by nate on Friday, March 12th, 2010 | Career, Inspiration, Knowledge, Life | No Comments

Primary care doctors were offered an average base salary of $173,000 in 2009 compared to an average base salary of $189,000 offered to certified nurse anesthetists, or CRNAs, according to the latest numbers from Merritt Hawkins & Associates, a physician recruiting and consulting firm.

CRNAs are advanced practice nurses who administer anesthesia to patients. An important distinction between CRNAs and anesthesiologist is that when anesthesia is administered by a nurse anesthetist, it is still recognized as the practice of nursing rather than a practice of medicine.

Kurt Mosley, staffing expert with Merritt Hawkins & Associates said medical doctors and specialists, including anesthesiologists, typically have four to five years more of medical training than CRNAs. After spending a lot of time speaking with physicians around the country, he said many family doctors are starting to feel like “second-class citizens.”

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Tags: doctor, economic, health, health practitioners, high paid job, nursery, specialized doctors

by nate on Friday, January 15th, 2010 | Beauty, Health, Knowledge, Life, Tips | No Comments

Finger Length

Women whose index fingers are shorter than their ring fingers may be twice as prone to osteoarthritis in the knees, found a 2008 study in the journal Arthritis & Rheumatism. Those with this predominately male characteristic tend to have lower levels of estrogen, which may also play a role in the development of osteoarthritis, say researchers.

Prevent it: Strengthen the muscles surrounding your knees. While sitting, straighten each leg parallel to the floor 10 times; hold each rep for 5 to 10 seconds.

Height

Women taller than 5-foot-2 may be missing a gene mutation that helps them reach their 100th birthday, according to a study in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Prevent it: Take a page from the habits of California’s Seventh-day Adventists, who have one of the highest concentrations of centenarians: Quit smoking, and cut back on alcohol and eating meat.

Leg Length

If your legs are on the stocky side, you may need to take better care of your liver. In a 2008 study published in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health, British researchers found that women with legs between 20 and 29 inches tended to have higher levels of four enzymes that indicate liver disease. Factors such as childhood nutrition may not only influence growth patterns, but also liver development well into adulthood, say researchers.

Prevent it: Avoid exposure to toxins your liver has to process, which will keep it healthier, longer. Wear a mask and gloves while cleaning or working with any type of harsh chemical. Limit alcohol intake to one 5-ounce glass of wine or 12-ounce bottle of beer daily.

Sense of Smell

Older adults who couldn’t identify the scent of bananas, lemons, cinnamon, or other items were five times more likely to develop Parkinson’s disease within 4 years, according to a 2008 study in the Annals of Neurology. The researchers believe that the area of the brain responsible for olfactory function may be one of the first impacted by Parkinson’s disease — somewhere between 2 and 7 years prior to diagnosis.

Prevent it: Take fish oil supplements. Omega-3 fatty acids can boost your brain’s resistance to MPTP, a toxic compound responsible for Parkinson’s.

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Tags: abnormal body, body, health, health clue, how to prevent, normal body, part of your body, tips to stay healthy, Weird

by bintangkecil on Saturday, November 7th, 2009 | Health, News | No Comments

People who think they may have H1N1 flu need to stay away from work, avoid sneezing on their spouses and children. Now, they have to worry about their pets.

U.S. vets reported this week that a pet cat had been infected with the pandemic swine flu virus, apparently by its owners, who had reported flu-like illness in the days before.

Two pet ferrets also caught flu, again apparently from their owners, and several herds of pigs around the world have been reported infected.

Animals have long been known to be a source of new infections. Influenza itself originates in birds, possibly domestic ducks. AIDS appears to have come from chimpanzees and possibly gorillas. Ebola virus comes from bats while rabies is spread by many different species.

And this strain of H1N1 very likely originated in pigs although it is now infecting almost exclusively humans.

But with flu, at least, it can go the other way, too.

“This is just another illustration of why influenza viruses are so tricky and frustrating and interesting at the same time, is this ability to occasionally jump species,” said Dr. Carolyn Bridges of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Bridges said it is impossible to know how many pets may have been infected — this particular cat lived near a sophisticated animal laboratory in Iowa where vets ran an influenza test out of curiosity. The good news is that the cat survived.

