Monday, April 16, 2012

De-Stress on tax day and help your heart

Although it comes two days later than usual, tax day is upon us tomorrow, April 17. Hopefully, you've already filed your taxes, but if you're caught in a last-minute rush, remember to take a moment.

You see, stress kills. When I first started writing about heart disease several years ago, it was very difficult to get the cardiology community to take stress seriously, but that's no longer true. If stress was considered at all, it was viewed as a contributing factor. The thought was that, if you were under stress, you might smoke more, eat the wrong foods, and let exercise slide.

This is still true, but now we recognize that, when we are faced with sudden stress, your body pumps out certain stress hormones, like adrenalin and cortisol, which hikes blood pressure, speeds up the heart, and can even result in a heart attack. Witness the increase in heart attacks after an earthquake, or other natural disaster.

But chronic stress plays a deadly role as well. When you are under chronic stress, your levels of these hormones remain elevated, and this can contribute to high blood pressure and high cholesterol, both which can result in heart disease.

So don't stress - celebrate tax day by being good to yourself. I will be at my gym, Equinox South Beach, which is offering a free Tax De-Stress Yoga Class from 7-8:15 p.m. for members and non-members alike. If you're in my area, join me.

If you're not, pamper yourself. Get a message, a facial, hit the gym for a workout (exercise is a wonderful stress reliever) and remember, you can have time to file an extension tomorrow.

More info: Equinox