DanceVashon » Health

Smoke Damage To Your Health And Others Caused By Cigarettes

admin — Sun, 09 May 2010 03:33:38 +0000

Smoking. What can it do? How bad can your bloom get? Smoker is a accurate angry and it boring weakens the physique and kills people. It yield account of your reside abroad every time you ablaze one up, which causes you to reside a beneath activity and stops you from accomplishing the things that you adulation to do. Smoker not alone hurts you, but it hurts your ancestors and accompany as able-bodied and you can accident their lives too because they are about it. It harms your health, causes accident to your body, and causes you to age a lot faster than normal.

It causes accident to your skin, such as wrinkles on your face, accoutrements and atramentous circles about your eyes, and stains on your skin. The cigarettes accept a lot of chemicals and toxins in them that get in your bodies if you smoke and drag them into your lungs. Cigarettes accept tar in them that gets in your lung and sticks to the walls of the lungs. The added you smoke the added tar will be in your lungs. Accept you anytime see what a lung looks like afterwards it has been damaged? It is nasty. Just anticipate that can appear to your lungs. A lot of times, colleges and schools will appearance kids what smoker can do to their derma and lings and absolutely what they can attending like if they accept been damaged by smoking.

Smoking causes emphysema, all kinds of cancers to the body, affection disease, and it causes amercement to the academician beef and claret vessels. It causes humans to be apparent to additional duke smoke, which can aswell could could could cause accident to the physique and could could could cause deaths. Smoker can could could could cause bronchitis and causes you to bolt colds added than humans do who don’t smoke. You can go online to acquisition out added on what smoker can do to you and how bad it can get. If you smoke, it causes your clothes, house, and your animation to that appears to smell like an ashtray or a cigarette butt. It causes your teeth to change from white to chicken because it is staining it, and it will accident the top band of your teeth.

It aswell stains the fingers area you authority your cigarette. Smoker can be absolutely boxy to abdicate because of the nicotine in them and your physique thinks it needs it, but you will accept so abundant added activity and feel bigger if you quit. The way to abdicate is to boring quit. Lower the nicotine advancing into your physique so you will boring cut yourself chargeless from the need. This way, you will not accept a asperous time accepting yourselves to quit. Smoker is not air-conditioned if it comes to your lives. Your lives are abundant added important than a cigarette is, so anticipate afore you alpha or afore you ablaze up your next one.

Author: Aydan Corkern
Source: articlerich.com

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Natural Methods To Improve Sexual Health

admin — Fri, 07 May 2010 09:31:30 +0000

The earlier women become the added they activate to accord with a low libido. This action is alarming because it can abundantly buck aloft the animal activity that they allotment with their husband. This is a botheration that abounding women accept and never admiration to go through because it can actualize annoyance and stress.

While men with this agitation my be blessed with demography Viagra abundant women accept the admiration to adjustment their problems utilising accustomed methods. There are endless of herbs and added accustomed capacity that will serve to access a woman’s admiration and fix their animal wellness.

Avena Sativa

This herbal compounding works to relax the physique and access acuteness accomplished in the area of the vagina. In adjustment for the woman’s admiration to run the appropriate way they accept to accept a assertive admeasurement of estrogen and testosterone. To accumulate this akin up the avena sativa will access the testosterone.

Ginger

This is a actual accepted assemble that is usually active for affable – but this is not its alone purpose. Ginger is a acceptable affection analeptic and will abetment to access the apportionment of the claret throughout the absolute body.

Aloe

Aloe assists to adapt the digestive arrangement and will access the apportionment of claret about the acrimony bladder, liver, and kidneys.

Dong Quai

This is an assemble that has been accustomed to antithesis out the hormone levels in a woman’s body. Women will commonly yield in bell quai to abode the affection from menopause and PMT. It aswell works to access the claret apportionment and to antithesis out the bulk of estrogen and amoroso in the woman’s body.

Ginseng

This is aswell a accepted assemble that aids to access claret flow, energy, testosterone levels, and will lift a woman’s mood.

Damiana

This assemble will serve to decompress the woman’s physique by creating a activity of balmy euphoria. In this way it can abate the all-overs and accent in a woman and set them in the able mood.

Coconut Oil

Coconut oil is not an herb. Abundant of us will advance this for affable or added amoebic benefits. What abundant humans do not apperceive is that it can aswell be active to adjustment animal bloom – but in a audible way. Earlier woman may accept problems during animal action and will utilise cher lubricants. Improve animal bloom with attic oil by creating an acutely safe and accustomed lubricant.

