The New Health Insurance–Avoid Diabetes and Heart Disease So Your Medical Retirement Account Grows
Submitted By: Wiley Long
It is now estimated the average couple will need over $200,000 in retirement just to cover medical expenses. Health Savings Accounts are now giving people serious incentives to take care of their health so that money will be there when they need it in old age.
Health Savings Accounts are tax-favored accounts where someone with a qualifying high-deductible health plan can deposit money to be used for future medical expenses. The money can be withdrawn any time to pay medical expenses tax-free. Those who stay healthy and don’t withdraw the money benefit from tax-deferred growth, just like with an IRA.
Many experts now believe that 85-90% of all health problems are self-induced, and can be easily avoided if you understand how. By avoiding the most common diseases that affect modern Americans, you can delay having to take money out of your HSA, and take great advantage of the tax-deferred growth. Over a 20 year period, tax-deferred growth and tax-free use of your money to pay medical expenses during retirement could yield a 30% better return than a taxable investment.
Metabolic Syndrome: The Preventable Diseases That Almost Everyone Gets
One out of every five Americans, 45% of those in their 60′s, and two-thirds of overweight people have metabolic syndrome. An astounding 70% of Americans have at least one symptom.
The symptoms of metabolic syndrome include elevated fasting blood sugar, high LDL cholesterol, elevated triglycerides, low HDL cholesterol, and a waist circumference of 34 inches or more. Three of the top five causes of death – diabetes, cancer, and cardiovascular disease – are all related to metabolic syndrome. Metabolic syndrome could also be thought of as “pre-diabetes”. Of the cancers, prostate and breast cancer are particularly correlated with metabolic syndrome. And metabolic syndrome will soon overtake cigarette smoking as the number one risk factor for cardiovascular disease.
Yet the diseases of metabolic syndrome are almost entirely preventable by simply eating a good diet, exercising, and maintaining a normal body weight. Do so, and you avoid paying for the medications that everyone else is taking. Even more importantly, you avoid the surgery, hospitalization, rehab, and all the other expenses that come with a heart attack, stroke, colon cancer, and other related health problems.
If you are withdrawing several hundred dollars a year from your HSA to pay for cholesterol medication and blood pressure medication and other drugs, you’re going to have a difficult time growing the account. But if you stay healthy, and invest most of your money in a good mutual fund, you could easily accumulate over $500,000 in a 25 year period.
HSAs reward personal responsibility. Those who save for the future and maintain healthy lifestyle habits will be rewarded with both health and wealth in their old age.
Source: Published At: Isnare.com Free Articles Directory – http://www.isnare.com/
About the Author:
Wiley Long – President, HSA for America (http://www.health–savings–accounts.com) – The nation’s leading firm specializing in Health Savings Plans that works with a Health Savings Account.
Symtoms of Kidney Disease – Video 1:58 min.
Source: Uploaded by monkeyseevideos on May 28, 2010 to YouTube
To View the Next Video in this Series Please Click Here: http://www.monkeysee.com/play/16525-who-s-at-risk-for-kidney-disease
The Diabetes Watch
By Martin Tobias
The world is currently in the grip of a diabetes epidemic. A recent major study by Majid Ezzati and colleagues from Imperial College London and Harvard University found that the number of adults with type 2 diabetes increased from an estimated 153 million in 1980 to 347 million in 2008. The number could be 370 million today.
Every region of the world is affected, although the epidemic is growing most rapidly in Oceania and least rapidly in East Asia. Globally, the type 2 diabetes epidemic has been growing in lockstep with rising obesity levels.
This is not surprising – an increase in body fat and a decrease in physical activity are the direct causes of type 2 (as opposed to type 1) diabetes. In fact, much of the health effects of obesity and physical inactivity are mediated through diabetes.
These health effects are serious. Diabetes already is the major cause of kidney failure, blindness, and lower-limb amputation in many countries, and a major cause of heart attacks and strokes.
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Despite this, surveillance of diabetes remains relatively undeveloped throughout the world, even in high-income countries. Public-health surveillance is “the ongoing systematic collection, analysis, interpretation, and dissemination of health data for the purpose of preventing and controlling disease” – in short, information for action.
There is nothing in this definition that restricts surveillance to communicable diseases, yet in practice this has generally been the case. The reasons are not hard to find. Communicable disease outbreaks occur over days to weeks (or at the most, months); the danger is “clear and present”; and prevention and control generally requires intervention by the state – the quarantine of victims, tracing and immunization of contacts, or elimination of environmental sources of the infectious agent.
