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Treatment Options

Monday, August 16th, 2010

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Contrary to the beliefs of yesterday, there are newer methods of treatment for many of the ailments suffered by individuals today. The medical health care community acknowledges that there are some areas they have excelled in over the past fifty or so years.

Of course, they also acknowledge they have a long way to go on the more serious injuries that will cause a lifetime of pain for the population. Even the health insurance providers are slowly beginning to acknowledge that the medical health care treatments for many of today’s individuals have come a very long way.

Instead of months of rehabilitation, it is now down to days or weeks and this helps to keep the costs down for the health insurance providers. This is, in part, why some in the health insurance industry are beginning to offer low cost health insurance to the vast majority of young adults. Some of the more acute and chronic muscle pain that can be controlled much easier is:

1.      Neck and shoulder pain and injuries

2.      Back and chest injuries

3.      Upper extremity and lower extremity

4.      Foot and ankle pain and injury

The health insurance industry and the medical health care physicians are also taking a closer look at how shock waves can stimulate healing and reduce the time for the athlete in rehabilitation services. The intense energy pulses directed to the specific target area of the body seems to promote a healing action that cuts down on the long-term health care.

This in itself is quite a break through for the medical health community because they have been trying to find ways to reduce the time an injury takes to heal. In turn, this allows the individual to be back with his or her employment team sooner than was customary. These shock waves are so intense they are able to break down calcium deposits much faster than any other known prescription medication.

Through a very thorough and comprehensive orthopedic evaluation, the specialized medical health care physicians are able to reduce the healing time in a few health care issues such as:

1.      Pre-surgical evaluations

2.      Health insurance issues regarding physical therapy

3.      Occupational therapy and Aquatic therapy

4.      Exercise prescriptions and training programs through a therapist

5.      Orthopedic and prosthetic devices when it becomes necessary

These are only a few of the health care treatment options that are available to the public. There area other forms of health care treatments that are being instituted. They will soon be in every medical health care center and hospital.

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Health Care and Economy

Monday, May 10th, 2010

Individuals who are new to the institution of medical health insurance can find they are overwhelmed with the many choices of health insurance providers and the choice of plans. However, with even a small amount of effort it will soon become evident which health insurance plan is best for the individual at any given period of time.

Many grouped into the population of the young seem to have difficulty with the choices because they were used to being covered under their parent’s health insurance plan and never really gave it much thought other than they were covered under some plan. With time and patience even, the young can find out which plan is best for their needs and the only other question is to find the most low cost health insurance that is possible.

Be wary of some of the cheaper health insurance policies because many times you find out too late that the deductible is one that is very high and you are not covered for all the different things you were once covered when under a parent’s insurance plan.

When you have finished up with college and are out in search of your first full time employment, you may have the opportunity to buy into a temporary health insurance policy to cover your needs until you find gainful employment. This type of insurance is not exactly inexpensive, but it will see you through until you can pick up affordable health insurance with your new employer.

When you are young and healthy you are starting off on good footing. Though the health insurance quotes, you will receive by a variety of insurance carriers you will be amazed at how expensive medical health care coverage can be as you begin to age. Of course, much will depend on the type of insurance policy you are researching and the type of medical coverage you are expecting.

Understand that low cost health insurance as with almost any other aspect of the consumer driven market will sink or swim depending on how strong the consumer market remain. Similar to what is occurring today with almost every aspect of the consumer market spiraling downward. Just where all this downward activity will end, no one is really sure because we are all in new territory, including the health care territory.

In many ways, it is a sad legacy to find that our wealth and much of our health care industry is dependent upon a consumer state of mind. At one time, we were a nation of creative builders and growers and shipped through trading many goods across the seas and around the world. Can you figure out exactly what it is that we export today?

The country has lost its luster through floundering in self-indulgence.  We as a nation forgot how to stand tall to respect and honor all that came before. Those who laid the foundation for future generations to build are being tossed aside through arrogance and dependency in every faction of life.

This is true with the exploration of low cost health insurance as well because the public is making as many demands of what they want as the insurance providers are taking away. Whatever happened to independence and self-reliance?