Author: Naomi West
Source: articlerich.com

Isn’t it time you improved your Sexual Health With Coconut Oil? Learn other Coconut Oil Health Benefits and Beauty Coconut Oil Tips.

Expensive Health Insurance? Ways To Cut The Cost.

admin — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 20:49:12 +0000

You may accept noticed an access in your bloom allowance exceptional recently. Here we appraise some of the accessible affidavit for this and attending into means of active them.

According to the market-research accumulation Datamonitor, medical aggrandizement is the acumen for annual increases of 8% in bloom allowance premiums. The abiding advance in the development of new drugs, therapies and accessories acclimated to analyze medical altitude and the consistent costs are an accessible acumen for this. This is barefaced and anybody wants the latest in affection and treatments. Accessories becomes anachronistic with time and consistently the actual words newer and bigger beggarly a acceleration in cost.

Another acumen may be that allowance risks and accordingly costs access with age. Abounding allowance companies still use age bands, area costs access at the end of a ten-year period. For example, anyone age-old amid 40 and 49 would pay their accustomed agreed premium. Reach the alarming 50 and the next bracket is amid 50 and 59, and so on. The access is greater with age and could be as abundant as 50% in the 60 to 69 category.

Many insurers accept called to bland out the increases on a annual basis. BUPA, Pruhealth and Axa PPP are three of these. Axa PPP customers, for example, should apprehend a acceleration in the amount of premiums by about 2%, due to their age. Other insurers are said to be cerebration of introducing this method.

The fast ascent costs of medical allowance is annoying consumers and abounding are authoritative the accommodation to abolish their behavior if they’re advancing up to their 60′s and this may be just if their charge is greatest. Datamonitor has issued abstracts assuming that there was a bead of 15.2% in the amount of humans with clandestine medical allowance in the 7 years above-mentioned to 2004.

With this in mind, insurers accept appear up with some means to cut the costs. You could opt for an balance on the policy, finer alive out a plan to clothing your budget. For instance BUPA acquaint us that if you were accommodating to pay a ฃ2000 excess, you would bisect your premium. An balance of ฃ100 could absolutely able-bodied abate your bill by about 10%.

No-claims discounts are addition accessible way to abate your exceptional and it’s accessible to access up to a 50% saving. You should be able to alteration this if you adjudge to change providers.

There’s a big aberration in the way in which companies amusement no claims discounts. Axa PPP offers an actual 27.5% no claims abatement at the alpha of a policy, but accomplish a affirmation and this is lost. Not all BUPA’s behavior awning the accouterment for no claims discounts, but some do and they agreement that in the accident of a claim, the consistent acceleration in exceptional will be a best of 10%.

Pruehealth animate their policyholders to break advantageous in adjustment to abate their premiums. You can get amid 25 and 100 per cent off next year’s premium, depending on the accomplishment you put into it. Points are accustomed for assorted activities and affairs changes.

With all these choices, it’s an accomplished time to investigate the options. Don’t just accumulate paying out and absolutely don’t lose that admired awning by cancelling your bloom insurance, just get on band and acquisition an allowance agent who will acquisition the appropriate awning for you at a amount to clothing your budget. Your abridged will account too, with the on-line discount.

Author: Michael Challiner -
Source: articledashboard.com

Learn What a Colon Cleanse is and Discover How it Can Jumpstart Your Health!

admin — Fri, 23 Apr 2010 18:34:27 +0000

With today’s food our body just can’t take the pressure, our food contains so much toxins and waste that our body has a difficult time getting rid of them. This is where cleansing comes in – “What is a colon cleanse?” you might ask. It is a way of cleaning out your colon, similar to a car that has a clogged engine, after it is cleaned and polished it is running almost as new again!

Popular cleansing methods are:
Herbal Supplements- You can buy supplements or herbs almost anywhere and start taking them, they will then clean out your colon. Diet – Another alternative is to just eat extremely healthy and for some people that helps, but is usually not enough. Enemas – This is a method of introducing water into your colon through the rectum and flushing all the toxins and old stuff out of there! Colon Hydrotherapy – This is a more advanced version of an enema and is usually done at a clinic with professionals. More comfortable and effective but also more expensive.

Basically, the colon is the organ where toxins and waste material can build-up if you’re not eating right. It is also where disease causing bacteria and parasites thrive if you’re eating those junky processed foods!

Although regular diet can cleanse your colon, it can go much faster if you take steps to clean out your colon, especially if you’ve been following these bad eating habits for years or even decades.

