Many States Say 'No' to Health Insurance Exchanges

tuesday, dec. 18 (healthday news) -- half of the states in the nation have rebuffed a key provision of the obama administration's health reform law: the creation of state-based health insurance exchanges, according to data compiled by the henry j. kaiser family foundation.

states had until friday, dec. 14, to submit blueprints for creating their state-based insurance exchanges.

by default, the federal government will implement health insurance exchanges in the 25 states that are not moving forward, helping the uninsured gain coverage. another seven states, according to the kaiser foundation's count, will operate exchanges in federal-state partnerships. these arrangements will allow states to share the administrative burden of exchange implementation with the federal government.

"i'm sure it's a disappointment because the overall hope and plan from the beginning was to have as many states as possible to go ahead and implement their own exchanges," said frank mcardle, an independent health policy and benefits consultant in bethesda, md.

on monday, u.s. health and human services secretary kathleen sebelius said in a blog posting that the federal government had received 10 state applications to run an exchange. last week, the federal government granted conditional approval of insurance exchanges in another eight states and the district of columbia, where significant progress has been made in setting up those health insurance marketplaces. in all, 18 states and the district of columbia intend to run their own exchanges.

"we're looking forward to jan. 1, 2014, when consumers and small businesses will be enrolled through the exchanges in private health insurance plans and millions more americans will have the coverage they need and deserve," sebelius wrote.

state-based health insurance exchanges are a key element of the patient protection and affordable care act, the controversial health reform legislation championed by president barack obama. each exchange will operate a website where uninsured residents of the state and small employers can compare various health-plan options offered by insurance companies, much in the same way that consumers shop online for hotel rooms and airplane tickets that suit them best.

the health reform law is designed to help some 30 million uninsured americans by expanding medicaid, the publicly run program that helps the poor obtain medical care; creating subsidies for lower-income people to buy private coverage; and establishing the state exchanges.

with enrollment for the exchanges set to begin oct. 1, 2013, the obama administration and its contractors face the mammoth task of building a federal exchange that can be rolled out in states that have no insurance exchange and creating a central data hub where states can verify a person's eligibility for tax credits, premium subsidies and other health programs, such as medicaid and the children's health insurance program.

dr. daniel derksen, chair of public health policy and management at the university of arizona in tucson and former director of the new mexico office of health care reform, expects the federal government to "work hard" to get those systems in place but anticipates "hitches" along the way.

"i think it would be irresponsible to say a switch is going to be flipped and come january 1st [2014] this thing will work perfectly. there's just a lot of moving pieces with this thing," noted derksen, who led efforts to build new mexico's health insurance exchange.

many gop governors not setting up state-run exchanges

although the affordable care act, derided as obamacare by its critics, became law in march 2010, many opponents at the state level dragged their heels on exchange activities pending the u.s. supreme court's decision last june on the law's constitutionality and the outcome of the november presidential election. some states nixed the exchanges, citing anticipated costs, lack of federal guidance and outright opposition to the law.

responding to a request from republican governors, sebelius last month extended the deadline for submitting a letter of intent and application to operate an exchange to dec. 14. states falling behind on exchange-building activities can still request help. the deadline to apply to operate an exchange in partnership with the federal government is feb. 15, 2013.

for the most part, states with republican governors opted to default to a federal exchange. just five republican-led states will run their own exchanges, and two will partner with the federal government.

"the great irony of this whole thing is you have the majority of the republican governors really allowing the federal takeover of health care when they could choose to have a state exchange," derksen said.

but will people care whether their state is the face behind the exchange?

"from a consumer perspective, whether you have a state-run exchange or a federal exchange doesn't make a huge difference," said caroline pearson, a director at avalere health llc, a washington, d.c.-based consulting firm. in either case, she noted, people will get coverage.

where it begins to matter is in the details, pearson explained. states can customize health plan options to accommodate the particular needs of their residents, she said. and because medicaid eligibility rules are state-specific, states may be able to do a better job of helping lower income people who apply through the exchange to coordinate coverage with the state medicaid program, she added.

avalere health predicts that roughly two-thirds of the 8.2 million people expected to buy coverage through the exchanges in 2014 will do so through a federally administered or partnership exchange.

"consumers also need to watch the debate over the fiscal cliff," mcardle cautioned. to offset scheduled tax increases and spending cuts slated to take effect in the new year, congress could reduce health insurance subsidies under the affordable care act, making health coverage less affordable.

"if the fiscal cliff and deficit reduction negotiations were to result in a reduction in federal subsidies available under the aca [affordable care act] starting in 2014, that could make coverage in the health insurance exchanges less affordable for some people," he said.

Source:www.womenshealth.gov

1 in 5 Americans Has Untreated Cavities: CDC (5/31/2012)

1 in 5 Americans Has Untreated Cavities: CDC

Most kids get dental care, regardless of income, because of federal health programs, researcher says

By Steven ReinbergHealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, May 31 (HealthDay News) -- More than one in every five Americans has untreated cavities, a new government report shows.

"Untreated tooth decay is prevalent in the U.S.," said report co-author Dr. Bruce Dye, an epidemiologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's National Center for Health Statistics. "It appears that we haven't been able to make any significant strides during the last decade to reduce untreated cavities."

One expert was not surprised by the findings.

"This is information that has been known for a while," said Dr. Lindsay Robinson, a spokeswoman for the American Dental Association. "More people are on Medicaid and more and more states, in an attempt to balance their budgets, have eliminated dental benefits."

There needs to be more investment in dental care to cover those who rely on Medicaid, Robinson said. "Only about 2 percent of Medicaid dollars go to dental care. In the private system it's triple that," she explained.

"Even people with dental benefits are afraid of any extra out-of-pocket costs," Robinson added.

The report authors found that the rate of cavities was pretty steady among all age groups, with teenagers having the lowest prevalence, Dye said. Among kids aged 5 to 11, 20 percent had untreated cavities, while 13 percent of those aged 12 to 19 had untreated cavities. People aged 20 to 44 had the highest rate of untreated cavities, at 25 percent.

Usually there is a difference in income when it comes to health care, but in this case children were getting about the same dental care regardless of family income, Dye noted.

For poorer children, this is most likely due to government programs such as Medicaid and CHIP (Children's Health Insurance Program), Dye said. Among adults, the poor have a rate of untreated dental problems twice that of others, he noted.

In addition to having cavities that were not treated, 75 percent of Americans have had some sort of dental work.

Other findings in the report include:



Among children and adolescents, 27 percent had at least one dental sealant. In that age group, 30 percent of whites had sealants, compared to 23 percent of Mexican-Americans and 17 percent of blacks.

Among blacks, 38 percent had all of their teeth, compared with 51 percent of whites and 52 percent of Mexican-Americans.

Among those aged 65 and older, 23 percent had no teeth, but most likely had dentures.



To reduce the odds of developing cavities, Dye recommended brushing and flossing daily and going to the dentist at least once a year. In addition, cutting down on sweets and surgery drinks and eating a healthy diet can also help, he said.

Going to the dentist is important, Robinson agreed. When problems are caught and treated early, it saves money, and for people with chronic diseases such as diabetes it can help avoid hospitalizations, she added.

"It is possible to not get cavities," Robinson said. "It's amazing how many people think it's just going to happen."

Source: http://www.womenshealt.gov/new/news/headlines/665246.cfm/

HE SAID. SHE SAID. ROM COMS. ERK

HE SAID. SHE SAID. ROM COMS. ERK! By Catharine Lumby & Duncan Fine

May 16, 2012

Catharine and Duncan have been together 15 years and have two boys aged 10 and 12. This week they're debating the genre of the romantic comedy.



SHE SAID:

Everyone has a movie or two that they love to watch at least once a year. A classic that you can spend one rainy evening, two bowls of popcorn and three glasses of chardonnay with. My sentimental favourite is High Society (above).

Yes, it's based on The Philadelphia Story which was made 20 years earlier but it features Frank Sinatra, Grace Kelly and Bing Crosby falling in and out of love while Louis Armstrong plays trumpet. What's not to like?

In the rom-coms of this era, the men and women talk and act like equals, economically and intellectually. That's how movies worked back then. It started with the screwball comedies of Spencer Tracey, Katharine Hepburn, Cary Grant and Rosalind Russell in the 1930s and 40s.

Recently I watched a very different rom-com: Pretty Woman. I did so because I have a whip smart PhD student, Chloe Angyal, who is writing her thesis on rom-coms and how they've become increasingly conservative.



But even reading her clever analysis of the worst of the genre hadn't prepared me for Pretty Woman (above) – a movie from 1990 that sets the feminist movement back by – oh, I don't know – about 400 years.

In case you're one of the lucky ones who has forgotten the plot, a lonely billionaire industrialist pays a prostitute with a heart of gold $3000 to spend the week with him in LA. He buys her expensive clothes and beautiful jewelry and takes her to the opera and French restaurants.

And you'll never guess the ending – they fall in love. How totally plausible.

Pretty Woman is grounded in the Pygmalion myth  – originally the story of a sculptor who rejects real women and falls in love with an ideal ivory sculpture he carves.

The story has been reworked many times – the best known being George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion in which a professor of phonetics bets he can teach a poor girl to speak like duchess. At least Shaw's play mocks Henry Higgins' misogyny and pomposity.

