Entry bubble Traffic jams and your heart

By: Jess | March 19, 2009 | Category: Health

traffic jamGetting stuck in traffic is stressful, especially if you're running late for an appointment or to pick your child up from school or for an important work meeting. Unfortunately, a new study shows that our risk for a heart attack triples in the hour after we've been stuck in traffic.

For a healthy person, that might not mean much, but for someone already at an increased risk, this study could be troubling.

The study didn't say specifically what about being stuck in traffic prompted such an increase in risk, but being in a backlog seems to affect driver and passenger in the same way, and if you have angina, are elderly or are a woman, your chances increase even more.

For tips on staying mellow, no matter how long you're stuck, you can check out these resources on managing stress and keeping your heart healthy.

How to Keep Your Heart Healthy
Healthy Heart Handbook for Women
Exercise and Your Heart
Managing Stress
Win Control Over Stress in Your Life

If those don't work, you could always crank the radio and have yourself a karaoke session until traffic starts moving again.

| Post a Comment | View Comments [2] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: health   heart_attack   heart_disease   jess   stress   stress_managment   traffic   traffic_jam  

 

Entry bubble Avoid Toll Traffic

By: Colleen | June 18, 2008 | Category: Travel

If I'm forced to be on the road while gas prices are sky-high, few things bring me more joy than cruising tollright through toll plazas while lines of cars, each paying cash, sit in traffic and prolong their gas guzzling.

Suckers.

I can honestly say that my E-ZPass has changed my life—maybe not to the extent that my iPod has, but it has saved me much time and considerable road rage over the past three years.

With the help of a transponder mounted to your windshield, E-ZPass allows you to drive right through specifically marked toll lanes without stopping. Your transponder is linked to your personal checking account, and simply deducts the cost of the toll from your balance. No stopping. No reaching in the seat cushions hoping for exact change. No risking rolling up to the tollbooth with insufficient funds. (This MAY have happened to me, summer of '04 crossing the Walt Whitman Bridge into Philadelphia.)

E-ZPass specifically works for toll roads in the Northeast, reaching into the Midwest, and the southern border of Virginia. Other regions of the country have their own E-ZPass equivalent systems. Check out your state's department of motor vehicles website to see what program they have to offer.

Hopefully, saving time not sitting in toll lines will get you to your summertime destination a little quicker, and you'll have to suffer from one less "are we there yet?" coming from the backseat.

Road trips not your thing? Here are some travel tips to expedite the airport security process.

| View Comments [3] | envelope E-mail This Entry | Tags: car   colleen   e_zpass   toll   traffic   travel