The procedure is simple, you can do it in your own home. All that is required is that you prepare your body and mind for the cleanse!

When To Cleanse

There are a lot of health conditions that could require colon cleansing, if you’re suffering from any of the symptoms below you should consider cleaning your colon, but remember that it could also be something else, so consult with your doctor or health practitioner for better guidance.
Fatigue Water Retention Skin Problems Insomnia Excess Gas Severe Bloating Indigestion Irritability

The Benefits

Colon cleansing has many reported benefits but here is a top 3:
Easier and faster elimination of waste and toxins. Can reduce health conditions such as acne, ulcers and digestive conditions Can promote weight loss!

Today you’ve learned about what exactly a colon cleanse is, the next step is to find what method you prefer so you can start improving your health and vitality!

Author: Henri Junttila
Source: ezinearticles.com

If you want more articles like this one about “what a colon cleanse is” then visit Colon Health Advice, a simple, easy to read website about how you can improve your health through your diet and colon

Good dog health and happiness for Charlie

admin — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 04:33:45 +0000

Good dog health and happiness for Charlie

Our Charlie’s dog health was a very important issue to us in our family. It all started when he was a puppy of course. Aside from the fun and laughter he brought into our lives he brought us new found responsibilities we hadn’t concerned ourselves with BC. With some common sense and attention dog health shouldn’t have to be a major family issue. Here’s how we dealt with Charlie.

A few dog health issues:

Feeding -

This is normally the easy and fun part. Be careful though because there’s so much ballyhoo about the great stuff various products can do. Major brands are tried and true with a normally safe harbour. Avoid going off into generic diets. Competing with the major brands on research and quality control is pretty tough. Better to take the high road for your doggie’s sake. Vitamin and mineral supplements would be a great addition to the diet helping to keep the immune system strong. Remember, dry food helps keep the teeth nice and strong too.

Bathing -

The primary concern here is to use a pet product. Not shampoo made for us people. We want to use a very mild shampoo. The pH balance of our doggies is quite different and if not careful we’ll dry out the skin so bad that scratching, itching and all sorts of other fireworks will go off. Bath less not more. Chances are that a good wash job every 30 days or so will be just fine. Don’t forget to drop a couple of plugs (cotton balls will do)into the ears before you start along with a nice brush job on the coat before and after. Keep the shampoo away from those gorgeous heart breaking eyes, if you slip simply wash with warm water or even a saline. Hey, a nice little designer outfit afterwards really makes your great little buddy a spiffy looking dude.

Those nasty tick and fleas issues -

Give me a break, how’d you like to run around itchy and biting, scratching and jumping around all day. That would be enough to drive anyone nuts. A topical oil usually placed between the shoulder blades will do the trick. Your best friends natural oils will spread it evenly over your pet. Be watchful about exposing the oil to the kids and put it in a safe place. Try and have your pet really dry for a few days before and after application. This process will rid your doggie of fleas and ticks. Good riddance for sure. A super blow on those nasty critters ensuring good dog health.

Puppy housetraining -

The all time favorite issue. Potty training! No different than when we potty trained our children, the process is somewhat similar. Patience, consistency and confinement does the trick. Do yourself a favor, get a crate for your doggie big enough for it to stretch out in and also take a snooze being able to nestle into a little corner.

Your best pet friend needs to be in there when you’re asleep, gone from the premises or to be left unattended (you’re busy cooking dinner and doggie treats. Doing so teaches them to hold it for awhile. Putting them in a crate for 6 – 8 hours during the training period is alright too.

While home have your little sweetie out with a timer going off around each 60 minutes or so. You and the doggie hit the turf outside for 10 minutes or so giving them a chance to potty. When they do reward them with positive comments, petting, stroking – some real love if you will which is positive reinforcement( something we all would like to have,right?). Chances are pretty good your doggie will catch on very soon. Be patient, take your time and no accident frustrations. Your new best friend needs a little time to learn, adapt and assimilate your wishes. Keep in mind that your doggie loves you. Cleanliness goes a long way for good dog health.