Not Pretty Woman. Richard Gere rides in on a white limo like Prince Charming with a platinum Amex and teaches Julia Roberts to enunciate "the rain in Spain stays mainly on the plain of Rodeo Drive" while she's giving him oral pleasure.

Source: http://thehoopla.com.au/said-said-rom-coms-meg-ryan//

'Fish Pedicure' a Recipe for Bacterial Infection, Researchers Warn (5/17/2012)

'Fish Pedicure' a Recipe for Bacterial Infection, Researchers Warn

Health spa practice is highly unhealthy, study reports.

By Alan MozesHealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, May 17 (HealthDay News) -- "Fish pedicures" in health spas can expose recipients to a host of pathogens and bacterial infections, a team of researchers warns.

The practice of exposing your feet to live freshwater fish that eat away dead or damaged skin for mainly cosmetic reasons has been banned in many (but not all) American states, but it is apparently a hot trend in Britain.

So much so that the British researchers sent their warning in a letter published in the June issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases, a publication from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Officially known as "ichthyotherapy," the procedure typically involves the importation of what are called "doctor fish," a Eurasian river basin species known as "Garra rufa." The fish are placed in a spa tub, the foot (or even whole body) joins it, and the nautical feeding on dead or unwanted skin begins.

The problem: such fish may play host to a wide array of organisms and disease, some of which can provoke invasive soft-tissue infection in exposed humans and many of which are antibiotic-resistant, according to the scientists from the Center for Environment, Fisheries & Aquaculture Science (CEFAS) in Weymouth.

In the letter, CEFAS team leader David W. Verner-Jeffreys referenced a 2011 survey that suggested the U.K. is now home to 279-plus "fish spas," with an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 fish coming into the country every week from a host of Asian countries.

Verner-Jeffreys noted that in April 2011, 6,000 fish imported from Indonesia for U.K. fish spas were affected by a disease outbreak that caused hemorrhaging of their gills, mouth and abdomen, resulting in the death of nearly all the specimens.

In turn, U.K. scientists uncovered signs of bacterial infection (caused by a pathogen called "S agalactiae") in the fishes' livers, kidneys and spleen.

Following this discovery, Verner-Jeffreys said, his team conducted five raids on imported fish batches coming through Heathrow Airport, which uncovered further signs of infection with a number of additional pathogens. Many of those were found to be resistant to such standard antimicrobial drugs as tetracycline, fluoroquinolone and aminoglycoside.

"To date, there are only a limited number of reports of patients who might have been infected by this exposure route," Verner-Jeffreys said in his letter. "However, our study raises some concerns over the extent that these fish, or their transport water, might harbor potential zoonotic disease pathogens of clinical relevance."

At particularly high risk, the scientists said, were people already struggling with diabetes, liver disease and/or immune disorders.

Verner-Jeffreys suggested that spas offering fish pedicures use disease-free fish raised in controlled environments.

George A. O'Toole, a professor in the department of microbiology and immunology at the Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth in Hanover, N.H., added his own concern.

" I would stay away from this experience," he said. "It's probably not feasible to sterilize these fish. And as for the water itself, even if you dump it between patients, these organisms will form rings of biofilm communities attached to the surface of the tubs themselves. It's like a contact lens case that you never disinfect. Simply wiping them down is not good enough. Unless you're incredibly responsible about sterilizing those tubs you're not going to kill them, and they will reseed the next batch of water. The whole thing is a bad idea."

Dr. Philip Tierno, director of clinical microbiology and pathology at New York University Medical Center in New York City, agreed.

"It's a bad idea in several ways," he said. "Because these pathogens can give you a serious wound infection. Or blood-borne infection. Or diarrhea. Or even pose a threat to a pregnant woman's fetus or newborn."

"Really, you have the potential for multiple types of infection," Tierno added. "Because theoretically when you're touching the area that has been nibbled on by these fish, you can still have the organisms there. And then you can inadvertently touch your mouth and introduce them into your system."

Source: http://www.womenshealt.gov/new/news/headlines/664798.cfm/

'Blast Wind' Linked to Chronic Brain Injuries in Military (5/16/2012)

'Blast Wind' Linked to Chronic Brain Injuries in Military

Force created by an explosion causes similar effects as repeated concussions in athletes, study finds.
WEDNESDAY, May 16 (HealthDay News) -- The same type of brain damage seen in athletes who suffer repeated concussions also occurs in soldiers exposed to large blasts, new research indicates.

In the study, researchers at Boston University and the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare System analyzed brain tissue from four U.S. military personnel who were known to have been close to explosions.

The results, published online May 16 in Science Translational Medicine, showed that exposure to a single blast -- equivalent to the force from a typical improvised explosive device (IED) -- results in chronic traumatic encephalopathy and long-term brain impairments associated with the condition.

Chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a progressive brain disorder that can only be diagnosed after death, has been reported in athletes with multiple concussions. Chronic traumatic encephalopathy and traumatic brain injury share common features, including psychiatric symptoms and long-term memory and learning problems.

Traumatic brain injury can occur in people exposed to blasts and may affect about 20 percent of the 2.3 million U.S. military personnel deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, according to the researchers.

The investigators also concluded that the blast wind, not the shock wave, from an IED explosion leads to traumatic brain injury and long-term consequences such as chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

Explosions lead to dramatic changes in pressure in the air around the blast. In addition to injuries caused by debris and shrapnel, the blast forces themselves can lead to devastating injuries.

A shock wave occurs right after an explosion, when the air around the explosion becomes overpressurized; a blast wind follows the shock wave, when the air around the explosion gets sucked back in to fill the void created by the blast. A blast wind can reach a velocity of up to 330 miles per hour.

"The force of the blast wind causes the head to move so forcefully that it can result in damage to the brain," study co-leader Dr. Lee Goldstein, an associate professor at Boston University School of Medicine and Boston University College of Engineering, said in a university news release.

The researchers also found that immobilizing the head during blast exposure can prevent the learning and memory deficits associated with chronic traumatic encephalopathy.

"Our study provides compelling evidence that blast TBI [traumatic brain injury] and CTE [chronic traumatic encephalopathy] are structural brain disorders that can emerge as a result of brain injury on the battlefield or playing field," Goldstein said. "Now that we have identified the mechanism responsible for CTE, we can work on developing ways to prevent it so that we can protect athletes and our military service personnel."


Source: http://www.womenshealt.gov/new/news/headlines/664751.cfm/

A Heart Disease Veteran at Just Age 12 (5/4/2012)

A Heart Disease Veteran at Just Age 12

Survivor stresses importance of asking questions and pushing for answers.

By Serena GordonHealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, May 4 (HealthDay News) -- Even youngsters who seem to be in perfect health can be at risk for heart disease. Just ask Heather Link.

When she was 12, Heather was the picture of health as a competitive swimmer. But, several weeks after a dental checkup, she was suddenly engaged in the fight of her life.

She had a condition known as infective endocarditis, which develops when bacteria enter the bloodstream and infect the lining of the heart, a blood vessel or the heart's valves. In Heather's case, a small cut that had occurred during her dental checkup gave the bacteria a way in.

At first, she had no idea she was even sick. But, after some time, she started to feel as if she might have the flu. She had a fever, felt achy and had chills. Her fever spiked to 104 degrees Fahrenheit at one point. Her mother repeatedly took her to the doctor, but it seemed as if Heather just had a viral infection, such as the flu.

But when her condition worsened, Heather's mother took her to an emergency room in Buffalo, N.Y. There, she recalled, a spinal tap revealed the bacteria that were infecting her heart. The infection had seriously damaged her heart's aortic and mitral valves, and she needed immediate open heart surgery to repair the damage.

Though just a kid then, Link recalled not being scared before the surgery. "I was so weak and so sick at that point, that I don't really remember much of what was going on," she said.

Several weeks later, she started to have symptoms of heart failure, such as severe shortness of breath, and she had another surgery to fix the repairs that had come undone. But her symptoms continued.

"I couldn't keep any food in," she recalled. "I was losing weight. All I could do was lie on the couch and watch TV," she said, noting the sharp contrast to how she had been living before the surgeries.

Ultimately, she had a third surgery, this time at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, and felt better for a while. She went home and started seventh grade, but by December she was having chest pains.

Not taking any chances, her parents took her back to Boston, and she went into cardiac arrest when she got to Brigham and Women's Hospital. By now, her heart had been under so much stress that her doctors decided to put her on a ventricular assist device. For about a week, the device took over the work of her heart and lungs, allowing them to rest. Then there was one last surgery, to remove it.

"The ventricular assist device allowed my own heart to recover and saved me from needing a heart transplant, which would have changed my life dramatically," Link said.

Instead, she was back in the pool about nine months after the device was removed. And doctors told her that she probably owed her life to swimming.

"They told me that competitive swimming saved my life because I was in such good shape and had a strong heart," Link said. "If I were just a normal kid, they said I probably wouldn't have made it."

However, Link said, her heart never completely recovered. It works at about 70 or 75 percent of what it once did, she said, but she's had no more surgeries and is as active as she wants to be. She's 26 now and teaches first grade.

She also works to raise awareness of ventricular assist devices through Abiomed, the company that manufactured her device. She wants people to know that there are viable options to heart transplants.

And for others who might find themselves in a similar situation, Link stressed the importance of being aware of all options and not being afraid to ask questions.

