Today, tens of millions of people in the United States depend on prescription and OTC medications to sustain their health—as many as 3 billion prescriptions are written annually. Too many people, however, suffer unnecessary injuries, and some die as a result of preventable medication errors. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) believes that many of these medication-related risks are manageable if parties committed to the safe use of medications work together.
The mission of the Safe Use Initiative is to create and facilitate public and private collaborations within the healthcare community. The goal of the Safe Use Initiative is to reduce preventable harm by identifying specific, preventable medication risks and developing, implementing and evaluating cross-sector interventions with partners who are committed to safe medication use.
Potential partners in Safe Use include:
Federal agencies
Healthcare professionals and professional societies
Pharmacies, hospitals, and other health care entities
Patients, caregivers, consumers, and their representative organizations
Through coordinated efforts, we can make significant improvements in the safe use of medications and reduce preventable harm from medication misuse, abuse, and errors.
Researchers in India who compared the heart rate inconsistency of men who practised yoga regularly and men who did not, accomplished that practising yoga was associated with a healthier heart because the heart rate variability of the yoga practitioners proved evidence of stronger control by the parasympathetic (vagal) nervous system.
The study was the work at the Indian Institute of Technology in Roorkee, in Uttrakhand, and is to be published in a forthcoming 2010 issue of the International Journal of Medical Engineering and Informatics.
Heart rate changeability is a measure of the beat-to-beat changes in heart rate. In healthy people it is high, while people with cardiac abnormalities generally have low HRV.
The autonomic nervous system controls heart rate by two routes: the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
The sympathetic nervous system causes HRV to go up, while the parasympathetic discourages it. While working well together, the two make sure that the heart rate is stable but ready to respond to alters caused by eating, the fight or flight response, or encouragement, the researchers told the press.
Previous research suggests that HRV is also a sign of dynamic and increasing load. As a quantify of dynamic load, it responds to stress, such as while we are under pressure to make a composite decision quickly, our HRV drops.
As a marker of cumulative load, it declines with age, in contrast to heart rate which rarely changes considerably with age. Research proposes that regular physical activity (which also slows down the aging process), raises HRV, apparently by improving parasympathetic control which raises "vagal tone".
Many yoga practitioners believes that yoga improves health through regular practice that centers on inhalation, stretching, postures, relaxation and meditation.
For the study, the researchers examined the HRV spectra of the electrocardiograms (ECGs) of 42 healthy male yoga practitioners and 42 healthy male non-practitioners aged from 18 to 48 years. All participants were volunteers.
The researchers thought that HRV spectral analysis is an important way of surveying heart health and how the heart is regulated. By glancing at different frequency bands of HRV in short term events.
For example, very low frequency (VLF) variations are related to temperature control changes. While low frequency crests are linked to sympathetic control and high frequency crests with parasympathetic control, explained by the researchers.
"There is spiraling of parasympathetic (vagal) control in subjects who habitually practice yoga, which is analytic of better autonomic control over heart rate and so a healthier heart."
According to a report , the American health care system wastes unnecessarily between $505 billion and $850 billion each and every year, which is up to a third of the nation's total health care costs. "America's health care system is really hemorrhaging billions of dollars, and the chances to slow the financial flow are substantial," said the report, which was completed by Thomson Reuters' vice president for health care analytics.
The report highlights numerous key areas where the U.S. systems shine at inefficiency:
Unnecessary care, such as the overdo of antibiotics and lab tests, to protect against negligence exposure makes up 37 percent of health care waste.
Swindle makes up 22 percent of the shattered expenditures, or up to $200 billion a year in fake Medicare claims, kickbacks for appointment for unnecessary services and other scams.
Administrative inefficiency and surplus paperwork account for 18 percent of waste.
Medical mistakes account for $50 billion to $100 billion in unnecessary expenses each year, or 11 percent of the total.
Preventable conditions such as abandoned diabetes cost $30 billion to $50 billion a year.
