Medical Hints

Archive for the ‘Health’ Category

In order to reach optimal health levels, there are many things that need to be incorporated into our every day lives. We need to come together as a community and help to make Public Health issues become better. Public Health involves many aspects that range from sanitary issues to environmental safety.

Taking the initiative to find the resources needed to maintain healthy lifestyles.People are becoming more aware of how unhealthy this society is, and are taking the initiative to get involved, but it would be better if there where more free workshops available.

The truth is that millions of people do not have access to healthcare, and many organizations are trying to provide different solutions to make people more aware of what steps can be taken in order to live a healthier lifestyle. This includes workshops, presentations, community outreach, etc.

Many people are without health insurance, and the statistics prove that citizens with meager incomes are more unhealthy than those who wealthy, and this is because healthcare more accessible to those who can afford coverage. Fortunately, there are local clinics that have low-cost or free treatment for those who need medical attention.

Environmental health is a Public Health issue because it deals with biological, chemical and physical substances that directly or indirectly affect the welfare of most populations. In fact, there are many reasons why the environment raises many concerns, such as: pollution,climate change,natural disasters, and other factors that can make a drastic impact or sudden changes in people’s livelihoods.

Solutions are available to those who are eager to make the enviroment substainable in the years to come.

Fast food is great. It’s easy, it’s convenient, and it brings back happy childhood memories of munching on french fries and playing with cheesy toys. It’s also really high in calories, saturated fats, and often there is so much grease you can see through the paper bag it came in. So what can you do? Skip it completely?

Nah, it’s not that bad. There are healthy choices on the fast food menu, you just need to look a little closer, and be a bit more critical of what actually goes into your mouth.

The cheeseburger is not as evil as it appears. In one neat little packet you get protein, veggies, dairy and grains. And the average calorie count is between 500 and 700, lower if you hold the cheese. If you don’t want a cheeseburger, opt for chicken strips or a fish fillet.

Be careful with salads. They are disguised as being über healthy, but can pack more calories than our friend the cheeseburger. If you stick with just the veggies and lettuce you should be fine, but who wants that? Adding a full packet of dressing and crunchy topping can add over 300 calories to your meal.

Let’s talk about french fries. They’re tasty, and crunchy, and the oil they’re fried in can be refined into biodiesel. Heck, the technology has been in the media for at least 12 years. Skip the fast food fries. Most chains offer a fruit option in children’s meals; there’s no reason why you can’t order it for yourself. If you need to have a starch, then opt for a baked potato.

And lastly, soda. Everyone knows how bad soda is, but diet should be okay, right? Nope. The problem with soda isn’t so much the calories as the sugar. If you want carbonation, fill up on tea and hit it with a few sprays of soda water. Better yet, stick with water and lemon wedges for flavor.

There are many different things that you can do to help improve your weight loss efforts depending on how much motivation you need in order to take action. One of the best things that you can do is to join a support group online or in your local area. If you cannot find a support group that suits your needs, another option that is available to you is to create your own support group so that your friends and family members can join you. Reaching out to friends both new and old is a great way to motivate your weight loss efforts and make sure that you stay on track.

One of the most important reasons to create a support group is that having other people who are keeping track of your goals is a great way to hold yourself accountable and to make sure that others are holding you accountable as well. When other people are counting on you, it is going to be a huge motivating tool to keep you on track and make sure that you are losing weight. If you need help moving down the road to weight loss, then creating or joining a support group is going to be one of the best things that you do.

Joining a support group has numerous other benefits as well. For example, you will be surrounded by people that have either been through what you are going through in the past, or they are currently going through what you are going through. What this means is that you have other people all around you that know how you feel and that understand your challenges, and this can help you reach your goals more effectively, more quickly and more easily than if you were going to attempt achieving your weight loss goals all alone.

And one thing I can not stress enough is to give yourself a pat on the back when you achieve some of your goals.  This can be done individually like splurging on some jewelry from JR Dunn.  Or, you and your support group could all go out for a healthy dinner and then see a movie.  Just make sure to give yourself some positive reinforcement for a job well done

The Mayo Clinic lists the eight most common food allergies in the United States as milk, eggs, peanuts, fish, shellfish, soy, wheat, and tree nuts. There are also less common food allergies as well, and it’s important to know what you’re allergic to.

Recognizing your symptoms

Food allergy symptoms can range from mild stomach cramps the next day to immediately going into anaphylactic shock. If you suspect you’re having an allergic reaction to something you ate, see a doctor and get tested. A common misconception is that food allergies only trigger itching or severe swelling, so if you’re having different symptoms don’t let others try to convince you that you must have the stomach flu instead.