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Alzheimer’s Disease

Monday, March 29th, 2010

How many of you are trying to make a living, raise your family, pay bills best you can, participate with your children in after school activities, and taking care of your parents at the same time? Statistically, there are many and the stress levels are running high. You find yourself on the telephone with the health insurance provider on a regular basis to find out if your parents are medically protected under their health insurance plan from certain procedures and new medication.

You are finding yourself torn between trying to do what is in the best interest of your parents and your children, right. Do you find that along the line you are losing the sense of self? You have tried to read the low cost health insurance policy your parents are enrolled.  Yet, you still find it very unclear as to what is and what is not covered.

You are thinking about inquiring about the home health services to ease some of the burden you find yourself involved. You begin to wonder if this is how you will become when you become elderly and it scares you to begin researching the topic. Now with everything else you must do you want to learn exactly what Alzheimer’s is and how it evolves. You also are interested if there is any way to stop it.

The low cost health insurance provider has sent you a few booklets, pamphlets, and medical web sites you can refer to in order to learn. As you begin your homework, you learn that Alzheimer’s disease involves the neurotransmitters within the brain with low levels of chemical messengers.

Talking with your health insurance provider you explain how your mother had five older sisters and your father was the fourth child born out of nine children and never was there any hint of Alzheimer’s disease in the family until now. Unfortunately, the answers are few because the medical community themselves are not able to pinpoint the why.

The various health insurance providers do have a list of some of the more noticeable symptoms as does the medical community.

1.    The most noticeable symptom is memory loss and difficulty making decisions

2.    Confusion begins to set in as to what time of day it is

3.    Appear lost in familiar places and forget where items like a health care policy was placed last

4.    Learning and remembering new information becomes a difficult lesson in futility

5.    Speaking incomplete sentences and confusing or combining topics senselessly

6.    Performing daily activities become confusing

As a caregiver, you need to reach out to the health care community because this is a difficult time for your entire family. The health care community will help to guide you and offer assistance as to medication, group therapy, and suggest investigating the living centers in your area because Alzheimer’s disease never improves. The best anyone can hope for is to slow down the progression, but sometimes even that is impossible depending on the parent with the Alzheimer’s disease. This is such a difficult time for all who are involved and there is no easy path to travel.

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Mandatory Health Insurance

Friday, March 5th, 2010

Over the past year, there is a concerted effort to push a health care reform bill through that in many peoples opinion will hurt the country rather than help the country. Why are our representatives insistent on turning the entire medical system up side down for the sake of a few? Sadly, comprehensive medical health insurance is not an entitlement as many think.

Most of the population acquires medical health insurance through their employers when they enter the working world. It has been this way since the end of World War II to help entice the returning men to return to the work force. At the time, it was impossible to offer higher wages and the employers began to offer comprehensive medical health insurance in its place.

The convenient, affordable health insurance coverage that was offered was not just for the returning soldiers into the workplace, but coverage for their entire families. The country as a whole was hurting and very inexpensive housing was built in various communities around the country to accommodate the returning soldiers. These men and some women were looking to return to a normal life, have a home, raise a family, and contribute to the communities they were residing.

This was working well until all the health care technology was introduced into the medical community to enhance the ability of the physicians to perform better and to have the tools to diagnosis and help more individuals. However, this also increased substantially the cost of all medical health care for every individual. Medical insurance was not a hot topic because insurance of any kind was not a necessity, yet today it has blossomed and is growing out of control and out of touch.

Most of the individual states today, if not all, offer a low cost health insurance and a no-charge medical care system to accommodate those who are unable at this time to pay. Is this a burden on the individual states, of course it is, but we have managed as a country to balance the needs of the individuals for many years.

Unfortunately, part of the problems that are mounting is the unfair balance of the health care system throughout the country leading everyone to believe that medical health coverage is an entitlement and that is far from the truth. It is one thing to help those who truly need assistance and another to have a free for all give away. It is the give away that is hurting the country and throwing the medical health care system into disarray.

Now when the country is hurting the most and millions of individuals are either unemployed or underemployed medical insurance is going to be a mandate on every citizens and employer. Unfortunately, this will leave more individuals without medical insurance that with and the unemployment rate will only grow higher. Would it not make more sense to help those who are without any individual health insurance?

