Influenza - Increase Your Resistance To The Four Powerful Strategies

1. Get enough sleep
There is absolutely no substitute for getting enough sleep. No pill or potion exists that can do this. Why is this happening?
Your body, as opposed to, say, a car or other parts of the machine is made to heal itself. But he can not do this until it works well. In other words, it needs to go in deep neutral, non-governmental activities to assess what needs to be repaired, and then to get a job. Sleep, when the bones are built, for example. Also, when the immune system can use the energy you would spend during the day to devote to monitoring. During sleep, he asks: "What's that does not belong, and let's attack it, break it and the buy Zolpidem online." Lack of sleep translates to insufficient immune surveillance, allowing unwanted errors flu to take hold.
2. Maximum use of vitamin D levels.
That vitamin D are related to the prevention of influenza? Well, a lot of turns. Various immune cells have receptors of vitamin D, and those cells that activates vitamin D in response to infection.
Then, vitamin D plays a different role, which is something that limits inflammation. This may not sound like a very important thing, but when you think about how achey you can feel if you really do get influenza, you'll be glad you remembered to keep vitamin D levels so your body can calm down the inflammatory response is at the root of all that pain.
3. Keep your body clean - On the inside, too!
Yes, this includes bathing and washing hands - no doubt you know about this. What I say here, inside your body.
Many people do not realize that inside their bodies, in fact, in the same condition as toxic waste dump!
Why is this important? Because the role of various infectious agents in the greater scheme of things, in other words, their ecological role to prepare the body to return to earth. And this is what they begin to do when faced with a body that they think a compost pile that is waiting to work.
More garbage that your body, the more of these errors has to do. And they will move, bring your friends and make a lot of children!
For them "garbage" of the interior may include undigested food, pesticides, chemicals - anything that the body must be addressed, but was not able to do.
If you have a compost pile, where you live, you know what to compost, so ripe, requires the "mistakes" ... worms, bacteria, etc.
So do not run your body, like the compost heap. Keep it clean.
4. Get aerobic exercise.
How does this help? First, it gets you breathe deeply and clear your lungs. But the biggest benefit from its positive effect on your immune system, where it stimulates the production of virus-fighting mechanism.

Deep Cuts to Health Care Services in the UK

The rising costs of health care are an international problem, and in the United Kingdom (UK) some dramatic deep cuts are planned. According to the Telegraph, the National Health Service (NHS) and senior health service officials have already agreed to a list of cost-cutting measures.
An investigation by The Sunday Telegraph uncovered the health care cuts “buried in obscure appendices to lengthy policy and strategy documents.” It was also reported that citizens in many local communities were not aware of the changes to health care services.
Despite the UK government’s promise to protect the budget of the NHS, “efficiency savings” of up to 20 billion pounds (about $30 billion) by 2014 must be instituted. The government says it will still maintain front-line services.
Among the changes to be made include rationing of most common surgeries, including hip and knee replacements, cataract surgery, and orthodontic procedures; reduction in services for the terminally ill; closure of nursing homes; and a reduction in the number of hospital beds available for acute care, including those for the mentally ill.
The NHS also plans to cut staff at NHS hospitals, ration funding of in vitro fertilization treatment and obesity surgery, and reduce spending for pediatric and maternity services, care for the elderly, and programs that offer respite services for caregivers.
The cuts have drawn severe criticism from many quarters, including the Patients Association, which named the cuts ‘astonishingly brutal.” Katherine Murphy of the Association noted that “this is a really blatant attempt to save money by leaving people in pain.”
Dr. Peter Carter, head of the Royal College of Nursing, stated that he was “incredibly worried” about the changes. Carter urged Health Secretary Andrew Lansley to “get a grip” on what was happening in the NHS and said that Lansley “keeps saying that the Government will protect the front line from cuts—but the reality appears to be quite the opposite.”
In the UK, how, where, and by whom individuals receive health care is largely determined by the decisions made by 150 primary care trusts, all of which will be eliminated under the new approach to delivering care. Instead, general practitioners would come together in regional consortia to purchase services from hospitals and other medical and health care providers.
According to a New York Times article, the government stated that the upcoming changes would “cause significant disruption and loss of jobs,” but that “the current architecture of the health system has developed piecemeal, involves duplication and is unwieldy.” It believes that by abolishing the NHS and transferring health care decisions to patients and clinicians, “we will be able to effect a radical simplification, and remove layers of management.”
The deep cost cuts to health care and reorganization of services in the UK is an example of the critical decisions many countries are facing because of rising health care costs, an aging population, and failing economies. It remains to be seen what impact these and other measures will have on individuals and societies as a whole.