"If my mom hadn't pushed so hard for me to see the doctors in Boston, I wouldn't be here," she noted. "As much as I hate what happened to me at the time, people have learned from it, and in our area, things have changed now that the doctors are more aware that this can happen."

Source: http://www.womenshealt.gov/new/news/headlines/660254.cfm/

City Trippers

Edinburgh

Why?To
experience the perfect blend of Scottish history, cuisine and hospitality that
makes this enchanting city one of the UK's most enjoyed locations.

When?If you
don't mind the sometimes-inclement weather then Edinburgh has something for
everyone year round. The world famous Edinburgh
Festival and the Edinburgh Fringe
Festival are hugely popular but if you don't want to go avoid August, when
everything gets booked up.

Where to visit?Tough
one because Scotland's historical city has everything from castles and dungeons
to family attractions and nightclubs.

Be sure
to visit the iconic Edinburgh Castle,
packed with interest. If you're looking for a scare then the Edinburgh Dungeons will provide plenty
of gruesome fun.

If
frights aren't your thing, the Dynamic Earth
should be top of your list. It houses a science museum, which incorporates
natural history and goes a long way towards making geology accessible for
visitors of all ages.

The Camera Obscura and the World
of Illusion attractions are brilliant fun and well worth a visit and you
can't leave this great city without going on one of the famous night-time
walks, filled with atmosphere and fascinating facts.

Where to stay?Hotels
to match every budget mean you are spoilt for choice when it comes to
accommodation. The Balmoral Hotel
offers luxury on Princes Street, the
perfect location but if you're watching the pennies Edinburgh also has hostels
and less expensive rooms. One place we'd suggest trying is the Ramada Mount Royal.

Where to eat?Edinburgh
has no less than 5 Michelin Star
restaurants as well as eateries to suit every budget.

Stand-out
places are the 21212 restaurant and Number One at the Balmoral if you want
fine dining. If you're looking for a more modest spend without a compromise on
quality and love seafood then look no further than The Ship on The Shore for a meal you're likely to remember!

Getting around townThe
main airport is less than 30 minutes from the city centre by car or taxi and
there's plenty of public transport should you choose to use of buses or trains.

Once
you get to the city itself pretty much everything is accessible by foot,
especially if you decide to stay on or close to Princes Street.

George R Vaughan 
Source: http://womentalking.co.uk/new//topics/travel/city-trippers/

TATTOO REGRET ON THE RISE

TATTOO REGRET ON THE RISE
By The Hoopla May 3, 2012
Tattoos… I’ve had a few… then again… I do regret them!

Today at a cosmetic surgery conference in Cairns, one Dr Eddie Roos will give a speech about tattoo removal. There has been a 10 percent increase in the rise of laser surgery removal procedures in the past year, he says.



Some patterns are beginning to emerge among patients. (Apart from Bluebirds of Happiness and skulls.)

“Most people are young, they feel they’ve got a rite of passage, they’ve got the love of their life and they tattoo the name on themselves,” he told AAP.

“The most common remark is, ‘I was young and stupid, I had the tattoo done and now I regret it’.

“Whether it’s just some Chinese letters on their body, or some other symbol, and we remove quite a few Southern Crosses as well.

“We do a fair bit of removing names and words that have been spelled wrong.”

Dr Roos said most patients are females between the age of 20-30, but older patients were not uncommon.

He said improving technology meant around 85 per cent of tattoos could be completely removed without scars.

But Dr Roos said tattoo removal is still an uncomfortable procedure.

“It’s much more painful to get a tattoo removed than to apply it,” he said.

“It also takes a lot longer to remove it, even though the treatment with the newer lasers is fairly quick.”

He said most tattoos required between five and 12 treatments to be removed, at a cost of up to $300 per treatment.

(The Cosmetex Conference will run in Cairns until tomorrow May 4.)

DIANA ARSANA wrote about her horror of tattoos in The Hoopla last year…

My daughter had been begging for a tattoo for at least two years.

Her then boyfriend was covered in them – and they even made a trip to Las Vegas so that he could get one from a renowned tattooist there.

All my protestations that she'd live to regret it, that it would ruin her beauty, that it was a passing fashion had no effect.

She kept begging. And I kept saying no.

Angelina Jolie… well known for her love of tattoos.

The only lasting threat I could think of was that I would kick her out of the house if she got one. Now 20, she was in her third year of university, and despite a part-time job would find living away from home not quite up to her standards.

It didn't help that her father (my ex) also went to Las Vegas and got one – a spider on his neck. Wasn't that a particularly attractive addition to his rugged good looks?

No, she was determined. Even after she eventually split up with her boyfriend, she believed it was a cool thing to ink her body.

What is it about tattoos that is so cool? I don't get it.

Really the only people who look good with them are Maori, Samoans – those who wear them for cultural reasons – and maybe sailors.

But there's many reasons these days why it's so popular – from getting noticed, to a badge of honour, from identifying with a group to a sign of social rejection.

Source: http://thehoopla.com.au/tattos-stories-draft//

Antipsychotics Do Help Many With Schizophrenia, Study Finds (5/3/2012)

Antipsychotics Do Help Many With Schizophrenia, Study Finds

More than 50 years of data shows the drugs cut relapse rates, although side effects common.
THURSDAY, May 3 (HealthDay News) -- A new study finds that antipsychotic drugs can help many people with schizophrenia, cutting patients' risk of relapse by 60 percent.

The study, involving data stretching back 50 years, also found that schizophrenia patients who take antipsychotics are much less likely to be hospitalized and may behave less aggressively and have a better quality of life than patients who don't take the drugs.

One expert said the finding mirrors what he and other professionals have experienced.

The data "is consistent with what we see in clinical practice -- that we are very well able to keep our patients functioning better and out of the hospital when they consistently take these medications," said Dr. Roberto Estrada, attending psychiatrist at Lenox Hill Hospital in New York City.

The findings are published in the May 3 online edition of The Lancet.

In the study, German researchers combed through findings from 65 clinical trials reported in 116 articles published between 1959 and 2011. The trials included nearly 6,500 patients with schizophrenia.

After one year, relapse rates were 27 percent among patients who took antipsychotic drugs and 64 percent among those who took an inactive placebo, the review found. Rates of hospital readmission were 10 percent for patients who took antipsychotics and 26 percent for those who took a placebo.

Evidence from five studies indicated that patients who took antipsychotic drugs behaved less aggressively, and findings from three studies suggested that they have a better quality of life.

Antipsychotic drugs are the main type of treatment for people with schizophrenia, but they can cause serious side effects. Indeed, the investigators found that patients who took antipsychotic drugs had more negative side effects than those who took a placebo, including movement disorders (16 percent versus 9 percent), sedation (13 percent versus 9 percent), and weight gain (10 percent versus 6 percent).

Antipsychotic medications can also be expensive, the authors noted. In 2010, about $18.5 billion was spent worldwide on antipsychotic drugs, according to a journal news release.

Estrada agreed that the drugs have their drawbacks. "The cost and adverse effects associated with antipsychotics remain major impediments to achieving more successful treatment of schizophrenia," he said. "Further work needs to be done to develop more effective treatments for schizophrenia that are better-tolerated and thus likely to improve patients' adherence to taking these medications."

Still, the take-home message from the new study is clear, the study authors said.

"Antipsychotic maintenance treatment substantially reduces relapse risk in all patients with schizophrenia for up to 2 years of follow-up," Stefan Leucht from the Technical University of Munich, and colleagues, said in a journal news release "The effect was robust in important subgroups such as patients who had only one episode, those in remission," he added.

Benefits seemed to occur regardless of whether patients took older or newer forms of antipsychotic drugs, Leucht added. However, for many patients "the drugs seemed to lose their effectiveness with time," he said.

Another expert said that, while the medications are not perfect, they have eased the suffering of many patients.

"This study confirms clinical observations going back to the early 1950s -- that is, antipsychotic drugs are effective in reducing the symptoms associated with schizophrenia. The decreased number of patients in long-term mental health facilities, such as state mental hospitals, is a testimonial to this," said Dr. Norman Sussman, a psychiatrist at NYU Langone Medical Center and professor at the NYU School of Medicine in New York City.
"Hopefully, even better treatments will emerge in the near future that have fewer adverse effects and more robust therapeutic impact on cognition and social functioning," Sussman said.


Source: http://www.womenshealt.gov/new/news/headlines/664331.cfm/

STOP WHINING, YOU'RE DOING FINE

STOP WHINING, YOU'RE DOING FINE By The Hoopla

May 2, 2012

It's a well-worn mantra from some politicians that Australians are "doing it tough".

Not so, says a new study called Prices These Days! The Cost of Living in Australia.

According to the study, complaints about the rising cost of living appear to have little basis in fact.

Incomes have more than kept up with prices, and in 2009-10 the average family was $224 a week better off than in 2003-04.

The study, by the National Centre for Social and Economic Modelling at the University of Canberra and AMP, says it is ”bigger lifestyles” rather than higher costs that are exerting pressures on many households.

The study shows income and pension gains and a decade of low inflation have meant all family types are relatively better off, including working families with children, pensioners, high-income earners, and even families in the lowest-income bracket.

Power bills, mortgages, medical services, fruit and vegetables are all up in price.

Computers, and appliances are down. Petrol has increased 208 percent since 1984, but is still cheaper than in every country except the US, Canada and Mexico.

