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HeartMath Offers Breast Cancer Survivors Hope And Wellness

3/31/2010

Reprinted below is the fifth in a series of articles from our newest client, HeartMath, LLC, that deals with how stress impacts our lives and what can be done to relieve it.

Recreational therapist Diane Groff, Ed.D., and exercise physiologist Claudio Battaglini, Ph.D., both of the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, recently completed an exploratory study on the role of recreation therapy in facilitating well-being in survivors of breast cancer using HeartMath’s handheld emWave Personal Stress Reliever® (www.emwave.com). HeartMath® is internationally known for their research on the heart, stress, and emotions and the effects of stress on health. Their award-winning emWave Personal Stress Reliever (PSR) essentially mirrors one’s emotional state by reading heart rhythms and providing real-time feedback so one can more effectively manage stress.

The two UNC researchers are strong advocates of developing patients’ psychological and physical strength, which are needed to combat the debilitating side effects of cancer treatment. Since October 2006, Groff and Battaglini have reviewed a series of case histories in which 29 survivors within six months of post-treatment for breast cancer participated in the “Get REAL & HEEL” program, which consisted of a variety of leisure therapy interventions. This program was offered to patients at no cost, thanks to the NC Triangle Affiliate of the Susan G. Komen Foundation.

In addition to strength-based physical exercise with a personal trainer, the Get REAL & HEEL program offered recreational therapy activities such as cognitive and behavioral interventions for stress management, relaxation training, creative and journal writing, expressive arts, leisure counseling and biofeedback (HeartMath’s emWave Personal Stress Reliever, and Wild Divine Healing Rhythms.) Group recreational interventions included dance, expressive arts, group outings and exercise activities with other women in the group.

In the research study, participants were able to choose which type of real-time feedback intervention they primarily used. The preferred intervention was HeartMath’s emWave Personal Stress Reliever. Participants were given instruction on HeartMath’s Quick Coherence® technique – a scientifically validated process for stress relief that facilitates heart-rhythm coherence. One unique aspect of the HeartMath intervention is its focus on heart-rhythm coherence, a measurable state that occurs when the heart, brain, and nervous system are working in harmony.

Study participants all were loaned emWave PSR devices so they could practice at home. Participants stated that they really liked how easy and convenient the emWave PSR was to use. It is worth noting that the device includes an animated instructional CD-Rom that guides the user through instruction on the Quick Coherence technique. The study participants stated that they really liked how easy and convenient emWave PSR was to use.

Soon an unexpected compliance problem was discovered, one which researchers don’t commonly encounter. Several participants were reluctant to return their emWave PSR units when the Get REAL & HEEL program ended because they were somewhat attached to using them. Fortunately, the staff at HeartMath kindly offered these participants a special discount and many participants purchased their own device so they could continue their practices after the study ended.

This unusual scenario led the HeartMath Research Team to investigate this research endeavor more closely. Institute of HeartMath Research Coordinator Tani Shaffer, Ph.D., recently interviewed Dr. Groff about the research results and here discusses her participants’ enthusiasm for the HeartMath intervention:

Dr. Groff said the HeartMath emWave PSR and Wild Divine Healing Rhythms programs offered unique aspects to the participants’ understanding of the benefits of biofeedback and HeartMath’s heart-rhythm feedback. According to Dr. Groff, the participants expressed a particular preference for the emWave Personal Stress Reliever because this type of intervention, with its heart-rhythm feedback, demonstrated a clear relationship between emotions and physiology.

As women learned HeartMath skills in the intervention, they began reflecting on their stress-management styles before the onset of their illness. Many began to question the relationship between their disease and stress, as they realized that they had been living with a serious deficit of exercise, poor nutrition, excessive stress, ineffective coping mechanisms or little awareness of the impact of chronic stress on their overall health.

