and may be coupled with an increased feeling of loss of control over one’s fate, leading to a decreased ability to cope and increased sense of being stressed. The biggest stressors come from relationships with one’s family (parents, spouse, children), from the workplace, and from financial pressure.
Why does it occur? As the body responds to stress, the heart beats faster, blood pressure rises, and other body systems prepare to meet the threat. When a person does something active to cope with a threat, these systems return to normal. Running away or fighting (the so-called fight or flight reaction) are both successful ways of coping with many physical threats. continued 13
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
Stress continued Problems arise, however, when the body is prepared to cope with danger but cannot do so. Dealing with a difficult situation, for example, can cause the body to prepare for a fight or flight response but, when no action can be taken, the body’s systems remain over-active. Similar repeated experiences of this frustrating nature can lead to a sense of being overloaded which is commonly called stress, but is more accurately called a negative stress response.
Does stress make you ill? In a classical and important study over 30 years ago, researchers found that bacterial throat infection causing illness was four times as likely to occur after, rather than before, stressful events. This was confirmed in 1991 when a study showed that the rates of respiratory infections increased in line with increases in the degree of reported psychological stress. This experiment was performed under controlled circumstances and supports the idea that, although exposure to infectious agents is necessary for most illness, it is stress that in some way suppresses resistance, leaving individuals susceptible to physical illness.
The importance of life with meaning If the total Stress in some pressure of way suppresses stressors is resistance, great enough, leaving the essential individuals meaning in life susceptible to begins to fade. physical One study illness. showed that a person’s sense of commitment and meaning was extremely important in protecting their health when we are under stress. Another study highlighted job satisfaction as the most important predictor for reports of low back pain; a further major report showed that survival after life threatening illness can depend heavily on whether subjects believe in what they are doing with their lives. In addition, other research has shown that when we are older, how long people are likely to live depends most importantly on how much of what they’re doing seems of value and has meaning.
14
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
What effect does stress have? The symptoms The symptoms of of a negative a negative stress stress response response have have much in much in common common with with depressive depressive illness, and illness and, indeed this itself indeed, this may develop if itself may the stressors develop if the stressors remain remain unchanged. unchanged. The mechanisms of coping fail and the vital resource of hardiness is no longer enough to keep the person going – illness develops. Ten signs of rising stress 1. Disturbed sleep (finding it hard to drop off to sleep, waking early, inability to get back to sleep). 2. Loss of pleasure in things once enjoyed. 3. Appetite changes (eating far too much or too little).
6. Inability to concentrate, meet deadlines or make decisions. 7. Loss of libido. 8. Increasing cynicism or loss of trust. 9. Anxiety and panic attacks. 10. Sense of losing control over events. Some of these signs may also be found in depression so someone with some or all of these signs should consider seeing their GP for advice. Ten ways to control stress 1. Reduce the stressors (cut out unnecessary tasks and refuse to take on unnecessary chores). 2. Good personal time management and good communication within the family and workplace is a prerequisite for the ability to manage home and work demands. 3. Good communication with the family is a big help in cutting problems down to size. Share a problem and it will be halved.
4. Irritability and impatience (an increasingly short temper).
4. Retain a sense of control over life and don’t be overcome by feelings of helplessness.
5. Tiredness, lack of energy even after a night’s rest.
5. Modify lifestyle – the use of alcohol, coffee, tobacco and food
continued 15
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
Stress continued can lead to more problems; they give a false sense of comfort which is short-lived, and leads to increased craving for more of the same. These coping substitutes can also create new problems such as liver damage, increased anxiety, lung and heart disease and obesity, which feed on the stress and worsen the problem. 6. Non-prescribed or recreational drugs can give rise to serious addiction problems, with increases in the scale of craving leading to further problems. Never use mind altering drugs to cope with stress. 7. Exercise and self-help relaxation techniques (yoga, transcendental meditation, self hypnosis) can reduce the sense of being stressed and improve all the symptoms of stress. There is good scientific evidence that regular practice of self-help will reduce the risk of many different illnesses and diseases.
9. Prescribed drugs can be helpful in the treatment of symptoms of stress, though not as a cure. They may help in controlling the very distressing effects of stress, such as phobias, panic attacks and so on. 10. Most importantly of all, to look after our own stress effectively, we must look after ourselves first. The aim is always to find a way to regain control of our lives. If you feel that you are not getting on top of your symptoms of stress, consider seeking help from your GP family member or call Health at Hand on 0800 003 004, which includes our personal counselling service.
8. Up to date therapies such as CBT (Cognitive Behaviour Therapy) and psychotherapy can provide useful insights into the causes of one’s stress and equip a person to cope with the onset of stress symptoms.
16
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
Take it easy
Plan your day.
Talk about your problems.
Exercise regularly and use self-help relaxation techniques.
Prescribed drugs can treat stress and depression.
Therapies such as CBT and psychotherapy can help you cope.
Cut out unnecessary tasks. Learn to delegate where possible.
Retain a sense of control. Avoid non-prescribed and
recreational drugs and excessive alcohol.
To look after stress, look after yourself.
continued 17
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
Relaxation Relaxation is useful for reducing physical and mental tension and can help people to
reduce worry and anxiety
improve sleep
relieve physical
This exercise should take about 15 to 20 minutes.
symptoms caused by stress (e.g headaches, stomach pains, diarrhoea or constipation). By following the steps in this section you will be well on your way to learning how to relax. This exercise should take about 15 to 20 minutes. However, if you only have five minutes to spare, this is certainly better than nothing! Find a quiet and relaxing place Choose a comfortable chair in a place which is free from noise and interruptions (make sure you take the telephone off the hook).You may need to explain to your family what you are doing so that they will not disturb you. Telling your family may also reduce any embarrassment you may feel. Clear your mind Try to clear your mind of all worries or disturbing thoughts. If these worries or thoughts drift back while you are relaxing just push them gently out of your mind again. Let your mind be clear and calm.
Practise the slow breathing method Breathe in for three Imagine the seconds and tension flowing breathe out for out of your body three seconds, each time you thinking the word breathe out. relax every time you breathe out. Let your breathing flow smoothly. Imagine the tension flowing out of your body each time you breathe out. Relax your muscles in the following order
For each of the muscle groups in your body, tense the muscle for seven to ten seconds then relax for ten seconds.
Hands – curl hands into fists then relax. Lower arms – bend your hand down at the wrist, as though you were trying to touch the underside of your arm and then relax.
Upper arms – tighten your biceps by
bending your arm at the elbow and then relax.
Shoulders – lift your shoulders up as if trying to cover your ears with them and then relax.
Neck – stretch your neck gently to the
left, then forward, then to the right, then to the back in a slow rolling motion then relax.
18
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
Forehead and scalp – raise your eyebrows and then relax.
Eyes – screw up your eyes and then relax.
Jaw – clench your teeth (just to tighten the muscles) then relax.
Tongue – press your tongue against the
Take some slow breaths while you sit still for a few minutes enjoying the feeling of relaxation. Practise once or twice every day for at least eight weeks. During the day, try relaxing specific muscles whenever you notice that they are tense.
roof of your mouth and then relax.
Chest – breathe in deeply to inflate your lungs then breathe out and relax.
Stomach – push your tummy forward with your arms at your side and then relax.
Upper back – pull your shoulders
forward with your arms at your side then relax.
Further information
head and upper back forward, rolling your back into a smooth arc thus tensing the lower back then relax.
Apart from contacting your GP, the following organisations may offer further help
Lower back – while sitting, lean your
Buttocks – tighten your buttocks and then relax.
Thighs – while sitting, push your feet firmly into the floor and then relax.
Calves – lift your toes off the ground towards your shins and then relax.
