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Heart Disease Resources

People of all ages need to keep their heart healthy. Eating well, exercising regularly, and seeing your health care provider can help you keep your heart healthy. Work with your healthcare provider and adopt good lifestyle habits to help lower the risk of heart disease.

Heart disease describes conditions related to plaque building up in the walls of the arteries. Other conditions include arrhythmia (abnormal heart rhythms), congenital heart failure, and heart valve problems.

What is your risk?

Heart disease can happen to anyone, including children. You can be born with it, and a family history of heart disease may increase your risk.

Most heart disease develops over time due to poor habits such as smoking or eating an unhealthy diet. Having high cholesterol, high blood pressure, or diabetes also increases your risk of heart disease. Talk with your provider about ways to prevent or manage diabetes and control other risk factors.

What is a good resting heart rate?

A normal resting heart rate for adults ranges from 60 to 100 beats per minute (bpm). Remember, factors such as age, physical activity, and overall health can affect what is considered your normal resting heart rate.

Talk to your provider if you have concerns about your heart rate.

How does high blood pressure affect heart health?

The higher your blood pressure levels, the more risk you have for heart disease, heart attack, and stroke. Causes for high blood pressure include:

  • Diabetes
  • Being overweight or obese
  • Smoking
  • Not getting enough regular physical activity
  • Unhealthy diets, including high amounts of sodium and alcohol

Talk to your provider about how you can lower your blood pressure to help avoid heart disease and stroke.

How can you lower your risk of heart disease?
• Eat plenty of fruits, vegetables, whole grains, nuts, poultry, and fish; avoid having too much salt or sugar
• Maintain a healthy weight
• Exercise at least 150 minutes per week
• Keep your blood pressure, cholesterol, and blood sugar at a healthy level
• Don’t smoke or use any tobacco products
• Follow your doctor’s recommendations
Can heart disease be treated?
Yes. Talk to your provider about how to safely reduce the risk of heart disease. You can also talk about setting goals for a healthier heart. Your provider may also prescribe medication.
What are symptoms of a heart attack?

A heart attack occurs when the flow of blood to the heart is severely reduced or blocked. Be aware of the following symptoms:

  • Fatigue
  • Cold sweat
  • Nausea
  • Chest pain
  • Dizziness
  • Shortness of breath
  • Pain in the jaw, neck, arms, shoulder, or back

Call 911 if you or someone you know is having a heart attack.

What can cause Congestive Heart Failure?

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a chronic condition that makes it harder for your heart to pump blood and meet your body's needs. The following factors may increase your risk of CHF:

  • Diabetes
  • High cholesterol levels
  • High blood pressure
  • Poor diet
  • Not getting enough physical activity
  • Smoking and/or using tobacco
  • Being overweight or obese
  • Stress

Talk to your provider to learn more about CHF.

What can cause heart arrhythmia?

A heart arrhythmia is an irregular heartbeat. Factors that may cause arrhythmia include:

  • Blood sugar levels that are too low or too high
  • Caffeine, illegal drugs, and certain medications
  • Dehydration
  • Low levels of electrolytes, such as potassium, magnesium, or calcium
  • Physical activity
  • Strong emotional stress or anxiety
  • Vomiting or coughing
  • Smoke
  • Use illegal drugs, such as cocaine or amphetamines
  • Drink alcohol more often and more than is recommended (no more than 2 drinks per day for men and 1 drink per day for women)
  • Take certain antibiotics and over-the-counter allergy and cold medicines

Talk to your provider about how to prevent arrhythmias.

Here are some resources to help you prevent or manage heart disease:

 

Managing Blood Pressure Flyer

American Heart Association

 High Blood Pressure Resources Page (CDC)

Heart Health Articles and Videos (Healthwise)


 

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Fidelis Care and Police Athletic League Announce Renewed Partnership
5/5/2022 • Posted by Fidelis Care

Fidelis-Care-Police-Athletic-League-PAL-New-York-Partnership


May 5, 2022 (Long Island City, New York) – Today, Fidelis Care and Police Athletic League (PAL) announced an extension of their existing partnership. As the official 2022 health plan partner supporting PAL New York City programs, Fidelis Care will continue to support recreational, educational, cultural, and social activities throughout the year. The partnership aims to impact more than 18,000 kids across the five boroughs participating in programs such as PAL PLAYSTREETS, PAL Street Games, and PAL Early/Head Start Programs.

“Fidelis Care is looking forward to another year of impactful and collaborative work with PAL,” said Pam Hassen, Chief Member Engagement Officer. “Fidelis Care takes great pride in supporting the PAL mission by reaching New York City youth and providing greater access to quality health insurance through information and resources.”

“PAL is proud to partner with Fidelis Care to provide critical information regarding health and wellness with our parents, participants and stakeholders,” said Marcel Braithwaite, Director of Community Engagement, PAL. “We look forward to continuing our collaboration, as we at PAL work with the NYPD and the law enforcement community to support and inspire New York City youth.”

 

With the support of Fidelis Care, the following PAL programs will receive funding:

PAL Street Games

PAL Street Games began in 2020 when staff realized that there would be no team sports. Along with NYPD volunteers, staff took games such as dodgeball, basketball, and double dutch to the streets of NYC. PAL Street Games allow kids to stay active and interact with police officers in a positive and fun environment.

 

PAL PLAYSTREETS

PAL PLAYSTREETS have helped communities take back their streets by providing opportunities for children to engage in organized physical activities, to learn valuable lessons about positive life choices, and to access helpful resources. For seven weeks each summer, PAL closes public areas in New York City neighborhoods suffering from high

rates of crime and poverty to create supervised and fun-filled places for children ages 6-16 to play in safety. Each PLAYSTREET has fun athletic and recreational equipment, as well as arts and crafts, to make a positive experience for the kids.

 

PAL Early Head Start and Head Start Programs

PAL Early Head Start and Head Start programs provide a safe, secure, developmentally appropriate environment and emphasize active family engagement and strong collaboration with the local community. PAL's learning environment for Early Head Start (EHS 2 year olds), and Head Start (HS 3-5 year olds) children enables PAL to address each child’s individual strengths and needs, giving them a strong social, emotional, physical, language, literacy and cognitive foundation prior to entering kindergarten. PAL has been providing vital early childhood education to New York City families for more than 50 years.

 

Fidelis Care will also participate in PAL events throughout the year to answer questions, share information, and make it as easy as possible for parents to learn about quality health insurance for their children.

 


 

About Fidelis Care:

Fidelis Care is a mission-driven health plan offering quality, affordable coverage for children and adults of all ages and at all stages of life. With more than 2.4 million members statewide, Fidelis Care believes that all New Yorkers should have access to affordable, quality health insurance. Follow us on LinkedIn at linked.com/fideliscare, on Twitter at @fideliscare, Instagram at @fideliscare, and on Facebook at facebook.com/fideliscare. For more information, call Fidelis Care at 1-888-FIDELIS (1-888-343-3547) or visit fideliscare.org.

 

Police Athletic League

New York City’s Police Athletic League is the first and finest civilian-run PAL in the country. Founded in 1914, PAL has served the city’s young people for over 100 years. PAL provides recreational, educational, cultural and social activities to 18,000 boys and girls annually.  It is also the city’s largest independent nonprofit youth organization. For more information, please visit www.palnyc.org.