Author: Rolf Rasmusson
Source: articleage.com

Uninsured face avalanche of US health costs : Deborah Charles

admin — Wed, 24 Mar 2010 19:32:36 +0000

When Jim Hann learned he would be laid off, he scheduled surgery to donate a kidney to his wife.Steve Drake rationed his asthma medicine after he was let go while two-time cancer survivor Roberta Furchak had to draw on precious retirement savings to ensure her tests were covered after she lost her job.All three were trying to compensate for losing health insurance in a country where unemployment often means going without coverage.With unemployment rising to its highest level in more than a quarter century, more Americans are confronting the double crisis of losing both their jobs and their employer-sponsored insurance, which covers 177 million people.Many unemployed Americans say they cannot afford the high premiums insurance companies charge for personal policies. People like Furchak and Drake who have pre-existing medical conditions have a tough time even finding coverage.A recent study by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation said the number of uninsured Americans could jump to more than 65 million in 10 years as healthcare costs more than double. The U.S. Census Bureau says about 46 million Americans are currently without insurance.President Barack Obama has vowed to reform the healthcare industry and lawmakers are struggling to figure out a compromise all can agree on.Hann, a 51-year-old plant worker from Coolville, Ohio, pushed doctors at Georgetown University Hospital to speed up a transplant operation so he could donate his kidney to his ailing wife Hannah while he was still covered.”They were kind of dragging their feet — said she had to quit smoking,” said Hann, who found out in January he would soon be laid off from his job at a plastics factory.”I called and said ‘I’m losing my job. I’m going to lose my insurance. We’ve got to get this done.’”On February 13, the Hanns had the surgery, even though Hannah, who has had an intestinal transplant and multiple bowel operations in recent years, had not quit smoking.The couple sold their newly-built house when Jim Hann found out he was being laid off and now rent an older home. Their friends and neighbors have helped raise money to cover the costs of traveling to Washington for treatment, but the combined impact of major surgery, losing his job and worrying about insurance has taken its toll.”It’s just tough sometimes,” said Jim Hann, sitting by his wife’s hospital bed as a tear slid down his cheek.”She’s my wife. You do what you have to do,” added Hann, who faces the prospect of having no insurance once the extended healthcare his employer offered after the layoff runs out.TOTAL LOSSESFurchak of White Lakes, Michigan, keeps hoping for healthcare reform to pass.”For me, health insurance is the most important thing. I have to have that or I’d lose everything,” said Furchak, who after two bouts of lung cancer needs constant monitoring.Furchak, 60, lost her job last November and opted for a costly continuation of her health coverage under a U.S. program called COBRA, which requires former employees to pay the whole cost of insurance but at least allows coverage to continue for a limited time.The $430 monthly bill took up a big chunk of her $774 unemployment check, forcing her to dip into retirement savings. Recently Furchak’s monthly COBRA bill fell to $150 as part of a subsidy provided under Obama’s economic stimulus plan.This has made a “huge difference”, said Furchak, who had part of her lung removed and two rounds of chemotherapy and radiation when her cancer recurred.Her coverage runs out in May 2010. “When that finishes, I don’t know what I’m going to do,” she said.”At that point I might very well have to make the decision not to carry insurance until my Medicare kicks in,” she added, referring to the health program for the elderly and disabled that covers Americans 65 and older.”And that’s going to be very scary but I don’t know what else to do,” she said.CONSTANT CHOICESDrake often delays taking asthma drugs until his chest starts to tighten.”I am constantly making a choice,” said the 57-year-old from Sherwood, Oregon who worked for a consulting company in financial services until he was laid off last July.”I put off my medicines until I start to feel it then I get them refilled,” said Drake, whose family insurance eats up half his monthly unemployment check.Drake, who has also been taking money out of his retirement funds to make it to the end of the month, says he cuts some of his pills in half to make them last longer.A study released by the American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network showed that a quarter of people surveyed who have had a cancer diagnosis have had to delay health care because of costs.”It’s always something,” said Drake, who recently tore his rotator cuff but can’t afford to get it fixed. “So it’s like I’m walking around with one and one-half arms.” (Editing by Alan Elsner and Maggie Fox) EasyToInsureME.com offers clients the easiest way to buy individual health insurance. Free services include instant online health insurance quotes, custom proposals for each client, free phone consultation, and 10-minute application by phone. Our services are free because we are paid by the health insurance company not by our clients.

