Yoga + Pilates = a new way to exercise

If you find exercise boring then you may need something that engages more of the mind-body connection that emphasizes flexibility, strength and balance while also helping to relieve stress.

New methods

It’s not just cars that are turning to hybrids. A new trend in exercise is combining ancient techniques with new. Yogalates, also known as Yogilates, is the marriage of yoga with Pilates. For many fitness experts blending the two is time-efficient since both strengthen key muscles groups and promote "mindful movement" where you stay focussed on what your body is doing.

Eastern approach

Yoga dates back at least 5,000 years ago in India and was brought to the Western world about 100 years ago. It takes a more holistic approach to exercise by using poses combined with breathing to release tension and stress while strengthening all muscle groups. Balance is the key goal - especially the one between body and mind. There are many different types of yoga but usually Hatha Yoga is usually the method combined with Pilates. It promotes flexibility and tones the body as it improves strength, endurance and concentration. There are many schools and teachers of Hatha yoga but the recognized founder was Tirumalai Krishnamacharya (1888-1989).

Western take

Pilates is a much younger type of exercise created by Joseph Pilates, a German who developed his technique to rehabilitate injured WWI soldiers in World War I while interned in an English POW camp. He introduced this technique to the dance world when he immigrated to the U.S. in 1926. Pilates quickly became a favorite of dancers. It targets certain areas of the body using regimented exercises done with controlled breathing and performed on an apparatus or a mat. Each exercise is repeated between five to ten times.

Happy marriage

Yoga focuses on flexibility, then strength. Pilates focuses on stability, then strength and flexibility. Combining the two has created an hybrid technique that is gaining in popularity. Yogilates was created in 1997 by certified Pilates instructor and yoga instructor Jonathan Urla. Yogalates was created in 2002 by Louise Solomon, a certified yoga instructor who turned to Pilates after a yoga injury.

Typical exercises

A typical routine in a yogalates class may include the following:
- Lateral Thoracic Breathing
- Spinal Roll
- Hip circles with Thera-Band
- Cat Series into Downward Facing DogBesides the books, there are videotapes and DVDs for at home instruction. Check at your local gym or yoga studio to see if they are offering this hybrid technique. Be sure to check your teacher’s credentials before signing up for any class.

Does Sleep Deprivation Cause Deadly Diabetes?

Adults who routinely get too little or too much sleep may die sooner than those who get the standard 8 hours each night, a study suggests.
Researchers found that among nearly 10,000 UK adults followed for 17 years, those who starting sleep less each night during the early part of the study were more likely to die of heart disease or stroke than those who kept catching 7 or 8 hours of sleep.

On the other hand, those whose typical sleep time increased beyond 8 hours were at elevated risk of dying from non-cardiovascular causes.
The study, published in the medical journal Sleep, did not pinpoint the reason for the findings.
However, past research suggests that chronic sleep deprivation can be hard on the cardiovascular system. Sleep is a time for the body to recoup, which includes drops in blood pressure and heart rate that ease the daily strain on the heart, explained Dr. Jane E. Ferrie of the University College London, the lead researcher of the new study.
In addition, she told Reuters Health, some studies have linked sleep deprivation to poorer appetite control and blood-sugar regulation, which can affect body weight and the risk of type 2 diabetes. This, in turn, could potentially increase a person's odds of developing heart disease.
It's possible that study participants who started sleeping less were in poorer health; certain conditions, such as any disorder that causes chronic pain, might curtail a person's sleep, Ferrie pointed out.
The study participants were asked about pre-existing illnesses at the outset, but it's possible that some had underlying health problems that were missed, according to Ferrie.
Similarly, it's not clear why people who slept more over time had a higher risk of dying from non-cardiovascular causes. Some medical conditions, like cancer or depression, can cause fatigue, Ferrie said. But the researchers lacked enough information to tell which specific causes of death were linked to increasing sleep times.

The findings are based on information from 9,781 British adults who were 35 to 55 years old when they enrolled in the study, between 1985 and 1989. The participants reported on their sleep habits at study entry and again 5-to-6 years later; they were then followed for another 12 years, on average.

Overall, Ferrie's team found, the risk of dying from cardiovascular disease was higher among men and women who started off sleeping 7 or 8 hours per night, but were getting less sleep a few years later. Their risk of cardiovascular death was double that of their peers who maintained the standard 7- to 8-hour sleep schedule.
Likewise, the risk of dying from non-cardiovascular causes doubled among people whose nightly sleep time increased from an initial 7 to 8 hours.
The findings suggest that the risk of an early death increases when sleep times veer from the "ideal" 7 to 8 hours, according to Ferrie -- though, she pointed out that there are people who just naturally sleep more or less than that and have no increased health risks.
"However, for most of us," Ferrie noted, "burning the candle at both ends or sleeping for 9 or more hours is not ideal over prolonged periods in terms of good health."

Five ways to ... reduce under-eye bags

Eye bags are partly down to genes and worsen with age. They may also signal an allergy. Sadly, though, according to the British Association of Dermatologists, nothing has been scientifically proven to reduce them. We do know that they are often caused by fluid retention, and that dehydration might exacerbate this, so increasing your water intake could help. Other than that, you could try these popular but scientifically unproven treatments. If nothing else, they might cheer you up.

1 Yo-Tox. The hottest non-surgical "facelift" trend from Manhattan: "Sit cross-legged and place the first two fingers of each hand on either side of your nose about an inch down from the center of your eyes," instructs facial yoga expert Katrina Repka. "This is an ayurvedic energy point. Keep a light pressure, close your eyes, and turn your eyes upwards in your head to gaze at the third-eye point - between your eyebrows. Stay for 5-10 seconds and repeat as needed to help reduce puffiness and stimulate the drainage of fluid from the eye area."

2 Take a nap. Though no research backs up the sleep-eyebag link, psychological studies show that we feel worse about our appearance when sleep deprived. Loughborough University's Sleep Research Centre has established that a 15-minute nap is enough to fool the brain into thinking it has had a proper night's sleep.

3 Cool off. Jane Griffin, a facial mapping specialist at Neal's Yard Remedies, in London, says a cooling eye gel may help to shrink the blood vessels, reducing some of the puff.

4 Acupressure. The acupressure point for eyes is on the mound on your palm just below the index finger. Press it. Repeatedly.

5 Potato therapy. "Potatoes contain catecholase, used in some cosmetics as a skin lightener," says Charlotte Vohtz, founder of the natural cosmetics company Green People. "Rest half moons of potato on the eye bags for 20 minutes." At the very least, you'll get some rest before the next festive boozathon.

Could a plant help treat Alzheimer's?

National trial is one of a growing number to look at natural treatments

A plant used widely in China is the focus of a national clinical trial that aims to see if it could help treat Alzheimer's disease and other types of dementia.
The University of North Carolina Hospitals are participating in the national clinical trial on Chinese club moss, which is already being sold in stores with nutritional supplements and is used in China as a treatment for cognitive disorders.
The study, sponsored by the National Institute on Aging, is one of a growing number of federally funded research studies focused on natural and alternative therapies. The centers of the National Institutes of Health expect to spend $300.5 million in complementary and alternative medicine research in the 2007 budget year.

