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Deficiency of this vitamin increases musculoskeletal pain, fracture risk, muscle weakness and muscle loss.
What is Vitamin D?
Not enough exposure to sunlight, Darker skin pigment, Malnutrition or gut absorption problems, Kidney or liver disease, Certain medications
Osteoporosis & hip and spine fractures, Muscle weakness & falls, Chronic pain, Impaired immunity, Fatigue & low energy, Mood changes, Possible cardiometabolic effects – Linked to hypertension, insulin resistance
What is drinking alcohol OR using cell phones or hands-free devices. (increases collision risk about 4x)
Now that the pager is quiet and the tones don’t drop anymore, this invisible buildup from decades of bad calls, shift work, and “I’m fine” can still mess with sleep, mood, and blood pressure.
What is chronic stress?
Even though this can feel relaxing, this common substance is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen and is linked to cancers of the mouth, throat, liver, colon, and breast.
What is alcohol?
Spending time in nature is healthy. This is the minimum time spent per week in nature to get health benefits according to studies.
What is 2 hours/week?
Improved well-being, reduced depression and anxiety, reduced blood pressure, improve immune function, reduce cortisol levels
"20-5-3 rule": 20 minutes 3 days/week (reduces cortisol), 5 hours/month in semi-wild spots, 3 days/year immersed in nature
Inability to stand on one leg for this many seconds is associated with an 80% increased risk in all-cause mortality for those aged 51 and older.
What is 10 seconds?
the test is a quick functional biomarker of aging and system integrity and those who cannot perform it tend to have higher underlying disease burden and lower physiologic reserve.
This cancer is surprisingly not associated with a higher incidence rate in firefighters
While mesothelioma is increased due to asbestos exposure, lung cancer is not.
Even though the gear was turned in years ago, you may still sometimes smell smoke that isn’t there, replay a difficult call or have nightmares. This condition makes retirement feel like you’ve never really cleared the scene.
What is Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)?
This substance may not be the main carcinogen in tobacco smoke, but it does hook the brain and can raise heart rate and blood pressure.
What is nicotine?
This practice of connecting to the earth (literally touching it) has many potential health benefits.
What is "earthing" or "grounding"?
decreased pain and inflammation, improved sleep. spending 30 min or more/day in contact with the earth can improve health (touching grass, sand, dirt, natural bodies of water, and even cement-but not asphalt)
Maintaining strength on this specific strength test is associated with a 30-40% reduced mortality risk
What is grip strength?
this test has been shown to be a great marker of global physiologic health - it is a marker of total muscle mass, biologic aging, inflammation & chronic disease burden, nutritional status, neurologic integrity, and cardiometabolic fitness
The top three general causes of firefighter mortality.
What is heart disease, cancer, and suicide.
Exercise, avoiding ultraprocessed foods, and avoiding sleeping pills, all improve physical and mental health to reduce mortality related to heart disease, cancer, and suicide.
Since retiring, you don’t see the crew every morning, so you may feel like skipping dinner, keep to yourself or feel like staying in the recliner. This mental health hazard can sneak in when the firehouse family isn’t around anymore.
What is depression?
Use of this substance has risen sharply in adults over 65, often to help with sleep or pain, but its use has been shown to worsen cognitive decline, increase the risk of falls and fractures, and actually reduces REM sleep and overall sleep quality.
What is marijuana/THC?
NASA did a study to determine the ideal length of a power nap to increase alertness but avoid feeling groggy afterward. This is the number of minutes they determined is an optimal power nap.
What is 26 minutes (will accept anything 25-30 min)
Best done prior to 3pm as later naps can interfere with falling asleep at night. A longer nap (e.g. 90 min) is ideal when sleep was significantly disrupted the previous night.
Older adults should consume this many grams of protein per pound of bodyweight daily to prevent muscle loss
What is 0.5 grams per pound?
This amount is recommended in order to preserve muscle mass, strength, metabolic resilience and functional longevity — which become harder to maintain with age.
Microplastics increase risk for _
*will accept any of the following*
-reproductive dysfunction (decreased sperm quality, reduced follicular development, hormonal changes)
-gastrointestinal disorders (immunosuppression, intestinal damage, chronic inflammation)
-respiratory disease (oxidative stress, pulmonary dysfunction, lung injury)
-heart disease (microplastics are found in artery plaques and clots)
It’s 0300. No tones. No engine. But your brain is fully involved and won’t shut down. You’re running old calls in your head like you’re back on night shift. This common retirement struggle might be behind it.
What is anxiety (or insomnia)?
Regular use of this substance, often used for pain control, can change the nervous system so that normal aches feel amplified instead of relieved.
What are opioids (morphine, hydrocodone/Vicodin, oxycodone/Percocet, etc)?
opioid-induced hyeralgesia
Sleep efficiency is the percentage of time that you are in bed that you are actually asleep (rather than in bed awake). e.g. if you are asleep every minute you are in bed, this is 100%. This percentage is the lowest ideal sleep efficiency for optimal health.
What is 85%
Humans need 7-9 hrs of sleep/night for optimal health. It is normal to be awake for part of the time we're in bed (it often takes 15-20 min to fall asleep and it's common to wake up several times). If sleep efficiency is 85%, we need to be in bed 8 hrs and 12 min to get 7 hrs of sleep. High sleep efficiency is associated with improved cognitive function. Low sleep efficiency is correlated with high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart disease risk.
Muscle strength declines by what % per year after age 50.
3% per year
strength is lost 2-5 times faster than muscle mass (~3% per year decrease in strength and ~1% decrease per year in muscle mass). >15 hours a week of even leisurely activity can reduce rate of muscle loss by ~1/3rd.
Three lifestyle behaviors that reduce risk for Alzheimer's disease
What is (will accept any 3): exercise, social connection, learning (math, languages, crosswords), regular immunizations, correcting hearing impairment
When you hung up your helmet, you found that you didn’t just leave a job — you left your crew, your routine, and a big piece of who you were. This emotional process can hit harder than expected after retirement.
What is grief (or loss of identity)?
This class of substances (not uncommonly prescribed) was linked in one study to more than a four-fold increase in death rate, even in people taking fewer than 18 pills per year.
What are sedative-hypnotics (sleep medicines like zolpidem/Ambien)?
Research shows that having hobbies can improve health in these 3 specific ways.
What are improved mental health, improved cognitive function, and reduced risk of chronic illness?
Higher levels of happiness and life satisfaction. Risk of dementia decreases as the number of hobbies increases. Optimize our endocrine, immune, and central nervous systems, leading to reduced risk of heart disease and stroke.