The situation regarding chronic diseases like diabetes is very different. The epidemic happens silently over years or decades; the danger is either not recognized or not considered avoidable; and action is often seen as the responsibility of the individual (lifestyle modification) or health-care system (pharmaceutical prescription), rather than the state.
Yet effective chronic disease surveillance can save lives. If disease trends are monitored, along with patients’ responses to treatment and the population’s exposure to risk factors, the success or failure of policies designed to prevent or control chronic diseases can be evaluated, resource allocation can be rationally prioritized, and the public can be kept fully informed of the risks that they face.
Recognizing this, in December 2005 the New York City Board of Health mandated the laboratory reporting of test results for glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1c) – a biomarker for diabetes and a key indicator of blood glucose control – thereby creating the world’s first population-based diabetes registry. Mandatory laboratory reporting of HbA1c results (along with basic demographic data) for a defined population (New York City residents) allowed New York’s Department of Health to monitor trends in diabetes prevalence, assess testing coverage, and examine health-care use and glycemic control of residents living with diabetes.
Beyond these population-based surveillance functions, the registry was able to support patient care by ensuring that individual health-care providers and patients were made aware of elevated or rising HbA1c levels. Both the patient-support function and the surveillance function required use of a unique patient identifier, so that letters could be mailed to patients and tests from the same patient could be linked over time.
In 2009, Thomas Frieden and colleagues from the New York City Board of Health reviewed the registry’s first four years of operation and concluded that it was performing well. Getting all laboratories to report regularly and completely, however, proved challenging and not all health-care providers and patients proved willing to participate.
The Board of Health’s initiative has been widely praised as exemplifying the application of classical communicable-disease surveillance-and-control tools to a chronic disease. Other commentators, however, have criticized the registry for potentially compromising patient confidentiality and privacy, and even for disrupting the relationship between patients and their doctors.
While these criticisms may or may not be justified, it is probably true to say that the New York City diabetes registry, though highly innovative, is at best an interim solution. Rather than relying on laboratory reporting of a single biomarker, an ideal chronic-disease surveillance system would extract all necessary data directly from the patient record.
Any diagnosis of diabetes, or subsequent monitoring of disease progression, requires a medical consultation and hence an entry into the patient record – and so into the practice’s patient-management information system. Logically, the surveillance system should operate by extracting the entire subset of data required for surveillance purposes from each health-care provider’s patient management information system (“front-end capture”).
This data would then be securely transferred (electronically) to a suitable data warehouse. After appropriate cleaning (checking for missing data, correcting coding errors), and cloaking, the data would be available for access and querying. Given appropriate statistical analysis and careful interpretation, useful reports could be generated for surveillance purposes and, if desired, for patient-care support as well (using encrypted unique patient identifiers to preserve confidentiality of personal information).
In view of the rising burden of diabetes and other chronic diseases throughout the world, urgent attention must be devoted to strengthening surveillance systems for non-communicable diseases at all levels – from local practices to global institutions.
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ABOUT Martin Tobias
Martin Tobias is a public health physician in Wellington, New Zealand.
Source: Nation of Change
Hispanic Community Health Study / Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL)
Source: Uploaded by EinsteinCollegeofMed on May 18, 2009 to YouTube
Note: This video is for your information, the study described is already in progress.
The Hispanic Community Health Study / Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) is a multi-center epidemiologic study of 16,000 Hispanic/Latino participants in four U.S. cities: New York, Chicago, Miami, and San Diego.
The study will determine the role that adopting cultural practices of the U.S. has on the prevalence and development of disease, and will identify risk factors playing a protective or harmful role in Hispanics/Latinos.
The study is sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI http://www.cscc.unc.edu/hchs/links ) and six other institutes, centers, and offices of the National Institutes of Health (NIH http://www.cscc.unc.edu/hchs/links ).
The Hispanic Community Health Study / Study of Latinos (HCHS/SOL) is a multi-center epidemiologic study in Hispanic/Latino populations to determine the role of acculturation in the prevalence and development of disease, and to identify risk factors playing a protective or harmful role in Hispanics/Latinos. The study is sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and six other institutes, centers, and offices of the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Study goals include studying the prevalence and development of disease in Hispanics/Latinos, the role of acculturation, and to identify risk factors that play protective or harmful roles in Hispanics/Latinos. The target population of 16,000 persons of Hispanic/Latino origin, specifically Cuban, Puerto Rican, Mexican, and Central/South American, to be recruited through four Field Centers affiliated with San Diego State University, Northwestern University in Chicago, Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx area of New York, and the University of Miami. Seven additional academic centers serve as scientific and logistical support centers.