Even for people, it is difficult to find out if a fever, cough and stuffy nose was the swine flu or something else because ordinary flu tests can miss H1N1 and doctors do not have easy access to the more sophisticated test needed to diagnose it.

NO KISSING

So no one knows how often pets might get infected. But if there is a season for it to happen, this would be it, says Bridges.

“We have a great deal more disease now than we have in a typical flu season,” she said in a telephone interview.

“With the higher numbers of infected people, that increases the possibility of seeing these transmissions.”

Cats were known to get H5N1 avian influenza, which is still circulating and which has killed snow leopards and tigers that were fed infected chickens. A strain called H3N8 can sicken and kill pet dogs, Bridges added.

“It is hypothesized that dogs got it from horses. There is potential, certainly, for cross-species infection,” she said.

This is bad news for sick pet lovers.

“Even though I think when I am sick in bed the best thing I can have is my cats piling in with me, we realize that is no longer a risk-free activity,” said Dr. Julie Levy of the University of Florida, a specialist in pet diseases.

“When a pet is sick we should use common sense — wash hands, not let them kiss us in the face,” Levy added.

According to the World Health Organization, H1N1 has killed at least 6,071 people worldwide and likely far more.

The Sweden-based European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control projects the virus could kill up to 40,000 people across Europe and be followed by seasonal flu waves that could kill the same number.

The international veterinary disease agency, the OIE, says it is compiling reports of H1N1 in animals.

“It is very likely that there will be additional findings of other influenza strains,” OIE Director Dr. Bernard Vallat said in a statement.

Tags: Dr. Julie Levy, European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control, h1n1, h1n1 Flu, h1n1 pet risk, h1n1 pets, H5N1 avian influenza, health, obama swine flu, pandemic swine flu virus, pet risk for h1n1, pets risk for h1n1, swine flu, Swine Flu Name, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, World Health Organization

by nate on Thursday, November 5th, 2009 | Business, Health, Knowledge, Life, Tips | No Comments

Some words are red flags to insurers and using them could mean that your claim might be delayed or even denied.

1. “I Think …”

Never begin a statement regarding a claim with these words. If you aren’t sure, don’t guess. What you say could cause your claim to be delayed or denied, says attorney Vedica Puri. And if you’re wrong — say, you report driving at 30 miles per hour before an accident but police later prove you were going 50 — it could hurt your credibility.

Particularly beware of speculating on blame or causation. For example, if you suggest that a water leak is due to a construction defect, you could give the insurer an out if that’s a policy exclusion.

Stick to the facts. Should the insurance rep ask you a question you can’t answer, simply say, “I don’t know.” If the person is taking a written or recorded statement, ask for a transcript to review for misstatements.

2. “I Got Whiplash”

Fraud costs auto insurers up to $6.8 billion a year, reports the Insurance Research Council. And suing for damages caused by whiplash is a fraudster favorite (”Oh, my neck!”). Merely mentioning the term is likely to get your claim flagged for further investigation, says Amy Danise of Insure.com.

Whiplash is a specific diagnosis. If a doctor says that you have it, then you should report it as such. Other wise, if you feel neck pain, just refer to it that way.

3. “It’s an Experimental Treatment”

Truly experimental or investigational medical procedures are typically not eligible for health insurance coverage. So if a doctor tells you he wants to experiment with a treatment, don’t represent it using those words. “In medical terms it may not actually be experimental or investigational,” explains Danise. “If it’s proven effective, your doctor deems it medically necessary, and it’s not an exclusion, it should be covered.” Verify with your doctor that it meets the above litmus tests before going to the insurer.

4. “My Basement Flooded”

With homeowners insurance, “flood” is a red flag. “The word refers to an act of weather or an overflow from a nearby body of water,” says Danise. “And a standard homeowners policy doesn’t cover it. You’d need flood insurance.”

So don’t use the f-word if your basement is knee-deep in water because of a burst pipe. Damages from such an incident should be covered by a homeowners policy. But calling it a “flood” could muddy the waters, so to speak.

5. “Just Send Me a Check”

When filing a home or auto claim, don’t emphasize that you’re just looking for the cash.