Eat a variety of fruits, vegetables, and whole grains every day.
Limit foods and drinks high in calories, sugar, salt, fat, and alcohol.
Eat a balanced diet to help keep a healthy weight.
Be active.
Be active for at least2½ hours a week. Include activities that raise your breathing and heart rates and that strengthen your muscles.
Help kids and teens be active for at least 1 hour a day. Include activities that raise their breathing and heart rates and that strengthen their muscles and bones.
Protect yourself.
Wear helmets, seat belts, sunscreen, and insect repellent.
Wash hands to stop the spread of germs.
Avoid smoking and breathing other people’s smoke.
Build safe and healthy relationships with family and friends.
Be ready for emergencies. Make a supply kit. Make a plan. Be informed.
Manage stress.
Balance work, home, and play.
Get support from family and friends.
Stay positive.
Take time to relax.
Get 7-9 hours of sleep each night. Make sure kids get more, based on their age.
Get help or counseling if needed.
Get Regular check-ups.
Ask your doctor or nurse how you can lower your chances for health problems based on your lifestyle and personal and family health histories.
Find out what exams, tests, and shots you need and when to get them.
See your doctor or nurse as often as he or she says to do so. See him or her sooner if you feel sick, have pain, notice changes, or have problems with medicine.
For both men and women, the biggest factors that contribute to heart disease are smoking, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, family history and age. Take a moment to look at your lifestyle, family history and your general health. With this information, you and your family doctor can assess your risk and make a plan to avoid potential problems. Although you can't do much about your family history or your age, you can make lifestyle changes to avoid many of the other risk factors.
Don’t smoke. Smoking is a major risk factor for heart disease in women. More than half of the heart attacks in women under 50 are related to smoking. If you stop smoking, you can lower your risk of heart attack by one third within 2 years. Women who smoke and use birth control pills increase their risk even more. There are a variety of products to help you give up smoking. You may want to try using nicotine skin patches or nicotine gum: these types of medicines are available over the counter. There are also prescription medicines available that can help you stop smoking. Talk to your doctor about the best way for you to quit smoking. Breathing smoke from someone else's cigarettes is also bad for your heart and lungs. If you live with someone who smokes, encourage him or her to quit.
Control your blood pressure. Treating high blood pressure can lower your risk of heart attack and stroke. Losing weight, exercising regularly and eating a healthy diet are all ways to help control high blood pressure. Reducing how much salt you consume can also help. If these steps don't lower your blood pressure, your doctor may recommend medicine for you to take.
Control your cholesterol level. If you don't know your level, ask your doctor to check it. Diet is a key part of lowering high cholesterol levels. However, some people may need to take medicine in addition to diet and exercise.
Maintain a healthy weight. Extra weight puts strain on your heart and arteries. Exercise and a low-fat diet can help you lose weight. Being overweight means you have a higher risk for many other health problems, especially diabetes, high blood pressure and heart disease. If you're overweight, talk to your doctor about a safe and effective way to lose weight.
Exercise regularly. Remember, your heart is a muscle. It needs regular exercise to stay in shape. Aerobic exercise, such as brisk walking, swimming, jogging or biking, gives your heart the best workout. You can also use fitness equipment like exercise bicycles, treadmills and ski machines when exercising indoors. Finding an exercise partner may make it easier and safer for you to exercise often. You should exercise at least 30 to 60 minutes, 4 to 6 times a week. Talk to your doctor before starting an exercise program.
Eat a low-fat diet. Keep fat calories to 30% or less of the total calories you eat during a day and avoid saturated fat (the fat in meats and coconut oil). Information is available to help you make healthy choices. For example, food labels list nutrition information, including fat calories, many cookbooks have heart-healthy recipes, and some restaurants serve low-fat dishes.
Take care of diabetes. If you have diabetes, regular exercise, weight control, a low-fat diet and regular doctor visits are important. If you need to take medicine for diabetes, be sure to take it exactly as your doctor tells you to.
