Health and wellness is important to you and to MSU. The healthier our faculty and staff are, the healthier MSU will be. This category features information related to wellness at MSU.
According to the CDC, in the United States someone has a heart attack every 43 seconds.
Heart disease is the number one cause of death in America, and heart attacks are among the most common results of the disease. However, diagnosing and even recognizing the symptoms of a heart attack can be difficult, because there are so many other conditions that are accompanied by discomfort or pressure in the chest.
The most common symptom of a heart attack is described as a feeling of pressure or being squeezed by a fist inside the central chest. Additional symptoms that heart attack patients describe include pain in the upper arm or across the back, as well as up into the neck and jaw, while others report feelings of heartburn, nausea, or abdominal pain.Continue Reading… At the heart of the matter
There’s nothing like a hot meal to warm you up in the cold winter months. Once again, Residential and Hospitality Services Senior Executive Chef Kurt Kwiatkowski has provided us with some delicious recipes to share. These winter warmers will bring a smile to your face and impress any guest! One of Chef Kurt’s favorite recipes is the beef dish below, and you can also try out his Shrimp Scampi and Catalan Seafood Stew recipes.
Slow Cooked Balsamic Beef
4# beef chuck roast
Salt and pepper for seasoning
2 T. olive oil
1 c. chicken broth
ÂĽ c. red wine
1 medium onion sliced
2 carrots peeled and rough cut
1 package of baby bella mushrooms quartered
1½ c. large cut pieces of rutabaga
1 bay leaf
8 oz. Tomato Sauce
3 T. Balsamic Vinegar
ÂĽ c. chopped flat leaf Italian parsley
Zest of one lemon
1 clove of garlic minced
Generously season both sides of the roast with salt and pepper
Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat and sear each side of the roast for about 3-5 minutes.
Add broth and wine to the hot skillet to de-glaze it, scraping up the brown bits on the pan remove from heat and reserve.
Place sliced onions, carrots, mushrooms then rutabaga in the bottom of the slow cooker and put the seared meat on top.
Pour the deglazed sauce mixture on top of the meat in the slow cooker.
Combine balsamic vinegar and tomato sauce in a small bowl and pour over meat in the crock pot.
Cover & Crock on Low for 6-8 hours.
Remove and serve with lemon/garlic/parsley topping (gremolata)
Love your own heart by making regular check-up appointments and monitoring high blood pressure.
Heart disease is the leading cause of death for women in the United States. According to the CDC, only 54 percent of women are aware of this fact.
February is American Heart Month, a time to advertise the dangers of heart disease and the ways in which to prevent it. Tomorrow, February 5, is National Wear Red Day, a day organized by Go Red for Women, a nonprofit organization within the American Heart Association. To begin supporting the cause, all you need to do is wear red on Friday!Continue Reading… Get informed during American Heart Month
The new year serves as a common time for people to begin improving the health of their minds and bodies. An often-overlooked but vital part of human health is emotional wellness. Health4U is introducing a new experiential course, The Daring Way™, that teaches participants how to understand and examine their emotions. Lisa Laughman, LMSW, ACSW, will be teaching the course, and affirms that “learning to live and work the Daring Way is essential to high performance.” Workers that are able to navigate the full range of human emotions and understand how vulnerability, shame, insecurity and fear might hold them back will be more likely to take risks and will be emotionally prepared when things go wrong.
“The Daring Way teaches you how to be more comfortable with risk and innovation, and risk aversion is a barrier to high performance,” Laughman said. “When we’re afraid to take a risk because we’re afraid of failing, then we’re not being as high performing as we could be.”
Participants in The Daring Way program will develop tools to take charge of their lives and relationships outside of work, as well.
“Being able to move through challenging circumstances effectively is going help you have healthier relationships, a better sense of perspective, and will protect your physical health as well.”  Laughman said. “Your body is not going to be resisting difficult emotions.”
Each of the 12 classes for The Daring Way take place 12:10 – 12:50 p.m. Wednesdays in 338 Olin Health Center, beginning January 20. The class will now be offered using the online learning platform Zoom, and online seating is still available.
Participants should sign up with the intention to attend every class, if possible.
To register or to ask questions, email health4u@msu.edu or call 517-353-2596.
The benefits of quitting smoking have been made very clear throughout the last few years. In addition to the numerous health improvements, such as a return to regular breathing patterns and a decrease in the risk of heart disease and many forms of cancer, quitters also enjoy saved money, a better sense of smell and taste, more freedom with time and scheduling, and much more. However, knowledge is rarely enough to end an addiction. Many smokers find the task of quitting daunting, or even impossible.
Eligible faculty and staff at MSU don’t have to go through the process alone. The Breathe Easy Tobacco and Nicotine Cessation Program offers behavioral support and, if desired, medication, to aid the quitting process. The next information session is Wednesday, January 27 from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. in 247 Olin Health Center. Attending the information session does not obligate attendees to enroll in the program. To register, call 517-353-2596 or email health4u@msu.edu.