Eating at a restaurant

Once you’ve identified an allergen you need to be aware of what dishes contain it. Anchovy paste is a main ingredient in Caesar salad, so it should be avoided if you have a fish allergy. Some mixed fruit juices contain pineapple as a base. Meatloaf is often made with a beef and pork mix. Pine nuts are blended with oil and parsley to make pesto sauces.

If you have doubts about the ingredients in your meal, explain your concerns to the wait staff and ask if they can double check the ingredients with the kitchen. Sometimes the problem ingredient can be easily removed; other times you might just have to order something else.

Preparing food at home

The most effective way of working around your food allergies is to prepare your meals at home. There are a variety of substitutions you can make if a recipe calls for your allergen. Kale can be used in place of spinach, yogurt can be substituted for sour cream. Invest in specialty cookbooks and research recipes and substitution lists online. You can also purchase prepackaged foods at the grocery store. Read all the ingredients on the labels, and if you aren’t certain find an employee and ask.

Those experiencing the effects of drugs are sometimes referred to as under the effects of “pharmaceuticals.” This means that the drugs being used are not “street” drugs such as heroin, cocaine, marijuana, methamphetamines, but are those which require a prescription.

Pharmaceutical drugs often contain controlled substances. Morphine and opium are two examples of controlled substances which can be found in pharmaceutical drugs. However, the amount of controlled substance that goes into a single dose is carefully measured, and government regulations are in place which control drugs which contain such ingredients.

There are some drugs that fall under governmental regulations because of other, non-controlled ingredients they contain. These include medications such as Valium.

Pharmaceutical drugs can also be non-narcotic. These can include such things as antibiotics, medications for heart and circulatory conditions, and others.

The majority of pharmaceutical drugs require a doctor’s prescription before they can be purchased and taken. This requirement sets them apart from “over-the-counter” drugs, which can be purchased without a prescription. Examples of over-the-counter drugs include pain relievers such as naproxin sodium or ibuprofen, or cold medications that do not contain codeine or other controlled substances.

You should not try to obtain pharmaceutical drugs without a prescription, and you should take care that those drugs which have been prescribed to you are not used by anyone else. Some pharmaceutical drugs can be habit-forming, but the other danger lies in the fact that what is a suitable dosage for you may be too much for someone else, resulting in a life-threatening situation.

If you use pharmaceutical drugs that contain controlled substances, you should carefully monitor how many you take each day and how many you have left. By doing this, you will not only be assured that you are not taking more than you need, but you will also be able to tell if some are missing.

One of the best ways that you can track your weight loss has absolutely nothing to do with the scale or a measuring tape. While it can be beneficial for you to rely on the numbers of a measuring tape or a scale to see how much you have progressed in terms of becoming fitter and healthier, there are better ways for you to track your progress, and methods of tracking your progress that are significantly more motivating and inspiring than those numbers that sometimes do not seem to budge.

When you first begin your diet, exercise and weight loss journey, one of the first things that you should do is to take before photographs. It can be difficult to look at yourself in photos when you are dissatisfied with your weight or the way you look, but there is nothing so motivating as seeing the changes in yourself as you lose weight in comparison to your "before" photographs. If you do not take photographs when you first begin to lose weight, then you will have trouble seeing the differences in your body, your face and the way you look as your weight loss progresses.

As you progress through your weight loss journey, continue to take photographs of yourself. Even when you do not feel at your best, you should continue to take photographs of your weight loss progress so that you can compare the new to the old. These photographs will be an excellent motivating tool because they will show you just how far you have come. Even when your weight does not seem to be budging, your body will be changing as you tighten up and become healthier, and your photographs are going to reflect this. It is good to see how other people view you, and the best way to do that is by looking at photographs of yourself.

As of September 2010 the final pieces of the Affordable Care Act were put in place. This act aims to protect consumers from medical insurance industry abuses. The act has two perspectives in it. It lists items insurers will no longer be able to practice, and it lists items that consumers in new health plans will be entitled to.

Here is a short summary of what insurance companies no longer can do.

1. Insurance policies cannot be canceled because of minor mistakes made on an
application. Fraud has to be proven not assumed.
2. Any claim denied can be appealed, and it can be taken to an independent
reviewer.
3. No more lifetime limits on benefits of specific diseases.
4. Children under 19 cannot be denied coverage because of pre-existing conditions.

Here is what the act can do for you.

1. You can use any emergency room you want.
2. You determine what specialist you want from your health care network, and you do
not need a referral from your doctor.
3. Common preventative services will not have out of pocket costs.
4. Young adult children can stay on your medical policy until age 26.

Details of the healthcare reform will be phased in over four years. The target date for completion is 2014. The states will be given a chance to come up with their own programs to address certain aspects of the law. Other items such as leaving young adults on insurance policies have been take care of by the insurance companies.