Even with the recent financial commitment, research in that area is limited, making it difficult for doctors to get information that is essential to understanding the risks and benefits of certain treatments.
"That kind of data is completely missing today from most nutraceuticals," said Dr. Daniel Kaufer, a neurologist at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill who is one of the trial's investigators.
Patients in the trial receive either a placebo or dose of Huperzine A — an alkaloid extracted from the plant — that is larger than what's currently available in stores. After the placebo-controlled phase, all patients take doses of Huperzine A for eight weeks and have the option to continue taking it if they believe it's helping.
Investigators test patients' cognitive functions throughout the trial, Kaufer said.
Marion Hinsdale, 83, decided with help from her daughter, Marjorie, to participate in the trial to see if the treatment could help with her memory and cognitive problems.

"Both my mother and I are interested in anything that would be considered homeopathic," said Marjorie Hinsdale, who lives with her mother in Chapel Hill. "The fact that this is a Chinese herb was intriguing to both of us."
While some studies involving natural therapies have been unsuccessful, trials that prove certain therapies work have credibility with consumers and doctors.
"It gets their attention and provides evidence that botanical medicine is very powerful," said Christie Yerby, a Chapel Hill specialist in botanical medicine.
The Hinsdales aren't sure if Huperzine A helped Marion, who decided to keep taking the supplement after completing the first part of the trial.
"We just wanted to contribute in what small way we can," Marjorie Hinsdale said.

Vaccine shows promise for treating Alzheimer’s

An experimental vaccine is showing promise against Alzheimer’s disease, reducing brain deposits that are blamed for the disorder.
The deposits have been cut by between 15.5 percent and 38.5 percent in mice, with no major side effects, researchers said Monday in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Tests of the DNA-based vaccine are under way in monkeys, and if those are successful, testing in people could begin, perhaps within three years, said lead researcher Yoh Matsumoto of the Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Neuroscience in Japan.

If all goes well, this type of treatment might be available for people in six or seven years, he said.
Scientists estimate that as many as 4.5 million Americans suffer from Alzheimer’s, the most common form of dementia. The illness, named after Dr. Alois Alzheimer, a German doctor who studied it in 1906, involves the parts of the brain that control thought, memory and language.
Its cause remains unknown, and while there is no cure some drugs can slow progress of the illness in people in the early and middle stages.
Other efforts to develop an Alzheimer’s therapy also are under way.

Two years ago, trials of a potential vaccine that seemed to help slow the memory decline caused by the disease were halted after several participants developed brain swelling.
Matsumoto said that problem did not occur in the tests of his vaccine.
The brains of people suffering from Alzheimer’s disease are cluttered with a plaque made up of a small protein called amyloid beta, or Ab.
Up to 50 percent reduction in plaqueIn the mouse tests, the Ab deposits were reduced overall, and in certain parts of the brain the reduction was as much as 50 percent, the researchers said.
Dr. Sid Gilman, a professor of neurology at the University of Michigan who has done research in vaccines for Alzheimer’s, said the new research showed the vaccine was efficient and safe in the mice.

He cautioned, however, that it’s very difficult to compare the level of efficiency from one trial to another, “so how effective this may be compared to other approaches is debatable.”
The reasons for the brain swelling in the earlier tests have been determined, Gilman said, and new forms of that therapy are now being tested.
A variety of clinical trials are under way looking at other potential treatments for Alzheimer’s including a hormone that might prevent brain cell death, several drugs, antioxidants, cholesterol-lowering medications and antibodies.
The Japanese research was funded by the ministry of education of Japan and the Novartis Institute of Biomedical Research.

Hypnosis 'can ease bowel illness'

Hypnotherapy could help people with severe irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), researchers say.
Doctors should consider using this and other "psychological" treatments such as antidepressants to help sufferers, King's College London experts say in the British Medical Journal.
However, a shortage of therapists could hinder this, they add.
Experts said there was growing evidence that IBS cases have psychological as well as biological elements.

Other therapies
IBS is a common and painful medical condition that has a wide range of symptoms, including regular abdominal pain, diarrhoea and constipation.
Conventional medicines prescribed for IBS often ease symptoms partially, or not at all.

Many scientists now believe that the cause in many cases is a combination of mental and physical factors, and that the drugs commonly used to tackle it may be aiming at the wrong target.
Patients with IBS are more likely to be diagnosed with depression.
Dr Ian Forgacs, a consultant gastroenterologist from Kings College, says that doctors are often reluctant to prescribe anti-depressants, especially in patients who, apart from their IBS, show no outward signs of being depressed.
He urged them to consider other forms of psychological therapy, including hypnotherapy, as an alternative in some cases.
"Patients with irritable bowel syndrome should be made aware of the existence of these treatments so that they can make informed choices," he said.
"Specifically, they should be made aware that using a psychological treatment does not mean that the disease is 'all in the mind'."
He found that one of the most effective treatments for IBS in research studies were so-called "talking therapies", such as cognitive behavioural therapy, particularly for people whose symptoms were causing them the most distress.
And severe cases of IBS could be improved by using hypnotherapy to target the links between the brain and the gut.
Hypnosis sessions concentrated on encouraging relaxation, then visualising the gut as a fast flowing river which is then imagined to be flowing more slowly and smoothly.

Skill shortage
Dr Forgacs said that one obstacle to providing psychological therapies was a lack of the right specialists in some areas.
"Irritable bowel syndrome is undeniably very common, and many patients are probably denied help by lack of access to therapists with the appropriate psychological skills," he said.
Dr Nick Read, a psychologist and adviser to the IBS Network, said he felt that the majority of IBS patients had a psychologists element to their condition.
He said: "There's now a lot of evidence that psychological therapies can be effective, but a lot of doctors remain sceptical, and carry on treating with drugs which have side-effects, and which basically don't work.
"I work with patients with IBS trying to understand what, for each patient, lies behind the illness."

Cannabis hospital admissions rise

Mental health hospital admissions in England due to cannabis have risen by 85% under Labour, figures show.
In 1996-7, there were 510 admissions, rising to 946 in 2005-6, data obtained by shadow health secretary Andrew Lansley revealed.
Over the last five years alone there was a 65% rise, with experts saying the figures were "the tip of the iceberg".
The government said it had been clear on cannabis - it was illegal and should not be used.
Cannabis is the most widely used illegal drug in the country with over 2m regular users.

The figures obtained from Health Minister Rosie Winterton in a written House of Commons answer are for patients admitted to hospital in England because of a mental or behavioural disorder due to the use of cannabis.
Admissions are not the same as patients, so one patient may have been admitted more than once.
The figures include people with a chronic addiction to cannabis, people with an acute cannabis psychosis as well as those with cannabis-related schizophrenia.
But experts say many more cases may be missed or diagnosed simply as a mental health disorder instead.

Hidden problem

Professor Robin Murray, professor of psychiatry at London's Institute of Psychiatry and member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, said: "There is no doubt that cannabis-related psychiatric problems have increased substantially.
"This might be down to better recognition, but I would say these figures are just the tip of the iceberg. Its only more recently that psychiatrists have understood the importance of cannabis use."
He said cannabis use was a contributing factor in up to 10% of schizophrenia cases, yet this was under-recognised.