“If you were to say, ‘I don’t care about the roof leak, I just need the money,’ that admission could slow things to a halt,” says Puri. Technically, you’re supposed to use the payout to make the repair for which you filed. While it’s true that most insurance companies aren’t going to check up on you, you’ll certainly raise the fraud unit’s suspicions if you imply that you won’t. And then you might lose out on the money altogether.

source: finance.yahoo.com

Tags: check, don't say this, health, insurance, insurance coverage, insurance money, insurance policy, insurance tips, insurance warnings, insurers

by wildcherry on Tuesday, October 27th, 2009 | Health, Life | No Comments

According to research performed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, hand sanitizer is considered as effective at killing germs as washing your hands with soap and water, unless hands are visibly soiled. Clean hands are very important for stopping the spread of germs. Hand soap and cleansers need to not only wash away dirt and grime, but kill the germs and prevent them from spreading from one person to another.

Here’s ways on keeping your hands hygiene without overusing your hand sanitizer:

• Wet your hands with warm water and then lather up with soap. Soap kills germs.
• Rub your hands together and scrub all the surfaces, including your palms, wrists, between your fingers, and under your nails.
• Rub and scrub for about as long as it takes to whistle one verse of “Row, Row, Row Your Boat.”
• Rinse and then dry your hands on a paper towel or clean cloth.
• In public bathrooms, turn off the water using a paper towel to avoid getting germs on your clean hands.
• You can use the same towel to open the door. Door handles are great carriers of germs.
• When you can’t wash your hands with soap and water, a good alternative is to use a hand-sanitizing wipe or gel.

It sounds almost too simple to be true. But, an important part of staying healthy this flu season is to wash your hands. Try it! You won’t be sorry you did!”

Hand sanitizers contain alcohol and other agents that are known to kill certain germs that are easily transmitted. Studies have shown that families who use hand sanitizer containing 40% ethanol are 59% less likely to spread sickness to other members of their family who also use hand sanitizers than they are to spread it to people outside of the family who do not use hand sanitizer.

Keep a portable size hand sanitizer in your purse, diaper bag and car to make sure you have it whenever you may need it and soap and water is not available to use. How many times have you used a public restroom to find there is no soap to wash your hands with? Squirt a small amount of your hand sanitizer into the palm of your hand and spread all over both hands to effectively kill most germs you may have on your hands. You do not need to rinse off the sanitizer- it dries quickly and as it does, gets rid of the germs.

As a warning, when purchasing hand sanitizers, it is important to check their alcohol concentration. Only sanitizers with a minimum of 60% ethyl alcohol, ethanol or isopropanol can effectively kill the most harmful bacteria. These items should be kept away from children, since the high concentration of alcohol could result in alcohol poisoning if ingested. However, hand sanitizers are not cleaning agents. Therefore, when removing blood or other bodily fluids from your hands, you must wash your hands first in order for the alcohol in the sanitizer to be effective.

Tags: Dirty Hands, Flu, Flu Bug, Germs, h1n1 prevention, Hand Hygiene, hand sanitizer, hand sanitizer dangers, hand sanitizer effectiveness, hand sanitizer overuse, hand sanitizers, Hand Washing, health, Hygiene, Kids

by bintangkecil on Monday, October 19th, 2009 | Life, Tips | No Comments

A fitness trainer, Terry O’Hara’s, has her “Top Ten Tips” in life - and I’ll bet you will be surprised they have nothing to do with money, struggle or pain:

1. Your mental image of yourself defines what you will work toward. What is your reason for getting out to exercise in the first place? Is it so your clothes fit better, or to be able to ski this winter without dying on the slopes? Developing a strong mental image that is specific and positive will help motivate and guide your decisions.

2. Nobody eats enough good food. This one is huge, as most of us are on a perpetual diet, and pride ourselves by not eating, or skimping along with a minimal meal in order to splurge later. Wrong! “By 1pm, you should have already eaten breakfast, a snack, lunch, and be getting ready for another small snack,” said O’Hara. “You need to take a counter intuitive approach to your diet and until you start eating, the diet cycle can trap you.”

3. Your body adapts to everything. This applies to your diet and exercise, or lack of it. If you start walking a route in your neighborhood and think you can just do that forever- wrong! Ever noticed you start on new cardio equipment at the gym and it is hard to get through 20 minutes, but after a month you are hardly out of breath? That means it is time to mix it up and do something new. Try rowing, or stairs.