Further, Dr. Groff states that it was especially striking to her and her colleagues that the majority of the participants were able to reach heart coherence with ease and within the first five minutes of instruction. In the context of managed care and hospital visits, it is truly remarkable to discover an intervention that can be taught and mastered in such a short amount of time. Dr. Groff and her team were especially pleased to witness the participants’ thrill of discovery and the warm glow of feeling empowered by learning this new skill to regulate their emotions and physiology.

Although these women generally responded enthusiastically to the idea of a personal trainer and lifestyle coach after completing their cancer treatment, it also was beneficial to learn they had the inner resources necessary to master their own coping and self-regulation, thus giving them a sense of control over their bodies – something that had been surrendered to others for a considerable amount of time.

As one participant stated in her therapy journal, “If nothing else, I am learning to control my emotions and that is having a tremendous impact on my life.” Indeed, feelings of empowerment such as these can have a tremendous impact on one’s entire life, and the lessons that can be learned from HeartMath’s tools continue to offer wellness and hope to counter and more effectively manage illness and stress.

For the full research paper go to: www.heartmath.org/LessonsfromSurvivors.

Copyright © HeartMath. Since 1991 HeartMath has been dedicated to decoding the underlying mechanics of stress. HeartMath is internationally recognized for their solutions to transform the stress of change and uncertainty, and bring coherence and renewed energy into people’s lives. Research and clinical studies conducted by HeartMath have examined emotional physiology, heart-brain interactions, and the physiology of learning and performance. Through their research they have demonstrated the critical link between emotions, heart function, and cognitive performance. HeartMath’s work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals such as American Journal of Cardiology, Stress Medicine, and Preventive Cardiology, as well as business journals such as Harvard Business Review and Leadership Excellence. HeartMath’s organizational clients include NASA, BP, Duke University Health System, Stanford Business School, Redken, Kaiser Permanente, Boeing, and Cisco Systems, as well as dozens of school systems and thousands of health professionals around the world. To learn more about HeartMath, go to www.heartmath.com.

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Is Stress Affecting Your Sleep?

3/23/2010

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Reprinted below is the fourth in a series of articles from our newest client, HeartMath, LLC, that deals with how stress impacts our lives and what can be done to relieve it.

Whether you struggle falling asleep at bedtime or wake up in the middle of the night and can’t get back to sleep, lack of sleep – known as insomnia – whether it lasts a few days or persists for a few weeks or longer, is a serious disorder. Sleeplessness robs your body of the rest it needs to reenergize you physically, mentally and emotionally.

Sleeplessness affects all age groups. According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, about 60 million Americans suffer from insomnia each year. The National Sleep Foundation reports that sleeplessness affects nearly two-thirds of American adults at some point and stems most commonly from stress. Research shows stress is a common trigger for both short-term and acute insomnia. In fact, according to a survey conducted by the Better Sleep Council, sixty-five percent of Americans are losing sleep due to stress. Studies estimate that sleep deprivation currently costs U.S. businesses nearly $150 billion annually in absenteeism and lost productivity.

There is a wide range of stressors that contribute to sleeplessness: the stress of day-to-day living, finances, health concerns, depression and anxiety, to name a few. One typical form of insomnia occurs when people wake up during the night, realize they are wide awake when they should be sleeping, and then become anxious. Anxiety causes adrenaline to flood the system and adrenaline prompts the body into action – the opposite of what’s needed for effective sleep.

The occurrence of insomnia is believed to increase with age. More than half of older Americans have trouble sleeping and accept it as a normal part of aging. “Sleep problems in the elderly are not a normal part of aging,” says Dr. Julie Gammack, assistant professor of geriatrics at Saint Louis University and author of a review article published in the American Journal of Medicine. “It contributes to an increased risk of accidents, falls and chronic fatigue.”

Our children and teens are having many sleepless nights, too. Trouble falling asleep is their most common complaint. In a national survey on the sleep patterns of U.S. adolescents ages 11-17, the 2006 Sleep in America poll by the National Sleep Foundation found only 20% of adolescents were getting the recommended nine hours of sleep on school nights and 45% slept less than eight hours. Although most students in the survey knew they were not getting the sleep they needed, 90% of parents polled believed they were.