"There are probably 1,500 new cases of cannabis-related schizophrenia a year," he said.
Paul Jenkins, chief executive of the Rethink mental health charity, said: "These figures show that there is an urgent need for a properly funded campaign to help young people realise cannabis use is risky."
Marjorie Wallace, chief executive of the mental health charity SANE, said: "Psychiatrists have been telling us that 80% of patients admitted with their first episode of psychosis have been taking the drug.
"We strongly urge the government to heed the growing evidence and take urgent action to warn young people that some of them are risking lifelong mental illness - that they are playing Russian roulette with their minds."
Scientists have found that some of the active ingredients in cannabis can have an impact on the symptoms of many diseases, including asthma, glaucoma and muscle spasms, as well as loss of appetite and nausea due to AIDS and chemotherapy treatment.

Policy
Indeed, cannabis-based pain-relief drugs have been licensed for MS patients.
Mr Lansley added: "Awareness of the link between mental illness and cannabis has increased over recent years, as has the strength of the drug.
"Both these factors have contributed to the sharp increase of hospital admissions on mental health grounds.
"That's why the Conservatives have opposed the downgrading of cannabis and pledged to have it reclassified."
At present, cannabis is a class C drug but there have been calls to move it back to class B.
A Department of Health spokeswoman said: "Our message is clear - cannabis is harmful, is an illegal drug and should not be taken.
"Our policy on cannabis is in line with the drugs strategy, with emphasis on enforcement, prevention, education, and treatment; evidence shows that cannabis use is falling across all age ranges."

Yoga tested as back pain therapy

The potential for yoga to be used to treat low back pain is being investigated by researchers.
Millions of UK people suffer from chronic low back pain, and existing treatments have only a limited effect.
A team of academics, yoga teachers and practitioners have joined forces to find out if a 12-week course of yoga can make a difference.
The Arthritis Research Campaign-backed project will assess moves from the two most popular types of yoga.

These are lyengar yoga and hatha yoga, favoured by the British Wheel of Yoga.
More than 260 people between the ages of 18 and 65 who have had back pain in the past 18 months will be recruited for the trial.
Recent, small studies in the US have shown that yoga can be helpful for back pain sufferers.
But David Torgerson, director of the University of York Clinical trials Unit, and Jennifer Klaber Moffett, deputy director of the Institute of Rehabilitation at the University of Hull, believe a bigger study is needed to unequivocally establish the benefits.

'Considerable impact'
Professor Torgerson said: "Yoga offers a combination of physical exercise with mental focus that may make it a suitable therapy for the treatment of low back pain.
"If the trial shows yoga to be effective then this low-cost treatment will have a considerable impact in the quality of life of patients with back pain."
Yoga develops flexibility and muscular endurance by allowing the muscles to be stretched and strengthened.
Patients will be recruited from GP surgeries from September and the 12-week classes, to be held in north and central London, York, Manchester and Cornwall, will begin in November.
The classes will be run by 10 experienced yoga teachers who have all received specialist training.

No difficult poses
Half the participants will take part in yoga classes, and the other half will receive the usual care. They will be assessed at the end of the classes, then six months and a year later to see if there are any longer-term benefits.
The yoga classes will be carefully structured for people who are complete novices and will not involve any difficult poses.
They will be graduated over the 12-week period, starting off gently and becoming more demanding, with a combination of stretches, bends, lying sitting, standing and relaxing poses.
Patients will also be encouraged to practise daily at home.
Anna Semlyen, a yoga teacher who is helping to run the classes, said: "Regular yoga increases the benefits, and we would hope that at the end of the 12 weeks people would carry on."

Rosehip treatment tackles arthritis

ROSEHIPS may provide an effective alternative treatment for sufferers of crippling rheumatoid arthritis, research suggests.
Severely affected patients already being treated with conventional drugs experienced significant improvement after taking capsules of rosehip powder for six months.

Experts want to conduct more extensive trials which could form the basis of clinical guidelines.
Scientists said the rosehip remedy, LitoZin, may help to reduce NHS spending on expensive new drugs.
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a painful and debilitating auto-immune disease which affects about 400,000 people in the UK, 4,000 of them seriously. It occurs when the immune system attacks the joints, causing swelling and damage to cartilage and bone.

Traditional treatments have only limited effectiveness.

Newer medicines, including TNF Alpha inhibitors and the latest "smart" drugs that target various parts of the immune system, can cost as much as £10,000 a year.
Scientists who conducted the trial in Copenhagen and Berlin said they were surprised by the results, since RA is a far more serious and challenging disease than osteo-arthritis.
A total of 89 mostly female patients with an average age of 57 were recruited, all seriously affected by RA, which they had suffered for more than 18 years.
The patients were asked to fill in questionnaires to assess pain and the ability to carry out everyday tasks.
After six months, activity levels improved by 20-25 per cent for those taking LitoZin. The number of joints causing pain and discomfort fell by 40 per cent, but did not change for patients treated conventionally without the rosehip supplement.

Are Too Many Vitamins Bad for Your Health?

We tend to think of vitamins as healthy. But can you have too much of a good thing?
New research suggests this may be the case when it comes to supplements.

In a meta-analysis study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers reviewed 68 studies involving more than 200,000 patients to determine whether taking high-dose vitamin supplements -- in particular, beta carotene, vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E and selenium -- affected your risk of dying.
What they found was that some of these supplements actually increased risk of death by a small, but significant, amount.
Taking large doses of vitamin A increased the risk of death by 16 percent. Smaller increases were seen for vitamin E (4 percent) and beta carotene (7 percent).
Vitamin C and selenium did not appear to affect the risk of dying.

But exactly how the high doses of supplements affect the risk of death is not clear. The study authors speculate that perhaps the vitamins interfere with the body's defense mechanisms.
The researchers arrived at their conclusions by pooling the results from many different, previously published studies.
Because each of the studies involved in this meta-analysis was very different, though, it is hard to generalize the findings to one particular person, such as you or a family member.
Dr. Meir Stampfer, professor of nutrition and epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, states, "The effects might well differ according to particular characteristics of the population, such as enhanced risk among smokers for beta carotene, but no increased risk among nonsmokers."

Some Still Need Supplements
Select people should still take supplements. For instance, people who have had gastric bypass surgery need large amounts of vitamin A, says internist Dr. Tina Dobsevage, assistant clinical professor of medicine at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
She says she also prescribes vitamins D and B12 to patients who have low blood levels of these nutrients.

However, others have conditions that increase the health risk associated with certain supplements. Vitamin E, for example, has blood-thinning properties and may increase the risk of bleeding in people taking prescription blood thinners.
Information that large doses of some vitamins can be harmful is not new. When taken in excess, the fat-soluble vitamins -- vitamins A, D, E and K -- are stored in body fat tissues. This can lead to toxic buildup in the liver, brain and heart.
Excess amounts of water-soluble vitamins, on the other hand, are less hazardous because they are eliminated from the body in the urine.
It is also known that vitamins taken as supplements, rather than in whole foods, tend to be less beneficial. Thus, the study authors say, people should not shy away from fruits and vegetables for fear that they are overloading on vitamins.

Vitamins a Big Business
An estimated 10 percent to 20 percent of U.S. adults -- 80 million to 160 million people -- look to vitamin supplements for a nutritional boost.
Supposed health benefits include longer life, a healthier heart and stronger bones.
Antioxidant supplements, which include the vitamins in the current study, are thought to fight off substances called "free radicals" and improve immune function.
Dr. Kathy Helzlsouer, a women's health specialist and director of the Prevention and Research Center at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore, thinks the study has "extremely significant findings."
"This is a big industry," she said. "Even small risks, with widespread use, result in large numbers of women [and men] affected."
This echoes the thoughts of the study authors, who write, "The public health consequences may be substantial."