Author: Www.easytoinsureme.com
Source: articlesbase.com

Insurers escalate criticism of health overhaul

admin — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 20:31:05 +0000

The insurance industry sharply escalated its criticism of the Senate health care bill Sunday, charging that the legislation would shift costs to privately insured people, raising the price of a typical policy by hundreds â€” if not thousands â€” of dollars annually.A spokesman for Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., whose 10-year, $829 billion overhaul plan faces a final committee vote Tuesday, questioned the credibility of the late-innings cost estimate. “It’s a health insurance company hatchet job, plain and simple,” said Scott Mulhauser.Until recently, the health insurance industry has been working behind the scenes to shape legislation, while publicly endorsing President Barack Obama’s goal of affordable coverage for all Americans. The fragile alliance is growing strained as legislation advances toward floor votes in the House and Senate.Late Sunday, the industry trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans sent its member companies a new accounting firm study that projects the legislation would add $1,700 a year to the cost of family coverage in 2013, when most of the major provisions in the bill would be in effect.Premiums for a single person would go up by $600 more than would be the case without the legislation, the PriceWaterhouseCoopers analysis concluded. The study was commissioned by the insurance group.”Several major provisions in the current legislative proposal will cause health care costs to increase far faster and higher than they would under the current system,” Karen Ignagni, the top industry lobbyist in Washington, wrote in a memo to insurance company CEOs.The study projected that in 2019, family premiums could be $4,000 higher and individual premiums could be $1,500 higher.Baucus spokesman Mulhauser said the study is “seriously flawed” because it doesn’t take into account provisions in the legislation that would lower the cost of coverage, such as tax credits to help people buy private insurance, protections for current policies and administrative savings from a revamped marketplace.White House health care spokeswoman Linda Douglass concurred. “This is an insurance industry analysis that is designed to reach a conclusion which benefits the industry, and does not represent what the bill does,” she said.The Baucus plan faces a final vote in the Senate Finance Committee on Tuesday. It got a boost last week after the Congressional Budget Office estimated it would cover 94 percent of eligible Americans while reducing the federal deficit.But the PriceWaterhouseCoopers analysis attempted to get at a different issue â€” costs for privately insured individuals.It concluded that a combination of factors in the bill â€” and decisions by lawmakers as they amended it â€” would raise costs.The chief reason, said the report, is a decision by lawmakers to weaken proposed penalties for failing to get health insurance. The bill would require insurers to take all applicants, doing away with denials for pre-existing health problems. In return, all Americans would be required to carry coverage, either through an employer or a government program, or by buying it themselves.But the CBO estimated that even with new federal subsidies, some 17 million Americans would still be unable to afford health insurance. Faced with that affordability problem, senators opted to ease the fines for going without coverage from the levels Baucus originally proposed. The industry says that will only let people postpone getting coverage until they get sick.Other factors leading to higher costs include a new tax on high-cost health insurance plans, cuts in Medicare payments to hospitals and doctors, and a series of new taxes on insurers and other health care industries, the report said.”Health reform could have a significant impact on the cost of private health insurance coverage,” it concluded.Insurers played a major role in defeating then-President Bill Clinton’s health care plan in the 1990s. Sunday, the industry stopped short of signaling all-out opposition. “We will continue to work with policymakers in support of workable bipartisan reform,” Ignagni said in her memo.