The inability to sleep at night is challenging enough, but then those who suffer from sleeplessness must grapple with the many resulting daytime symptoms of stress: not feeling refreshed or rested; poor concentration and focus; feeling tired, irritable, dull, apathetic and forgetful; a reduction in motor skills and coordination. Many of our nation’s adolescents are falling asleep in class or during homework and arriving late or missing school altogether because of oversleeping, which can result from irregular sleep patterns. When students don’t get sufficient rest they are unable to focus, their grades fall, and they become moody and down. If insomnia becomes chronic, it can lead to mental health problems such as depression, or misuse of alcohol and medications as they search for things to help them sleep.

Stress accumulates during the day and often we take it to bed with us. The body’s systems just won’t shut down, leading to difficulty in sleeping or staying asleep. Deep, restful sleep, which you enter from a coherent heart state (when the mind, heart and nervous system are in sync), can help you stay balanced and energized, leaving you more able to be effective in your day-to-day life.

Since 1991 HeartMath, internationally recognized for their scientifically validated stress solutions, has conducted research on the physiology of and relationship between the heart, stress, and emotions, as well as the effects of stress on health and performance. There are a variety of materials available from HeartMath on how to effectively deal with stress. They also offer a program for those needing relief from sleep problems. The emWave® Solution for Better Sleep Guide is a simple five-step Easy Plan program that works in conjunction with the emWave Personal Stress Reliever (www.emwave.com). The program helps you reset your body's natural rhythms so you can sleep deeply again and wake up feeling more refreshed.

Copyright © HeartMath. Since 1991 HeartMath has been dedicated to decoding the underlying mechanics of stress. HeartMath is internationally recognized for their solutions to transform the stress of change and uncertainty, and bring coherence and renewed energy into people’s lives. Research and clinical studies conducted by HeartMath have examined emotional physiology, heart-brain interactions, and the physiology of learning and performance. Through their research they have demonstrated the critical link between emotions, heart function, and cognitive performance. HeartMath’s work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals such as American Journal of Cardiology, Stress Medicine, and Preventive Cardiology, as well as business journals such as Harvard Business Review and Leadership Excellence. HeartMath’s organizational clients include NASA, BP, Duke University Health System, Stanford Business School, Redken, Kaiser Permanente, Boeing, and Cisco Systems, as well as dozens of school systems and thousands of health professionals around the world. To learn more about HeartMath, go to www.heartmath.com.

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Stress And What You Eat

3/16/2010

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Reprinted below is the third in a series of articles from our newest client, HeartMath, LLC, that deals with how stress impacts our lives and what can be done to relieve it.

Did you know that stress affects what we choose to eat? A recent Harris poll showed that 46% of Americans are less careful about food choices when stressed.

Some eat too much. Others don’t feel like eating much at all. Many go for fast food on the run – or reach for “comfort foods” that are high in sugar, starch, and fats. These can have a temporary calming effect. But they can also cause us to put on the pounds.

There are other reasons to be careful with your fat intake. Researchers at Ohio State University found that short periods of emotional stress can slow down the body’s process of clearing some fats from the bloodstream. If fat is allowed to circulate in the bloodstream too long, it may end up being deposited in the arteries, increasing your risk of heart attacks.

What can you do?

For 17 years HeartMath® has conducted research on the physiology of and relationship between the heart, stress, and emotions, as well as the effects of stress on health and wellbeing. They have developed simple but highly effective techniques that facilitate heart rhythm coherence. Simply stated, coherence is a measurable state that occurs when the heart, brain, and nervous system are working in harmony. When stress levels are low, using techniques like HeartMath’s scientifically validated Quick Coherence® can help you build emotional buoyancy. Using these techniques regularly, even if you’re not stressed out, helps you to build and accumulate more emotional balance and flexibility so you can better handle stress when it does arise. Another helpful tool to manage stress is the emWave Personal Stress Reliever®. This small handheld device can be used to help you shift out of the stress that fuels the urge to overindulge, and into a more balanced state of mind and heart where you’re more likely to make healthy choices (see www.emwave.com).