What are we spending our money on? Holidays, eating out, alcohol, tobacco and fast foods.

So, are we enjoying the good life, but complaining more? What do you think?

Source: http://thehoopla.com.au/stop-whining-fine//

Clues to 'Slacker' Behavior Found in Brain, Study Says (5/2/2012)

Clues to 'Slacker' Behavior Found in Brain, Study Says

Levels of the chemical dopamine in key regions of the brain may influence motivation.

WEDNESDAY, May 2 (HealthDay News) -- Chemistry in three areas of the brain may influence your motivation levels, a new, small study says.

Along with providing new information about how the brain works, this study could prove important in finding ways to treat depression, schizophrenia, attention-deficit disorder and other types of mental illness linked with decreased motivation, Vanderbilt University researchers said.

The researchers monitored brain activity in 25 volunteers, aged 18 to 29, as they performed a task designed to assess their willingness to work for a cash reward.

The results showed that "go-getters" who were willing to work hard for a reward had higher release of the neurotransmitter dopamine in areas of the brain known to play an important role in reward and motivation -- the striatum and ventromedial prefrontal cortex.

But "slackers" -- those who were less willing to work hard for a reward -- had higher levels of dopamine in a brain area involved in emotion and risk perception, known as the anterior insula. Dopamine's role in this area of the brain surprised the researchers.

"Past studies in rats have shown that dopamine is crucial for reward motivation, but this study provides new information about how dopamine determines individual differences in the behavior of human reward-seekers," study author Michael Treadway, a post-doctoral student, said in a university news release.

The study appears in the May 2 issue of the Journal of Neuroscience.

"At this point, we don't have any data proving that this 20-minute snippet of behavior corresponds to an individual's long-term achievement, but if it does measure a trait variable such as an individual's willingness to expend effort to obtain long-term goals, it will be extremely valuable," co-author David Zald, a professor of psychology, said in the news release.

Further research is needed to determine whether differences in dopamine levels play a role in the lower levels of motivation seen in people with certain types of mental illness.


"Right now our diagnoses for these disorders is often fuzzy and based on subjective self-report of symptoms," Zald said. "Imagine how valuable it would be if we had an objective test that could tell whether a patient was suffering from a deficit or abnormality in an underlying neural system. With objective measures we could treat the underlying conditions instead of the symptoms."

Source: http://www.womenshealt.gov/new/news/headlines/664313.cfm/

There is one thing we should all be wearing this springsummer season – a hat

Fashion Statement with Suzannah Roach

There is one thing we should all be wearing this springsummer season – a hat. Yes you read it correctly and before you recoil in

horror it is true and even more shockingly there is most certainly a hat out
there that suits each and every one of us.

Hats are
the accessory of the moment and it actually doesn't matter too much what style
of hat it is as long as you enjoy wearing it.

As someone who sells hats for a living, I often see
people look at a hat, murmur approvingly and then force themselves to walk away.
Many love the look of hats, they love
the feel, and love the way a hat makes them appear but many, having
smiled at the effect then put it back on the hat stand.

So many love hats but until recently so few have
purchased. But not any more, right now the hats have got the edge!

There is something about trying a hat on; it transports
you into a different world. Some relate hats only to weddings or days at the
races but behold the new breed of hat wearers - people of all ages have
decided to throw out the old rules with their grandparents' traditions and wear
their hat of choice inside a building, outside, day or night, big or small.

It makes
no difference to them as they love a good hat and have found the hat style that
suits them and they appreciate it suits them.

Blame the
Kate Middleton effect if you like but there has certainly been an increased
excitement surrounding hats over the last year. Be it Tara
Palmer-Tomkinson's attempt to cover her nose job or Princess Bea's fashion
disaster at the happy couple's wedding, the hat has gone from being last year's
big debate and progressed to this year's accessory of the moment.

And with so many grand events taking place this year, there is so much more room for hat growth
over the coming months.

The great thing about this season's fashion look is that
any hat will be just right, whether it's the fedora, the cap, the floppy hat,
beanies or turbans, there is a hat for all types. You only had to look at the
catwalks over the last couple of months to see that the hat was the statement
piece. Marc Jacobs loved his big floppy, velvet hats.

Dolce and
Gabbana went for the feminine option with pretty little hats or if you really
struggle with the full hat concept Armani offered the ladylike glittery hair
clips that adorn the head. There was the ladylike prim option, the
sports-luxe cap and tribal colourful printed turban, you name it the hat style
was there on the catwalk and is now working its way through to the stores for
you to purchase.

If you are one of those who look at a hat, comment on how
lovely it is and then say you never have the right opportunity to wear a hat,
the time is now!Don't forget to visit my site at http://www.imayimightimust.comSuzannah
Roach 
Source: http://womentalking.co.uk/new//topics/fashion/fashion-statement-suzannah-roach-16/

TOP 10 WAYS NOT TO NAME A BABY

TOP 10 WAYS NOT TO NAME A BABY By Wendy Harmer April 27, 2012
Peaches Honeyblossom Michelle Charlotte Angel Vanessa Geldof has given birth to a son named Astala Dylan Willow Cohen-Geldof.

The father's name? Tom. From the band S.C.U.M.

Congrats to the proud parents.

Naming your child is one of the greatest privileges you'll ever have in life. Sometimes it seems parents just can't handle the responsibility and their brains implode.

Take my mother (please), who tells me that she became so overwhelmed with the possibilities that eventually she took my name from a knitting pattern book.

"I was knitting this lovely little three-piece layette named 'Wendy' when I was pregnant with you and I thought, that'll do,” she tells me.

I've always disliked my name. Pity my father didn't win out with the name he wanted which was Claire. It would have been wonderful to have been named after my beloved Great Aunt.

As the author of the Pearlie in the Park series of fairy books for little girls I'm often graced with a queue of tots adorned with pink sparkly wings and tiaras all clutching my books and waiting for a signature.

This is a wonderful thing, so why do my palms get sweaty?

Because I know I'm in for a giant helping of alphabetti- spaghetti.

There was the gorgeous girlie with a mop of angelic curls who lisped, “My name's cashmere".

OK, I thought… soft, cuddly, warm. Like the goat. Noice.

"Ka-sh-im-ere", spelled her mother. My brain went to mush as I asked her to kindly repeat that.

I've seen littlies howl with indignation when I've had a stab at "Ashley", only to be told it's Ashleigh, Ashlee, Ashly, Ashli, Ashlea, Ash-Lea, Ash-Leigh, Ashe-Lee…or… Arrrrgh-leee!

I feel bad when I get it wrong – even as one uncivilised part of my brain is saying: "This is only the first of a life-long string of disappointments, kiddo. Get used it."

By the time I get to Kaitlynne, Aidin, Matheau, Maddisen, Shawn, Kaylib, Raychul or Alissia I'm starting to gibber.

After an afternoon of Mikkayalas, Kayleighs, Katlynns, Kmyberleighs, Jorjahs, Jemmers and Cassidees, I'm a blubbering mess.

With six billion people on the planet, it's hard to find a way to make your offspring stand out from the pack.

But may I kindly suggest that giving your kid a weird name isn't one of them.

There's a test every parent should take. How's it going to sound when they become Prime Minister?

(Although, with "Mitt" a heartbeat away from becoming Leader of the Free World, this is probably useless advice.)

Here's my list of things you shouldn't do when you name a child (ditto for getting tattoos).

No child should go through life suffering Post Traumatic Naming Disorder.

Source: http://thehoopla.com.au/top-10-ways-baby//

WHERE'S THE COMPASSION

WHERE'S THE COMPASSION?By Tracey Spicer April 27, 2012

Each has traded in human misery.

But that’s about the only similarity between  drug smuggler Schapelle Corby in an Indonesian jail, and the people smugglers in Australian jails.



Indonesia’s Justice Minister is trying to link their fates.

“So if it’s clear that we are paying attention to the plight of Corby, in reciprocity we hope there will be the same kind of attention there (in Australia),” Amir Syamsuddin said. “These are poor fishermen involved in people smuggling,” he continued.

Obviously, the Indonesian government is playing politics. But it highlights a compelling contrast.

Why does a wealthy Westerner who chose to bring drugs into a country with the death penalty (she received a 20-year sentence) deserve more compassion than an illiterate fisherman who was unaware of the consequences of his actions?

Not all people smugglers are innocents. But neither are they the bogeymen portrayed by politicians and a compliant commercial media.

Talkback and the tabloids make their money by appealing to our baser instincts. In order to do this, they generate fear. Emotions – not facts – are what move us.

This is why we hear the ringing of the bell each time a boat enters our waters; the incorrect use of the term ‘illegals’; and the race to the bottom to ‘get tough’ on asylum seekers.

Part of this was the Rudd government’s legislation for mandatory five-year jail terms for people smugglers.

It hasn’t worked. The boats keep coming.

Take the case of *Budi*, an uneducated 19-year-old offered 10 million Rupiah (about $A1000) to crew a boat to an unknown island. Now, he’s one of almost 500 Indonesians languishing in Australian jails, under laws that fail to differentiate between criminal masterminds and accidental players.

According to a report in The Age newspaper, judges describe the mandatory term as unnecessarily “harsh”, “severe”, and out of line with sentencing requirements in all jurisdictions.