Should You Toss Your Supplements?
Doctors tend to agree that moderation is key when it comes to vitamins.
After reviewing the study, internist Dr. Ted Palen of Colorado Permanente Medical Group said, "I will counsel patients that moderate multivitamin intake may be beneficial, but megadoses may actually be harmful."

Keith Ayoob, associate professor in the department of pediatrics at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, agrees.
"The best research says to take a complete multivitamin with 100 percent of the [recommended dietary allowance or RDA] and not more," he said.
Some doctors recommend concentrating on improving your diet rather than stressing about which supplements to take.

People "should spend their money on multiple varieties and colors of vegetables and fruits, whole grains, and lean protein," said Dr. John Messmer, associate professor of family and community medicine at Pennsylvania State University's College of Medicine in Hershey, "and stop wasting it on supplements."
Dobsevage agrees. However, she said, "the American diet is so degraded, and so many of us no longer cook whole foods in our own homes for most of our meals, that I often recommend a modest level of vitamin and mineral supplementation -- less than RDAs."

Celebrities' special health care? Not so much

Caring for a sick celebrity in the hospital offers unique challenges. Fame and fortune bring VIPs great benefits but also some significant problems.
First and foremost, there are issues of patient confidentiality. For this reason, I won't discuss specific examples; suffice it to say that being a well-known VIP at a hospital is no guarantee of receiving excellent care. In fact, it can lead to worse health care.
To many hospitals, having a VIP patient is a sign of prestige and honor. Often, the hospital's name is mentioned in the press: "Mr. X has been diagnosed with cancer of the colon and is now receiving treatment at the John Doe Memorial Hospital." Most readers assume that, given Mr. X's fame and wealth, he could choose any hospital he believed would offer the best care. Since he's at John Doe Memorial Hospital, it must be a darned good hospital. It follows that they might feel that, when they get sick, they also want to go there.
Hospitals love this type of public relations, but there are downsides to VIPs.
Once Mr. X is admitted to the hospital, it becomes a large burden for hospital administrators to respect and assure his privacy and confidentiality. The media are everywhere, and they are sneaky. They are assigned a story, and they need details.
Among the medical staff, word spreads that Mr. X is a patient on 8 North. Each time the doctor orders a test or procedure down in X-ray or surgery, many staff members try to find an excuse to walk by and gaze at the famous Mr. X as he rests on the hospital gurney awaiting his scan. Of course, other patients recognize Mr. X, and they want to talk with him or wish him well.
VIPs often are admitted to special rooms or sections reserved for the elite after their procedures. These wards are often beautifully decorated with large private rooms, provide special foods and offer boutique services. They are staffed by nurses specially trained to respect privacy and deal with the complexities of VIPs and their families.
While these special staff are lovely people and have outstanding bedside manners, they are not always as skilled at managing medical crises as are the floor nurses who deal daily with complex medical situations.
As such, I've seen VIPs go for hours with undiagnosed bleeding ulcers, untreated pain or unusual cardiac arrhythmias – all conditions that would be quickly detected on the wards where the masses reside, where patients often share a room and the nurses are overworked but pop into each room on a very regular basis.
Doctors seem to regularly over-order tests on VIPs, which places these sick people at risk for unnecessary complications and an increased chance of a test result being wrong. Senior doctors often request that interns and residents stay away from their VIPs in an attempt to protect the VIP from bother, aggravation and breaches of privacy. However, without junior doctors regularly looking in on a patient several times each day, VIPs need to rely on their senior doctor, who may stop by only once or twice each day.
When something does go wrong – and for sick people in hospitals, things happen on a regular basis – and the senior doctor isn't immediately available, the nurses are forced to call a medical resident. The resident is now forced to provide care for the VIP without any knowledge of Mr. X or his medical condition, allergies, prior treatments and the like.
Regardless, we love our celebrities and we want to give them special care – it's just that special care isn't always the best care that you and I receive. Maybe we ought to just treat everyone with the same excellent care and not work to provide special services for VIPs.

Employers favor health insurance mandates

Most Colorado employers think everyone should be required to have health insurance, according to a recent survey from the Business Health Forum.
The survey, conducted among members of the business community in six cities, was designed to tap employers' perspectives in the debate over health care reform.
According to the survey, 62 percent of the respondents agree that health insurance should be mandatory.
Four out of five of the proposals being studied by the state's Blue Ribbon Commission for Health Care Reform call for individual mandates as one way to provide coverage to Colorado's roughly 800,000 uninsured residents.
Health care experts say the uninsured create higher health care costs because providers like hospitals pass uncompensated costs to health insurers -- resulting in double-digit premium increases for employers.
The commission is preparing a report to state legislators that will outline policies that could retify the problem.
The survey showed that 67 percent of respondents said employees should be protected from having to spend more than a certain percentage of their family income on insurance.
But the survey also showed that only 42 percent of the participants believe employers should be required to provide insurance or pay into a purchasing pool that will help uninsured employees obtain some kind of coverage. Eighty-five percent of the respondents said government subsidies should allow people to buy into the private market.
Ninety-one percent said portability or continuity of health coverage ought to be assured for indiviuals and families.

Health care needs breaking, rebuilding

The health-care crisis seems to be on everyone’s mind today. Politicians have unique solutions to sell you with the objective being your vote. Getting your vote is, unfortunately, not what good health care is really about.
The medical-care crisis is real, and it is multi-faceted. Today, we focus on cost and the uninsured. In reality, we should be more concerned about availability. The number of doctors over age 55 is significant. When those doctors retire, the question will not be the cost of medical care but the rationing of medical care. The shortage of practicing nurses is already well known, but the shortage of doctors is only now becoming a focus.
In order to revitalize our health-care system and provide the solid foundation necessary for access to health care for all, we must drastically overhaul how health care is thought of today.
The individual is the starting point for good health care. We cannot continue to rely on drugs or surgery to reverse years of poor health habits and poor diets. The true solution to our health-care crisis is personal responsibility. This will take years to be effective, but it is the only true long-term solution.

In the shorter run, our health-care system must emphasize wellness and not illness. At present, the emergency room is the physician of choice for many Americans, at great cost to all. It is important to allow nurse practitioners, physician assistants and nurses greater autonomy in providing medical care. Not all medical issues require a doctor. Additionally, the American Medical Association and research facilities should be encouraged to develop standard medical examinations and treatments for each risk group or age, especially the aged. This improves early diagnosis and allows for treatment at a much lower cost than remediation later.

Medical systems must be streamlined by providing funds that will be used to renovate health facilities and find creative means of providing health care. Let the private-enterprise system encourage solutions. Government-imposed pricing with Medicare and Medicaid, regulatory-approval processes and litigation risks all work together to deny us the very thing that our political leaders tell us they are working for. Additionally, insurance companies frequently base their reimbursements on Medicare and Medicaid while at the same time requiring additional paperwork to justify payments. More realistic rate structures and simplified billing administration are needed to encourage the free market system to work as they are intended to work.