Are we in need of medical health reform of some kind? Yes, but mandating every citizen must have medical insurance is only going to hurt the country more than it helps the country.

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Don’t Leave Home Without It

Tuesday, February 16th, 2010

The XXI Olympic Winter Games (or the 21st Winter Olympics) is a global multi-sport event held from February 12 to February 29, 2010, in Vancouver and Whistler, British Columbia, Canada. Eighty-two countries have entered the games, sending altogether over 2,700 athletes—all competing for medals in eighty-six sport events. The numbers attending the Olympics are significant—including such figures as: 7,000 athletes, coaches, and team officials; 10,000 journalists; 50,000 Olympic workers; and tens of thousands of spectators. Of course, for any major event held, those who organize it must also make preparation for any potential incidents requiring medical assistance such as accidents, injuries, sicknesses, food-related illnesses, and even the possibility of fatalities. Therefore, it is pertinent that medical care and emergency treatment are always available during such events.

Consequently, there are about 1,200 medical volunteers and 15 full-time paid medical services staff who are serving during the Olympics. Additionally, there are similar numbers of allied health professionals which include nurses, chiropractors, lab technicians, and physiotherapists. These medical personnel have estimated (based upon the 11,575 medical cases treated during the 2002 Winter Olympics) that approximately 12,000 individuals will need some type of medical attention during the Olympics. They also believe that of this estimate only about 15 percent will be participating athletes who will require medical assistance.

Unfortunately, prior to this year’s Olympic official opening, two accidents have already necessitated medical treatment. One such accident involved a painful shin injury for Lindsey Vonn who is generally known as an American ski “star” and Olympic gold medal contender. Another concern is the tragic death of a 21 year old men’s Olympic lunger, Nodar Kumaritashvili, from the Republic of Georgia. This young man had been training when he lost control of his speeding sled and his body was flung into a metal pole. Within seconds rescue workers gave emergency medical treatment to the young man who afterward had been immediately airlifted to a trauma center. Despite the best of medical care, the young athlete was pronounced dead at the trauma center.

Medical care has become a priority at the Winter Olympics. In fact, the VANOC (Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games) has included a medical services budget within their Sport and Games Operations budget of $247 million. A 10,000 square foot polyclinic with up-to-date health services is at each Olympic athlete village at Vancouver and Whistler. Also, other venues that are part of the Olympics also have medical stations for both the athletes and the spectators.

Complete medical service is provided for Olympic athletes. Emergency health care, first aid, and, if necessary, ambulance transfer to a suitable hospital are all provided without charge for the Olympic spectator by VANOC. However, VANOC will not cover the medical costs that spectators incur from hospitals or walk-in clinics. Thus, those individuals who come to watch the Olympics will definitely need to purchase their own health insurance. Otherwise, if medical care is necessary, the Olympic visitors may be subject to rather large medical expenses.

The visitor should prepare for the worst even though the worst may never happen; thus, visitors medical insurance policy (travelers insurance) becomes a wise choice for the traveler to the Olympics. The visitor will be assured that if any such situation does occur, he or she will not be burdened with excessive health costs. The travelers insurance will provide health coverage for such costs resulting from prescription drugs, physician and surgeon care, emergency dental care, ambulance, and hospital care.

The visitor can shop for a policy by comparing several visitors health insurance plans and their varying premium costs, exclusions for international visitors, and benefits. Once the best plan is chosen, the individual can purchase the plan before leaving his or her country. Although it is not the subject of a well-known commercial, visitor medical insurance should travel with the visitor to the XXI Winter Olympic Games. Just as that commercial’s slogan states to anyone who listens, the visitor should seriously consider: “Don’t leave home without it.”

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Longest Running Study into Aging and Dementia Renewed for 5 More Years!

Tuesday, December 8th, 2009

The ACT study was recently awarded a grant of twelve million dollars from the National Institute on Aging so that it can continue its work for the next five years.  This group has been running a study for the past twenty-three years, which is the longest study of its kind.