CBO Proposes Medicare Amendment To Reduce Deficit

CBO just released a score of the Medicare legislation (HR 6331, with a proposed amendment) under consideration in the House. In total, CBO estimates that the bill would reduce deficits by $0.3 billion over the 2008-2013 period and by less than $50 million over the 2008-2018 period.
The five-year savings would decline to $0.1 billion if the pending supplemental appropriations act is cleared before H.R. 6331.
Honorable John D. Dingell
Chairman
Committee on Energy
and Commerce
U.S. House of Representatives
Washington, DC 20515
Dear Mr. Chairman:
The Congressional Budget Office has prepared the enclosed table (PDF) summarizing the budgetary effects of an amendment in the nature of a substitute to H.R. 6331, the Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008. CBO estimates that enacting H.R. 6331 with that proposed amendment would reduce direct spending by $0.1 billion over the 2008-2013 period and increase direct spending by $0.3 billion over the 2008-2018 period. In addition, the Joint Committee on Taxation estimates that enacting the bill would increase federal revenues by $0.2 billion over the 2008-2013 period and by $0.4 billion over the 2008-2018 period. In total, CBO estimates that the bill would reduce deficits (or increase surpluses) by $0.3 billion over the 2008- 2013 period and by less than $50 million over the 2008-2018 period. (The five-year savings would decline to $0.1 billion if the pending supplemental appropriations act is cleared before H.R. 6331.)
The bill would cancel a reduction in Medicare’s physician fees scheduled to occur under current law on July 1, 2008. The bill would freeze those payments at their current levels for the remainder of the year and increase them by 1.1 percent in January 2009. Future payments beyond 2009 would revert to the levels under current law, necessitating a 21 percent reduction in payments under the physician fee schedule in 2010. The bill also would extend many expiring provisions in Medicare, expand Medicare’s coverage of preventive services, and modify the rules governing eligibility for the Medicare Savings Program.
New spending under the bill would be offset largely by reductions in payments to Medicare Advantage plans. The bill, with the proposed amendment, would phase out payments for indirect medical education made to plans and hospitals for Medicare Advantage enrollees, leaving in place the separate payments for indirect medical education made directly to teaching hospitals that treat Medicare Advantage enrollees. It also would require private fee-for-service plans to establish networks of providers, comparable to requirements for other Medicare Advantage plans, but with some exceptions, which CBO estimates would lead to decreases in enrollment and reduced outlays. Other savings would come from modifications to the Physician Assistance and Quality Initiative fund and changes to Medicare’s payments for home oxygen therapy.
In addition, the bill would delay a program of competitive bidding for durable medical equipment and reduce the Medicare payments for those items until the program is resumed.

Move Over Bed Bugs, Here Come the Stink Bugs

Even while the bed bug problem is still unresolved, a smelly situation has been thrown into the mix: stink bugs. Although these insects are typically a big problem for crops, stink bugs are now invading households.
Stink bugs are moving into homes
Fall is the time when stink bugs (Halyomorpha halys) start to move away from the crops that they feast on during the summer and are attracted to the outside of homes in search of winter quarters. They may reappear during warmer sunny days during the winter, but then re-emerge in the spring.
In the northeastern part of the United States, these bugs are getting into people’s homes, and the bad news is there are no pesticides effective against these smelly creatures. The good news is that, unlike bed bugs, they do not bite.
Although a common and native pest in Asia, brown marmorated stink bugs were first identified in the United States in 1998 in Pennsylvania. According to Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, the bugs have appeared in other states since that time, including California, Delaware, Maryland, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Tennessee, Virginia, Washington, DC, and West Virginia.
The bugs are so named because they secrete a foul-smelling substance from small glands on their thorax. The stinky fluid apparently is a defense mechanism, and it seems to work because these bugs have no natural enemies. If you get this substance on your skin, you can wash it off and should experience no effects.
Adult stink bugs are 14 to 17 millimeters long and have dark mottled brown coloring. To keep them out of your home, make sure you seal any cracks and openings to the outside of the house using caulk or weather stripping. Torn screens should be repaired or replaced. If you vacuum up live or dead stink bugs in the house, dispose of the vacuum cleaner bag outside. Use of insecticides is not considered a good solution. Prevention is your best strategy, and vacuuming often is your safest mode of attack once they are in the house.

