Smooth Approval Seen For Obama Healthcare Nominee- Health In Crisis

When Shirley Hunter reviewed her finances to make sure she could afford to retire in 1999, she never banked on health care costs more than doubling in less than a decade.

Now the 74-year-old former California kindergarten teacher finds herself under financial pressure. Despite taking lodgers to help pay the bills, she worries about losing her home or having to choose between mortgage, food and health insurance.

"I'm on a fixed income. Nothing else is fixed," Hunter said. "I can't afford to travel right now or anything. It's very disappointing to work like I did and then have this happen."

Hunter, who told her story to a community healthcare discussion in Costa Mesa, California, is one of millions of Americans looking for President-elect Barack Obama to make good on his campaign promise to tackle the U.S. healthcare crisis.

Obama's choice to lead the reform effort, former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, testifies at his Senate confirmation hearing on Thursday -- beginning a process to change the nation's health care that could be one of the most ambitious and expensive undertakings of the Obama presidency.

Sen. Christopher Dodd, a senior member of the committee conducting the hearing, met with Daschle on Tuesday and predicted things would go "very smoothly."

"We all know the enormity of the task at hand, and it is a comfort to know that in Tom Daschle, we'll have a true leader, someone who has navigated these rough waters before," Dodd said in a statement.

The United States spent $7,421 per person on health care in 2007, some 16 percent of Gross Domestic Product, but does worse in many areas of care than other developed countries.

Employers complain that rising healthcare costs put them at a competitive disadvantage in the global economy, driving up the price of everything from a car to a cup of coffee. This has become more acute during the current economic turmoil.

"We can't afford to put domestic priorities like health care on the back burner," said Obama spokeswoman Jen Psaki. "This will certainly be a priority for him and for the new administration once he's sworn in."

Daschle and his team have helped organize thousands of grass-roots meetings across the country to try to understand the health problems people face and the changes they want.

Some 8,500 people signed up to host the sessions like the one Hunter attended in Costa Mesa. Daschle himself attended two -- one in an Indiana firehouse and the other at a Washington, D.C., senior center.

Feedback from people contacted by telephone after the meetings shows the scope of the problem.

"As a nation we're spending way too much money and we're not getting much value for it," said Dr. Allan Wilke, a family practitioner who attended a discussion with other doctors at a medical center in Huntsville, Alabama. "I think we all know the system has got to be fixe

Source: reuters.com Contributed by: DMSMedwire Research JSG Team

Cancer patients need special care during winters

Cancer, considered one of the most dreaded diseases, has now a preventable vaccine which will go a long way in nipping the problem in the bud. The development is all the more welcome because the biggest stumbling block in the treatment is delay in reporting. For those not in the know, cancer is fully treatable if detected in the first stage.

Dr Amit Bhargava, consultant oncologist, Max Healthcare, people living with cancer need to take some extra health precaution during winter. “Due to the weak immune system, cancer patients are more prone to infections during the winter season. During this season, the infection rate in cancer patients increases by 15-20%.”

Listing out the problems, Dr Bhargava says reducing the risk of flu is the first and foremost advice to be given cancer patients during winters. Influenza or flu is common during winter months. Cancer and cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy, may weaken the immune system and the people with weak immune system are at a higher risk of getting flu that can lead to serious illness.

People with cancer may also be at higher risk for illness caused by cold temperatures. One of the illnesses caused to cancer patients is hypothermia. When the body cannot produce enough heat to stay warm, hypothermia occurs. Some medications and medical conditions caused by cancer or cancer treatment can interfere with your body’s ability to adjust its temperature. Dehydration, a common side effect of cancer treatment, and having a low amount of body fat, may also increase risk.

In extremely cold temperatures, skin and underlying tissue can freeze and cause frostbite. Skin becomes firm, pale, waxy, and numb. Frostbite most commonly occurs in the fingers, toes, nose, and ears. People being treated for cancer

may be at greater risk for frostbite if they have treatment side effects, such as a nerve disorder that cause them to be less sensitive to temperature extremes.

“Cancer and cancer treatments may increase the risk of bone complications. Sunshine is one of the best sources of vitamin D.

Source: economictimes.com Contributed by: DMSMedwire Research JSG Team

Epilepsy Drug Intake May Invite Autism In Children

Recently a new study shows that women who take the epilepsy drug valproate while pregnant may significantly increase their child’s risk of developing autism. The preliminary research is published in the December 2, 2008, print issue of Neurology(R), the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

The ongoing study involves 632 children, nearly half of whom were exposed to epilepsy drugs during gestation. Of the children whose mothers took epilepsy drugs while pregnant, 64 were exposed to valproate, 44 to lamotrigine, 76 to carbamazepine and 65 to other epilepsy drugs. Of the 632 children in the study, nine have been diagnosed with autism and one has shown symptoms of the disorder. The children were tested at one, three and six years old. Two-thirds of the children were six years old by the end of the study.

