You At Your Best

sPecial TO YOu aT YOur BesT Periodic aches and pains can affect anyone. Individuals who are physically active and even those who live largely sedentary lifestyles may experience pain from time to time. In fact, many professional and amateur athletes experience relatively minor, short-term injuries at one point or another, and rest is often the best remedy to overcome such obstacles. Though minor tweaks may be somewhat normal, long-term issues like persistent joint pain should not be written off as par for the course. It can be tempting to write joint pain off as a concern only serious athletes need to worry about. Terms like "tennis elbow" and "runner's knee" can give less physically active individuals a false impression of joint pain and what causes it. But the Mayo Clinic notes that lack of exercise can contribute to pain and stiffness in the joints. That's because exercise strengthens the muscles and tissues that surround the joints. That added strength puts less stress on the joints. In recognition of the threat posed by chronic joint pain, the Arthritis Foundation® recommends individuals take various steps to protect their joints over the long haul. • Focus less on fashion in regard to footwear. High heels may be the epitome of glamorous footwear, but women who routinely wear high heels will pay a steep price. The AF notes that heels put added stress on the knees and increase risk for osteoporosis, and experts indicate that three-inch heels are seven times more stressful on feet than one-inch heels. But women aren't the only ones whose footwear fashion sense could be hurting their joints. Men also must pay attention to what they're putting on their feet. For example, sandals without a back strap force toes to overgrip the edge of the sandal, putting needless strain on each foot and potentially causing issues with the toes. • Alternate between sitting and standing throughout the day. Joint stiffness and strain can develop when individuals spend lengthy periods of time sitting or standing. The AF recommends taking a break to stand up or sit down every 30 minutes. Professionals who sit at a desk all day may want to switch to height- adjustable desks that make it easy for them to transition from sitting to standing and still get their work done. • Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight causes a ripple effect that impacts the entire body, including the joints. The AF notes that researchers have determined that losing 11 pounds can reduce risk for osteoarthritis of the knee by 50 percent. On the flip side, each extra pound an individual carries puts four times the stress on his or her knees. Exercising to lose weight can provide the added benefit of preventing joint stiffness. • Opt for low-impact activities. Low- impact activities like cycling and swimming are easier on the joints than fitness classes that involve high-intensity dancing and kickboxing. In addition, when choosing between a treadmill and elliptical machine, the Mayo Clinic notes that ellipticals are generally considered low-impact machines that are less stressful on the knees, hips and back than running on a treadmill or even outdoors. Various strategies can help individuals maintain healthy, pain-free joints over the long haul. Long-term solutions to protect joints cOurTesY aMerican hearT assOciaTiOn Two years into the pandemic, researchers have learned a lot about how COVID-19 affects people with heart disease and stroke survivors. But like the coronavirus itself, what everyone needs to know keeps evolving. "You can't assume that what was true three months ago is true now," said Dr. James de Lemos, a cardiologist at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. Thanks to the omicron variant, "it's a fundamentally different pandemic than it was at Thanksgiving." Early data suggests omicron causes less severe illness but spreads more easily than its predecessors. So heart and stroke patients need to protect themselves, starting with understanding that COVID-19 still is a threat to their health. "Early on, we recognized that the risk was higher for those with pre- existing cardiovascular disease," said Dr. Biykem Bozkurt, a cardiologist at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, people with conditions such as heart failure, coronary artery disease and possibly high blood pressure may be more likely to get severely ill from COVID-19. So can people who have diabetes, are overweight or are recovering from a stroke. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, also has been linked to increased risk of several cardiovascular conditions. According to a September 2021 report from the CDC, people with COVID-19 are nearly 16 times more likely to have heart inflammation, or myocarditis, than uninfected people. The report found about 150 cases per 100,000 people with COVID-19 versus about nine cases per 100,000 people without the virus. In addition, an August 2021 study in the New England Journal of Medicine showed people with the coronavirus may have a significantly higher, albeit rare, risk of intracranial hemorrhage, or brain bleeding; heart attack; and having an arrhythmia, or abnormal heartbeat. Researchers don't have full data on omicron's effects yet, Bozkurt said, but it's still affecting people who are vulnerable. The risks of any one person having a severe problem from the new variant are relatively small, de Lemos said. "But the flipside is, given how many people are getting infected right now, the cumulative number of people with COVID-19 complications is still very large." De Lemos, who helped create the American Heart Association's COVID-19 Cardiovascular Disease Registry, said omicron "is obviously wildly more infectious and able to evade the vaccine to some extent, although it does appear that the vaccine seems to prevent severe infections and hospitalizations." And overall, "we don't know a ton about specifically why certain patients with heart disease do less well," he said, although understanding has evolved over time. In the beginning, de Lemos said, doctors feared the virus directly infected the heart muscle. "That doesn't really appear to be the case," he said. Instead, it appears that in severe cases, the virus is inflaming the lining of blood vessels of the heart and increasing the likelihood of clotting in the smallest vessels, he said. COVID-19 also can overwhelm the heart by making it work harder to pump oxygenated blood through the body as the lungs are overwhelmed. But as they've learned more about the coronavirus, doctors have gotten better at fighting it. For example, de Lemos said, they now work proactively to treat blood-clotting disorders in hospitalized patients. And although researchers are working to understand lingering effects known as "long COVID," it appears long-term implications for the heart look favorable. What heart and stroke patients need to know about CoViD-19 in 2022 6 | YOu aT YOur BesT | YOuaTYOurBesT.nWaOnline.cOM March - Wellness | sunDaY, FeBruarY 27 2022

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