A senate committee has recommended a review of the law, after evidence  it’s not acting as a deterrent. Yet it’s still supported by both major parties.

In a bitter irony, it may well be compounding the problem.
Source: http://thehoopla.com.au/compassion//

Americans Support Medicare Reform, But Not on Their Dime: Poll (4/26/2012)

Americans Support Medicare Reform, But Not on Their Dime: Poll

Respondents to Harris Interactive/HealthDay survey want drug companies, higher-income beneficiaries to pay more.

By Karen PallaritoHealthDay Reporter
THURSDAY, April 26 (HealthDay News) -- Medicare, the federal health insurance program for older and disabled Americans, may be hurtling toward the critical list, but most people don't want to pay for needed reforms from their own wallets, a new Harris Interactive/HealthDay poll finds.

Eighty-three percent of those polled believe changes are needed to keep Medicare affordable and sustainable, and 51 percent think that "a great deal of change" is necessary. But they'd rather not make any personal sacrifices, according to the poll.

"There's a clear majority who think there is a problem that needs to be addressed, but (people also believe) if the changes are going to cost me money in terms of higher co-pays, higher deductibles or higher taxes, no thank you," said Humphrey Taylor, chairman of The Harris Poll.

When people were presented with nine proposals for slowing the rate of Medicare spending, the poll revealed strong approval (72 percent) for cutting the price Medicare pays for prescription drugs to pharmaceutical companies, and modest support for trimming fees to hospitals (47 percent favor, 28 percent oppose) and doctors (41 percent to 35 percent).

Few favor higher taxes and out-of-pocket contributions, such as increased co-pays and deductibles. Fifty-three percent and 60 percent, respectively, oppose those options. But a majority said people with higher incomes should pay more for Medicare benefits than lower-income individuals (57 percent favor, 21 percent oppose).

Medicare, which serves 49 million older and disabled Americans, is under severe financial strain. More than 15 percent of the federal budget goes toward Medicare, and that's projected to increase to 17.5 percent by 2020 -- the third largest government expenditure after Social Security and defense, government statistics show.

Experts say rising prices, new technologies, beneficiaries' increasing use of services and the aging of the population are fueling the growth in Medicare spending.

"You've got a situation now where health care is somewhere around 18 percent of GDP (gross domestic product), and it's going to go to 20 percent in a few years," said Nathan Goldstein, chief executive officer of Gorman Health Group, a Washington, D.C.-based consulting firm. "It's like a dragon eating the economy from the inside."

The situation will only worsen in the coming years as more and more baby boomers become eligible for the program, swelling Medicare enrollment to more than 80 million people by 2030.

Because of these trends, the board of trustees that oversees Medicare's financial operations predicts that the hospital insurance trust fund, known as Medicare Part A and a key component of the program, will be depleted by 2024.

To put the program back on stable footing, policymakers are considering a variety of cost-cutting and revenue-raising strategies.

One proposal being advanced by House of Representatives Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) and Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) would give seniors a voucher to shop for their own private health insurance. Under their so-called "premium support" plan, Medicare would no longer provide a "defined benefit." Instead, beneficiaries would receive a "defined contribution" toward the cost of health insurance.

But support for such a plan depends on political affiliation, the poll found.

When described as "one proposal to change the Medicare program," a small plurality (32 percent to 27 percent) of those polled said they favor a voucher plan. When described as a House Republican plan, Republican support increases to 47 percent from 35 percent while Democratic opposition rises to 48 percent from 31 percent.

At a press briefing on Friday to unveil recommendations for Medicare reform, the American College of Physicians (ACP) said it could not endorse such a "premium support" plan without pilot testing and strong protections for beneficiaries. However, the college said it does support policies to improve the delivery of care, reduce the government's cost of prescription drugs and pay providers based on the value of services provided.

"Difficult choices must be made to ensure (Medicare's) solvency, but not at the expense of patient health," Robert Doherty, ACP's senior vice president of governmental affairs and public policy, said during the briefing.

A majority of adults (54 percent to 18 percent) polled agree that doctors and hospitals should be paid based on quality and results, rather than the volume of care provided. Even in Washington, D.C., Taylor noted, "there is an acceptance . . . that the traditional fee-for-service way of paying for things is a kind of toxic incentive and needs to be changed."

The poll also found that people like having a choice between traditional fee-for-service Medicare and Medicare Advantage plans. Only small percentages would like to see the program run exclusively by the federal government (12 percent) or by private health plans (13 percent).

The online survey of 2,229 adults aged 18 and older was conducted April 5 to 9. Figures for age, sex, race/ethnicity, education, geographic region and household income were weighted, where necessary, to make them representative of actual proportions in the population. Weighting was also used to adjust for respondents' likelihood to be online.

Source: http://www.womenshealt.gov/new/news/headlines/664001.cfm/

Botox Offers Little Relief for Migraine, Study Finds (4/24/2012)

Botox Offers Little Relief for Migraine, Study Finds

Evidence review sees only modest benefit for chronic headaches.

By Serena GordonHealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, April 24 (HealthDay News) -- Botox is considered a preventive medication for debilitating migraine headaches, but a new review finds that it may only help people with chronic migraines or chronic daily headaches. And, even then, the effect appears to only be "small to modest."

The review found that Botox (botulinum toxin A) was no help for people with episodic migraines (fewer than 15 a month) or chronic tension-type headaches.

"Our analyses suggest that botulinum toxin A may be associated with improvement in the frequency of chronic migraine and chronic daily headaches, but not with improvement in the frequency of episodic migraine, chronic tension-type headaches or episodic tension-type headaches. However, the association of botulinum toxin A with clinical benefit was small," wrote the authors of the review.


Still, the review's lead author, Dr. Jeffrey Jackson, said, "If I was having more than 15 migraines a month, I'd give Botox a try. It has few side effects. And, if it helps, you can go 90 days without as many headaches and without daily side effects." Jackson is a professor of medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

Results of the review are published in the April 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

More than 40 percent of adults experience tension-type headaches at some point in their lives, according to background information in the article. Between 8 and 18 percent of adults have had migraines.

Treatment for these serious headaches fall into two general classes: abortive or preventive. The abortive medications are faster-acting, and can help stop a migraine or its symptoms while it's occurring. Preventive medications are taken to stop the headaches from occurring in the first place.

Botox's effect on migraines was discovered coincidentally when people who were having Botox injections to lessen lines and wrinkles in their foreheads noticed that their headaches were improved.

The current review examined 31 clinical trials. Twenty-seven were comparisons of Botox to placebo, including 5,313 patients. The remaining four studies were randomized clinical trials comparing Botox to medications commonly used to treat serious headaches. The drugs included amitriptyline (Elavil), prednisone, topiramate (Topamax) and valproate (Depakote).

When the researchers looked at the placebo-controlled trials, they found that Botox was associated with about two fewer headaches a month for people with chronic migraines and those with chronic daily headache. There was no statistically significant difference in people with episodic migraines or chronic tension-type headaches who were treated with Botox vs. placebo.

Botox wasn't associated with a reduction in the frequency of chronic migraines compared to topiramate or amitriptyline, or in the reduction of frequency of chronic or episodic migraines compared to valproate, according to the review. Botox did reduce headache severity more than methylprednisone, according to one study included in the review.

Side effects from Botox included a drooping eyelid, muscle weakness, neck pain, neck stiffness, skin tightness and a tingling, burning or numb sensation on the skin.

"If done properly, there really aren't substantial (side) effects from the use of Botox," explained Dr. Ezriel Kornel, a neurosurgeon at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco, N.Y. "But, over time the effect may wear off. Some people can develop an immunity to Botox."

Both Jackson and Kornel noted that there was a large placebo effect seen in many of the studies. "It's hard to know if most of the benefit was from the drug or from the placebo effect," said Jackson, who added, "but, patients don't care if it's a placebo effect."

Kornel said that the review showed that there is definitely some benefit from Botox for those with chronic migraine and chronic daily headache. "Chronic migraines are the hardest headaches to treat, and this gives us one more treatment in our armamentarium. It's a reasonable alternative to the use of long-term daily medications that can have side effects," Kornel said.

He said there are also other treatments that can help these types of headaches, and what's most important for someone who has debilitating headaches is to see a doctor who specializes in treating headaches. "A headache specialist has the whole array of treatments at their disposal," he said.

Source: http://www.womenshealt.gov/new/news/headlines/664043.cfm/

ARE WE ON A SLIPPERY SLOPE

ARE WE ON A SLIPPERY SLOPE?By Tracey Spicer

April 23, 2012

We haven't come a long way from the days when wrongdoers were pelted with tomatoes in the Town Square.

Whatever happened between Speaker Peter Slipper and his adviser James Ashby should be a matter for the Federal Court; instead these men are being dragged through the mud by the major political parties and the judge, jury and executioners of the media.

For his part, Ashby (left) made headlines in Sydney’s Sunday Telegraph yesterday with “Ashby's Abuse Conviction”. In a clear case of blaming the (alleged) victim, the story detailed how Ashby, a former radio DJ, once made threatening phone calls to a rival announcer – hardly a hanging offence.

Meanwhile, the man dubbed Slippery Slipper was chased from LA to Australia after salacious text messages were printed in the papers.

Immediately, conspiracy theories began circulating: that the Libs leaked the story to the Murdoch media to bring down the government; that James Ashby is a Coalition stooge; that he's engaged the same lawyers as the Health Services Union national secretary Kathy Jackson.