Tort reform is needed as well. We must limit noneconomic damages for awards and give the state licensing board greater latitude to punish negligence. Concurrently, physicians and health-care providers have to be willing to police their own ranks.
To alleviate the shortage of health-care professionals, we need to encourage careers in health care through a nationwide tuition-assistance program, loans and tax incentives. It is absurd that our tax code fails to reward education. If you want to fight medical-care shortages, encourage the career (and all careers for that matter) by providing for the deductibility of tuition payments from income. To provide for care to the poor, nonprofit health-care facilities will partially fill the gap, but I would also recommend that the tax code be modified to allow health-care practitioners to deduct the market value of their charity care to the poor on their tax returns.
Prescription-drug-approval processes and research are needed to significantly reduce the costs of developing new drugs. Making villains out of drug companies to get votes is counterproductive.
Finally, revision of HIPAA and the Stark Act to reduce unnecessary and cumbersome regulations that increase costs but do not improve health care should be undertaken immediately. Once again, the Congress passed well-intentioned bills with no understanding of the impact on the industry.
Great health care emphasizes wellness, personal responsibility, and a society that is willing to lead the effort of encouraging health-care careers. Bandages will not fix our health-care problems today but redefining how health care is provided will. We need to break health care in order to fix it.

Vitamin C 'does not stop colds'

Taking a daily supplement of vitamin C will not protect most people from common colds, scientists say.

A review of 30 studies, involving 11,350 people, also found doses of at least 200mg per day did little to reduce the length or severity of colds.
But people exposed to periods of high stress, like marathon runners, could reduce their risk of catching colds by half if they took the vitamin daily.
The Australian and Finnish team's study is published in the Cochrane Library.

Researchers at the Australian National University and the University of Helsinki concluded that, for most people, the benefits of taking vitamin C daily were so slight that they were not worth the effort or expense.
Although they found it could reduce the duration of colds by up to 8% in adults and 13.6% in children, as most people only have two or three colds every year, this benefit is only very small.

Useful effects
Author Professor Harri Hemilä, said: "It doesn't make sense to take vitamin C 365 days a year to lessen the chance of catching a cold."
However, they say it may be justified in those exposed to severe cold or physical stresses, where vitamin C doses reduced the risk of getting a cold by half.
Furthermore, they say there is "tantalising" evidence from one study that very large doses of vitamin C taken at the beginning of a cold might have a useful effect.
But more research would be needed to evaluate this possibility.
In the 1970s, Nobel Prize-winning chemist Linus Pauling encouraged people to take 1,000mg of vitamin C daily to ward off colds.
But since then the effects of the vitamin on colds has remained controversial.

Fighting infection
The current recommended daily allowance of vitamin C is just 60mg, and Catherine Collins, a registered dietician with the British Dietetic Association, says an optimum amount would be 200mg every day.
But she said most people could easily obtain this amount through eating five portions of fruit and vegetables every day.
Furthermore, eating too much vitamin C means it cannot be absorbed and so is removed from the body.
Although infection-fighting white blood cells do use vitamin C, Ms Collins said there was very little evidence to suggest that it could help fight off colds.
She said: "It sounds biologically plausible because vitamin C does help improve our immune systems, but it only seems to work if people are deficient in it in the first place, which is very rare."
However, she added that the study was useful in adding to the existing body of evidence concerning Vitamin C.

Eating fish: good for heart, bad for environment?

Doctors recommend a good dose of salmon or tuna in the diet because of its benefits to the heart. But is it good for the environment?
Surging demand for salmon in particular has been spurred in part by numerous studies touting the health benefits of omega-3 fatty acids, which are present in some kinds of fish.
A study published in June in the American Heart Association journal Circulation said a diet with liberal servings of fish, nuts and seeds rich in such nutrients can help lower a person's blood pressure. Other studies have shown benefits to eye and brain development and preventing heart disease, Alzheimer's disease and eye disorders.
Conservationists point out that while global fish stocks were getting hammered long before sushi became chic, health trends could add pressure to already vulnerable fisheries.
"Over-fishing has predated the interest in omega-3 and healthy eating. But now there are places where it is certainly going to accentuate it," said Jason Clay, vice president of markets at the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
"The FAO (U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization) estimates that by 2030 average annual per capita global consumption of fish will increase by 1.5 kgs (3.4 pounds) and some of it will be driven by health-related demand," he said.

When it comes to omega-3 fatty acids, not all fish are equal. Fatty fish such as trout, salmon, mackerel and Alaska pollock are rich in this crucial group of nutrients.
Tuna are, too, but few wild tuna fisheries are regarded by conservationists as sustainable.
"It depends on your source ... Omega-3s are very high in wild salmon and the Alaskan salmon fishery is well-managed," said Phil Kline, an ocean campaigner with Greenpeace.
Alaska salmon are among the fisheries that have been certified as sustainable by the British-based Marine Stewardship Council. It uses stringent criteria for a fishery to get its seal of approval and the right to bear its eco-label.
It has not yet given its blessing to any tuna fishery but is assessing the sustainability of the U.S. Pacific coast albacore tuna industry.
Demand for salmon has certainly been soaring.
According to the U.S. National Fisheries Institute, American per capita consumption of salmon has risen from 0.87 pounds (0.39 kg) per year in 1992 to 2.026 pounds (0.92 kg) in 2006. The species also went from being America's sixth most popular fish to eat to its third over the same period of time.
In a well-managed situation, such demand can lead to conservation: it's in no one's interest to deplete something of value.

"In the long run, the more valuable wild salmon are the better they are likely to be protected," said Gunnar Knapp, a professor of economics at the University of Alaska's Institute of Social and Economic Research.
He said high demand and prices gave people an incentive to protect vital salmon habitat such as spawning grounds in rivers from other industries such as logging and mining.
"In Alaska, even if the price of salmon were to quadruple it would not lead to too many fish being caught because the limiting factor is not the price but how much the managers allow the fishermen to catch, and they make that assessment purely on biological grounds," Knapp told Reuters by phone from Anchorage.
But he said Russia's salmon fishery, for example, was not so well managed and could suffer overfishing as prices rise.
Much of the burgeoning demand for salmon is being met by the rapidly growing aquaculture industry, but experts say there are environmental concerns linked to that, too.
WWF's Clay said fish being caught for fishmeal to feed the aquaculture industry include species such as anchovies, which are rich in omega-3s but which have questions over their sustainability.
"One out of every three fish that is caught right now is used to make feed for other fish," he said.
Fish don't actually produce omega-3 fatty acids, they capture it from the food chain.
And there are plenty of substitutes out there such as walnuts, flaxseed and canola oil, which can provide the same omega-3-related benefits as fish.
In the past, children in many parts of the world were given cod liver oil as a health supplement. These days, they are more likely to take fish oil capsules made from other species.
For conservationists, the question is whether the latest health trend will result in salmon and other species going the same way as eastern Canada's cod fishery, once one of the world's richest which utterly collapsed last decade.

Obese 'under-report' sugar intake

Obese people underestimate the amount of sugar they eat, making studies into the condition based on self-reporting very unreliable, UK researchers say.

But a new urine test has been developed which can for the first time work out how much sugar people have consumed.
In a study of hundreds of volunteers, researchers compared what people said they ate with data from urine tests.
The findings appear in the journal Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention.
"These results show what many have suspected for some time: obese people are not able to tell us what they actually eat," said Professor Sheila Bingham who led the team from the Medical Research Council and University of Cambridge.
"If we are to tackle the scourge of obesity, both exercise and diet need to be taken into account."

