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People who experience vision of heart disease compared to people who do not get the debilitating headaches, a study said on Tuesday.

The “aura” that immediately precedes a migraine affects sufferers differently, with some combination of dizziness, flashes or spots of light, and temporary loss of vision.

Among the 28 million Americans, mostly women, who suffer migraines, fewer than one-third experience the aura beforehand that was linked in the study to the increased risk of heart attack or stroke.

Source: Retuers. Read the rest of the article…. 

You know all the reasons to quit smoking, yet you still do it. That is the power of that Nicotine Demon that lives in your head. I tell my patients that their little demon is akin to a toddle having a major temper tantrum in the middle of the cereal aisle at your favorite upscale grocer.

Becoming a smoke free individual is not easy, but there are lots of resources available to help you quit. In WA State we have Quit Line - a service where you can actually call and talk with a Quit counselor 7 days a week. Your state health department may have a similiar program.

Other online resources to check out include:

Tobacco Free Nurses - the first national program focused on helping nurses and student nurses to stop smoking
www.tobaccofreenurses.org/

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention - Tobacco Information and Prevention Source
www.cdc.gov/tobacco/

Surgeon General - ‘You Can Quit Smoking’ Consumer Guide
www.surgeongeneral.gov/tobacco/default.htm

American Lung Association - Tobacco Control
www.lungusa.org/tobacco/

American Cancer Society - Guide to Quitting Smoking
www.cancer.org

Quitnet.com - Savings Calculator
www.quitnet.com

Smokefree.gov - Dictionary
www.smokefree.gov/dictionary.html

Quitnet.com - ‘Quitticisms’ (Quitting terms & phrases)
www.quitnet.com/library/quitticisms.jtml

Smoking is an issue that seems to penetrate all aspects of an individuals life. It’s not just an individual health issue anymore…it’s a quality of life issue, a societal issue, a financial issue, and a public health issue. It affects you, your children, your grandchildren, your partners, your friends.

It’s time to stop…for good.

Even the simplest physical activity may lengthen lives — no sweating required, new research shows. In fact, mundane physical activity like household chores may count.Sound too good to be true? That’s the finding from the National Institute on Aging’s Todd Manini, PhD, and colleagues.

“Simply expending energy through any activity may influence survival in older adults,” they write in The Journal of the American Medical Association’s July 12 issue.

Does their theory hold water? Perhaps, says a journal editorial. Manini’s finding on longevity motion is “provocative and if documented by future research would have major implications for physical activity recommendations,” the editorialists write.

Continue reading…

The elderly will face another double-digit rise in their Medicare premiums next year, resulting in monthly payments of nearly $100.The monthly premiums for supplementary medical insurance will rise from $88.50 to at least $98.40, the Bush administration projected Tuesday. That’s an 11.2 percent increase, and it’s possible the amount will be slightly higher.

The projections assume that Congress will reduce Medicare payment rates for physicians by about 4.7 percent next year. Many analysts don’t believe such a cut will occur, and that means the cost of the insurance would go higher than current projections.

Mark McClellan, administrator for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the higher premiums are being generated through an increase in the volume of care provided Medicare patients. Doctors make greater use of imaging, physical therapy, lab tests and physician-administered drugs.

Physicians say that the increased volume usually equates to better care and healthier patients, but a fact sheet released by CMS on Tuesday said “use of these services varies substantially across practices and geographic areas, with no clear impacts on health.”

“We can’t keep pumping more money into a payment system that is not sustainable,” McClellan said.

continue reading –> Elderly to see Hike in Medicare Premimums

A new study was just published by the Archives of Ophthalmology which showed that smoking contributes to ones risk of developing Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD).

ARMD is particularly disturbing because it is progressive, there is no known cure and no way to reverse the loss of vision. It tends to run in families - for example, it affects my mother as well as all of her siblings. It is also more common in women.
What can you do?

• See your eye doctor (either an ophthalmologists or optometrists) for a check up.
• There are various vitamin/antioxidant preparations available which appear to slow the development and progression. It should contain vitamin C, vitamin E, beta-carotene, zinc oxide and copper.
• There is evidence that supplements containing lutein and zeaxanthin (in addition to the above) can also be helpful.
• Stop Smoking!

For further resources on ARMD:

• National Eye Institute
• Macular Degeneration Foundation
• Mayo Clinic - Macular Degeneration

African American women are dying at rates that are greater than any other group of women in the United States — and most of these deaths are preventable.

That fact inspired Marilyn Gaston and Gayle Porter, both accomplished health professionals to change their focus and write Prime Time: The African American Woman’s Complete Guide to Midlife Health and Wellness in 2001. But information alone wasn’t enough to meet the need.

So in 2003 they created Prime Time Sister Circles - part health course on exercise, nutrition, and stress, and part support group - to change how African American women approach their own health, and thus the health of their families and communities. Meetings, which take place in convenient community locations, such as churches and community centers, encourage goal-setting, peer support, and empowerment. To date, 130 women have participated in pilots in three states and the District of Columbia; 68% of them have maintained their health improvements for more than a year.

Read more about these women and Prime Time Sister Circles…