Creating a self-care plan that you can stick with five days a week helps you build positive habits that support you during times of stress. Your plan can include exercise, nutritious meals, and regular use of the HeartMath techniques that you enjoy the most.

When stress hits:

If you have the urge to overindulge, asking yourself one simple question can be helpful – are you physically hungry or eating to feed “emotional hunger?” If it’s your feeling world that has a craving, you can use the HeartMath techniques to nurture yourself. Research shows that feelings of love or appreciation create a cascade of biochemical events that nourish the body and the mind. That’s why love feels so good. It supports the body’s optimal state.

Whether you tend to eat too much or too little, try asking yourself what’s underneath the stress. Being “heart vulnerable” with yourself – admitting what you’re really feeling – is the start of taking better care of yourself. Physical exercise can help you integrate your mind and emotions with your body making it easier to get your eating back on track.

If eating problems persist, seek professional help.

Copyright © HeartMath. Since 1991 HeartMath has been dedicated to decoding the underlying mechanics of stress. HeartMath is internationally recognized for their solutions to transform the stress of change and uncertainty, and bring coherence and renewed energy into people’s lives. Research and clinical studies conducted by HeartMath have examined emotional physiology, heart-brain interactions, and the physiology of learning and performance. Through their research they have demonstrated the critical link between emotions, heart function, and cognitive performance. HeartMath’s work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals such as American Journal of Cardiology, Stress Medicine, and Preventive Cardiology, as well as business journals such as Harvard Business Review and Leadership Excellence. HeartMath’s organizational clients include NASA, BP, Duke University Health System, Stanford Business School, Redken, Kaiser Permanente, Boeing, and Cisco Systems, as well as dozens of school systems and thousands of health professionals around the world. To learn more about HeartMath, go to www.heartmath.com.

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BILL MOYERS JOURNAL Gets To The Truth About Health Care Reform

3/6/2010

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Washington is abuzz about health care reform. Both Congress and President Obama have made it a top priority, and there are a number of proposals making the rounds. But what will that bill look like, and who will shape it?

BILL MOYERS JOURNAL has been focusing on perspectives not being heard on Capitol Hill or on the major news outlets — from popular plans left "off the table," like single payer, to the powerful influence of the health care industry on the process.

As Democrats in Congress and the President move forward on health care reform, giant health insurance companies are back in the news, and they aren't winning many friends. Some of America's largest insurers caused an uproar recently by raising individual premiums, in some cases by as much as 39%. The move seemed so tone-deaf, that two FOX BUSINESS reporters scolded a WellPoint executive for the bad timing. Host Charles Payne asked, "Didn't someone though, wasn't there a committee that said listen, let's take Wall Street's lead, do the minimum we can, wait for this to blow over and maybe a year from now try to hike rates?" Co-host Stu Varney continued, "You handed the politicians red meat at a time when health care is being discussed. You gave it to them!"

To get an inside look at what health insurance companies might be thinking as health care reform gains momentum, Bill Moyers turns again to former insurance insider Wendell Potter. When Potter first sat down with Bill Moyers on the JOURNAL, his exposé of insurance industry media practices sent ripples through the health care debate. He returns during the Democrat's final push for comprehensive health care reform to discuss the insurance industry's strategy, what's good and bad about the bill, and why he'd vote for it if he were in Congress.

Potter believes that profits drove the most recent rate increases, "Well, these companies are for-profit companies, and they think first and foremost about their shareholders. That's the first stakeholder that they consider. And they know that they have to meet those expectations or their stock prices will suffer."

As for the seemingly bad timing, Potter thinks the insurance companies aren't concerned, knowing that they've invested millions of dollars on lobbying and campaign contributions to members of Congress. With that kind of influence, says Potter, "They do this because they know they can. And they're willing to take whatever lumps they might take in the public and before Congress."