The program is absolutely free. MSU faculty, staff, graduate student employees, retirees, and their adult benefits-eligible family members are eligible to participate in this program.
Sometimes the first step is the most difficult. The team at Breathe Easy can guide you along the rest of the way to quitting. Listen to the testimonials from real graduates of this program:
A snow-covered bridge. Photo courtesy of Communications and Brand Strategy.
It’s easy to forget the trials of winter transportation after months of clear roads. Here are a few safety tips for getting around in the cold and snow.
Driving
Drive slowly and leave extra room between you and the vehicle in front of you.
Anticipate extra time needed for scraping ice and snow off your vehicle and/or slower driving.
Always have at least a half tank of gas in your vehicle.
Leave with warm clothes. If you get in an accident or your vehicle gets stuck, you will need to spend some time outside.
Don’t warm up your vehicle in an enclosed area, such as a garage.
Make sure the exhaust pipe isn’t clogged with snow, ice or mud.
Joint replacement surgery has become very common in the United States, with surgeons replacing more than a million hips and knees each year with very high success rates. Nine out of 10 people who get a hip or knee replacement have significantly reduced pain and increased mobility.
Who is a candidate for replacement surgery?
Although joint replacement is usually needed later in life, anyone who experiences chronic joint pain or reduced mobility in the knees or hips is a candidate for replacement surgery (depending on a variety of other factors). Surgeons will look for signs of osteoarthritis or joint degeneration, the most common forms of arthritis, as the starting point for a plan of treatment.Continue Reading… Health Matters: Knee and hip replacement
This article was written by the MSU Bike Advisory Committee.
MSU has upgraded to the silver level of the Bicycle Friendly University Award! As we continue to advance the bicycle-friendly nature of MSU, it’s important for drivers to do their part in ensuring safety on shared roads.
A cyclist travels alongside vehicles on Farm Lane. Photo courtesy of Tim Potter.
As you drive to work, why not use more attention and compassion towards your fellow commuters and make the morning commute safer and more enjoyable for everyone? Remember that your fellow commuter might be on foot or on a bike and that every one of them means one less car on the road and one less car competing for a parking space!
If you drive a car to work you should take special care when passing cyclists. Cyclists have the same rights and responsibilities on Michigan roads as other vehicles. When passing a cyclist, make sure to pass at a safe distance. Don’t attempt to squeeze by cyclists in the same lane even though you think there’s enough room, as they may suddenly need extra room to avoid potholes, dead animals, or an icy patch on the road. Many places, including the City of Grand Rapids, already have safe passing laws that require 5 feet of safe passing distance.
Also, don’t forget to watch out for pedestrians at cross walks. Michigan law requires vehicles to yield to pedestrians in cross walks.
At the same time cyclists and pedestrians are required to follow traffic rules: don’t cross a street when you have a “don’t walk” signal or a red light. Michigan law requires cyclists to stop at stop signs and red lights just as any other vehicle.
But besides following basic rules, even more important is to be alert and courteous. This makes commuting a better experience for everyone. Just remember, the cyclist you just buzzed might be working at the Clinical Center and giving you a flu shot later, or it might be the professor of your next MSU class.
All commuters share two goals: get to work safely and get home safely after work. Let’s work together to make that happen!
First snowfalls, holiday preparations and the beginning of basketball and hockey seasons might be fun, but they signal the onset of a dreaded annual occurrence: cold and flu season.
The cold can happen year-round, but the flu is generally seasonal and can be more harmful. The first step to prevent the flu is getting the vaccination in the fall. There are four more campus flu clinics providing free shots to faculty and staff until November 16.Continue Reading… Prevent the cold and flu this season
Autumn leaves line the sidewalk to the Music Practice Building. Photo courtesy of Communications and Brand Strategy.
Time flies when you’re busy, and the season of fall is no exception to that rule with the return of students, football Saturdays and increased campus activities. Fall is stunning on campus, and now in the middle of October the colorful trees are at their most beautiful.
Set aside some time in the next few weeks to slow down with a walk through campus, taking in the scenery and breathing crisp autumn air.
Michigan State has many hidden gems that you might not be familiar with. Just north of East Neighborhood, the Sanford Natural area offers a quiet stroll through the woods right next to the Red Cedar River.
In the southeast corner of campus you can admire a variety of specially designed gardens in the Clarence E. Lewis Arboretum.
Paths criss-cross throughout West Circle. Photo courtesy of Communications and Brand Strategy.
West Circle, the River Trail and Beal Botanical Garden are, deservedly so, well-known beautiful destinations for campus walks as well.
You can also find paths with campus art on the way and keep track of your mileage with this Campus Walking Loops map.
With such a wide variety of walking tours to choose from, you can spend the rest of the fall exploring campus, soothing your mind and exercising your body.
Joint replacement surgery has become very common in the United States, with surgeons replacing more than a million hips and knees each year with very high success rates. Nine out of 10 people who get a hip or knee replacement have significantly reduced pain and increased mobility.