These rumours may well be true. Politics is a dark art.

Late yesterday, Slipper (left) did the right thing and stepped aside. But there's an elephant in the room – and this time, it's not Kevin Rudd. It's the actual allegations.

If what James Ashby says is true, someone within the office of the highest Minister of the Crown tried to cover up a case of sexual harassment.

According to court documents, in 2003 the Howard government was made aware of an "intimate" video featuring Mr Slipper in bed with another young male staffer. But John Howard's adviser Tony Nutt is alleged to have swept it under the carpet.

If there are no proper processes within the Federal Government to protect staff members from harassment, it's a sad indictment indeed.

According to one government charter, "Protection of human rights means that we can live free from fear, harassment or discrimination".

Let's look at the other side, now.

If what Peter Slipper says is true – the allegations are incorrect and he looks forward to returning to the speakership – his reputation has been besmirched beyond repair. This is on top of his daily denigration, as a rat or a rorter.

Then there's the fug of homophobia surrounding the whole affair.

Crikey's Richard Farmer goes further: "In my reading there is a clear attempt to enlist some old-fashioned homophobia as a weapon to get rid of the Speaker and thus weaken Labor's hold on power.”

There could be serious political and constitutional ramifications, depending on how the dominoes fall.

But the human story is lost in all this. Remember Kristy Fraser-Kirk?

Source: http://thehoopla.com.au/mask-civilisation-slipped//

Botox Offers Little Relief for Migraine, Study Finds (4/24/2012)

Botox Offers Little Relief for Migraine, Study Finds

Evidence review sees only modest benefit for chronic headaches.

By Serena GordonHealthDay Reporter
TUESDAY, April 24 (HealthDay News) -- Botox is considered a preventive medication for debilitating migraine headaches, but a new review finds that it may only help people with chronic migraines or chronic daily headaches. And, even then, the effect appears to only be "small to modest."

The review found that Botox (botulinum toxin A) was no help for people with episodic migraines (fewer than 15 a month) or chronic tension-type headaches.

"Our analyses suggest that botulinum toxin A may be associated with improvement in the frequency of chronic migraine and chronic daily headaches, but not with improvement in the frequency of episodic migraine, chronic tension-type headaches or episodic tension-type headaches. However, the association of botulinum toxin A with clinical benefit was small," wrote the authors of the review.


Still, the review's lead author, Dr. Jeffrey Jackson, said, "If I was having more than 15 migraines a month, I'd give Botox a try. It has few side effects. And, if it helps, you can go 90 days without as many headaches and without daily side effects." Jackson is a professor of medicine at the Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee.

Results of the review are published in the April 25 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

More than 40 percent of adults experience tension-type headaches at some point in their lives, according to background information in the article. Between 8 and 18 percent of adults have had migraines.

Treatment for these serious headaches fall into two general classes: abortive or preventive. The abortive medications are faster-acting, and can help stop a migraine or its symptoms while it's occurring. Preventive medications are taken to stop the headaches from occurring in the first place.

Botox's effect on migraines was discovered coincidentally when people who were having Botox injections to lessen lines and wrinkles in their foreheads noticed that their headaches were improved.

The current review examined 31 clinical trials. Twenty-seven were comparisons of Botox to placebo, including 5,313 patients. The remaining four studies were randomized clinical trials comparing Botox to medications commonly used to treat serious headaches. The drugs included amitriptyline (Elavil), prednisone, topiramate (Topamax) and valproate (Depakote).

When the researchers looked at the placebo-controlled trials, they found that Botox was associated with about two fewer headaches a month for people with chronic migraines and those with chronic daily headache. There was no statistically significant difference in people with episodic migraines or chronic tension-type headaches who were treated with Botox vs. placebo.

Botox wasn't associated with a reduction in the frequency of chronic migraines compared to topiramate or amitriptyline, or in the reduction of frequency of chronic or episodic migraines compared to valproate, according to the review. Botox did reduce headache severity more than methylprednisone, according to one study included in the review.

Side effects from Botox included a drooping eyelid, muscle weakness, neck pain, neck stiffness, skin tightness and a tingling, burning or numb sensation on the skin.

"If done properly, there really aren't substantial (side) effects from the use of Botox," explained Dr. Ezriel Kornel, a neurosurgeon at Northern Westchester Hospital in Mt. Kisco, N.Y. "But, over time the effect may wear off. Some people can develop an immunity to Botox."

Both Jackson and Kornel noted that there was a large placebo effect seen in many of the studies. "It's hard to know if most of the benefit was from the drug or from the placebo effect," said Jackson, who added, "but, patients don't care if it's a placebo effect."

Kornel said that the review showed that there is definitely some benefit from Botox for those with chronic migraine and chronic daily headache. "Chronic migraines are the hardest headaches to treat, and this gives us one more treatment in our armamentarium. It's a reasonable alternative to the use of long-term daily medications that can have side effects," Kornel said.

He said there are also other treatments that can help these types of headaches, and what's most important for someone who has debilitating headaches is to see a doctor who specializes in treating headaches. "A headache specialist has the whole array of treatments at their disposal," he said.

Source: http://www.womenshealt.gov/new/news/headlines/664043.cfm/

Cast Out of Hospital in the Middle of the Night

We have all had
relatives, young or old and certainly vulnerable, being treated in NHS hospitals.

Despite the negative stories that arise from time to time, my
experience has been mostly very good. Nurses have been
helpful, doctors informative but the day that patients are discharged has
almost always been the most stressful of the entire experience.

First, you have to wait to see the doctor, no, nobody knows when
said doctor will be coming.  Hours pass. Then
there are the drugs you need from the pharmacy once the doctor turns up and
prescribes them. And all the while the hospital car park machine is gobbling up
pound coins at an alarming rate.

My finest experience
came when, after waiting hours for a doctor who never turned up, my small
daughter was sent home with no post operative advice and then we discovered, as
rain pelted down, that the car had actually broken down in the car park.

Now we hear from The Times via their Freedom of Information requests to all of England's 170 NHS hospital trusts that thousands upon
thousands of recovering and anxious patients are being discharged from hospital
between the hours of 11pm and 6am.

The Times reckons that 239,233 patients have been sent home in the
middle of the night or in the early hours of the morning from answers arriving from 100 trusts. Add another 70 trusts and the
figures would doubtless escalate alarmingly.

The newspaper investigation
found that a number of trusts discharge more than 7% of their patients between
11pm and 6am.

This is truly
dreadful. There may be pressure on beds and NHS resources but when did the milk of human kindness run
dry?

It's bad enough
flinging patients out at midnight if they have a family to look after them but imagine an elderly patient sent back to a
cold, empty home with no food in the fridge.

In the midst of all the talk of
NHS reform, you can't help wondering
exactly who is responsible for this practice of chucking patients out and
casting them adrift at an hour when most of us are tucked up in bed.

Do
you think this is acceptable?  Tel us at Women Talking…

Patricia
McLoughlin  
Source: http://womentalking.co.uk/new//topics/lifestyle/cast-out-hospital-middle-night/

HEARD ABOUT THE DADDY WARS?

HEARD ABOUT THE DADDY WARS?
 By Tracey Spicer April 20, 2012

Two men walk into a bar.(I promise there are no horses, Irishmen or priests in this anecdote.)

Illustration via Jezebel.

One turns to the other and says: "I heard Dave's gone back to work. Can you believe it? His kid's only three months old!"

"Yep. Shocking. What's more important: your kid or your job? That's why I decided to stay at home. A child needs his father."

Of course, this conversation never happened.

Because men don't have 'daddy wars' in the same way women have 'mummy wars'. 

Part of this is due to critical mass: In Australia, only one percent of fathers stay at home. Traditionally, men have earned more from selling their labour. But with women making up 64 percent of university graduates, the times they are a-changin'.

Let's hope this new debate doesn't devolve into mano a mano. In parenting pugilism, there are no winners.

The most recent example is the battle between Democratic strategist Hilary Rosen and the wife of Republican Presidential candidate Mitt Romney. Ms Rosen said Ann Romney had no right to advise her husband on economic issues because she'd "never worked a day in her life".

In response, Ms Romney tweeted, "I made a choice to stay at home and raise five boys. Believe me, it was hard work".

Mitt Romney's subsequent comment, "All moms are working moms", opened up a class war. In January, he said women on welfare needed to get jobs even if they had young children.

It seems the only mothers who are allowed to stay at home are rich ones.

The fallout from all of this is disappointingly predictable. The stay-at-home mums are fighting for their turf; the working mums, theirs. It feeds into the cliché of women always ready to tear each other down. Each side is presenting its own statistics, showing kids are better/worse off at home/in care.

But many families don't have a choice about whether both parents work. They need to pay the bills.

For those who do have a choice, it's simple. If going to work makes you feel fulfilled, do it. If you're more content staying at home, do that. And don't feel guilty.

Kids are happy if they are loved – regardless of whether their caregivers work outside the home.

Which brings me to dads.

Source: http://thehoopla.com.au/heard-daddy-wars//

'Ice Cream Headaches' Might Offer Clues to Migraines (4/23/2012)

'Ice Cream Headaches' Might Offer Clues to Migraines

Cold-induced 'brain freeze' seems linked to expansion of a key brain artery, small study finds.