Study participants aged 18-74 years will undergo an extensive clinic exam and assessments to determine baseline risk factors. Annual follow-up interviews will be conducted for 2-4 years to determine health outcomes of interest. Study results will be disseminated through scientific journals and also conveyed to the communities involved in the study in order to improve public health at the local level.
The Hispanic Community Health Study / Study of Latinos is
sponsored by the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI)
and six other centers and Institutes of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)
How The Food Industry is Deceiving You: Parts 1, 2 & 3 of 5 – With Peter Jennings
PART 1
Source: Uploaded by herbspecialists on Jan 26, 2010 to YouTube
Terrific Peter Jennings video exploring how billions of dollars are spent to sabotage your health.
PART 2
PART 3
How The Food Industry is Deceiving You: Parts 4 & 5 of 5 – With Peter Jennings
Part 4
Source: Uploaded by herbspecialists on Jan 26, 2010 to YouTube
Terrific Peter Jennings video exploring how billions of dollars are spent to
sabotage your health.
PART 5 (Last)
Five Major Causes of the Premature Ending of Your Life
Obesity, Diabetes, Heart Disease, High Cholesterol, And High Blood Pressure: Can They Really be Prevented, Managed or Reversed?
May 9, 2009
By George Tohme
They are the biggest killers in America: Diabetes, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and heart disease. The most common causes of these deadly conditions are: Physical inactivity, fattening snacks and beverages, obesity, stress, and smoking. The shocking news is that these diseases are so easily preventable.
A frequent cause of blame is the unhealthy food choices people make regularly. It’s okay to splurge once in a while, but it is the habits you follow daily that will determine your overall health. Constantly consuming chips, bacon, cakes, sugary drinks, candy, sausage, and cigarettes will get you nothing but poor health, deadly diseases, and a ticket straight to heaven prematurely.
According to the CDC over 63% (that’s over 180 million) of the US population is overweight or obese and is physically inactive, resulting in tens of millions who have chronic deadly, but preventable, conditions such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, diabetes, and pre-diabetes. Recently the CDC reported that more than 70% (over 1.7 million) of all causes of death in America are caused by only three preventable factors: obesity, sedentary lifestyles, and smoking.
The very fact that these factors are easily preventable is heartbreaking. One of the major contributors to poor health is the excessive consumption of cholesterol. The body produces over 85% of the cholesterol we need and the sugar stores in our liver and muscles remain saturated due to physical inactivity. Because we are largely a couch-potato society and the food we consume every day is loaded with animal-based fats, the extra fat gets dumped into our arteries, belly areas, and under the skin all over our bodies.
Another major contributor to deadly diseases, poor health, and premature aging and death is physical inactivity. Most of us sit throughout an entire workday then go home and sit in front of the TV for another 5 to 6 hours while consuming large fatty meals, snacks, and sugary or alcoholic beverages that are rich in saturated fats, salt, and sugar, all of which contribute to increased belly fat. Shockingly, belly fat is the most dangerous kind because it causes inflammation in the arteries contributing to plaque build up in the arteries and insulin resistance leading to heart attacks and diabetes.
Yet another common issue is that people are unaware of how unhealthy the foods they consume are. When people don’t read nutrition labels they tend to consume very dense food and sugary beverages that are nutrient deficient. These foods are readily available in fast food restaurants and vending machines and contain loads of sugar, fat, and unwanted calories.
Sugary soft drinks (which alone contribute to over 33% of all US obesity), sugary lemonade, sweetened iced tea, smoothies, lattes, and frappucinos, which contain loads of sugar and fat that further contribute to the accumulation of belly fat, make you more of a magnet to all sorts of deadly, but preventable, diseases.
One of the worst mistakes people make as well is skipping meals which makes the body more efficient at storing and gaining fat weight. Fortunately there are important steps to help you make balanced food and activity choices and help you start a lifestyle makeover process which will be your shield against deadly diseases as you age gracefully:
• If you have any chronic disease(s) take your medications as prescribed.
• Eat 3 main balanced meals, reduce your portion sizes, and raise your fiber intake.
• Consume 2 fruit and nuts snacks between meals.