Every couple years more than 2,000 senior aged health patients check in with the ACT program for monitoring, questions, and helpful advice.  This group is being monitored for the onset of late Alzheimer’s disease and Dementia and is the largest ongoing group in history to be studied.

Because this group has a dedicated group of patients and leading scientists, plus a superb staff backing it, they are able to learn what their research subjects value as they grow older.  The study is to help people find the best approach to meeting their needs to help them age well.  This means often promoting independent living and providing them with the coping skills necessary to deal with any problems that arise.

The patients are monitored bi-annually so that the team can observe how the patients walk and do many other mental and physical tasks.  The observation monitoring also includes a selected group of questions that the patients are asked to answer.  Some of these questions include whether or not the patient will allow an autopsy on their brains after they have passed on.  Because of this study and patients willing to undergo the autopsy, the team has learned how blood flow and vascular disease affects late life Alzheimer’s and dementia diseases.  They found that injuries that affect blood flow and the blood vessels carrying the blood could be instrumental in late onset brain problems in older people.

This group is planning to spend the next five years worth of funding looking deeper into the findings of their recent studies so that they can determine just how much damage to the blood vessels can trigger the brain to decline through micro-infarcts and what physical activities, if any, can be done to counteract the affects.  The group is hoping to find ways to keep people’s minds healthier and disease free.

So far, this study group has learned that in order to keep the mind healthy and reduce the late onset diseases like Alzheimer’s and dementia, one requires regular exercise which reduces the risk.  They have learned that when people cannot walk normally and proceed at a slower pace it is a prelude to these two diseases.

Studies of this type have also led to changes in the way that patients with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are cared for and assisted with the burdens these specific diseases cause.  These studies have proved that various drugs, especially sedatives, can cause falling and confusion in these patients.  Drugs that are used to treat high cholesterol can linked to changes in the brain, especially in Alzheimer patients.  Anti-oxidants do not seem to prevent the brain from declining, although regularly consuming fruit and vegetable juices do reduce the risk.  Avoiding environmental toxins assists in the brain not declining as quickly.  Wearing shoes, not slippers etc, prevents these patients from falling in their homes and disturb sleeping complicates the patients life and makes them and their families deal with increased agitation in the patients.

This great study group recruits around 240 new patients each year to replace patients that have passed away or withdrawn from the program for one reason or another, so that their numbers always remain constant around the 2000 mark.  This group was founded in 1947, and is still doing great work in research in 2009.

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Other Medical Complications That Affect The Health Care of Diabetics

Monday, October 19th, 2009

High blood pressure

About 73% of diabetics suffer from high blood pressure.

Blindness

Up to 24,000 new cases of blindness is reported every year and this is due to a disease called diabetic retinopathy.  High blood sugars damage the nerves in the retina.

Kidney disease

The number one cause of kidney failure is diabetes.

Nervous system disease

Up to 70 percent of people suffering from diabetes also have some form of damage to the nervous system.  This damage could include slow digestive systems, carpal tunnel syndrome, and lack of sensation in the legs and feet.

Amputations

People with diabetes have a 10 times greater chance of having their legs or feet amputated.  This is caused by excessively high blood glucose levels, which can cause infection in wounds or slow up the healing process allowing the opportunity for gangrene to set in.

Dental problems

Tooth decay and gum disease is common among diabetes victims. In addition, high levels of sugar in the saliva will create problems as well.

Sexual dysfunction

Impotence, and other sexual dysfunctions in both men and women are common

Many more complications can result from diabetes and improper health care.

In 2007 $27 billion dollars was spent on medical expenses for diabetics.  The costs are rising by 8 billion dollars each year.  Health insurance companies are overburdened, which in turn trickles down to the insured that must pay higher premiums.  Then there is more government expenditures including disease related unemployment disability, and in the private sector, we have employers who end up with higher absentee rates among their workers who have diabetes.

Diabetes does not only affects the individual suffering with it, it affects families, government, health insurance companies, employers and more.  The epidemic is overpowering our culture and needs to be curtailed.