SUNDAY, April 22 (HealthDay News) -- That "brain freeze" headache you experience when eating ice cream or other cold foods may be caused by a sudden change in brain blood flow, researchers report.

What's more, the new research might point to targets to treat other, more troubling forms of headache such as migraine, the U.S. team said.

In the study, the scientists monitored brain blood flow in 13 healthy adults as they sipped ice water through a straw pressed against the upper palate so as to trigger "brain freeze."

The results suggest that these transient headaches are triggered by a sudden increase in blood flow in the brain's anterior cerebral artery. Brain freeze disappears again when this artery constricts, the study found.

The findings, to be presented Sunday at the Experimental Biology meeting in San Francisco, may help lead to new treatments for other types of headaches, the researchers said. Experimental Biology brings together researchers from six scientific societies.

The rapid dilation and then quick constriction of the anterior cerebral artery may be a type of self-defense for the brain, explained study leader Jorge Serrador of Harvard Medical School and the War Related Illness and Injury Study Center of the Veterans Affairs New Jersey Health Care System.

"The brain is one of the relatively important organs in the body, and it needs to be working all the time. It's fairly sensitive to temperature, so vasodilation [expansion of blood vessels] might be moving warm blood inside tissue to make sure the brain stays warm," Serrador noted in an American Physiological Society news release.

He explained that the skull is a closed structure and the sudden rush of blood could therefore boost pressure and cause pain. The subsequent constriction of the artery may also be a way to reduce pressure in the brain before it reaches dangerous levels.

Brain blood flow changes similar to those seen in brain freeze could be associated with migraines and other types of headaches, Serrador said. If further research confirms that this is the case, then finding ways to control brain blood flow could offer new treatments for headaches, he said.

Data and conclusions presented at scientific meetings should be considered preliminary until published in a peer-reviewed medical journal.
Source: http://www.womenshealt.gov/new/news/headlines/663976.cfm/

Certain Genetic Regions May Be Tied to Osteoporosis (4/16/2012)

Certain Genetic Regions May Be Tied to Osteoporosis

But it's too early to use data to predict who will or will not develop weaker bones.

SUNDAY, April 15 (HealthDay News) -- A large international group of researchers has identified 32 new genetic regions linked to fractures and osteoporosis.

Variations in these regions could offer protection from, or greater risk for, bone-weakening disease, the investigators reported in a new study published in the April 15 online edition of Nature Genetics.

The study authors added that their findings could lead to the development of new osteoporosis drugs.

"We're learning that the genetic architecture of disease is very complex," one of the study's authors and the methodological leader of the consortium, Dr. John Ioannidis, chief of the Stanford Prevention Research Center, said in a university news release.

The research, which involved 17 studies that compared common genetic variants in more than 100,000 people, pinpointed six regions linked to risk of fractures of the femur (thigh bone) or lower back.

The study authors pointed out, however, that it would still be difficult to predict who is at greater risk for bone disease. People with the highest number of variants associated with decreased bone mineral density were only about one and a half times more likely than people with an average number of variants to have osteoporosis. The risk for fractures was only slightly higher.

Meanwhile, compared to those with the fewest variants, people with the most variants were still just three to four times more likely to have had fractures and lower bone mineral density, the study revealed.

"As a result, the next step of incorporating this information into basic patient care is not clear," Ioannidis concluded. "Each variant conveys a small quantum of risk or benefit. We can't predict exactly who will or won't get a fracture."

The authors noted, however, that by identifying some previously unsuspected pathways involved in bone health, their research could lead to the development of new anti-osteoporosis drugs. But even larger studies are needed to identify all of the genes critical to fighting bone disease, they added.

"We saw many of these regions and genes clustering within specific types of pathways, which suggests certain disease mechanisms. It certainly wouldn't be unexpected to eventually identify many more genetic regions involved in the regulation of osteoporosis and fracture risk," Ioannidis said.

"In reality, there may be 500 or more gene variants regulating osteoporosis. To find all of them, we'll need to study millions of patients. Is this unrealistic? I don't think so. Sooner or later this will be feasible," he added.

Source: http://www.womenshealt.gov/new/news/headlines/663640.cfm/

Alternative Therapies Aren't Used as Substitutes for Asthma Meds: Study (4/13/2012)

Alternative Therapies Aren't Used as Substitutes for Asthma Meds: Study

Parents still give kids traditional treatments in addition to less orthodox ones.

By Serena GordonHealthDay Reporter
FRIDAY, April 13 (HealthDay News) -- Almost one in five parents has turned to an alternative or complementary medicine or treatment for their child's asthma, but new research has found that parents are not abandoning traditional treatments in the process.

"We found that there were really no differences between the groups that used complementary and alternative medicine and those that didn't [in terms of adherence]. It seems that parents are using these therapies as complementary medicine alongside prescribed asthma treatments," said study author Dr. Julie Philp, a pediatrician and a dermatology resident at the University of California, San Francisco.

Results of the study were released online and published in the May issue of Pediatrics.

Complementary and alternative medicine includes health care practices that aren't usually included in more conventional medicine. Such treatment may include herbal remedies, acupuncture and homeopathy. The use of complementary and alternative medicine is on the rise among children, according to background information in the article. Other research has found that children with respiratory problems may be even more likely to be given an alternative medicine treatment.

Health care providers have been concerned that parents who turn to complementary and alternative medicine therapies might cut back on the use of standard medications (for example, the daily use of controller medications such as inhaled corticosteroids). Daily controller medications typically have low adherence rates, even without the addition of other medications or therapies, according to the study.

To assess whether or not the use of complementary and alternative medicines might further lower adherence rates to those medications, Philp and her colleagues used data from a larger study that was designed to assess the impact of physician education on the management of asthma.

The new study included 187 parents of children on daily controller medication for their asthma. The study population was predominantly white and 61 percent had a college education or higher. Eighteen percent of the parents said they had turned to some form of complementary or alternative medicine for their children.

The researchers specifically asked about the use of herbs, teas, dietary changes, breathing exercises, meditation, prayer, massage, biofeedback or homeopathy.

Each week, the children in the study missed an average of 7.7 percent of their daily controller medication doses. The researchers found that the use of complementary or alternative medications didn't seem to affect that rate.

"The data from this study suggest that complementary and alternative medicine use is not necessarily 'competitive' with conventional asthma therapies; families may incorporate different health belief systems simultaneously in their asthma management," the study authors concluded.

Experts still urge parents to be wary when considering alternative medicines or treatments for their child's asthma.

"I would urge parents to proceed with caution any time they use an alternative treatment. They're not magical, and if something works to improve symptoms, then it has the potential to hurt you, too," said Dr. Raoul Wolfe, medical director of asthma medicine at La Rabida Children's Hospital in Chicago.

He added that people should talk with their child's doctor to make sure whatever alternative therapy they might want to try doesn't have the potential to interact with standard medications.

Philp said that one of the study's aims is to get pediatricians to open up a dialogue with patients and their parents. For parents, she recommends, "Share with your child's health care provider what your beliefs are and work with the doctor to find complementary and alternative therapies that are safe. The doctor, parent and child should be a team working together."

Jonathan Feldman, an assistant clinical professor of epidemiology and population health at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York City, agreed that parents and providers need to talk about alternative medicine. "The number-one message is the need for open communication," he said. "What we, and others have found, is that if doctors don't ask, families won't tell. Families don't bring up alternative medicine use with providers. It's sort of taboo. But, parents should be more open about what they're giving the kids."

And, Feldman added that providers need to be sure they're familiar with the types of alternative treatments that their patient populations might be using. For example, he said that in his area, which has a large black and Puerto Rican population, one of the most common alternative treatments that people use is a menthol chest rub. But, he said, patients often don't think of this as an alternative treatment; it's just something that their families have always used. So it's important for health care providers to be specific when they ask about alternative treatments, he explained.

Source: http://www.womenshealt.gov/new/news/headlines/663686.cfm/

DRUGS: HOW GILLARD BLEW IT

DRUGS: HOW GILLARD BLEW IT

By Alan Kennedy

April 11, 2012

On the afternoon of the release of the report which detailed how the war on drugs had failed, 12 police officers with sniffer dogs were working the escalators at Bondi Junction railway station in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.

It was 3pm and the only people they might get were a few students or a backpacker with a joint in his pocket.

The dogs have a fail rate of one-in-four, which means one-in-four people are needlessly stopped, surrounded by cops in full view of everyone else and given the shakedown.

Occasionally they find a joint and a fine is issued.

The war on drugs… it’s not working. Photograph via Sydney Morning Herald.

Is this what the war on drugs is all about? Sadly, the answer seems to be "yes".

But these kids are not criminals. They are more like villagers in Afghanistan who have seen their houses destroyed by a drone. They are collateral damage.

My son was stopped by the dogs on his way home from work. The police found nothing; he was one of those negatives. But there he was in his work clothes, surrounded by coppers. The top of the railway station is a funnel through which many of his mates passed and so it is likely he was spotted, possibly even by a colleague.

If you live in Sydney's east, the irony of sniffer dogs on the station targeting rail commuters will not be lost on you.

We know that a few kilometres away the rich and famous, who wouldn’t travel by train if their life depended on it, have easy access to cocaine and designer drugs.