4. The word “Carbs” is a misnomer for dieting. If you are taking all carbs out of your diet, you are depriving yourself of one of the four necessary nutrients for your body, as well as vital B complex vitamins and critical fiber. Complex carbs contain valuable nutrients responsible for energy production. Cut out the simple processed carbs like cookies or crackers, and replace with plenty of whole grains, oatmeal, or brown rice.

5. Memories dictate bad habits. Ever wonder why you buy the same things over and over again at the store? Do you buy chocolate Oreos because your mother did? “Time to change up the menu,” says O’Hara. “Replace those frozen waffles with homemade with fresh blueberries, or forget the top ramen and make a quick soup that is simple and delicious.”

6. Face up to your personal statistics. This one really woke me up. Rather than just knowing your weight on a scale or your size of clothes, do you know your body fat percentage, your basic heart rate or the number of maintenance calories you should be eating for your age? “For less than $100, you can hire a personal trainer one time, to help you assess exactly what you need to know,” said O’Hara. Or, for absolutely free, O’Hara steers clients to the website: sparkpeople.com to get all your info and ideas on exercises to do. Check it out and get informed!

7. All or nothing exercise gets you nowhere, (or hurt). Lots of people are like me; the pants just get WAY to tight, so we all fired up about working out again, go out and buy new sneakers, and start running everyday like we are old pros. Then after a week, shin splints kick in, and then we quit. Others may hear about a new type of exercise, and try it without building up first, and get injured. O’Hara encourages starting with a solid, organized plan that can keep your progressing and organize a workout schedule you can use for the rest of your life.

8. We are not supposed to get weak and incapacitated as we get older. It is not true that we should stop being physically active as we age, but continue with cardio, resistance training and core building for a lifetime. Tennis, swimming, golf, yoga and power walking can be done forever.

9. It’s all about PUSHUPS baby! Come on, be honest, how many “proper” pushups can you do? “If you can’t do a push up properly, it means you lack core strength,” explains O’Hara, “and that is the most important area to maintain for posture, back support, and ongoing health.” For the ultimate challenge (and one that I am going to start myself) check out the One Hundred Pushups website for a full six week program to help you reach the seemingly impossible goal of being able to do 100 consecutive pushups. Wow!

10. There is a fountain of youth! “Strength in life is the fountain of youth,” said O’Hara, “strength in keeping the muscles strong and building them, strength in what you choose to eat, strength in your character - it is the absolute secret to a long life.”

Read more at: HuffingtonPost

Tags: Cardio, diet, Exercise, Exercise Tips, Featured Contributor, Fitness, health, Healthy Eating, healthy living, Kari Henley, Personal Fitness, Push Ups, Strength Training, terry o'hara, Trainers

by wildcherry on Friday, October 2nd, 2009 | Automotive, News | No Comments

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Thursday it will seek to ban text messaging by interstate bus drivers and truckers and push states to pass their own laws against driving cars while distracted.

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said the administration also would move to put restrictions on cell phone use by rail operators, truck drivers and interstate bus drivers.

“Driving while distracted should just feel wrong – just as driving without a seat belt or driving while intoxicated,” LaHood said at the end of a two-day conference on the problem. “We’re not going to break everyone of their bad habits – but we are going to raise awareness and sharpen the consequences.”

As a first step, LaHood said President Barack Obama signed an executive order late Wednesday banning all federal workers from texting while driving on government business, driving government vehicles or using government equipment.

The administration also will push to disqualify school bus drivers who are convicted of texting while driving from keeping their commercial driver’s licenses.

Researchers, safety groups, automakers and lawmakers gathered to discuss the perils of distracted driving, hearing sobering data from the government that underscored the safety threat as more motorists stay connected with cell phones and mobile devices.

The Transportation Department reported that 5,870 people were killed and 515,000 were injured last year in crashes connected to driver distraction, often involving mobile devices or cell phones. Driver distraction was involved in 16 percent of all fatal crashes in 2008 and was more prevalent among young drivers.