Ultimately, according to Potter, the health insurance companies will continue to be profitable whether or not the reform passes — by requiring people to buy health insurance, the government is delivering insurers millions of new customers — but that's not a reason to vote against the bill, "It will bring a lot of people into coverage. And it will help people be able to afford coverage. 45,000 people die every year in this country because they don't have coverage. We can't go on another year and let 45,000 of our people die, just because of that."

The President's Plan

President Obama based his plan on the Senate's version of the health care bill. The Kaiser Family Foundation has been carefully tracking all the health care plans. To find out the specific differences between the House, Senate and President Obama's plans, read their side-by-side comparisons.

Wendell Potter

Wendell Potter has served since May 2009 as the Center for Media and Democracy's senior fellow on health care in Madison, Wisconsin. After a 20-year career as a corporate public relations executive, in 2008 he left his job as head of communications for one of the nation's largest health insurers, CIGNA, to try his hand at helping socially responsible organizations — including those advocating for meaningful health care reform — achieve their goals.

Based in Philadelphia, Potter provides strategic communications counsel and planning services as an independent consultant. He also speaks out on both the need for a fundamental overhaul of the American health care system and on the dangers to American democracy and society of the decline of the media as watchdog, which has contributed to the growing and increasingly unchecked influence of corporate PR.

Potter held a variety of positions at CIGNA Corporation over 15 years, serving most recently as head of corporate communications and as the company's chief corporate spokesman.

Prior to joining CIGNA, Potter headed communications at Humana Inc., another large for-profit health insurer and was director of public relations and advertising for The Baptist Health System of East Tennessee. He also has been a partner in an Atlanta public relations firm, a press secretary to a Democratic nominee for governor of Tennessee and a lobbyist in Washington for the organizers of the 1982 World's Fair in Knoxville, TN.

Wendell Potter first worked as a journalist. When fresh out of college, he worked for Scripps-Howard's afternoon paper in Memphis. He wrote about Memphis businesses and local government before being sent to Nashville to cover the governor's office and state legislature. Two years later he was promoted to the Scripps-Howard News Bureau in Washington where he covered Congress, the White House and the Supreme Court and wrote a weekly political column.

Wendell Potter is a native of Tennessee and a graduate of the University of Tennessee in Knoxville where he received a B.A. in communications and did postgraduate work in journalism and public relations. He holds an APR, which means he is accredited in public relations by the Public Relations Society of America, and is still a dues-paying member of the Society of Professional Journalists and the National Press Club in Washington.
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Dr. Marcia Angell, a single-payer advocate, doesn't think there's much in the President's plan to feel good about. But it's not just the particular version that she objects to — rather that the bill doesn't address what's fundamentally wrong with the American health care system.

"We have chosen, alone among all advanced countries, to leave health care to for-profit industries, to leave health care to businesses, that then distribute health care as a market commodity according to the ability to pay. And not according to medical need. So we have left the financing of health care to private insurance companies that have learned that they can thrive not by providing health care, but by not providing health care to sick people, by avoiding sick people."

The U.S. ranks highest in total cost of care, but according to a recent report by the Commonwealth Fund, it also ranks last among industrialized countries "in preventing deaths through use of timely and effective medical care." In a recent FRONTLINE report comparing the health care systems of five other capitalist democracies, "Sick Around the World," WASHINGTON POST reporter T.R. Reid notes that, "The World Health Organization says the U.S. health care system rates 37th in the world in terms of quality and fairness. All the other rich countries do better than we do, and yet they spend a heck of a lot less."

Marcia Angell

In 1999, Dr. Marcia Angell became the first woman to serve as editor-in-chief of the NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE, the premier journal of medical science in the United States. She has also written for a general audience on the relationships between medicine, ethics, and the law.

