Long Term Care Insurance

This week I had a visit from an insurance agent selling long term care insurance. When she first called, I specifically asked her if I could insure a family member living in a different state. I was told no problem.

Now this company only deals with long term care insurance not health insurance or life insurance. They are specialists who know who they can insure and who they will lose money on.

If you have a heart condition, no problem on getting the insurance because most heart conditions lead to death in a very short time. On the other hand, if you have diabetes they will not insure you (based on what type of treatment you are currently under) because your disease can take years to kill you with multiple amputations in the process.

The cost for us to insure my mother-in-law (who currently has leukemia) would be only $118 a month for $100-a-day care. That is not bad.

Why did we not buy the insurance? We would have to lie on the application stating that his mother was currently staying with us and forge her name and call her and tell her to lie when the insurance company called to confirm. This information was accompanied with broad winks from the agent. Yes you can insure someone living in another state, but first they have to be staying with you and then move.

Read the rest of this article at Long_Term_Care_Insurance

Because I have an admitted dislike of insurance of any kind, I have set up a page on my web site that insurance agents may use to contact me. This is not to sell me insurance, but to give a rebuttal on my remarks. I will publish this information so that you may see both sides of the story. Insurance

If you, my readers, have had a good or bad experience with an insurance company, please go to comments and tell us what company and what they did.

Thanks
Sharon
(c) Answers For Your Health

Head Lice Treatments

Time for school to start again and with that renewed contact will come the head lice notice for some of you. Maybe your day care, maybe your elementary school but one or the other or even both will be hit with contagious head lice.

You would think that something that hard to get rid of would not be so contagious. Those little nits are sticky.

Anyway, whether your children or your grand children, this is information that you need before hand not after.

I did include a link to the Natural Cures page as an alternative.

I invite you to take a look at my new blog on Coping with Stress

Just hit the back button/arrow to return to this page.

Another food recall that you may have missed:
http://www.castleberrys.com/news_pressRelease0801.asp

I have the links to 2 videos. Please take a moment to watch them.

And now they can listen after you hang up
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0G1fNjK9SXg

this video is from Dr. Mercola may change your mind about conventional health care
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FPI7zdGdqo4

until next time smile
Sharono

Coffee and Skin Cancer

A couple of news tips:

Coffee, Exercise Fight Skin Cancer

Coffee is quickly rising from the rank of nutritional “bad boy” to super-nutrient star status. A new study shows that a double espresso daily combined with exercise can prevent skin cancer. It joins other studies that show coffee helps keep a myriad of diseases, including diabetes, colon cancer, Parkinson’s, and liver cancer, at bay, while protecting the memory of older women.

I did an experiment with artificial coffee creamer - read the results at Belly Fat Blues Blog.

and from the Migraine world


http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,292892,00.html
Women whose migraine headaches produce visual symptoms, referred to as "auras," may be at an increased risk for stroke in comparison to women who do not have migraines, a new study says.

And smoking and oral contraceptives increase this risk, according to a recent report in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

Women who experienced more recent migraines with aura symptoms (within the last year) are almost seven times more likely to have a stroke compared to women with no history of migraines, said Steven Kittner, M.D., M.P.H., senior author of the study and staff physician at Baltimore Veterans Affairs Medical Center, in a news release.

“Eight percent of stroke cases had onset of probable migraine with visual symptoms in the prior year compared to one percent of controls," he said.

But Kittner said the most "important" finding is that women who have these types of migraines and also smoked and used oral contraceptives had seven times the risk of stroke than women who had just the migraines with visual symptoms alone.

An excerpt from an article on heart disease and belly fat

“Fat that accumulates around your waist seems to be more biologically active as it secretes inflammatory proteins that contribute to atherosclerotic plaque buildup, whereas fat around your hips doesn’t appear to increase risk for cardiovascular disease at all,” Dr. de Lemos said. “We think the key message for people is to prevent accumulation of central fat early on in their lives. To do so, they will need to develop lifelong dietary and exercise habits that prevent the development of the ‘pot belly.’”
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/08/070814085354.htm

I find it most astonishing that medical science is amazed that men and women are different. Their research is showing that men and women process nutrients differently and have different reactions to drugs and fat build up. Any non-medical person in the world could have told them that and would not have needed million dollar grants to get the research to prove it.

Why is it that the medical community will not believe anything that does not have a research document? And why is it that this same community will believe anything in a research document without questioning the way the results were obtained?

until next time - smile
Sharon
Answers For Your Health

Actions and Results

Did you ever take some action that was supposed to bring wonderful results? Might have been a lose weight program or a build muscle program or a Christmas savings account.

Lets take for granted that any action you take is supposed to bring wonderful results into your life.

We have two large Live Oak trees in our front yard. One of them is right next to the drive way and I was really getting tired of the birds decorating my car every day. So we decided to trim off a very large branch - no more over hang on the drive.

It was a most interesting series of events not to mention that we almost crushed our pop-up camper.

Finished and the branch is gone and my car is graffiti free.

Most mornings my routine is to take a cup of coffee outside on the front porch. I fill the bird feeder and then relax and plan my day and watch the birds eat. I have a squirrel that has figured out how to climb down the wire hanger to get the seed so he is fun to watch too.

If you know anything about Live Oak trees, you know that they drop leaves all year round.I have to sweep the sidewalk in front of my porch. I don't do it everyday, just when the leaves start gathering on my porch.

It finally made it through to my brain -- the sidewalk, under a tree branch, is now covered with the bird decorations. That branch will have to be trimmed also. It is touching the roof so it does need to be cut back.

My point is, although the original goal was achieved, the results were less than satisfactory.

If we had thought it through, we would have trimmed the other branch as well. Now we will have to repeat our actions.

So consider, is the diet program going to bring you the results you want or will you have to take additional action in adding an exercise program? You are concerned with heart health so you exercise every day, but have you cut the sugar and excess fat from your diet?

And the Christmas savings program - did you follow through with a deposit every payday? Hey, Christmas is only 4 months away - is it going to be a cash Christmas or a credit card Christmas?

Take action, but take the time to try and see what the results of that action will be.

*****

Jokes from the friendly call center support desk:

Actual call center conversations!

Customer: 'I've been calling 700-1000 for two days and can't get through; can you help?'
Operator: 'Where did you get that number, sir?'
Customer: 'It's on the door of your business.'
Operator: 'Sir, those are the hours that we are open.'

Samsung Electronics
Caller: 'Can you give me the telephone number for Jack?'
Operator: 'I'm sorry, sir, I don't understand who you are talking about.'
Caller: 'On page 1, section 5, of the user guide it clearly states that I need to unplug the fax machine from the AC wall socket and telephone Jack before cleaning. Now, can you give me the number for Jack?'
Operator: 'I think it means the telephone plug on the wall.'

Then there was the caller who asked for a knitwear company in Woven.
Operator: 'Woven? Are you sure?'
Caller: 'Yes. That's what it says on the label -- Woven in Scotland.'

Tech Support: 'I need you to right-click on the Open Desktop.'
Customer: 'OK.'
Tech Support: 'Did you get a pop-up menu?'
Customer: 'No.'
Tech Support: 'OK. Right-Click again. Do you see a pop-up menu?'
Customer: 'No.'
Tech Support: 'OK, sir. Can you tell me what you have done up until this point?'
Customer: 'Sure. You told me to write 'click' and I wrote 'click'.'

until next time - smile----and take a moment today to say Thank You to someone in your life.

Sharon
(c)copyright Answers For Your Health

Do You Think You Are Healthy?

There are three groups in the world -- those who think they are healthy and are not, those who think they are healthy and are and those who know they are not healthy.

Everyone wants to be healthy. Everyone wants to keep all those bad habits that lead to an unhealthy condition.

I was talking with a friend who is very health conscious. He does cardio exercises everyday. Red meat has not touched his lips in years. One glass of wine a day.Herbal supplements and vitamins used everyday. Walks two miles every day. Here is one healthy guy, right.

I asked him why he was using a flavored artificial creamer in his coffee. I pointed out that it is full of junk and in fact contributes to the storage of fat. His reply, it tastes so darn good.

Lets take a quick look at the food he eats - artificial sugars, margarine, low fat milk and cheese, no eggs. Oh, I might add, he appears totally calm always but is under tremendous stress.

He falls in the first category. His meals rarely have fresh fruit and vegetables. He worries about his family history of disease. He relies too heavily on supplements from a bottle to meet his body's needs. He does not deal with his stress, he suppresses it and denies it.

Of all of these what do I think is the most damaging - his stress. Knowing what your parents and grandparents died from can increase your worry level. If you determine in your own mind that genetically you are pre-disposed to a certain disease or dysfunction, then you increase your chances of fulfilling that prophesy.

If there is one supplement you take to specifically prevent one specific condition, then each time you take it -- your mind says pill X is to not get disease X and since the mind recognizes positives over negatives - the mind says get disease X. Over simplified but you get the idea.

Try to remember that your gene pool is very large. You had two parents and they each had two parents and so on up the chain. I had one grandmother who lived to be in her 90's and was active and alert right to the end. Her heart finally gave out. My other grandmother died at a very early age and was an alcoholic. The family never talked about her much as she walked out on her 4 children when they were very small. I have no idea what exactly killed her but she was only in her late 30's.

The basics of health and longevity have always been and will always be your level of exercise and the food and liquid you put in your body. The contributing factors always include all the damages that have been inflicted on your body. Everything from sunburn to sprained knee. Over the years you have breathed insecticide, exhaust fumes, and cig smoke. You have ingested gallons of chlorine and fluoride.

Your body has responded every time with healing. You may not be happy with how the body has protected itself -- increased belly fat to isolate toxins -- but you have to acknowledge that the body is basically doing its job to the best of its ability.

Did you think I was telling you to not take supplements? Never.

Supplements are the support for your support system. They take up the slack created by fruits and vegetables that do not contain the maximum nutrition.

The aging process includes reduced amounts of certain hormones and enzymes that in turn cause more aging. Sort of a chicken or egg scenario. Which comes first. Your body loses the ability to heal itself because it lacks the necessary daily nutrition.

Our goal should be to remain as healthy as possible today. This body today. Nobody lives forever. Sounds kinda funny, but do you want to die of old age still active or do you want to die too young and sick and feeble.

Hospital joke for you

Hospital regulations require a wheelchair for patients being discharged. However, while working as a student nurse, I found one elderly gentleman--already dressed and sitting on the bed with a suitcase at his feet--who insisted he didn't need my help to leave the hospital.

After a chat about rules being rules, he reluctantly let me wheel him to the elevator. At the exit I asked him if his wife was meeting him.

"I don't know," he said. "She's still upstairs in the bathroom changing out of her hospital gown."

What's on your list of healthy today? Is it vitamins, herbal supplements, a walk around the block, lifting weights, meditation or a healthy meal. All of the above, good for you.

until next time - smile
Sharon
(c)copyright Answers For Your Health