If you live in Sydney's east, you know that if the war on drugs were serious, the sniffer dogs would be on the red carpet at the A(?) List events the beautiful people attend. And after they had finished on the carpet, the dogs would be let loose in the dunnies. Now that would turn up a few interesting people.

The Australia 21 report presented our PM with a political opportunity. She blew it.

As with most things in Australia at the moment, whenever anything momentous happens, we need to talk about Julia.

As the Prime Minster and her senior colleagues closed ranks and rejected the report out of hand, I once again wondered what sort of political instincts she has.

In the post-Queensland wipe-out, Labor pundits and critics are saying the party has to stand for something, yet when a report compiled by serious people addresses the central question of what it is we really want out of a drug policy, it is dismissed out of hand.

Here was an opportunity to stand for something, a chance for the PM to say: "Look, I respect the people who put this report together. Let's look at it, tease out its findings and see where it takes us."

Here was a chance to engage in a serious debate with the public.

Public opinion is way ahead of the narrow "drugs are bad, OK?" approach of our parliaments.

Any of us who think about substance abuse, and in this I include alcohol, and think about the damage it causes and whether current policy settings are really doing anything worthwhile, are looking for a debate. The aim surely is harm minimisation – finding ways to get people off drugs, keep them out of jail and break the criminal gangs who prosper because of the draconian war on drugs. It pushes up the price of the product and generates corruption throughout the system.

Source: http://thehoopla.com.au/drugs-gillard-blew//

Breast Cancer Treatment Side Effects May Last for Years (4/11/2012)

Breast Cancer Treatment Side Effects May Last for Years

Study finds lingering pain, swelling, fatigue, mobility problems in many women.

WEDNESDAY, April 11 (HealthDay News) -- Treatment-related complications are common in breast cancer patients long after their therapy has been completed, a new study says.

Researchers looked at 287 Australian breast cancer patients and found that more than 60 percent of them had at least one treatment-related complication up to six years after their diagnosis, and 30 percent had at least two complications.

Complications included skin reactions to radiation therapy, weight gain, fatigue, surgery-related issues, upper body symptoms and physical limitations, and lymphedema -- a painful limb-swelling condition.

"Our work provides the first accounting of the true magnitude of the post-treatment problems suffered by breast cancer patients, and serves as a call to action for proper monitoring and rehabilitation services to care for them," study leader Kathryn Schmitz, associate professor of biostatistics and epidemiology at the University of Pennsylvania, said in a university news release.

"We can no longer pretend that the side effects of breast cancer treatment end after patients finish active treatment. The scope of these complications is shocking and upsetting, but a ready solution for many of them already exists in rehabilitative exercise," said Schmitz, who is a member of the university's Abramson Cancer Center and serves as a senior scientist on a committee overseeing creation of a surveillance model for breast cancer survivors.

The study was published online April 6 in a special issue of the journal Cancer that focuses on the physical late effects of breast cancer treatment and ways to prevent, monitor and treat these conditions.

There are 2.6 million breast cancer survivors in the United States, the authors noted in the news release.

Many factors can prevent proper monitoring of breast cancer survivors for the types of complications identified in the study, Schmitz and her colleagues said.

Patients may have fragmented care and receive different types of treatment at different hospitals; both patients and doctors may believe that certain complications are "expected" and "normal" and don't warrant treatment; and many breast cancer patients aren't aware of or referred to physical therapy professionals.

Source: http://www.womenshealt.gov/new/news/headlines/663624.cfm/

Think Italy – San Gimignano

Think Italy – San Gimignano

Italy is a nation rich in history, boasting a culture brimming with culinary

pleasures and a coastline that is home to some of the most beautiful beaches in
the Mediterranean. This country grew in the shadow of diversity and age-old
rivalries persist even today between the cities. A resident of Rome considers themselves a Roman and a Florentine a
product of Tuscany before ever making the admission of being Italian. For
the traveller, this can present a very rewarding, endless field of interest.

The region of Tuscany stretches to almost 23,000 square meters and
houses a population of close to 4 million residents. Histrionically it has
been credited as the true birthplace of the Renaissance and some of the most
influential artists and scientist of that era called this region home.

We came to San Gimignano following a recommendation from a friend and flew
into Pisa airport on the first leg
of our trip. Flights to this part of Italy are well catered for, whatever your
budget and whether you want cheap and cheerful or something a little more
luxurious, most carriers and major airports in the UK cover it as a destination.
It's a two hour flight so we went with the rationale that price was certainly a
factor.

We sourced our flights via BravoFly, using their "best-price"
tracking facility, a simple process allowing us to see every flight out and
back on our selected dates. Booking was
simple and made in seconds on the Internet and we eventually went with Ryanair.


In recent times the budget
airline industry has received a lot of "flack" for its additional charges but
in fairness, additional costs are clearly outlined and though I approached the
experience with a degree of trepidation I was pleasantly surprised. Boarding was quick, both the outbound and
return journeys arrived on time and with just hand luggage, getting from the
plane to the terminal was fast and uncomplicated.

It is also worth noting that
Florence may be a better alternative for some travellers but we went with Pisa
because the flights proved better value. Wherever you decide to stay in Tuscany,
a car is essential. Towns and cities
are spread across a vast area and although train and bus services are very
reliable – and also cheaper than here in the UK – not everywhere can be
accessed by public transport.

Where possible, book your car online before you leave as
the prices are much more competitive and over half of what you will expect to
pay at the airport desk. Additionally, even if you book and pay for your
car online with a debit card, you will
need a credit card to collect the vehicle since a holding deposit is required
– something that varies between companies and is also affected by the length of
your rental. Without one, you will not
be able to take away your car, even if you have paid for it fully in
advance.

Again, BravoFly offered us the opportunity to book our car travel with the
flights, saving us the hassle of hunting around separately for a vehicle.

As a guideline, travelling to San Gimignano by train will
take you around 2 hours but this only gets you to the small town of Poggibonsi,
which is still around 13 kilometres away. From here you need to get a bus. They
come fairly regularly during peak hours but are less frequent in the evenings.
The entire trip costs about 13 Euros
each way.

A cab from Poggibonsi will set you back in the region of 10-15 Euros and to
get from the airport you are looking at anything up to 100 Euros.

If you are intending to stay in San Gimignano itself, there are hotels
and apartments available, but some can be expensive and the more popular are
booked up quickly.

In the last few decades, Tuscany has proven a popular destination for
British and American investors looking to purchase a holiday home and the
redevelopment that has taken place has rejuvenated the area. Tourists now
have a host of options, from small but well equipped apartments and converted
farmhouses to huge castles and estates capable of housing several families
under one roof.

Specialist holiday company Tuscany Now, who have decades of
experience in the rental property market are well worth considering in this
regard. Their portfolio of privately owned villas are tailored to suit all
budgets so whether you want something functional and accessible or luxurious
and expansive, you'll discover everything you could wish for.

They found us a beautiful villa
about 6 kilometres from the town, called Rosso
Fiorentino, a name it no doubt acquired thanks to its red washed front
walls that make it stand out from a distance.

This tastefully converted house was lovingly restored by its owners,
Marco and Deborah and features everything you could expect from a luxury villa
to make your Tuscan stay as enjoyable as possible.

With four bedrooms, ample living
space, a swimming pool, gym, hot tub and even your very own pizza oven on the
patio (owner Marco made us some traditional pizzas on the evening we arrived
which were divine) there's everything you need to unwind in the sun.

There's even a chef-for-hire if
you don't fancy the cooking one evening who can prepare you a traditional
Tuscan meal.

We attempted to walk into San Gimignano from Rosso Fiorentino and
it was a pleasant if slightly precarious experience since some of the journey
is on the side of narrow and winding roads that are barely able to take a
single car. In total it took us 45 minutes.

San Gimignano itself is a spectacle to behold, perched on a hill
and visible from a distance. It features several restaurants of varying
standards, most of which are there to cater for the many tourists who visit
every year. Although you can find one or two good restaurants I would suggest
looking a little out of town in some of the smaller villages where you can
traditional food made for the locals.

One thing it does without equal
is make the best ice cream you are ever likely to taste. The Gelateria di Piazza San Gimignano is a must for anyone that appreciates
fine ice cream and they have won the World Championships for ice cream several
years in a row.

The town also boasts not one but
two museums of torture and the theme is very much in keeping with the narrow
winding alleys and streets that make up the walled town and can be quite spooky
in at night. Around every turn there is another
eatery or store and some of the higher points provide excellent views of the
Tuscan landscape below.

Shows and plays are regularly performed in the summer on the various
squares and even late at night, locals and visitors mingle till the early hours.
There's a sense of being locked away in world all of your own when you pass
through the open gates into this walled paradise, with its iconic towers and
ancient churches.

There's also a sense of
contentment and safety as you walk leisurely through the markets and piazzas, something
that cannot often be said for many places these days.

Even in such modern times, San Gimignano presents a simpler, more
natural way of life and after just a few hours in the company of this visually
impressive town, you too begin to feel it.

Away from the madness of the city and the fast pace of 21st
Century living, this is one Tuscan gem that is sure to ease away all thoughts of
the real world and transport you to a place and time you won't want to leave.

If you would like more
information on any of the services or companies mentioned in this feature then
please click on the links below:

Tuscany Now

BravoFly

Rosso FiorentinoGeorge R Vaughan

Source: http://womentalking.co.uk/new//topics/travel/think-italy-%E2%80%93-san-gimignano/