Author: Chad
Source: articlesbase.com

Health Insurance Options for Entrepreneurs

admin — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 13:30:59 +0000

One of the most important benefits employed people enjoy is health insurance coverage. It is also the single most costly expense for self-employed entrepreneurs. So what can you do to reduce ever increasing costs of health care coverage? Here are a few tips.
1. If a medical bill seems excessive, try negotiating
Your doctor or the office manager who handles billing will probably be flexible, provided you make a valid case. When one woman in Texas was charged $900 for surgery and “consultation,” she explained that she had visited the hospital just once, for surgery; her bill was promptly cut by $370.
2. Contact a medical bill “auditor”
Several services have a medical bill “auditing” system that evaluates your medical bills to determine if errors occurred in the billing process. Considering that 97 percent of hospital medical bills contain errors, it’s no wonder why out-of-pocket medical expenses are on the rise for consumers. Because the typical hospital bill is extremely complicated, often containing several hundred line-item charges, there is ample opportunity for computer mistakes and accidental human error. Do a Google search for medical bill auditors to find companies offering this service.
3. You may get a tax break on your medical bills
Keep all your medical bills together and add them up at tax time. If they exceed 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income, you may deduct the excess. Please note that these items also may be included in the total: the cost of eye glasses, contact lenses, physical therapy, x-rays, hearing aids, psychiatric care, insurance and transportation to the hospital or doctor’s office (at 30 cents a mile). There are phase-outs in some cases based on adjusted gross income. Check with your professional tax adviser.
4. Deduct 100% of your healthcare costs from your taxes
The IRS allows all self-employed to deduct 100% of health care costs from their taxes by using Section 105 of the Internal Revenue Code. To receive this deduction, you must do the following:
a) Hire your spouse as an employee of your business.
b) Have your spouse receive health insurance in his or her name, and include the family on the policy.
c) Pay your spouse a salary that will cover the costs of the insurance.
d) Talk to your tax professional about planning for Section 105 on your taxes.
We all know your spouse is active in your business. Now, you can equally recognize their contribution he or she makes – and get Uncle Sam to give you a tax break.
5. Help for families with kids — CHIP
All states have established new programs that help lower income families with children to pay for health insurance for their kids. Financed partly by the federal government, the Children’s Health Insurance Programs (CHIP) operate either as an expansion of the state’s Medicaid program or a subsidy for basic private health insurance. Eligible families may be able to access coverage for their children at greatly reduced premiums which will vary depending upon family income. Contact your state Department of Health or Insurance for more information.
6. Shop around
Hospital costs vary widely, especially between urban and rural facilities. If your doctor has admitting privileges at more than one hospital, find out if you can be admitted to the one that’s less expensive. Keep in mind that hospitals operated by non-profit foundations are usually less expensive than investor-owned, for profit hospitals. To find out how much your local hospitals charge, ask your doctor. Many states have Health Services Cost Review Commissions, which compile such data.
7. Check for free clinics in your community
You and your entire family can save hundreds of dollars by taking advantage of the many free screenings, immunizations, and other health clinics offered by your local community or a town near you. Numerous community hospitals and social services can provide blood pressure checks, shots for your children, free contraceptives and/or advice, and other preventative health care at little to no cost.
8. Get a second opinion out of town
Believe it or not, your chance of undergoing an expensive surgery or preventative procedure may depend solely on where you happen to live. Statistics show that the frequency in which certain medical procedures are performed varies widely from location to location. For example, residents of New Haven, Conn., are twice as likely to undergo a coronary bypass operation as residents of Boston, Mass. What’s the reason for this discrepancy? One Dartmouth Medical School expert, John E. Wennberg, M.D., M.H.P., explains that certain operations are simply more fashionable in some parts of the United States than others. So, if you plan to get a second opinion prior to surgery, consider going to a specialist in another city. In addition, try to find out what the surgery rates for your procedure are in different cities. HealthAllies.com also offers this service online at www.healthallies.com. To get the names of second-opinion doctors in your region, call the U.S. government’s toll-free second-opinion hotline at 1-800-638-6833.
9. Don’t pay double for a second opinion
As you make arrangements for a second opinion, ask your doctor to send copies of your medical records, x-rays, and lab tests to the second-opinion doctor. These tests don’t need duplication; your second doctor will have the information he or she needs – and you don’t pay double.
10. Emotional stability
Your mental health is equally important as your physical health. Do you have blue days once in awhile, or struggle with gray winters? St. John’s Wort, an over-the-counter herbal supplement, has been proven to increase positive moods. Before rushing to your family physician for medication to make you feel better, try supplements with a combination of expressing your feelings with friends and a healthy lifestyle. Mood stabilizers are some of the most costly medications on the market today. However, you should be aware of the signs of stress or even depression. Give yourself a simple screening test:
Do you have feelings of sadness and/or irritability?
Has there been a loss of interest in pleasure activities you once enjoyed?
Have there been changes in your weight or appetite?
Have you noticed changes in your sleeping pattern? Are you feeling guilty?
Do you have the inability to concentrate, remember things or make decisions?
Are you fatigued or have a loss of energy?
Do you experience restlessness or decreased activity noticed by others?
Do you have feelings of hopelessness or worthlessness?
Do you have thoughts of suicide or death?
If you answer “yes” to any of these questions, consider consulting your family physician. If they recommend mental health treatment, it is more cost-effective to have your family physician prescribe mood stabilizers instead of seeing a psychiatrist. However, follow your doctor’s instructions on counseling and referrals to mental health professionals.
11. Order your prescription drugs by phone, web or mail
There are many discount prescription drug benefits available for a modest cost. Communicating for Agriculture and the Self-Employed offers a free prescription card through PCS. This program saves its members up to 40 percent at over 55,000 pharmacies nationwide. On average, CA members save $9.39 per prescription order. You can enroll free on their Web site at www.selfemployedcountry.org.
12. Ask your doctor to prescribe generic drugs
Medicine marketed under its scientific name is usually 50 percent cheaper and just as effective as brand-name versions. In addition, look for generic drugs in the medicine you purchase over the counter. For example, 100 generic aspirin may cost $1.79; the same ingredients packaged under a well-known brand name can cost more than $5 for 100 tablets. Consider, also, just how important the new easy-to-swallow products are to your comfort. The lesser price of some medicines may be comparably easier to swallow when thinking about your budget.
13. Get enrolled in a group plan
For self employed people including those involved in small businesses, individual health insurance can be extremely costly – sometimes as much as 30 percent of your take home pay. By joining associations like National Association for the Self Employed (www.nase.org), you have the opportunity to enroll in a group insurance plan with unique built-in cost controls.
14. Choose a higher deductible
Often for the healthy family, the number of visits to the doctor totals less than $250 a year, a normally low deductible rate. This low deduction rate, however, can end up costing you more in the form of higher premiums. If your family has enjoyed good health for a number of years, you may want to switch to a higher deductible of $500 or $1000. You’ll notice greatly reduced premiums.
15. Pay premiums annually
You avoid the service fee and may also receive a discount from your insurance carrier. Check with your insurance agent about how much money you can save if you pay your premium one time during the year.
16. Make sure there’s a ceiling for out-of-pocket expenses for catastrophic illnesses
About half of individual policyholders lack this important provision, according to insurance experts, who recommend a major medical policy with a stop-loss clause limiting policyholder payout to $2,000 or $3,000.
17. Get educated about your health
Invest in your health by becoming information-rich. Read publications about health care. Pay special attention to free wellness publications like Inside Mayo Clinic at www.mayo.edu/healthinfo/public.html or have on hand a book on medical self-care, like The AAFP Family Health and Medical Guide and The Merck Manual of Diagnosis and Therapy. A wealth of information is also available on the Internet.
18. Take advantage of free health advice
For free information booklets from the U.S. government about nearly every health care topic you can imagine, simply write to the Consumer Information Center in Pueblo, Colorado. The government offers several dozen booklets on topics ranging from nutrition, medical problems, mental health, to drugs, exercise and weight control. To receive a catalog explaining these booklets, write to:
Consumer Information Center