For those people who need help, make sure you do see your doctor, if you are obese and have not been testing for diabetes get the test immediately before complications set in.  If you are overweight it is always good to get testing in case you are in the pre diabetic stage.  Eat a sensible low carbohydrate, low sugar and fat diet, exercise and stay on your meds. Your health care is important not only to you but to your family and friends and America as well.

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The Diabetes Crisis in America is on the Rise

Friday, October 16th, 2009

It has long been known that the obesity epidemic in America today will cause all kinds of medical complications and a drain on the medical system due to rising health care costs.  The expanding waistlines of Americans reaches far beyond aesthetics, it is a national health disaster.  Obesity is the known factor in type 2 diabetes, also called sugar diabetes or diabetes mellitus. Diabetes mellitus or onset adult diabetes mellitus generally hits a person who is obese and over forty years of age.

Each year new cases of diabetes mellitus are reported in America.  More and more patients flock to their doctors and are put on medications to control their blood sugar levels.  Actually the crises is not isolated to America, as Canadian and UK medical experts report alarming increases in reported cases of type 2 diabetes as well. Almost 8 percent of the American population has diabetes and that translates to 23 million people. These cases are taxing the health insurance companies with various claims. According to the American Diabetes Association, there are still 5.7 million people who remain undiagnosed, and still another whooping 57 million people who are in the pre-diabetic stage.   Over 11 million women have diabetes and do not have any idea that they do.  Over 12 million men have diabetes.  Also, certain races are more prone to diabetes than others.  These groups include: Hispanic and Latino Americans, American Indians, African Americans, Native Americans, and Asian Islander women. Furthermore the health care of children is compromised. There are more cases of children and adolescents who are now getting type 2 diabetes, which, was once considered an adult onset disease.

There are several serious health care complications for diabetics. For example, there are 65 percent of deaths resulting from heart attack or stroke. Adult diabetics are at a two to for times higher risk to contract heart disease than the non-diabetic population.  Stroke is another common complication from diabetes and diabetics are also at a 2 to 4 percent higher chance of getting a stroke with nearly 3 percent higher chance of dying from it.

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Are Misguided Policies Contributing to the Shortage of Doctors in America?

Friday, September 25th, 2009

Just as there are major shortages of nurses in America, the shortage does not end there, doctors are also in short supply.  American citizens are getting older because of the abundant baby boomers generation and effects of health and aging, are taking its toll on the health insurance companies and the doctors who are trying to meet the demands.

 

Many reasons have contributed to the shortage of doctors over the decades.  Some of them could best be described as misguided polices. Doctors traditionally flock to large cities where the pay is better and the medical headhunters have the job of finding specialists for some towns and rural or remote areas.  This in turn places the added stress on Americans who need specialized care to have to travel to bigger cities and many of these Americans are elderly or too sick too make the trip.  Others do not have the financial means to do the traveling.  This too produces a domino effect as the general practitioner can become too stressed and overloaded with work that they retire or move away from these remote locations. 

 

Instead of meeting the demands for more doctors certain policies such as restricting qualified medical doctors from other foreign countries to practice in America has also added to the problem of doctor shortages and has contributed to the major health care crises facing America today. Furthermore, applications for medical schools have been frozen through the last decades as well.  How then do we have enough doctors to fill the demands of sick Americans when medical school enrollments are down and foreign doctors are barred.  The answer is we don’t fill the demands. Instead we make them more severe especially when doctors become overburdened with the workload, and there is no relief in sight.  Some retire as they are aging themselves and some quit the profession or move to other countries in hopes of obtaining a better practice and a better life style over all. However, instead of increasing the supply of medical doctors in rural and even inner city locations, the Association of American Medical Colleges blamed the high demand on health insurance companies who now made it easier for doctors to order as many tests as they wanted without limitation and therefore their argument has been the misuse of physician and doctor time and not the shortage of doctors in the first place.

 

The health insurance industry especially the large HMO’s have begun to limit unjustifiable testing and procedures and monitor the activities of the doctors they employ.  Some are no longer giving doctors carte blanche funding by putting them on a salary.  More effective means of health care management is being employed but still it is not enough. There is still a shortage of doctors to meet the high demand of medical care in America.   For people needing tests and operations are having to go on long waiting lists because there are not enough doctors and other medical personnel available to meet the demand. One study showed that 87 per cent of hospitals in America are actively seeking doctors in different specialities. As a result of cutting back on medical school enrollment and the ban on foreign doctors in the 1980’s, we are still suffering the consequences in America in 2009. 