After completing her undergraduate studies in chemistry and mathematics at James Madison University in Harrisonburg, Virginia, Marcia Angell spent the next year as a Fulbright Scholar studying microbiology in Frankfurt, Germany. She received her M.D. from Boston University School of Medicine in 1967 and completed residencies in both internal medicine and anatomic pathology.

Currently serving as a senior lecturer in the department of social medicine at Harvard Medical School, Dr. Angell has devoted her life to researching, writing and speaking on topics incorporating medical ethics, health policy, the nature of medical evidence, the interface of medicine and the law, and end-of-life care.

A board-certified pathologist, Angell joined the editorial staff of the NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE in 1979. In addition to her academic writing, Dr. Angell has written for THE NEW YORK TIMES, NEWSWEEK, USA TODAY, THE WASHINGTON POST, and other national publications.

Dr. Angell is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences and a fellow of the American College of Physicians. In 1997 TIME named her one of the 25 most influential Americans.

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What Is Contemporary Stress?

3/2/2010

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Reprinted below is the second in a series of articles from our newest client, HeartMath, LLC, that deals with how stress impacts our lives and what can be done to relieve it.

What Is Contemporary Stress?

A response to stress expresses itself as resistance, tension, strain, or frustration that throws off our equilibrium, keeping us out of sync. Two people in identical circumstances may respond in very different ways (e.g., one gets stressed, the other inspired) depending upon how they perceive the situation.

What contributes to Contemporary Stress?

We have always had earthquakes, hurricanes, and floods, but the increasing volume and severity of these events has become alarming. Weather devastation generates economic stress in skyrocketing prices for gasoline, heating fuel, and food. Epidemics of influenza and other infectious diseases aren’t new, but drug-resistant strains of virulent organisms are new and threatening. The history of humankind is full of examples of conflicts, wars, and acts of terrorism. However, never before has there been such a great threat of death and potential mass destruction due to terrorist acts as there is now.

The public is understandably stressedby constant reminders from the media that any of these contemporary stressors could easily affect you or a loved one at any time. It is therefore not surprising that 8 or 9 out of every 10 visits to primary care physicians are for stress-related complaints. The World Health Organization estimated that by 2020, clinical depression will outrank cancer and follow only heart disease as the second leading cause of disability in the world. Is it because contemporary stress is somehow different and more dangerous? What people want to know is what they can do about any of this. How can they learn to avoid and cope with this avalanche of stress that seems to surround today’s world?

Stress is often misunderstood.Many people look at outside events as the source of stress, but, in fact, the experience of stress is actually caused by our emotional reactions to events. We can break the vicious stress cycle by taking a proactive role in managing our reactions. Actively self-generating positive emotions when you start to react can favorably affect your physiological and psychological processes. Positive emotions help shift stress-producing perceptions, counterbalance the effects of stress reactions, and promote regeneration at both the psychological and physiological levels (see Science of the Heart). As you gain increased management of emotions, the experience of stress then truly becomes more a choice than an automatic reaction. In learning to address and transform stress from within, you become an active contributor to your own health, balance, and fulfillment.

Copyright © HeartMath. Since 1991 HeartMath has been dedicated to decoding the underlying mechanics of stress. HeartMath is internationally recognized for their solutions to transform the stress of change and uncertainty, and bring coherence and renewed energy into people’s lives. Research and clinical studies conducted by HeartMath have examined emotional physiology, heart-brain interactions, and the physiology of learning and performance. Through their research they have demonstrated the critical link between emotions, heart function, and cognitive performance. HeartMath’s work has been published in numerous peer-reviewed journals such as American Journal of Cardiology, Stress Medicine, and Preventive Cardiology, as well as business journals such as Harvard Business Review and Leadership Excellence. HeartMath’s organizational clients include NASA, BP, Duke University Health System, Stanford Business School, Redken, Kaiser Permanente, Boeing, and Cisco Systems, as well as dozens of school systems and thousands of health professionals around the world. To learn more about HeartMath, go to www.heartmath.com.

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