PO Box 100

Pueblo, CO 81009

www.pueblo.gsa.gov (you can download booklets from this site)
Once again the U.S. Government comes through by providing a number of toll free health care information phone services. Topics are numerous, including hearing aids, cancer information, Alzheimer’s disease, drugs and pregnancy issues. For information on the health topics and phone numbers, call the National Health Information Center at 1-800-336-4797.
19. Brush up on first-aid skills and become CPR certified.
Proper treatment of various accidents may reduce the number of visits to the doctor, and can save lives in an emergency. It’s important to always keep an updated medical kit in your home or office.
Here are the basics for your first-aid kit:
bandage supplies, including a roll of 3 inch wide gauze, individually packaged 4 inch sterile gauze pads, a roll of 1 inch bandage tape, butterfly bandage tape, and scissors
elastic bandages
cotton swabs
sterile dressings or towels
pain reliever (acetaminophen or ibuprofen)
anti-inflammatory medicine (ibuprofen)
ipecac syrup (for use on advice of medical professional to induce vomiting)
tweezers
hydrogen peroxide
skin creams, including hydrocortisone cream, calamine lotion and antibiotic creams
an antihistamine (diphenhydramine for allergic reactions)
flashlight
eye patch
arm sling
tongue depressors (to be used as a finger splint)
ice pack re-hydration fluids (such as Pedialyte or Infalyte)
20. Take a lifestyle approach to wellness – every day
Take charge of your health by making simple changes in your lifestyle. By following these seven basic rules of good health, you’ll improve your chances of living a long, healthy, active life.
Get eight hours of sleep per night.
Eat breakfast every morning.
Cut down on snacks between meals.
Keep within 10 pounds of your recommended weight range. If you’re unsure what your weight range should be check with your doctor.
Exercise aerobically for at least 30 minutes three times per week.
Don’t smoke.
Don’t drink more than two alcoholic beverages per day.
Take recommended dosages of vitamins and supplements.
Copyright 2004, Monikah Ogando, Ogando Associates, Inc.
Monikah Ogando is a highly skilled facilitator and charismatic speaker. She continues to inspire her audience through her expertise in Business Development, leadership effectiveness, individual accountability and the values that guide excellence.
She practices what she speaks: an entrepreneur, Monikah leads her own two companies, consulting firm Ogando Associates and Exodus House Publishers and is a Team Member of Solo-E.com.

Health Information Available Online

admin — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 10:29:13 +0000

For living healthy, many people rely on the constant contact that they get through internet health practitioners. Physicians from all over the world have left their medical footprint in some form on the internet and people use the internet to locate medical information that affects their body and their mind. Some people have left their own mark behind on the internet when they posted thanks for the helpful advice they received because using that information help to prolong their life.