Massachusetts Considers Rising Costs, Insurance Hearings

Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick (D) on Monday met with health care industry executives to request that they address rising health care costs or potentially face new government regulations, the Boston Globe reports. During the meeting, which came in response to recent articles by the Globe’s Spotlight Team about the cost of medical care, Patrick said he is considering holding hearings on health insurance premiums and hospital charges to insurers for member care. Last week, Patrick said the state Division of Insurance has the power to reject hospital rates it finds excessive.
State Inspector General Gregory Sullivan asked the attending executives to refrain from signing contracts covering patient care beyond this year so that the state has an opportunity to consider possible reforms. The executives included leaders from the state’s “dominant” provider, Partners HealthCare, and its largest insurer, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Partners and BCBS last summer agreed to a multiyear contract calling for annual rate increases of about 5% to 6%.
Spokespersons for both insurers on Monday said the agreement was final. However, Sullivan believes a state insurance hearing would qualify as an unforeseen circumstance and provide an opportunity to revise or suspend the deal. Sullivan said, “Other governors haven’t used this power; he’s telling them, ‘I have this and tell me why I shouldn’t use it.’”
According to Charles Baker, CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, insurance executives at the meeting said they would welcome hearings. The Globe reports that several executives said they will support a new payment reform commission that was created by legislation last year, which will examine alternative payment models in health care (Bombardieri, Boston Globe, 1/13).
Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork.org. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, and sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork.org/email . The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation.

Complications From Screening Endoscopic Procedures Underestimated

Screening procedures are often considered to be benign. While this is true compared to the diseases being screened for such as colon cancer, a new study reports the rate of serious side effects from endoscopic procedures (endoscopy and colonoscopy) is actually 2- to 3-fold higher than recent estimates.
Daniel A. Leffler, MD, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, and colleagues have published the results of their study in the Oct. 25 Archives of Internal Medicine. Rather than relying on the standard physician reporting method of adverse events, the researchers used electronic medical records to track patient emergency visits and hospital admissions that occurred within two weeks of their endoscopic procedure.
A total of 15 to 20 million endoscopic procedures are performed annually in the United States. The American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE) survey from 1976 remains one of the most commonly cited and states the complication rate of 0.13% for upper endoscopy and 0.35% for colonoscopy.
Leffler and colleagues evaluated 6383 upper endoscopies (EGDs) and 11 632 colonoscopies within the BIDMC system. The EMR captured 419 ED visits and 266 hospitalizations which occurred within 14 days after the procedure.
Nearly a third of the ED visits (134 of 419, 32%) and hospitalizations (76 of 266, 29%) were found to be related the procedure. Only31 of these incidents were recorded by the standard physician reporting system.
The most common reasons for the ED visits related to the endoscopic procedures were abdominal pain (47%), gastrointestinal bleeding (12%), and chest pain (11%). The mean time for a trip to the ED after a procedure was six days for EGDs, and 5.2 days for colonoscopies.
The researchers found procedure-related hospital visits occurred in 1.07% of all EGDs, 0.79% of all endoscopies, 0.84% of colonoscopies, and 0.95% of all screening colonoscopies.
This 1% incidence of related hospital visits within two weeks of outpatient endoscopy is more five times the 1976 stated risk of o.13% for upper endoscopy. It is nearly three times higher than 1976 stated risk of 0.35% for colonoscopy.
Using Medicare standardized rate, the researchers estimated the mean costs at $1403 per ED visit and $10 123 per hospitalization. Across the overall screening/surveillance colonoscopy program, these episodes added $48 per examination.
As this study could only capture the ED and hospital visits within the BIDMC, there may have been some missed if other hospitals were used by the patient. Regardless, the procedures and possible risks must be discussed and considered with patients.
This small risk should not prevent patients from screening for serious diseases such as colon cancer or Barrett’s esophagitis which may lead to esophageal cancer.