Senate Democrats said support was building in Congress to move against text messaging by drivers. The legislation, pushed by Sen. Chuck Schumer, D-N.Y., would require states to ban texting or e-mailing while operating a moving vehicle or lose 25 percent of their annual federal highway funding.

Tags: Cell Phone Driving Ban, Driving, health, safety, Text Messages, Text Messaging, Texting And Driving, Texting While Driving

by nate on Thursday, March 12th, 2009 | Health, Life | No Comments

(CNN) – Headaches, big and small, are among the most common health complaints. Almost 90 percent of women and about 70 percent of men get tension headaches, the Mayo Clinic says. Yet doctors still don’t know much about what causes them.

In a new large-scale study published in the journal Neurology this week, researchers found that higher temperatures and, to a lesser extent, low air pressure, influence severe headaches.

But researchers aren’t sure how temperature influences headaches, and others say that a slew of other factors could be involved in the connection.

“I think it’s more complicated than that,” said Dr. Joel Saper, director of the Michigan Head Pain and Neurological Institute in Ann Arbor, Michigan, who was not involved in the study. Temperature and pressure may be indirect evidence of other causal factors.

The study looked at more than 7,000 patients who had come to the emergency room of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center in Boston, Massachusetts, between May 2000 and December 2007, all of whom were discharged with a primary diagnosis of some kind of headache. About 75 percent of these patients were women.

Researchers compared environmental factors such as temperature, air pollution and barometric pressure on the day of the patient’s visit with a day the week before and a day the week after. They found that the risk of severe headache increases about 7.5 percent for each temperature increment of 5 degrees Celsius (about 9 degrees Fahrenheit).

“Fairly consistently, it was warmer on the days that individuals came in than on control days before and afterwards,” said Dr. Kenneth Mukamal, lead author and physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

But as to why temperature is connected to headaches, Mukamal said researchers aren’t sure. The physiological connection is not well understood, he said.

read more from CNN.com

Tags: doctor, headache, health, hot air, migrain, sickness, weather

by doctoradhi on Monday, February 16th, 2009 | Health, Knowledge, Life | No Comments

Hello, everyone.. How’re you all doing? I hope you’ve been filled up with some love from last weekend valentine’s party.

Okay, so today I’d like to discuss a bit about stress. And don’t get surprised, stress can make you ugly! Really, doctor? Yes, it might be. How could that be? Here is the simple explanation.

Stress, in some levels, is needed in our daily life. Stress can challenge us to do better, to improve, and even to innovate. But stress has many other negative effects on your body. Under significant physical of psychological stress, your body releases a stress hormone, called cortisol. Cortisol in the natural world, could help save your life in dire circumstances. It helps keep your blood pressure up, makes your kidneys work harder, pushes your liver to get rid of toxins more effectively, and changes your metabolism from storing energy to burning it.

How about the skin health now? How can stress affect your skin?

We can see this in the skin where elevated cortisol can change both the skin’s structure and function. Studies have shown that chronically elevated cortisol levels lead to a decrease in your skin’s natural lipid or fat barrier. These lipids are essential to keep your skin protected and to prevent it from drying out. Without a layer of lipids on your skin, it is no longer waterproof, and irritating soap and water from hand washing or bathing is able to penetrate the skin, causing inflammation. Without a protective lipid layer, the moisture in your skin evaporates easily, leaving the skin dehydrated. This dry, flaky skin is even more susceptible to damage or irritation.

Elevated cortisol also impairs your skin’s natural defense system. Your skin is constantly producing specialized protiens that act as bacterialcides, killing off unwanted intruders on your skin. Stress can lead to a drop in production of these first line defense proteins, leaving your skin vulnerable.

As conclusion, if you get too stressed out, be careful, since it sooner or later can affect your skin health, and by the end of the day, make you ugly, hehe.. So, manage your stress, and stay healthy and beautiful always!

Tags: health, skin, stress, stress management, young skin

by doctoradhi on Thursday, February 12th, 2009 | Health, Love, Relationship | No Comments

I’ve been thinking about that since few years ago when I was still a med student. And today I find an interesting article that answers my thinking, it is true -not just emotionally but medically- that your heart speaks.

Tags: emotions, happy, health, heart, Love, psychologic, relationship, stress