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PARTNERS | HEALTHY CITY | HOW HEALTHY | VISION | SUMMIT | PRIORITIES | FUNCTIONS | CITY OF FALL RIVER |
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Derek
Paiva, exercise physiologist with Saint
Anne’s Hospital’s Cardiac Rehab program, worked closely with six
participants in the recent Fall
River Fitness Challenge. Two of the participants volunteered to be
photographed in Saint Anne’s Cardiac Rehab suite near the end of their
program after both had lost considerable amounts of weight and made
substantial lifestyle changes, including quitting
smoking. Together, the six participants lost 108.5 lbs., or 8.1
percent of their total body weight. Paiva, who works extensively with
patients who have experienced a heart attack or who have other cardiac
problems, brought his professional expertise to working with the Fitness
Challenge participants. Both programs recommend an individualized approach
to weight loss and strength training and have been designed to restore a
person to a healthy functioning level that significantly lowers the risk
of further cardiac problems. The Fall
River Fitness Challenge has encouraged over 1,000 people to make
similar changes this year. Heart disease death rates are higher
in Bristol and Berkshire counties than they are anywhere else in |
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(Top row, left) Fall River Public Works employee Charlie Denmead, who quit smoking several months earlier, weighs in with Saint Anne's Hospital Exercise Physiologist Derek Paiva after losing nearly sixty pounds through the program. (Top row, center) Mr. Paiva describes the excellent results he has seen with the patients who stick with his program. (Top row, right) Derek measures Charlie's chest as part of the careful recording he does of each participant's progress. (Middle row, left and center) Derek measures Roger Gagnon's chest before he gets on the treadmill for a workout designed to raise his heart rate to a specified level. (Middle row, right) Charlie joins Roger on the treadmill. (Bottom row) Roger watches as Charlie demonstrates the improvement in his upper and lower body strength through push-ups and squat-thrusts before Derek takes his photo. |
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