Wednesday, February 17, 2016 Bertie Ledger-Advance From Page 1 Heart From PAGE A1 internal medicine at Vidant Internal Medi cine in Edenton, said there are two different types of stress - acute (short-term) stress is the body’s instant re sponse to any situation that seems demanding or dangerous. Chronic (long-term) stress is caused by stressful sit uations or events that last over a long period of time. Stress can lead to high blood pressure, ir regular heartbeat, heart attack and/or heart fail- “Over time stress can affect not just your heart, but your entire body. It can affect your immime system where you’re more likely to get sick more often, chronic illness, mus cles and the stomach,” Bonner said. “It could also affect your repro ductive organs, lungs and skin.” Bonner also talked about stress and how it can affect the mind. “Being under a great deal of stress can add to feelings of depres sion, such as sadness, increased crying, poor motivation, fatigue, etc,” Bonner said. “We can’t always control the things that cause us stress, but we can con trol how we respond or how we cope. You have to find your ovm way of living with heart.” Living with heart was the theme,for the heart health event this year. After Bormer talked about stress, he intro duced Sears who went more into detail about heart disease and living with it. “Heart diseEise is a gut check; it changes everything you know,” Sears said. Sears is a professor of psychology and car diovascular sciences at East Carolina Univer sity. He said heart dis ease is tricky, because a long time ago when someone had heart dis ease, they didn’t know how to cope with it, so it took their life. Sears said the goal of his pre sentation was for ev eryone to walk away with one new strategy on how to cope with heart disease. “Living with heart means full Engagement of your mind and body to live life fully,” Sears said. “Preventing heart problems or recovering from heart issues takes deliberate and strategic steps.” Sears listed some mind strategies when dealing with the heart, one being to check stress level regularly to catch distress early. “Identifying early distress can allow you to change course and manage it before it gets out of control,” Sears said. Other mind strate gies are acknowledging changes as challenges and develop life change tolerance, engage in goal setting and acti vate positive thinking. “The power of posi tive thinking involves realistically evaluating the events of life and choosing to empha size the desirable and valuable aspects of the world around us,” Sears said. * Sears also listed body strategies when dealing with the'heart. “Plan some pleasant events,” Sears said. “To break the cycle of stress and distress, make and follow a plan of pleas ant and peaceful activi ties.” Other body strategies are to maintain physi cal activity level, get plenty of sleep and to relax and take care of yourself. “Involving loved ones can also be an impor tant part of a wellness plan,” Sears added. “We all have limited time,, so how we spend time with others can be important.” Sears said that cop ing with heart disease requires a toolbox of strategies. The more strategies someone has the more successful they will be. He listed five strategies that will help people cope. He called it a ‘coping line up.’ The line-up is - out look, support, action, knowledge and stress management. The first of that line- CONTRIBUTED PHOTO The Windsor High School Class of 1929, which included the ring’s owner - Julia Lawrence. Found From PAGE A1 We did a lot of research and made a book of the years of the school,” added Warlick. This book contained class pic tures of the graduating classes from the school. The class of 1929’s picture was in the book. The ring’s owner was Julia Lawrence, a 1929 graduate of Windsor High School. Lawrence has a daughter, Cornelia Asbell, who currently resides in Florida. “She (Asbell) was just tick led,” said Warlick. Corprew was planning to ship the ring from Texas to Asbell in Florida last Friday. “ I remember him (Corprew) trying to find the owner of the ring back then, and the funny thing is, the daughter was only three classes behind him,” War lick added. up is outlook, which is about survivorship. Sears said a shift from victim to survivor re duces stress, and that people should take pride from their scars. The next step is social support. Sears asked people to consider who their lifelines were, the people on whom they can call in times of need. Sears said it’s im portant for everyone to have three lifelines. “Lifelines can be any one, a friend, a relative, a medical professional, a pastor,” Sears said. “Supportive communi cation requires a RING plan (reassure, instill hope, normalize and go plan).” The third step in cop ing is to take action. Sears said it is impor tant to do what you love. “Identify activities you love and find time to fit them into your schedule,” Sears said. The next part of cop ing is to be knowledge able about the disease. “Knowledge alone doesn’t make change. You have to engage your mind and your actions and understand how you body and mind can live with heart disease and adapt,” Sears said. The final step in coping, according to Sears, is stress manage ment. He said this step is about focusing on coping and to tolerate stress, to recognize vic tories and re-engage. “Every change leads to more changes. Start coping by making small changes in small ways,” Sears said. Sears closed out by telling the audience that the quality of life is an achievement, not an entitlement. All citizens who par ticipated in the heart health event were given a goodie bag from the hospital and a pletho ra of infonnation and take-home pamphlets. Bertie Health Department slates clinics WINDSOR - The Bertie County Health Department has slated its clinics schedule. They include the following dates: Wednesday, Feb. 17 Bertie: New Prenatal-PM, General, WIC-All Day Thursday, Feb. 18 Bertie: Adult Health-AM, General, WIC Friday, Feb. 19 Bertie: General Monday, Feb. 22 Bertie: Women’s Health Ser- vices-All Day, General Thesday, Feb. 23 ^ Bertie: Child Health-PM, Gen eral, WIC Wednesday, Feb. 24 Bertie: General, WIC-All Day, DR. Prenatal-PM Thursday, Feb. 25 Bertie: General Friday, Feb. 26 Bertie: General, Pediatric Pri mary Care-AM Monday, Feb. 29 Bertie: General, DEPO-PM. Subscribe Today: Call 794-3185 for details rmm:: 30 30-IVlinutes-Or-Less E.R. Service Pledge Less waiting where it matters most our emergency room. 1’! a medical emergency, every minute matters. So, at Martin General Hospital, you’ll rind faster care in the emergency room. We work diligently to have you initially seen by a medical p'ofessional* irs )o minutes - or less. And, with a team of dedicated medical specialists, we can tvovide a lot more care, if you need it. The 30-Minutes-Or-Less E.R. Service Pledge - at Martin General Hospital. Martin General Hospital MartinGeneral.com 4with a sLitVscription to the Bertie L.oJger-AcivonceM^ — • — — may ird'.r.t.’ di>.d nuiM' k>wctilione(s. ISosrtie Iiecifter-A.clv*m* o «0«> 53. Kin«; St. , 2£>3-7t>4-3

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