According to recent data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 610,000 people die of heart disease in the United States every year—one in every four deaths. Heart disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women. Every year, about 735,000 Americans have a heart attack.
The costs to employers of heart disease are significant. According to the CDC, four of the ten most expensive health conditions for U.S. employers—high blood pressure, heart attack, diabetes, and chest pain—are related to heart disease and stroke. Productivity losses linked to employees who miss work cost employers $225.8 billion, or$1,695 per employee, each year.
Creating a heart-healthy workplace involves recognizing heart attack and stroke signs and symptoms, in addition to specific measures designed to increase heart health.
Signs of a Heart Attack
Employers and employees should be able to recognize the signs and symptoms of a heart attack. A heart attack, also called a myocardial infarction, occurs when a part of the heart muscle doesn’t receive enough blood flow. The more time that passes without treatment to restore blood flow, the greater the damage to the heart muscle. A less common cause is a severe spasm, or sudden contraction, of a coronary artery that can stop blood flow to the heart muscle.
Someone having a heart attack may experience several symptoms, including:
- Chest pain or discomfort. Most heart attacks involve discomfort in the center or left side of the chest. The discomfort usually lasts for more than a few minutes or goes away and comes back. It can feel like pressure, squeezing, fullness, or pain. It also can feel like heartburn or indigestion. The feeling can be mild or severe.
- Upper body discomfort. An individual may feel pain or discomfort in one or both arms, the back, shoulders, neck, jaw, or upper part of the stomach (above the belly button).
- Shortness of breath. This may be the only symptom, or it may occur before or along with chest pain or discomfort. It can occur when resting or doing a little bit of physical activity.
Chest pain or discomfort that doesn’t go away or changes from its usual pattern (for example, occurs more often or while resting) can be a sign of a heart attack. Pay attention to these other possible symptoms of a heart attack:
- Breaking out in a cold sweat.
- Feeling unusually tired for no reason, sometimes for days (especially in women).
- Nausea (feeling sick to the stomach) and vomiting.
- Light-headedness or sudden dizziness.
- Any sudden, new symptoms or a change in the pattern of symptoms you already have (for example, if symptoms become stronger or last longer than usual).
Employees who think that they or someone they know is having a heart attack should call 9-1-1 immediately.
Signs of a Stroke
A stroke occurs when the flow of blood to the bran is interrupted. If the flow of blood is interrupted, brain cells start to die within minutes, because they can’t get oxygen. Sudden bleeding in the brain can also cause a stroke if it damages brain cells. A stroke can cause lasting brain damage, long-term disability, or even death.
Signs of stroke include:
- Sudden numbness or weakness in the face, arm, or leg, especially on one side of the body.
- Sudden confusion, trouble speaking, or difficulty understanding speech.
- Sudden trouble seeing in one or both eyes.
- Sudden trouble walking, dizziness, loss of balance, or lack of coordination.
- Sudden severe headache with no known cause.
If an employee thinks that a co-worker may be having a stroke, the employee can perform the following simple “F.A.S.T.” test:
- F – Face: Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?
- A – Arms: Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?
- S – Speech: Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is their speech slurred or strange?
- T – Time: If you observe any of these signs, call 9-1-1 immediately.
Heart Disease Prevention: What You Can Do
The CDC recommends taking a number of actions to prevent heart disease. These measures, discussed in this section, include living a healthy lifestyle, and preventing and treating certain medical conditions.
Living a Healthy Lifestyle
Components of a healthy lifestyle include eating a healthy diet, maintaining a healthy
weight, and exercise. The CDC recommends the following measures:
- Choosing healthful meal and snack options. Doing so can help employees avoid heart disease and its complications. The CDC recommends eating plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and fewer processed foods.
- Eating foods low in saturated fat, trans fat and cholesterol, and high in fiber. Doing so can help prevent high cholesterol.
- Limiting salt/sodium in one’s diet. This can lower blood pressure.
- Maintaining a healthy weight. Being overweight or obese can increase the risk for heart disease. To determine whether a person’s weight is in a healthy range, doctors often calculate a number called the Body Mass Index (BMI). Doctors sometimes also use waist and hip measurements to measure a person’s excess body fat. Note: Employees can calculate their BMI with the CDC’s BMI Calculator.
- Exercising on a regular basis allows a person to maintain a healthy weight and lower blood pressure, cholesterol, and sugar levels. The Surgeon General recommends that adults engage in moderate-intensity exercise (e.g., brisk walking or bicycling) for 2 hours and 30 minutes every week.
Preventing and Treating Certain Medical Conditions
Employees who have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes, can take steps to lower their risk for heart disease, which include:
- Checking cholesterol. The CDC recommends that cholesterol levels be tested at least once every five years. Employees can talk with their doctor about this simple blood test. If employees have high cholesterol, medications and lifestyle changes can help reduce their risk for heart disease.
- Monitoring blood pressure. High blood pressure has no symptoms, so it should be checked on a regular basis. Employees should measure their blood pressure at least once every 2 years if they have never had high blood pressure or other risk factors for heart disease. Employees diagnosed with high blood pressure should measure their blood pressure more frequently.
- Managing diabetic conditions. Employees with diabetes should closely monitor blood sugar levels and talk with their health care provider about treatment options. A doctor may recommend certain lifestyle changes to help keep blood sugar under control—those actions may help reduce the risk for heart disease.
- Taking medications. Employees who take medication to treat high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes should follow doctor’s instructions carefully, and always ask questions if they don’t understand something.
- Talking with a health care provider. Employees can work with their doctor to prevent or treat the medical conditions that lead to heart disease (or diabetes). Employees should discuss their treatment plan regularly and bring a list of questions to doctor appointments.
Tips for a Heart-Healthy Workplace
The following are tips and guidelines to create a heart-healthy workplace:
- Provide consistent and frequent heart and stroke prevention messages to employees throughout your company (e.g., posters, memos, newsletters, e-mail, or websites).
- Provide heart-healthy and low-cost cafeteria and snack options, so that employees have healthy food andbeverage choices for breakfast and lunch, and during meetings or other events. Providing these choicesallows employees to maintain a healthy weight, which can lower the risk for heart disease.
- Ensure that vending machine and cafeteria foods and beverages contain point-of-purchase nutrition information.
- Develop smoke-free policies (e.g., smoking bans in company vehicles). Cigarette smoking greatly increases the risk for heart disease. Note: State and/or local laws may require employers to implement smoke-free workplace policies and post appropriate signage. Check with your state’s labor department for more information.
- Develop policies that allow employees to use work time for health promotion activities.
- Provide clearly marked walking paths and accessible places to exercise, along with walking programs.
- Provide signs to encourage stair use.
- Provide mentoring programs with employees who have made successful heart-healthy lifestyle changes.
- Consider offering on-site cholesterol, blood sugar and blood-pressure checking as a component of theworkplace wellness program.
- Engage in partnerships with larger wellness programs in the community (e.g., YMCAs, hospitals, or health centers) if your business is too small to support its own services.
