The Great American Smokeout & Story Contest | November 17
Every year, on the third Thursday of November, smokers across the nation take part in the American Cancer Society’s Great American Smokeout. The annual event encourages tobacco users to use the date to make a plan to quit, or plan in advance and then quit smoking that day. By quitting – even for 1 day – smokers will be taking an important step toward a healthier life and reducing their cancer risk.
KANA’s Tobacco Prevention and Education Program invites you to join the celebration by sharing in its Great American Smokeout Story Contest. The Tobacco Prevention team is accepting brief stories about your journey to quit smoking. Entries can include quitting for a day or a lifetime, and will be eligible to win prizes including a frozen turkey for Thanksgiving. Entries must be submitted by 5 PM on November 15th. For contest rules, questions, or to submit your story, please contact the KANA’s Tobacco Prevention program at 486-9800 or online at www.kodiakhealthcare.org.
About 40 million Americans still smoke cigarettes, and tobacco use remains the single largest preventable cause of disease and premature death in the world. While cigarette smoking rates have dropped, other dangerous and addictive ways to smoke tobacco are very much on the rise. Smoking kills people – there’s no “safe” way to smoke tobacco.[xyz-ihs snippet=”adsense-body-ad”]
Quitting smoking has immediate and long-term benefits at any age. Quitting is hard, but you can increase your chances of success with help. Getting help through counseling or medications can double or triple the chances of quitting successfully. Join millions of smokers around the country in quitting tobacco on November 17 for the Great American Smokeout. For more information to help you quit, explore alaskaquitline.com.
Flu Season is Nearly Here, it’s Time to Get Vaccinated
Days are growing shorter and a chill is in the air, sure signs that flu season will be upon us soon. The flu is a contagious respiratory disease that infects the nose, throat, and lungs, especially in winter months. People often confuse the common cold for flu because the symptoms are similar. But, colds are usually milder than flu, which can have serious effects.
Flu can lead to serious complications, hospitalization, or even death. Pneumonia and bronchitis are examples of serious flu-related complications. Flu also can cause certain health conditions, like diabetes, asthma, and heart and lung disease, to become worse. Healthy people also can become sick with the flu and experience serious complications.
Reasons to get a flu vaccine:
- Flu vaccination can keep you from getting sick from flu.
- Flu vaccination can reduce the risk of flu-associated hospitalization, including among children and older adults.
- Flu vaccination also has been shown to be associated with reduced hospitalizations among people with diabetes and chronic lung disease.
- Vaccination helps protect women during and after pregnancy. Getting vaccinated also protects the developing baby during pregnancy and for several months after the baby is born.
- Flu vaccination also may make your illness milder if you do get sick.
Even if you are one of the lucky ones who bounces back quickly from a flu illness, people around you might not be so lucky. You may be able to spread the flu to someone else before you know you are sick or while you are sick with the flu. Getting vaccinated yourself protects people around you, including those who are more vulnerable to serious flu illness, like babies and young children, older people, and people with certain chronic health conditions.
To make an appointment to get your flu shot, call the KANA Medical Clinic at 486-9800 or Mill Bay Health Center at 486-7300.
#iKANAdoFIT Step It Up Team Completed 2 Million+ Steps!
Quyanaa to everyone who participated in our Step It Up! Challenge, a call to action by America’s Surgeon General to walk your way to better health this month. Step It Up! focuses on promoting optimal health before disease occurs in all ages and stages of life. Carving out just 22 minutes a day on average or 2 ½ hours a week for physical activity, like brisk walking, can do wonders for your overall health.
25 participants joined the KANA Wellness Center’s #iKANAdoFIT team to complete 2,045,784 steps! KANA employees, Native Beneficiaries, and community members signed up for the challenge and really stepped it up. For the total stats from the challenge, visit the Wellness Center’s Facebook page.
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