The study found seven of the children with autism had mothers who took an epilepsy drug while pregnant; four of those children were exposed to valproate while a fifth child’s mother took a combination of valproate and lamotrigine. The children whose mothers were given valproate during pregnancy were seven times more likely to develop autism compared to children whose mothers did not take an epilepsy drug while pregnant. This risk was not seen with the other epilepsy drugs. None of the children in the study had any known family history of autism.

"The potential risk for autism in this study was substantial for children whose mothers took valproate while pregnant, but more research needs to be done since these are early findings," says study author Gus Baker, of the University of Liverpool in the United Kingdom."However, women who take valproate while pregnant should be informed of the possible risks of autism and are encouraged to discuss them with their doctor. Those who are taking valproate should not stop their treatment without speaking to their doctor first."

Other studies have shown that valproate is more likely to cause birth defects than other epilepsy drugs.

Symptoms of autism include difficulty in language development, a lack of attention, social problems and the inability to understand other people’s feelings.

Source: humancapital.com Contributed by: DMSMedwire Research JSG Team

Deep Vein Thrombosis- Concept Introduction

It is estimated that 1 out of every 1,000 people develops deep vein thrombosis each year. A deep vein thrombosis is a blood clot that forms in a vein, deep in the body. Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) refers to the formation of a blood clot or thrombus within a vein commonly in the thigh or calf. The blood clot can either partially or completely block the flow of blood in the vein.

DVT affects mainly the veins in the lower leg and the thigh. It involves the formation of a clot (thrombus) in the larger veins of the area. This thrombus may interfere with circulation or it may break off and travel through the blood stream (embolize). The embolus thus created can lodge in the brain, lungs, heart, or other area, causing severe damage to that organ. . DVT can also cause a miscarriage or stillbirth if a blood clot breaks free and lodges in an artery in the placenta, reducing the oxygen supply to the fetus.

Risk factors that may cause DVT include prolonged sitting, bed rest or immobilization (such as on a long plane or car trips), recent surgery or injury (especially hip, knee or gynecological surgery), a fracture, childbirth within the last 6 months and the use of medications such as oestrogen and birth control pills. DVT is more common in the elderly and the overweight, but healthy young people can develop it as well. Although anyone can develop DVT on a flight, certain people are more vulnerable, including pregnant women, people who are overweight, those whose feet don't reach the floor, smokers and those with coronary artery diseases and certain blood conditions. Any one suffering from DVT can have following symptoms that include:

- Leg pain or tenderness in one leg only
- Swelling (oedema) of only one leg
- Increased warmth
- Changes in skin colour, redness

People suffering from DVT need to take few precautions to avoid it, they are:-

- Avoid knee socks or hosiery that might limit blood flow through the leg

- Do not cross ankles or legs while sitting or lying

- Avoid prolonged sitting or standing in one position

- While resting, keep moving your legs, and bending your ankles and toes.

- Drink plenty of water during the flight, and avoid alcohol, to ensure you do not become dehydrated.

- When sitting for long periods of time you should curl or press your toes down, this will cause the muscles to contract and squeeze on the leg veins. This helps pump the blood along.

- When traveling by car, don't take a 10-hour trip without stopping every couple of hours. Get out and walk a bit, even if you are the driver.

- Another way to help move blood to the heart is to wear compression stockings, which put gentle pressure on the leg muscles. According to the American Health Association, wearing compression stockings minimizes the risk of developing DVT after long flights. Compression stockings are available at medical supply stores.

Source: futurehealthcare Contributed by: DMSMedwire Research JSG Team

Long Term Oxygen Therapy

Many bio chemical reactions in the body depend on oxygen utilization. Supply of oxygen to the tissues depends on many factors like ventilation, diffusion across alveolar-capillary membrane, hemoglobin, cardiac output, and tissue perfusion. Oxygen therapy is required for respiratory failure in many conditions like severe asthma, chronic bronchitis, pneumonia, and myocardial infarction, etc.

Oxygen therapy is the process where consumer receives oxygen that is supplemental oxygen administered for the purpose of relieving low levels of oxygen in the blood. Oxygen therapy increases collagen and elastin, heals micro fractures and fissures, and has anti-inflammatory effect on the skin.

The primary goal of oxygen therapy is to correct alveolar and/or tissue hypoxia. Therefore, any disorder causing hypoxia is a potential indication for oxygen administration. But the tissue oxygen delivery depends upon an adequate function of cardiovascular (cardiac output and flow), haematological (hb and its affinity for oxygen) and the respiratory (arterial oxygen pressure) systems. Therefore, tissue hypoxia is not relieved by oxygen therapy alone – functioning of all the three organ systems also needs to be improved.

The respiratory system is concerned with the delivery of an adequate amount of oxygen to

and elimination of a corresponding amount of carbon dioxide from the cells of the body and

maintenance of normal acid-base balance in the body. Proper supply of oxygen and elimination of carbon dioxide from various tissues of the body depends on the optimal functioning of

various parts of the respiratory system like chest wall and respiratory muscles, airways and lungs, CNS ( Central nervous system including medullary respiratory centres), spinal cord, and endocrine system. A disorder in any portion of these systems can lead to respiratory failure.

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Source: futurehealthcare magazine Contributed by: DMSMedwire Research JSG Team