For those with disabilities the government is planning to implement a program called Community Living Assistant Services and Supports. It’s purpose is to be an additional support in order to bridge the gap for those with disabilities that cannot qualify for Medicaid, but are too much of a risk for private insurers to take on.

This article is just a general summary of the act. More detailed information can be found for specific situations at Healthcare.gov.

I have a cousin who is having to look into alcoholism treatment centers. Her husband has been dealing with alcoholism for a long time, and it’s recently gotten to a point that she can’t deal with it any longer. Luckily for her, and for all of us, there are facilities to help treat problems like alcoholism.

The statistics on alcoholism are sad and staggering. Almost seven million children who are considered minors — under the age of 18 — have at least one alcoholic parent living in the home with them. Nearly 80 percent of all high school seniors in the United States admit to alcohol use. In fact, over 60 percent of all seniors have admitted to getting drunk. It has also been shown that alcohol abuse occurs much more in men than in women. In the United States, there are about 3.9 million women who abuse the drug, while about 9.8 million men do. There are about 50,000 reported cases of poisoning from alcohol in the United States each year. Unfortunately, these numbers only show those statistics that are provable. There are, for example, more alcohol poisonings than are shown, but since they are not reported, they obviously are not counted.

Luckily, with alcoholism treatment centers there is help. In fact, treatment has shown that it helps to reduce activities that are considered criminal in up to 80 percent of those who deal with alcoholism. Treatment for alcohol abuse and alcoholism is available. There is help; you just need to be ready to seek it. No one will change if they are not ready; in fact, I said this to my cousin. She understands, but feels that her husband will be ready by the time they find the right help. We all hope for her and her family’s sake that she is right!

Once in awhile everyone gets sick. Sometime the illness is serious enough you need insurance and hospitalization. The practice of treating illnesses is now very complicated because of privacy laws, insurance requirements, and medical practices You need to be aware of your rights as a patient. There is a committee for protecting consumers and insuring quality health care. This committee created a consumer bill of rights and responsibilities. So here is a summary of that bill.

1. Medical and insurance specialists including the building they are housed in
must provide you with accurate, up-to-date, and easily understood information.
In other words, they have to keep explaining until you get it.
2. You and you alone choose your health care provider, not an entity or a business.
3. Medical and insurance professionals must be treated with respect and you have to
be treated with respect as well. Basically everyone has to play nice.
4. You have the right to know your treatment options and decide for yourself what
treatment will be used on you.
5. Once you and your doctor have agreed to a treatment you must implement the
doctor’s advice. You cannot file a complaint if you agreed and then did not do
what you agreed to do. Be fair.
6. You can read and have a copy of your own medical records. Everyone else
needs your permission.
7. Complaints have to be dealt with swiftly and fairly. This includes problems
with waiting times, hours of operation, and actions of your medical and
insurance professionals.

Basically you are a partner in all health decisions with whomever. No one decides for you what is best for you except you. You are allowed to designate other people such as family or friends to make decisions for you if you are in a situation where you feel you need help with that.

For more detailed information the following website has more.

www.hcqualitycommission.gov

Cancer is considered a major public health problem. It is the second leading cause of death in the United States and its cost billions of dollars in medical care The government has provided program plans for states in its Cancer Control P.L.A.N.E.T. P.L.A.N.E.T. stands for plan, link, act, network with evidence based tools The website is located at www.cancercontrolplanet.cancer.gov. It has a cornucopia of resources and facts to help communities prevent cancer.

What type of cancers are preventable? There is a set of cancers caused by viral infections, exposure to certain chemicals over a time period, and radiation exposure. Then there is a set of cancers that if screened for early on can be stopped in its track. The National Cancer Institute maintains state by state cancer profiles. This allows states to assess just what type of cancers are prevalent among their populations. If it a preventable cancer then that is where Cancer Control P.L.A.N.E.T. comes in.

The website provides a step by step control plan. The plan has statistics, outlined successful programs, preventative measures, and even product information. It, also, arranges the same information under type of cancer topic headings such as breast cancer or sun safety.

The US Preventative Services Task Force, who is included on the site, provides recommendations and research findings for adults to help prevent cancer. Some of the recommendations that were made was using aspirin to help prevent colon cancer. Breast, gynecological, lung, pancreatic, and prostate cancers are best prevented with the use of regular screenings. Tobacco and skin cancers are best addressed by public awareness campaigns and counseling.

Once a state has its facts, and knows the recommendations for the type of cancers prevalent in its population, then the site provides information on 114 successful prevention plans already being used across the nation.

Cancer is no longer the automatic death sentence it once was. There are now many things community wide and individually that can be done to minimize its impact.