Health Tips for May 31

Health Tip: Living With a Pacemaker

A pacemaker is a device that's implanted in a person's chest to help maintain a regular heartbeat.

The American Heart Association offers these suggestions for managing with a pacemaker:

* Avoid applying pressure on the area where the pacemaker was implanted. You may want to wear a small pad over the area for comfort and protection.
* Your pacemaker cannot be damaged by bathing or swimming.
* Make sure to get some physical activity every day to improve your health and circulation. Feel free to resume the level of sexual activity that you had before the pacemaker was implanted.
* Don't push yourself too hard. Exercise so that you feel good, but stop if you start to feel too tired or sick.
* Always tell your doctor, a nurse, dentist or other health professional that you have a pacemaker. Carry an identification card that shows you have the device.
* Tell your doctor if you have trouble breathing, if you have swelling of the legs or ankles, if you have unexplained weight gain, or if you feel faint or dizzy.
* You shouldn't experience interference from most household electrical appliances.

Health Tip: Heart-Healthy Diet Should Start in Infancy

It's never too early to begin a heart-healthy diet -- even in infancy, the American Heart Association says.

Here are the AHA's recommendations:

* Breast-feeding offers babies the right nutritional balance until between 4 months and 6 months of age, when other foods should gradually be introduced to supplement breast-feeding.
* Avoid giving your baby 100 percent juice drinks until at least 6 months of age, then limit the amount to 4 ounces to 6 ounces per day.
* Be careful not to give infants and young children too much food, and don't force them to eat everything on their plate.
* Offer your child plenty of healthy foods. Even if the child isn't initially interested, continue to offer these foods.
* Avoid offering unhealthy foods just to get your child to eat something.