Feet – gently curl your toes down so
British Heart Foundation Greater London House 180 Hampstead Road London NW1 7AW Tel: 020 7554 0000 Help Line: 0300 330 3311 Web: www.bhf.org.uk
that they press into the floor and then relax. 19
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
Healthy Living Guides For ease the Healthy Living Guides have been grouped into six different sections and have been given a number which you can use to request them on the form overleaf. Next to each guide is a list of the subjects that are described in each one. If you have requested Healthy Living Guides in the past you will notice that there are now fewer guides. However, all the subjects that we tackled in those guides are included in this new list along with a number of new topics. Healthy Living – our practical guides for living healthily 1 Healthy living – cholesterol, exercise, stress and relaxation 2 Healthy eating – diets, alcohol moderation and a height/weight chart 3 Sleep – how to get a good night’s sleep 4 Common allergies 5 Infectious diseases and their treatment The Body – a look at some of the most common medical conditions 6 Back and spine – back pain, sciatica and slipped discs 7 Skeletal system – arthritis, osteoporosis, fractures and knee replacements 8 Ear, nose and throat – tinnitus, hearing loss, sinusitis, snoring and tonsillitis 9 Eyes – cataracts, long and short sightedness and macular degeneration 10 Brain – migraines, strokes and epilepsy 11 Heart – hypertension, angina, varicose veins and heart surgery 12 Intestines – irritable bowel syndrome, hiatus hernia and diverticular disease 13 Lungs – bronchitis and asthma 14 Skin – psoriasis and eczema First aid – developed in association with the Red Cross 15 First aid for adults 16 First aid for children Cancer and its treatment 17 Cancer – a general introduction 18 Male specific cancers 19 Female specific cancers Life stages – advice on medical conditions specific to certain life stages 20 Childhood – head lice, chickenpox, whooping cough, mumps and rubella 21 Life begins at 50
20
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
Other subjects include 22 A–Z of medical terminology and tests 23 Male and female fertility 24 Dealing with depression 25 Travel health guide 26 Diabetes 27 CT and MRI scans 28 Before and after an operation 29 Pregnancy and postnatal care 30 Dealing with the menopause
Health at Hand fact sheets If you have found the information in this guide interesting and you have any further questions then please call Health at Hand on 0800 003 004. They are available to take your call 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. Health at Hand can access one of the largest medical databases in Europe to answer your questions or send you one of over 180 fact sheets on all the subjects that are covered by the Healthy Living Guide series and many more. These subjects are discussed in this guide: cholesterol exercise for health learning to relax stress. These subjects are not discussed in this guide: alcoholism allergies and allergy testing hypertension (high blood pressure) sexually transmitted diseases smoking cessation. The Health at Hand team work with medical journalists to update its fact sheets and add new subjects regularly so if you don’t see the subject you require further information on then please give them a call and if they have a fact sheet they will send it to you. Alternatively, visit www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members where you can access all the fact sheets online.
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
Requesting more Healthy Living Guides If you would like to be sent further Healthy Living Guides then please complete the form below, tear it off, seal it and return it to us. Postage is free and as soon as we receive your request, we’ll send you your selected guides as quickly as possible. Alternatively, you can order guides online at www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members. Simply log in and click on ‘Healthy Living Guides’ in the Health Information section.
1 2 3 4 5 6
7 8 9 10 11 12
13 14 15 16 17 18
19 20 21 22 23 24
25 26 27 28 29 30
Please note that your guides will be sent to the policyholder’s address that we have on our records. Please send me the Healthy Living Guides I have ticked above. FOLD ALONG HERE
Policyholder’s membership number: Policyholder’s first name: Policyholder’s surname: Policyholder’s date of birth (dd/mm/yyyy):
/
/
Data Protection Act 1998 The information you provide will be used to enable us to deal with your enquiry. Also, AXA PPP healthcare, SecureHealth and Denplan (“we”), members of the AXA UK Group of companies, would like to use your contact details to inform you by letter, telephone or email of other products and services. AXA PPP healthcare would also like to share these contact details with further members of the AXA UK1Group and carefully selected third parties based within the European Economic Area so that they can let you know about their products and services by letter or telephone and, if appropriate, to administer them. You will be consenting to these uses to enable you to receive marketing information from AXA PPP healthcare, Securehealth and Denplan as well as from other AXA UK Group companies and/or third party companies unless you tick the box to indicate that you do not consent. HLG007 MOISTEN AND SEAL
MOISTEN AND SEAL
MOISTEN AND SEAL
Email:
FOLD ALONG HERE
AXA PPP healthcare FREEPOST SEA 11394 BRISTOL BS4 5ZZ
At AXA PPP healthcare we are dedicated to supporting you.
Individual medical insurance Company medical insurance International medical insurance Occupational health Health and Safety Employee assistance programmes Dental cover Travel insurance
PB38849/07.10
www.axappphealthcare.co.uk/members
ISO14001
AXA PPP healthcare, Phillips House, Crescent Road, Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN1 2PL. AXA PPP healthcare limited. Registered Office: 5 Old Broad Street, London EC2N 1AD, United Kingdom. Registered in England No. 3148119. Authorised and regulated by the Financial Services Authority. Š AXA PPP healthcare 2010. We may record or monitor calls for training, quality assurance and as a record of our conversation.