Lessons Learned From a Tragedy | Law Enforcement Today

In the wake of the tragic loss of New Jersey Detective Sergeant James G. Hoopes, III from New Jersey, I saw this as an opportunity to tug on your Heart stings literally because this was not the first cop to have died suddenly from a massive heart attack in 2012.

Six LEO?s have died from massive heart attacks within the first 6 months of 2012. The ages ranged from 40 to 55 years old. In my personal opinion, even one is too many to have lost.

Heart attacks happen all too frequently.? You could be in the best shape physically of your life. Sgt. Hoopes was in the middle of a physical fitness program run by his agency the day he passed away. He also coached different youth sports teams.? He seemed to be in great physical shape, but I wonder what he was putting into his body is where my curiosity lies.

From this tragedy, I invite you to re-evaluate how you are taking care of yourself.? How many of you are taking action steps to stay healthy for the long term?

I am not talking about the numbers are the scale, but treating any ongoing medical issues that you may have with more than just popping a pill.? In my opinion, taking a pill is like putting on a band aide to cover up the problem. We are taught from a very young age to go to the doctors when we don?t feel good. We don?t take a look at what we have done to our bodies to reach this point.

What happens when you go and see the doctor? You tell them all of the pains and woes that you have been feeling.? He or she writes for you a prescription for yet another pill. I have been that person.?? That is, until the day when a pain specialist told me that I needed ?to have a spinal stimulator placed into my spine.? This physician thought that this treatment ?should? help with my chronic pain.

I decided to take control of my body and take ownership of my pain and overall health. It all started with food! Food became my medicine. This same medicine can treat all chronic medical issues especially heart disease.

There is more to taking care of yourself as a police officer and reducing stress and being in the best physical shape.?? Don?t get me wrong; stress and inactivity do add fuel to the already smoldering fire called chronic disease. We have the power to take control of our health and how our overall bodies respond to AND reverse disease.

I offer you this data so you can be aware of what you are up against in this line of work. If you choose to overlook it and think to yourself ?It won?t happen to me.?, just know that the numbers Do Not Lie! This study was completed in 2009 by John Violanti, PhD. called ?Police Work and Atherosclerosis?.? Take a moment to read what the ?results and the conclusion? of the study have to say, this might change your mind and you might just OPT to take action to heal your heart.

Objective: Employment as an urban police officer was hypothesized to be associated with increased structural subclinical cardiovascular disease?(Cardio Vascular Disease), measured by carotid artery intima-media thickness (IMT).

Methods: The sample of men and women consisted of police officers? (n?312)?and?the general population (n?318),?free?of clinical CVD.

Results: Officers had elevated levels of age-adjusted CVD risk?factors (blood pressure, total cholesterol, smoking?prevalence) compared with the population sample. In age-, gender-, and traditional risk factor-adjusted?models, police officers exhibited increased mean common carotid IMT (police 0.67 mm, population ??0.64 mm; P 0.03) and mean maximum carotid IMT (police?? 0.99 mm, population?0.95 mm; P?0.13).

Conclusions: Police officers have increased levels of atherosclerosis compared with a general population sample, which was not fully explained by?elevated CVD risk factors; thereby potentially implicating other mechanisms whereby law enforcement work may increase CVD risk. (J Occup. Environ Med. 2009;51:700 ?707)

What the studies are saying is that police officers are at higher risk for cardiovascular disease and that stress, shift work and lack of sleep are some of the key reasons, but this is simply where the disease begins.

Here are a few other risk factors provided from the American Journal of Hypertension:

• Irregular physical activity
• Unhealthy diet and shift work
• Noise exposure
• Post traumatic stress disorder
• High demand of the job

What are some steps that you can put into action today?

• Get help: Health Coach, Nutritionist or a Wellness Coordinator. Find one that you connect with, who will hold you accountable and support you in achieving your goals. I know as a Health Coach, that my primary expectation of you is that you ?Show-up? for yourself. You are accountable for your own success and I act as your support and guide to maximize the potential of your success.
• Set goals: Begin by going to your medical provider and get a physical so you are fully aware of your current health state and your blood tests show. This will give you a starting point to work at goals that you set for yourself.
• Take smalls steps: add in more whole foods into your diet, drink more water, decrease sugar intake, exercise (any kind), sleep, and find healthy ways to relax and unwind.

By these simple steps you can begin your journey to healing your heart so your overall health, so your loved ones will not suffer from a broken heart.

Christa Cassilis-Hayburn is LET?s nutrition expert. She is a Certified Holistic Health Coach and Transformational Coach. She is the CEO of Connecting the Dots Solutions, offering pro-active health and lifestyle solutions to LEOs and their families. Christa was a Philadelphia police officer for 11 years. When she was 30, Christa suffered from duty-related nerve injuries in her left shoulder, elbow, and forearm. Unable to return to active full-duty, she pursued holistic health training at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition.? Christa took a comprehensive holistic approach to wellness, which included changing her diet, taking vitamins, and practicing stress reduction techniques. She now lives 90% pain free with NO medications.? Christa is very passionate about teaching others to overcome physical and emotional challenges while living a long life.? Visit her website at www.connectingthedotssoulutions.com or reach her directly at christahayburn@connectingthedotssoulutions.com

The Food and Drug Administration have not evaluated some information that has been provided. The information provided in these articles is designed for educational purposes only and should not be taken as Professional Medical Advice. I am not a medical doctor and this information is not to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease. With all medical conditions consult a qualified medical professional. All contents ? Copyright Christa Hayburn 2012, all rights reserved.

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Reference:

Officer Down Memorial Page

http://www.odmp.org/search?cause=Heart%20attack&from=2012&to=2012

Police Work and Subclinical Atherosclerosis, Violanti, J 2009 http://www.jimstonjournal.com/id130.html

Blood Pressure in Firefighter, Police Officers and other Emergency Responders. American Journal of Hypertension; Volume 22 Number 1, 2009

http://firefitsteeringgroup.co.uk/bloodpressureinemergencyresponders.pdf

Source: http://lawenforcementtoday.com/2012/10/12/lessons-learned-from-a-tragedy/

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