• Switch all sugary drinks to water or diet soft drinks. Sweeten all other hot or cold beverages with artificial sweeteners or sugar-free flavoring powders. Limit all non-water beverages to a couple a day.
• Increase your daily walking activity to over 10,000 steps a day by making more frequent trips at home, the office, while shopping, and anywhere else.
The good news is that diabetes, heart disease, and other chronic diseases can be prevented, managed, and reversed with your own choices, actions and a lifestyle makeover. Now is the time to start putting these tips to good use and begin feeling better and living healthier right away!
Pharmacist, George F. Tohme, wrote Lifestyle Makeover for Diabetics and Pre-Diabetics. Formerly obese, he became a personal trainer and is a certified expert on healthy living. His e-book series addresses all of the topics in this article. Visit http://www.LifestyleMakeoverEbook.com to take a quiz NOW.
Source: George F. Tohme
Remembering “Mad Cow Disease”
I saw a very interesting documentary on the DOC channel the other night. The disease in cattle called “Mad Cow Disease” began in England. this disease almost doomed the beef industry throughout the entire globe. So, where did this come from? According to this TV documentary, the cattle industry in England decided to cut costs and improve their profit margins by supplementing their cattle feed with ground up carcasses of sheep and cows. Before that time, their cattle where strictly vegeterian, eating local grasses, grain and hay. What happened when the cattlemen started making cannibals out of these innocent animals? The cows became sick.
For a number of years a disease known as ”scrapes” has been part of raising sheep. When a sheep contracts this disease it begins to scrape its body uncontrollably upon the nearest post or tree or whatever. Eventually it starts to lose its balance and control of its body. Then it dies. When cattle started being fed the bodies of dead sheep that had died of this disease, they started to show the same symtoms of scraping and loss of balance of the diseased sheep they were being fed.
The British government and meat industry had not put the pieces together yet. People had to DIE first. Two or three people came down with neurological brain cell damage and destruction that had not been seen before in humans. Scientists eventually discovered the disease they where seeing in human brain tissue resembled a brain disease they had known about in sheep for years. The question is, how did this disease get into humans? In the meantime, cattle were being euthanized all over the world, wherever “Mad Cow” was suspected. I’m talking about hundreds of thousands of heads of beef being killed or embargoed under the suspicion of being deadly. Economies were threatened in Europe, Canada, United States and even Japan. Something had to be done.
Scientists across the continents finally figured it out. Diseases can jump from one species to another. They found that cattle were being fed diseased sheep. Cattle were getting sick. No Problem! What became a problem was that people were now getting sick because were were eating sick cattle. When people start getting sick because of one industry it becomes worldwide news. When you get this news, its not to inform you about, lets say buying beef. The only reason you found out about “Mad Cow Disease” is because the story made money for print the press, TV, and all types of media outlets.
My blogsite is about Diabetes. It is also about our health. There are a lot of circumstances in life that are not in our control. For example, you live in a dictatorship. You were born in a rural village on the continent of Africa where you now have to buy your drinking water from a foriegn corporation. You live in the lower socio-economic level in America. The basic fact is no matter where welive on this planet, we must look after ourselves. Our governments are bought by multi-national comglomerates. The only reason why scientists discovered the roots of “Mad Cow Disease” was because it threatned the beef industry throughout the world. Economies could fail.
The Diabetes epidemic in America is not like “Mad Cow Disease”. It is not threatening anyone’s economy at the present. Diabetes effects Black People twice the times of White People. As more and more countries adopt the American diet of convenient fast processed food outlets, the rates of Diabetes will inevitablly rise in those countries. This fact will not matter to food corporations. They don’t care. How can a company care about you when they are selling you beef that has been fattend on the carcasses of dead sheep and other beef? Did you know that as much as 5% of your hot dogs, sausage and salami is sawdust? Check the food labels and look for celloulous fillers. It will be somewhere in the small print of the ingredients lable. In some ways we are like the cattle, being fed who knows what and becoming sick, even dying.
Nutrition is life. What we eat can mean life or the alternative. The food industry in America is corrupt and dangerous for the we, the consumers. We must get back to our “mother-wood since” as my dad used to say to me. I’m afraid of ground beef. Maybe I shouldn’t be, but I am. We must be more investigative in what we eat and drink. Watch out for all the disguised names of SUGAR. There is a reason for the explosion of obesity in this country in the past 30 years. Thus, there is a reason for this huge epidemic of Diabetes in America today.
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