Fitness trainers became famous after they created a website devoted entirely to training people to eat healthy and to exercise on a regular basis. People might have heard the same advice from family and friends, but came to true reality about their problem when they viewed other overweight peoples comments on the challenges they went through to lose weight. Losing weight requires more than eating less and taking a short walk, and the health issues alone make some people want to talk.

People have created chronological histories online and shared health information online with people around the world. Some women feel that they are deformed and unappealing due to a birth defect and will find useful resources to help them achieve a new appearance in a matter of weeks. Other people have used the health information available online to avoid doctors who have erred in treatments and left people marred and scarred for a lifetime.

People sharing important health information have avoided many plastic surgeries. There are many routes to looking younger and some of those methods do not require incisions of any kind. By sharing health information, people are able to try home remedies to ease the appearance of lines on the face due to the aging process and learn about vitamins and nutritional supplements that have made a noticeable difference in the aging process from healing skin from the inside out.

Some online health information will let people know about generic drugs that perform the same as the original medicine but are far lower prices. Some of these health information will tell customers shopping for prescriptions the best drug programs that are available to people of all income levels, and which are particularly beneficial to those living on retirement incomes and are Government subsidized. Health information online saves people money on all types of medical equipment and others will provide companies that finance scooter transportation.

People can share all types of health information online and never divulge who they are or where they live. The internet affords people anonymity and this anonymity will give them the opportunity to speak freely and ask for honest advice about medical problems that they do not want to discuss with anyone including their spouse. For health living, some people need this level of privacy to make health decision that are totally their own and not influenced by outside sources.

Some people recognize that they have an illness before they get a diagnosis from a physician all due to the health information online. Armed with this type of information, people are able to plan all aspects of their care and select a medical facility where they want to spend their final days. People are able to use the health information online to research illnesses and find specialists to do their magic so they might live longer. Others use the health information online to find an agency for an organ transplant.

A Guide To General Female Health

admin — Sun, 27 Dec 2009 03:29:12 +0000

Anumber of novels and stories of the early 18th and 19th centuries often portray women as mad and irrational beings, thus, espousing the creation of mad women literature. But, modern medicine dispels this “mad” attribute. By establishing that women’s hormones are more sensitive and susceptible to change than that of men, more attention is given to female health. Menstruation, menopause, PMS, and perimenopause – these are all part and parcel of general health topics related to women. Aside from that similarity of being part of female health, these phenomena are due to one thing: hormonal changes. Hormones are fickle, they change with the slightest variation in diets or physical activity. Sometimes even emotional upheavals are enough to make women’s hormones go haywire. Researchers on female health come up with studies on the relationship of female psycho-emotional well-being and their physical health. More often than not, hormones are the established links between this relationship.

Hormonal imbalances are the usual culprits for a number of health disorders in women. Although some of the symptoms are associated with other illnesses, their root remains to be unbalanced hormones. As varied as general health topics are, they range from physical manifestations to psychological and emotional troubles. Physical manifestations of hormonal imbalances include fatigue, weakness, weight gain, weight loss, digestive problems, hot flashes, and joint pain. Other symptoms are more pronounced and less insidious like hair loss and dry skin. Unfortunately, with the demands of career and family life, women often ignore these symptoms as merely due to excess work and overall tiredness. Some attempt to cure their symptoms with remedies and rest that do not work. Hormonal imbalances need medical attention and hormonal supplements to be treated properly. Otherwise, symptoms grow worse with heart palpitations, increased nausea, urinary dysfunction, breast pain, and vaginal dryness. Extreme cases even include changes in menstrual periods with the affected person either suffering from extended periods and bleeding or have total absence of periods.

If the symptoms and conditions above are bad enough, they are just the hormonal imbalances’ physical aspect. Usually cropping up as manifestations of other psychological disorders, the psycho-emotional aspect of these imbalances are often disruptive. There are documented cases wherein afflicted persons confess of being unable to function at their normal level because of the symptoms. Some of the minor symptoms include cravings and mood swings. However, if the symptoms do not receive treatment, they progress to worse conditions like lack of sexual desire, depression, insomnia, and unclear reasoning. It’s no wonder that general health topics and concerns about women often include well-being exercises.

But, these imbalances are not permanent afflictions. With proper diet, exercise, supplements, and counseling, women are able to get their hormones back on track. However, early detection is a key factor in treating hormonal imbalances. It is therefore important not to dismiss the symptoms as just belonging to general health topics or issues. Hormonal imbalances are not just topics — they are real, and they happen to more women everyday.