 

In the example of Canada, Canadian medical programs are fully accredited and Canadian doctors are fully qualified to practice in the USA. Canadians were actively employed as doctors in the USA prior to 1976.  Afterwards it required a green card before the Canadian doctor could come over.  That meant that any facility willing to employ a Canadian doctor had to keep the job open for over a year so that the green card requirements were met.  This is totally ludicrous when you think about it, if you need a doctor how can you afford to keep the job open for a year?  Is it not more important to keep Americans healthy and have a good health care system that meets the needs of the American demand?

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New Drugs and Medical Technology Putting a Strain on the American Health Care System

Monday, July 13th, 2009

The great United States of America is the land of the rich, and free. However this great nation has many problems facing the leaders of the country and their constituents. One of these issues is the current health care crisis.  There are over 47 million Americans without health insurance at this present time.  There are many more that are under insured, or unable to get the coverage they need.  Yet the USA spends over 2 trillion dollars each year for health care.  How could it be that so much money is spent yet so many people are without coverage or without adequate coverage, it just does not seem sense.  America is spending lots of money on healthcare but is it spending it wisely?

Let’s put aside the fact that many people are unemployed and cannot afford health insurance, and let’s put aside the fact that others are employed only part time and cannot afford coverage, while still others do not have employee group insurance and cannot afford private coverage.  Let is look at what is happening with the insurance benefits that are being disbursed to Americans who do have coverage and see what is happening in terms of misuse or overspending at this time.

According to the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) much of the 2 trillion dollar payout is going into the adaptation of new drugs and new diagnostic tools or devices.  Well as a World leader keeping up and putting out state of the art health technology and rightfully so, America has not done their homework.  There are not enough studies to determine the effectiveness of all these new advancements as the come out and flood the market.  Logically speaking because something is new and advanced does not necessarily mean that it actually works. What is for certain however is that it costs a lot of money.  America must ascertain that her health care system is not only of the highest standard but that it is cost effective.  When these two elements work side by side then health care costs will stabilize or even drop and more people in the long run will be able to benefit from the system.

No one wants to deny the ill their rightful benefits, but the question arises, does every complain warrant the physician ordering expenses imagining tests such as the MRI scans?  Could a simply blood test give the same information?  Of course the answer is not in all cases and then it would be truly justified to order different tests if the situation warrants it.  However, some physicians are over diagnosing their patients sending them for test after test and each and every time the tests come back negative.  All these tests cost money and that money is putting a strain and on the health care system, inflating costs while health insurance premiums are skyrocketing.

Helen Darling, the president of the National Business Group on Health in Washington states that there is excessive use in almost everything available today.  In turn Doctor Redberg is inundated with requests from her patients at her cardiology clinic for Ct angiographies scans, which is a 3D imaging tool that detects the narrowing of the arteries that supply blood to the heart.  There is no proof at this time that this test improves the patient’s health.  It delivers information and has received much media hype but it does nothing at this point to ameliorate the heart patient’s condition. She goes on to say that this machine delivers as much radiation as hundreds of x-rays and that there is a danger that this device can lead to cancer. She must explain to her patients that the test is not necessary and that they can prevent a heart attack by making adequate lifestyle changes.

Other doctors who comply with their clients wishes, bill the health care system to the tune of $700 for each of these scans.  The Rand Corporation suggests that better use of medical technology could save about 77 billion dollars per annum.

The CBO warns that there should be studies to investigate the effectiveness of new drugs and procedures, compare them to existing medical intervention, study how these inventions will affect the prognosis given, as well as study the actual care given the patients, the doctor’s practices, the length of hospital stays, and how many doctors any given patient will see for any medical complaint. Studying the number of doctors each patient sees can counteract duplicate procedure and intervention costs. By studying and then making changes to the health care system these cost effective measures when implemented will make health care more efficient and affordable to more Americans in the long run.

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