Be aware of chest pain. Be sure to contact your doctor immediately if you suffer from pain in your chest, shoulder, neck or jaw. Also notify your doctor if you experience shortness of breath or nausea that comes on quickly. If you are having a heart attack, the faster you can get to the hospital, the less damage will happen to your heart. Every second counts.
Know your family history. Having a father or brother with heart disease before age 55, or a mother or sister with heart disease before age 65, are factors that contribute to heart disease. Inform your doctor about your family history.
A study involving more than 6,000 American women suggests that blood levels of mercury are accumulating over time, with a big rise noted over the past decade.
Using data from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), a researcher from the University of California, Los Angeles, found that while inorganic mercury was detected in the blood of 2 percent of women aged 18 to 49 in the 1999-2000 NHANES survey, that level rose to 30 percent of women by 2005-2006.
"My study found compelling evidence that inorganic mercury deposition within the human body is a cumulative process, increasing with age and overall in the population over time," study author and neuroscience researcher Dan R. Laks said . "My findings also suggest a rise in risks for disease associated with mercury over time."
The findings come on the heels of a widely publicized report, released last week by the U.S. Geological Survey, which found that 25 percent of fish sampled from U.S. rivers and streams have unsafe levels of mercury.
Environmental sources of mercury include coal-fired electricity plants and contaminated fish, which tend to accumulate the toxin in their tissues. According to the news release, chronic mercury exposure has been linked in studies to a higher risk for autism, mental impairment and neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer's disease.
The linking inorganic mercury in the blood to tissues known to be targets for the toxin, such as the liver, the immune system and the pituitary gland.
A connection between levels of the pituitary hormone lutropin and chronic mercury exposure, which help to explain mercury's link to neurodegenerative disease. Inorganic mercury can also accumulate in the brain and stay there for years.
Overall, "these results suggest that chronic mercury exposure has reached a critical level where inorganic mercury deposition within the human body is accumulating over time," Laks said. "It is logical to assume that the risks of associated neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases will rise as well."
Health insurance companies often use age, gender, health status, and the presence of medical conditions to charge higher premiums or deny coverage. Health insurance reform will prevent any insurance company from denying coverage based on underlying health status, and it will prohibit insurance companies from charging more if someone is sick, older, or a woman.
Consumer protections in health insurance reform will also ensure that Americans have portable health insurance options. Reform will guarantee that families will always have choices of quality, affordable health insurance if a family member loses a job, switches jobs, retires, moves, or gets sick. Families will no longer have to make life decisions – like whether to retire, work fewer hours, or switch jobs – based on the lack of affordable and meaningful coverage outside of their current employer-sponsored plan. Health insurance reform will create a health insurance exchange so Americans can compare prices and health plans and decide which quality affordable option is right for them.
Make health care affordable and accessible for everyone:
Americans are frequently forced to make decisions based on their finances and not on what is best for their health. Even with employer-sponsored insurance, Americans pay growing premiums and out-of-pocket costs each year. And for young adults who are just starting their careers, employer-based insurance is often not an option. By expanding health insurance to all Americans, providing premium assistance to make it affordable, and creating caps on the health care expenses that people pay out of pocket, health insurance reform will make health care affordable for everyone. And health insurance reform will allow young adults to stay on their parents’ employer-based insurance until the age of 26, providing an essential option for coverage.
Strengthen employer-based insurance:
Nearly three-quarters of small businesses that do not offer benefits cite high premiums as the reason. Premiums are high, in part, because of a “hidden insurance tax” of more than $1,000 for the unpaid costs of care of the uninsured. Health insurance reform will address this burden by reforming the system and offering affordable insurance options for all Americans. It will also provide small businesses with tax credits to help them provide health insurancefor their employees. This will make health care more affordable for small businesses and their workers, solidifying and strengthening employer-based coverage for years to come.
Potential partners in Safe Use include:
