Swine Flu Hits Home

It is one thing to read about the Swine Flu in other parts of the country or other countries. It is quite another to have it affect schools and towns right in your own backyard.

It was officially announced on the evening news that the Schertz, Cibolo, and Universal City schools would be closed this coming week due to concerns about Swine flu. There were 2 confirmed cases in the Schertz school system last week. In subsequent visits by CDC personnel, there were determined to be a possibility of several more cases. On the recommendation of the health dept, that school system was shut down for the coming week. A few of the local churches also closed and held no services today.

I live in San Antonio. It takes about 9 minutes to drive to Schertz. To get to Schertz I must pass by Universal City. Like most very large cities, San Antonio is growing right up to the city limits of other cities.

One day care business was also closing -- just for Monday. The owner was cleaning and sterilizing every surface in the day care center. She said it was a hard decision but she felt it necessary for the health of her children. She will of course be closely monitoring all the children for any signs of the flu.

The best advice anyone can give to avoid the flu -- the usual common sense stuff.

Wash your hands frequently.
Sneeze into your elbow or a tissue and then dispose of the tissue properly.
Don't touch your eyes, nose or mouth with your hands.

I would like to add my own recommendations. Be aware of public door handles, hand rails, grocery cart handles, elevator buttons and crowds.

I did find it kinda funny, businesses are asking employees not to come to work if they have fever, sore throat or other flu symptoms. When I worked at the store, having a cold or the flu was not an acceptable reason to miss work.

So kids, enjoy your extra vacation while parents struggle to find day care. Oh and the school days have to be made up somewhere.

until next time - smile and wash your hands
Sharon
Answers For Your Health

Alternative medicine or therapies can be good, can be bad

If you are so afraid of mainstream medicine and your experiences with physicians has been so uncomfortable, you may ignore that area of expertise. I have been to doctors who totally misdiagnosed my condition. It is to say the least upsetting.

But you have to remember that the members of the alternative medicine group can be just as inefficient. If it seems that the alternative practitioner is only trying to sell his or her miracle cure -- run.

Use your common sense. That is what led you to alternative therapies in the first place. There is room in the medical community for both standard and alternative healing.

In a research study in New Zealand, a gentleman approached numerous health food stores.

He told staff members he had just joined a fitness club and had been informed he had high blood pressure. If asked, he told the employee his blood pressure was 160/120.

He then asked staff for recommendations to lower his blood pressure.

Only one store assistant advised the man on diet and lifestyle and recommended his blood pressure be checked by a general practitioner.

One of the most common recommendations was garlic. One thing garlic does is thin the blood which is why you must talk with any doctor who is giving you a prescription about taking garlic. If your blood pressure is 160/120 your doctor would either give you a pressure lowering prescription like metoprolol or maybe just a blood thinner.

The most effective method of dealing with high blood pressure is diet and exercise - which is long term. But you need some help in the interim to reduce the risk of stroke.

You need your own pressure reading machine and there are many small units available on line or at your local stores. You need to monitor your blood pressure everyday morning and night for a couple of weeks at least. That will tell you if what you are doing is helping or NOT. Even if you get a prescription, it may not be the right dosage for you. My daughter's first blood pressure prescription was too strong and she was on the verge of collapse within 2 days of starting it.

The advantage of having a medical professional evaluate you and your blood pressure is the years of training that lead to decisions on what should be taken and what should be done.

The clerk at a health food store is not a medical professional. Have you noticed that the clerks in health food stores are generally young and thin? The information they give you is from owners and suppliers.

Along this line, I read that the Catholic church has banned Reiki as superstitious nonsense. I know a couple of people who get paid for their Reiki therapies. They do make the pain go away. Is this good or bad? If the patient had a physician examine the painful area, that physician might diagnose an appendix problem. If the Reiki practitioner or any other method of pain relief was used, the pain might go away temporarily but the appendix might also burst -- causing death.

All medical therapies can be helpful and they can certainly work together. Don't let your fear of one or the other come between you and optimum health.

I question the mass writing of scripts. They treat a symptom. They all have side effects. They do not cure. It is up to you to cure the condition by reshaping the body with diet and exercise, with healthy sleep, and with stress control.

Just a note on those facial exercises. I have been doing them and am taking a day off today. My chin is sore just like my arms would be after push ups. Day of healing.

until next time - smile
Sharon
Answers for Your Health/Heart Healthy Foods

Facial Exercises and Fake Cures

We all want to look younger, unless we are younger. Strange that people always want what they don't have. Instead of considering what wonderful things we have available today, we wish for tomorrow and some miracle to make "it" all better.

I remember vividly watching a face lift video. Back then it was not called a video but was an educational film. Still gives me the shivers. The film also showed what can happen when things go wrong. Nerve damage, scarring, mismatched sides, it is like the script from a horror movie.

Since this website and blog are about alternatives, I found some wonderful old Jack Lalanne video clips on facial exercises. My face is all tingly from doing the exercises along with Jack. These are easy to do, don't take much time and they do produce results.

Check out the videos at Facial_Exercises.html

In the not so funny range I also recently posted a list from the FDA on FAKE cancer cures on the Internet. FDA_listed_FAKE_Cancer_Cures.html

Remember, if it sounds too good to be true is probably is - cancer cure or non-surgical face lift.

until next time -- smile it is good facial exercise.

Sharon
Answers for Your Health

Medicare - Too Many Hands in the Pot

Reading an article about Medicare costs next year - or should I say the potential costs since nothing yet is set in stone.

Seniors May Pay More for Medicare Plans

Senior citizens may pay more for their health plans next year, as the Obama administration tightens terms for insurers offering Medicare Advantage plans and cuts payments to them, The Wall Street Journal health blog reports. Some 10.5 million seniors are enrolled in the plans, up from 5.4 million in 2005.

Simple terms it works like this. You have an ear ache and go to the doctor. He cleans out the impacted wax and you go home --everything just fine. Now Medicare will pay that doctor for an office visit and a procedure. Lets say Medicare pays $75.00 but the doctor bills $200.00.

You pay your co-pay - say $20.00. That leaves $105.00 for the doctor to write off. In previous years perhaps the doctor only had to write off $85.00 so he sees it as a loss of income. And rightly so.

But the big problem here in my opinion is that the whole billing fees rate is based on a pulled from thin air cost of operating. Medicare bases their payment rate on the area of the country and the facility in question. The idea is the cost of living or doing business in one area vs another area. Don't be mistaken - medicine is a business.

It comes down to what the market will bear. Doctors and hospitals bill for cost plus profit plus write off. If every doctor bills $200 for cleaning out your ears, then Medicare will pay a higher rate than if some bill $100 and some bill $150.

The end of the story is that if your insurance plan can't make the same profit with Medicare payments - it will raise the cost of that plan to the patient -- YOU.

Ever wonder why your doctor rushes out of the office as soon as possible - they get paid a set fee for some visits such as first time or follow up. And those visits have a time frame. If the visit time frame is 20 minutes and he/she stays with you for 35 -- those 15 minutes are free. Those 15 minutes could have been billed to the next patient.

That's why I always recommend that you have your questions written down - the rushed feeling may cause you to forget something important. A good doctor will stay until all your concerns have been addressed. They may not be answered without another appointment but they have been considered.

Special treat. Video
Please take a few moments to watch this. Inspiration can come from the strangest places.

until next time --- smile
Sharon
Answers For Your Health

Infection, Bedbugs and Holidays

I have been working on the website lately. Because it is almost Easter, I wanted to point you to an old article on Easter and Pets. Easter_Old_Pets_and_New_Pets.html

It would seem to be infection time, so thought these were worth sharing.

Tips_on_Preventing_Infection.html
RSV_and_How_to_Prevent_this_Disease.html
Protect_Yourself_from_a_Pedicure_Spa_Infection.html


Bedbugs on the rise??? Is that another reason to just stay home.

Don't let the bedbugs bite? Mom might have been right, Dr. Bruce Hensel reported.

A new report says the bugs are on the rise. It looks at whether or not they can actually cause or spread infection

"Let's be clear about one thing: bedbugs don't necessarily mean the sheets are dirty. They can come in all sorts of ways. But the study does show they're on the rise," Dr. Hensel said.

Researcher Jerome Goddard, Ph.D. of Mississippi State University explains the findings, "There's a tremendous increase in bedbugs in the united states and other parts of the world. Many different studies show a 3, 4, 500 percent increase in reports of bedbugs or reports of bedbug infestations."

Goddard,knows a lot about these tiny, human blood suckers, and understands their resurgence is most likely due to international travel, immigration and changes in pest control practices.

"They're parasites, they suck blood, so they're brought into someplace in someone's luggage or belongings, they start living there it has nothing to do with how clean you are. Some of the cases I've investigated, they've been five star hotels.
But for all that's known about bed bugs, there's still much that's unclear," Goddard said.

"The summary: No evidence the bugs spread disease. Other studies show getting a pest control specialist in and washing sheets in hot water help. The expert can tell you if you need to replace your mattress," Dr. Hensel said.

For those of you who celebrate this season - Happy Easter. For those who celebrate Spring - Happy Spring. For those who need a reason to celebrate - Happy no Bedbugs.

until next time - smile
Sharon
AnswersForYourHealth