Linked after all?

Studies have suggested that eating more sugar is not linked to obesity.
But the report says these conclusion were based on studies which relied on self-reporting and that their findings show these to be inaccurate.
"The spot urine and blood tests established that obese people consume more sugar and less Vitamin C than their thinner counterparts, but this did not show up when asked," said Professor Bingham.
"Although obese people may have a less active lifestyle than people of normal weight, reports about what they ate were less accurate than those from their normal weight counterparts."
Dr Colin Waine of the National Obesity Forum said the tendency to under-report food intake among the overweight was a major problem for medical practitioners.
"Used sensitively, this test could be a great tool in helping patient and practitioner work out what's going wrong and talk through what could be done about it."

What Women Really Need to Know About Vitamins

Much of what you know -- or think you know -- about dietary supplements could be wrong.
The May issue of Women's Health magazine says that while Food and Drug Administration daily value recommendations for vitamins haven't changed since 1968, what we know about nutrition has. The Institute of Medicine has new recommendations for vitamins, called dietary reference intakes.
Lisa Drayer, nutrition adviser and contributing editor to Women's Health, recommended specific supplements that take into account these latest numbers.
For more information visit Women's Health.
Take a multivitamin daily
- Women's Health recommends One-a-Day Women's, which comes closest to current DRIs.
For example, Women's One a Day offers only 50 percent of the daily value of Vitamin A, with 20 percent as beta carotene which is a safer alternative. Even small excesses of Vitamin A have been linked to an increased risk of birth defects, liver problems and nervous system disorders, as well as long-term bone damage that can eventually lead to hip fractures.
On the other hand, for Vitamin D the daily value is 400 ius, but current research says women need 800 to 1000.
The four nutrients women need more of are calcium, Vitamin D, magnesium and Vitamin K.
For extra calcium, try Nature Made Calcium with Vitamin D. Vitamin D helps your body absorb calcium. But take this supplement at a different time than when you take a multivitamin, because your body can't absorb over 500 mgs of calcium at a time.
For extra magnesium, try Nature's Bounty Magnesium. Magnesium can protect against heart disease, diabetes and colon cancer. New DRIs say we should get 320 mgs a day.
For extra Vitamin K, try Puritan's Pride All Natural Vitamin K. Vitamin K is really important for bone health. Women's Health recommends a supplement of 100 micrograms called Puritan's Pride, which you can only get through the mail. Vitamin K can interfere with a blood thinner called coumadin, so talk to your doctor if you take that medication before taking vitamins.
For pregnant women and athletes, try Country Life Vitamin B12 and Floradix Iron and Herbs Extract. You need more iron if you exercise more than an hour a day or if you're pregnant. Iron helps hemoglobin deliver oxygen at greater volumes.
Vegetarians and vegans should look for supplements with B12 and iron. If you're vegan you need those plus Vitamin A. Women's Health recommends drinking carrot juice to get extra Vitamin A.
Women who are breast feeding should take 5 mgs of zinc a day.

Food firms accused of understating salt levels

Consumers are being misled about the salt content of some ready meals and other processed foods, according to a survey published yesterday.
The report accuses manufacturers of deliberately understating portion sizes on food labels, in an apparent effort to make the amount of salt in their products seem as low as possible. In one case a packet of chicken nuggets gave the salt content for a portion weighing 15g, the equivalent of just one nugget. Servings of baked beans varied across brands from half to one third of a 420g can.
Unclear labelling risks misleading consumers about the amount of salt in their diet, according to the Local Authorities Co-ordinators of Regulatory Services (Lacors), which coordinated the study.
"There is concern that customers are being hoodwinked and misled by some manufacturers who are deliberately quoting unreasonably small portion sizes on their packaging to mask the true salt content of their products," said Geoffrey Theobald, chairman of Lacors.
Environmental health officers at 60 local councils across the UK collected 831 samples of processed foods from supermarkets and other stores.
Tests revealed that the salt content of the foods had fallen by 10.9% since May 2005, though fewer than half the foods met the Food Standards Agency's salt reduction targets for 2010.
The Food Standards Agency has introduced a "traffic light" system of food labelling that lists ingredients as red, amber or green, to indicate whether levels are unhealthy or not. While several retailers have adopted the scheme, others, including Tesco and large manufacturers such as Nestlé and Kelloggs, have championed an alternative system expressing ingredients as a percentage of a guideline daily amount.
Targets set by the FSA aim to see daily recommended levels of salt intake fall from today's level of around 9g to 6g by 2010. According to the pressure group Consensus Action on Salt and Health, a 3g drop in salt intake would lead to a 22% reduction in strokes and a 16% fall in coronary heart disease, preventing 35,000 deaths in Britain every year.
Amelia Lake at Newcastle University's Human Nutrition Research Centre, said: "Manufacturers and people who sell food have a responsibility to consumers, at the very least to be clear about the contents of their products."

Health care crisis

The debate now raging over how much money the federal government should spend to provide basic health insurance for poor children is just an opening skirmish in what is likely to be an all-out war in coming months and years over how to pay for health care in America.

Almost every presidential candidate in both parties has come up with some proposal that promises to control the costs, broaden the availability and upgrade the quality of health care. At the same time, a growing number of states and localities -- including Howard County and the state of Maryland -- are seeking local answers to the problem.Health care is in the spotlight for an array of reasons -- a growing proportion of Americans have no health insurance, costs of providing care are rising far faster than the overall rate of inflation, costs to workers of employer-provided insurance are growing while benefits are limited and the costs of coping with catastrophic illness are placing a growing burden on families and communities.

The challenge is finding ways to provide every American with quality affordable health care without dictating how the care will be offered.Our failure to make progress toward that goal is causing a slow-motion health care crisis that is already threatening the well-being of millions.In most other developed countries the government offers universal care with more private care choices available to those who can afford them. But many Americans fear the bureaucratic implications of a publicly funded universal care system that might provide mediocre or inadequate care. They say they want the right to choose their own doctors and methods of care.But, truth be told, a growing proportion of Americans are losing their access to health care choice and seek care only in emergencies. The costs of providing that emergency care are extraordinarily high and the benefits are limited.Employer-provided insurance, the bedrock of health insurance, is eroding.About one in six people in the United States -- 46.6 million people -- lacked health insurance for all of 2005 and the ranks of the uninsured are growing with every passing year.Many companies, particularly smaller firms, faced with fast-rising health insurance expenses are asking workers to cover some of the cost, are limiting benefits or dropping insurance plans altogether. Thirty-nine percent of firms in the United States didn't offer health insurance at all in 2006 and 41.9 percent of "wage and salary" workers aged 18 to 64 were not offered health coverage through their own employers.Americans worry about health coverage and health care costs. For instance, 54 percent of those polled by the Pew Research Center in 2006 said that paying for the cost of a major illness is a major problem. Some 44 percent said paying for prescription drugs is a major problem.At the same time, many are not convinced that being uninsured is a problem. A majority in a national poll taken in 2004 mistakenly believed that the uninsured can receive the care they need through clinics and hospital emergency departments.In fact, lacking health insurance can be seriously dangerous to your health, studies by the National Academy of Sciences' Institute of Medicine (IOM) show.According to the IOM, an estimated 18,000 adults die each year because they are uninsured and can't get appropriate health care. Hospitalized patients without health insurance receive fewer needed services and lower-quality care, and have a greater risk of dying in the hospital or shortly after discharge than patients with insurance. Uninsured victims with trauma due to an auto crash are 37 percent more likely to die of their injuries.Uninsured children are five times more likely to have an unmet dental need and about half as likely to get needed mental health care or counseling.And there's a good chance that at some point an uninsured person or family will face serious, economically destabilizing medical expense. Six out of 10 uninsured working-age adults report problems paying medical bills, compared with 35 percent of insured adults. Among those reporting medical bill problems, 27 percent said they struggled to pay for expenses such as food, rent and heat.Still, a significant number of workers are balking at the rising costs of employer-sponsored insurance. Premiums for a family of four paid for by workers increased almost 12 percent between 2004 and 2005 -- from $222 a month to $248. Almost two out of three workers who chose not to participate in their employer's health plan in 2002 said the plan was too costly.Employer-paid health care for retired workers has declined significantly in recent decades, a development that has prompted a growing number of older workers to stay on the job years beyond their original plan. Overall, 35 percent of companies with 200 or more workers offered retiree health benefits in 2006, down substantially from 66 percent in 1988.A vital health insurance contributor in recent years has been the Medicaid program, funded by both state and federal dollars. Medicaid offers a relatively generous package of benefits to low-income mothers and children, people with disabilities and some low income seniors.Some 56.3 million people were covered by Medicaid during the 2006 fiscal year and a number of current state and federal proposals to broaden publicly funded health insurance coverage to include more low-income people would use Medicaid as a funnel for the aid.

Children, the healthiest of Medicaid beneficiaries, accounted for 49 percent of the enrollees but just 18 percent of the spending in 2004. People over 65 with disabilities in contrast comprised only 25 percent of beneficiaries but accounted for 70 percent of spending.Medicaid also pays for nearly half of all long-term care services. Nearly 60 percent of all nursing home residents receive support from Medicaid.Eligibility rules for Medicaid are complicated and vary widely from state to state.

Critics of proposals to expand some Medicaid coverage -- like the recently debated bipartisan plan to increase spending on the SCHIP program for low-income children -- argue that the added aid would prompt the movement of children from job-based insurance to government-paid coverage.In fact, the portion of children covered through job-based insurance decreased from 65.6 percent to 60.5 percent between 2000 and 2005 as Medicaid and SCHIP coverage grew.The quality of Medicaid coverage varies widely, depending on the ability and willingness of state governments to make contributions. Nationally, Medicaid has grown to be the second largest item for state government general fund spending after allocations for elementary and secondary education.The sheer size of the Medicaid program has forced all states to try to hold down its spending growth. Despite such efforts state and local Medicaid expenses are projected to rise 7.8 percent in 2007.Beyond the existing Medicaid programs, members of Congress and presidential candidates are debating other mechanisms to broaden access to health insurance and improve care.Democrats have generally been proposing publicly funded alternatives.Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York has suggested that people could keep their existing coverage, choose a private plan offered by the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program or sign up for a new "public plan option similar to Medicare."Former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina would give everyone "a choice between private insurers and a public insurance plan modeled after Medicare."Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois says he would "establish a new public insurance program" for people who do not have access to group coverage.By contrast, Republicans have generally proposed reforms based on more entrepreneurial concepts.Former New York Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani proposes shifting to a system where individuals could buy their own insurance, with the help of tax incentives. Critics say people with relatively few health problems might get a good deal from that plan, while people with more health problems could end up paying more.Mitt Romney, who was widely praised when he was governor of Massachusetts for his plan to bring provide universal coverage to state residents, said he would like to offer flexible federal aid to empower states to come up with their own solutions to control rising health costs and expand coverage.Sen. John McCain of Arizona has said that his goal would be to control health care costs by demanding accountability from every player in the industry -- from drug companies to insurance companies to doctors, hospitals, the government and patients.He argues that significant progress could be made with better treatment of chronic diseases like diabetes and heart disease, which account for 75 percent of all health care costs.The idea that health care costs could be substantially constrained with better, more pro-active management of care, is one that most health care professionals endorse.A recent study by the Milken Institute, based in Santa Monica, Calif., said a reorientation of health care toward more prevention counseling could save more than $1 trillion in 2023. Reducing obesity alone could trim the incidence of disease by 14.8 million cases in 2023, saving $60 billion in treatment costs that year.The idea of coaching patients to better health habits is a key element of an innovative health care plan that will be offered by Howard County to low income residents in the coming year. County officials emphasize the program is not health insurance, but a fee-for-services plan. Coaches will help participants overcome obstacles to fitness and patients can be dropped from the plan if they fail to make good-faith efforts to improve their health.

Your health

Halloween horrors
Don't eat the glow sticks. That sounds like common sense, but every Halloween the Illinois Poison Control Center gets calls from parents whose kids decided the neon liquid looked tasty. Kids also eat suspicious candy, face paint and dry ice, all of which can be harmful.
• Use nontoxic face paint or makeup. Some products contain emollient laxatives, talc or hydrocarbons, which can be toxic if eaten.
• In small amounts, the liquid in glow sticks or necklaces won't cause severe poisoning. But it could cause a rash, nausea and burning.
• For the punch bowl, don't put dry ice in individual glasses. It could burn the mouth and throat and can cause severe pain.
Plan a safe Halloween this year, but post the poison center's number by the phone just in case. It's (800) 222-1222.

Run the numbers
Think you can lose weight by diet alone? Well, you can, but you might not want to. Every pound you lose through diet alone is roughly three-quarters fat tissue and one-quarter muscle tissue, according to the American Council on Exercise.
Weight loss through diet and exercise has a better ratio. For every pound you shed, you'll lose about 1¼ pounds of fat tissue, and gain about one-quarter pound of muscle.
That higher muscle mass will improve your metabolism and protect against age-related muscle loss.
Be an active patient:Œ
Patients who get involved in their health care get better results. That holds true when you have cultural or religious issues that may be a factor in your care. The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons offers tips for a successful doctor visit:
• Discuss your religious concerns. Some religious restrictions could impact your medical treatment.
• Explain any dietary requirements, such as kosher dietary laws or religious fasting.
• Tell the doctor if you are uncomfortable being examined by a male or female.
• Ask for detailed information about your diagnosis, tests, treatment and prescriptions. Ask to see pictures or written information if you don't fully understand.

Beauty school, computer training, all on wheels

From beauty tips to computer education to healthcare, it will all be rolled out on wheels in Rajasthan as the state government tries to reach out to rural areas.Initially, a single mobile beauty van costing Rs two million and fitted with beauty equipment will be launched in the first week of December in Jaipur. Students enrolled in a diploma course in beauty culture would run the unique project.
From threading to manicures and pedicures, the students will impart beauty training and tips for a price to women, especially those who want to become beauticians."Our main aim is to offer training to women by reaching out to them so that they can stand on their own feet," said Vasudev Devnani, Rajasthan's state minister for education."A bus estimated to cost around Rs two million would have all the facilities, including cosmetics and threading, manicure and pedicure equipments," an official said.Starting with one bus that can accommodate up to 10 trainers at a time, the plan is to allow more such mobile beauty schools in rural areas. Jodhpur has already put in a request for a van.The state government is also going ahead with computer education on wheels.Through public-private partnership, the government will operationalise 32 buses, one in each district, fitted with IT infrastructure and other teaching aids."The state government with the support of global and local partners has taken steps towards bringing ICT in education to empower students and enhance the quality of education in the state," a senior education department official said."We have invited expressions of interest (EOI) from interested parties," he added."The government would extend a subsidy to the extent of up to 75 per cent towards the capital cost of buses and equipment. The idea is to provide basic computer education to students in elementary classes residing in rural areas through these buses by the private partners," he added.Mobile medical units too are to be set up to take healthcare to the doorstep of the rural populace. These will be operated by NGOs and hospitals or private health clinics under the control of district health societies.

Health-care debate concerns far more than just insurance

Pizza is on Marcia Nielsen’s mind as she considers what frustrates her about the health reform debate in Kansas.
Imagine someone who’s just eaten a slice of thin-crust pie with sausage, pepperoni and extra cheese and isn’t happy with how it tastes. When he calls the parlor, should he focus his complaints on the delivery guy?
Kansans are doing something like that with health care when they focus the debate on making sure more people have health insurance, said Nielsen, the executive director of the Kansas Health Policy Authority.
Insurance issues are significant, but if policy makers in Kansas are going to lessen problems in the health care system, they must control costs and push Kansans toward healthier living. The authority plans to issue reform recommendations Thursday, and most of them won’t deal with insurance.
Offering a package focused only on insurance would be like getting a bad pizza and not thinking about how it was cooked or what ingredients went into it.
“The only thing we focus on from a policy perspective is the pizza delivery guy,” she said last week. “How big is his pizza delivery truck? How fast does he get here? Is he nice? Do we give him a big tip?”
Like their counterparts in most other states, Kansas legislators have struggled with health care issues for nearly two decades, alternating between waiting on Congress to approve national legislation and taking incremental steps themselves. Much of the discussion has focused on providing coverage to more people.
In January, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius called on legislators to enact a plan to eventually bring universal coverage to Kansas. Instead, they approved a bundle of less ambitious reforms and told the Health Policy Authority to study other changes.
The authority’s recommendations have emerged from meetings in September and October. They do include more aggressive attempts to see that children eligible for state medical coverage are enrolled and initiatives to help small businesses provide coverage for their employees.
The authority also has endorsed a statewide ban on smoking in public places and an increase in tobacco taxes to raise nearly $52 million a year.
But its recommendations will tackle a whole series of issues, including getting Kansans to eat better, making sure schoolchildren get more exercise, getting more information about health care to consumers, promoting a “whole person” approach to treating patients and encouraging providers to emphasize preventive care.
“Health insurance reform will be part of next year’s debate and should be, but we have to realize that the number of uninsured Kansans and Americans is a symptom of the high cost of health care,” said Sen. Jim Barnett, an Emporia Republican who’s a physician and chairman of his chamber’s Public Health and Welfare Committee.
Perhaps its easier to focus on insurance because it is a tangible thing, lived day-to-day by some 300,000 Kansans. It has easy-to-understand consequences: not being able to afford prescriptions or frantic trips to emergency rooms for problems that could have been treated early but for the cost of a doctor’s visit.
Some of the authority’s initiatives seem less concrete. For example, it wants to define “medical home” in state law.
It sounds like something to tack onto a bigger health reform package, a thick paragraph of dry language inspiring a big “Huh?” from most people who read it.
Describing it doesn’t make the idea sound dramatic, either. Kansans’ medical home would be a doctor or clinic that coordinates their care, linking them to specialists and emphasizing preventive care. If someone has diabetes, for example, every medical service he receives deals in some way with the condition.
The medical home would see that the patient doesn’t take the same tests two or three times, that records are shared and even that the patient has access to community support groups or information at the public library. A patient could consult with a doctor by e-mail to avoid an office visit.
The big change? Insurers and patients would pay doctors for e-mail consultations and coordinating care. Medical providers would be paid more if they created true medical homes.
The goal would be a health care system where services aren’t duplicated, preventive care is emphasized and information flows freely and quickly. Costs would be lessened.
If the state focuses only on making sure more people have insurance, Nielsen said, “We’re just adding more people to a broken system.”
“If we don’t do anything to fix the underlying system, you can just keep adding more people, but at some point the whole thing topples over based on its own weight,” she said. “And you know, we’re pretty close to being there.”
Finally, getting Kansans to do the things they should in their daily lives but don’t also promises to control costs. It’s so obvious people don’t consider it: Someone who’s healthy doesn’t need as much medical care.
“Because of all the advertising on television for pharmaceuticals and drugs, people believe there is a pill for everything,” Barnett said. “They undervalue the importance of exercise, weight control or smoking cessation.”
In short, Kansans need to take a broader view, because health insurance is like the pizza delivery guy, the means for delivering the pie.
“That’s the whole conversation,” Nielsen said, describing her frustration. “Except pizza and whether we like the pizza isn’t dependent on the pizza guy, unless he comes really late and the pizza’s cold.”

Does Your Retirement Plan Cover Health Care Issues?

One of the most essential and basic questions of retirement planning, is the one that is unfortunately also the most ignored: does your retirement plan cover health care issues? It is important to start thinking about health care issues as you begin planning for your retirement needs. Always remember that planning ahead will protect you and your family from the possibility of having to pay considerable health care costs, or worse, being unable to afford health care or long term care when you need it.
Always take the necessary steps to protect your financial future as well as to plan ahead for your health care needs. As a generality however, most people do not pay enough attention to this very important aspect of life planning. A large number of people, pre-retirees as well as retirees, readily agree that health is one of the most important issues in retirement. However, almost no one really spends enough time actually planning for health issues in retirement. Most pre-retirees do undertake some kind of planning for the financial aspects of retirement, but seem to neglect understanding and planning for health benefits options.
Planning for medical issues during retirement takes more than just planning the financial details. It would, in fact, involve reevaluating your routine and budget, exploring the health care options, and researching Health Savings Accounts, long term care options and life insurance options. Even though most pre-retirees are willing to pay for prescription drugs and doctor's visits during their retirement, they seem to have a very unrealistic view of what it will cost. Most people anticipate costs to be less than $300 a month for health care-related expenses whereas, in reality, the average retiree actually spends around $640 a month.
In short, most Americans are confused about health benefits and do not really plan for a healthy retirement as well as a financially stable one. Most people don't even have a realistic idea of how much money they spend on essentials each year. To help people like that, many websites offer a health expense calculator that estimates your annual health expenses, including all your medical costs, dental costs, ophthalmology costs, and the total amount spent on prescriptions, for the entire family. These calculators can help you to understand how much money you would need, to meet all your medical expenses.
They are, in fact, invaluable tools in planning health benefits and financial needs after retirement. Having a retirement plan that covers health care issues is vital. The risks of both heart disease and diabetes increase as we age. This is another reason why planning for retirement should include a sensible diet, exercise, and active control measures against any chronic illness.
Research and gaining updated information would be an important step in making the right decisions for a healthy post retirement lifestyle. There is also a major financial incentive, for retirees to try to stay healthy - economics. A healthy lifestyle and healthy habits developed now will be helpful in protecting your financial well being after retirement.