Know Your Rights as a Patient

May 28, 2011 by Leave a Comment

After suffering a traumatic brain injury there are many things to think about. The medical expenses, future treatment, and all of the options available. If a patient sustains brain injury that is the result of negligence they are entitled to compensation.

For patients who have recently been through trauma that resulted in brain injury or have a family member that has, contacting Los Angeles brain injury lawyers should be a priority. It is important that a patient know all of their options and rights regarding brain injuries.

Here is a list of rights that trauma patients have:

  • As a patient you have the right to make decisions that involve your treatment while in the hospital and under medical care.
  • Patients who are not able to make their own decisions are allowed legal representation (if there is any) or treatment in accordance with medical standards.
  • Patients and legal representatives have the right to information about treatment in a form that is accessible to the patient.
  • Patients have a right to treatment that respects their cultural and religious values.
  • Patients have a right to deny treatment

If you have further questions about your rights as a patient, you should seek legal council. Knowing what options and rights you have as a patient can make the recovery process a little easier. Informed patients and family members can make better decisions about their overall well being and treatment. Additionally having the comfort that you are informed can make a world of difference even if it is just a simple comfort.

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Fitness Programs That Are Simple and Inexpensive

November 10, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Photographer: Frank C. Müller
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There are seemingly unlimited tips, suggestions, and great ideas for getting into better shape. In the United States alone, billions of dollars are spent each on diets, fitness club memberships, and other healthy lifestyle products and services. But you don’t have to spend a penny to get into better shape, unless of course you want to. By simply starting where you are and with whatever you might have on hand, you can begin the journey toward being in better shape and feeling healthier than you have in a long time. Here are some guidelines for getting started today.

The first step is to assess your fitness level. This will help you to determine the level at which it will safe for you to begin your fitness program. Be sure to do the following as part of this assessment:

Find out what your pulse rate is before and after walking one mile.
Determine how long it takes you to walk at an elevated pace for one mile.
Find out how far you can reach forward while sitting on the floor with your legs stretched out straight in front of you.
How many push-ups you can do without stopping.
Learn what your BMI or Body Mass Index is.
What is the circumference of your waist when measured from your naval?

Once you’ve done these steps, the next thing to do is to establish a fitness program. Again, simple and doable is best.

Start by determining what your fitness goals are. What is it that you want to achieve in thirty days? Three months? One year?
Plan what your activities will be, and how often you will do them.
How can you make these activities are part of your daily living?
Determine what some new activities might be, and plan to try them.
Especially important for you to write down your goals and plans. A goal not written is only a wish. Success comes to the persistent.

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Choose Electronic Cigarette Cartridges

October 27, 2010 by Leave a Comment
MiniCiggy e-cigarette components This s a brea...
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Tobacco smoking has always been associated with traditional methods of inhaling cigarettes, cigars and pipes. The stale stench of tobacco and its handsome fumes are the trademark indicators of tobacco smoking. Every tobacco smoker goes through the process of the initial discomfort and then the eventual acceptance and confident naughty maneuvers of wielding the stick and its smoke. This is more known as automatic addiction. The biological dependence of tobacco smoking though, is purely created by the chemical known as nicotine.

E Cigarette is an invention to keep away the stench and fumes of traditional smoking, and other implications that go with the manual habit. It does essentially contain a good dose of nicotine, which is the primary need for every addicted tobacco smoker. The E Cigarette consists of a cartridge of the main matter that is attached to a tiny battery. The battery portion of the E Cigarette forms what would be otherwise known as the traditional cigarette butt. It can be charged occasionally using an AC adapter. The cartridge is joined with the battery to form an entire stick. Electronic cigarette cartridges are battery operated and atomizes the nicotine solution, when inhaled.

E Cigarettes come in different nicotine strengths, starting from 3mg up till 11mg. Though this seems like a high dose, it is not smoked all at once. A cartridge can be saved in between puffs and thus can last up till a day or more. E Cigarette cartridges come in different flavors, such as vanilla, mint, strawberry, orange, tobacco and more. To suit your social needs, they even come in different colors, which make you an even more pleasurable experience to flaunt your E Cigarette in public. Now you will not have to bear withdrawal symptoms anymore and can have your usual dose of nicotine everyday. Avoiding traditional tobacco will also keep your lungs safe from the harmful carcinogens.

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New vaccine will combat more flu strains

August 24, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Flu vaccinations make their way to U.S. Army i...
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Getting a flu shot during the flu season should offer protection for a wider variety of flu strains now than in past years.
The vaccine approved for use by the FDA for the upcoming flu season will protect against H1N1, influenza A and influenza B. It is good news after the global H1N1 scare that gripped us late in 2009.
Manufacturers plan to produce about 170 million doses of the new seasonal vaccine. That number will be substantially higher than the 100 million doses offered to the public during a typical flu season, but it is still lower than the nearly 200 million doses of H1N1 vaccine that was ordered by the Federal government a year ago. The reason for the lower numbers is that nearly 40 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine were destroyed after they expired – costing the Federal government $260 million.
The H1N1 outbreak occurred too quickly to combine the vaccine for that strain with the usual seasonal flu shot. There are no such problems this year and people will not need two shots like they did just a year ago.
It’s a good thing that new vaccines will cover more major flu strains. We saw how quickly last year how a flu virus can spread and cause sickness, death and panic. The modified vaccines this year should help decrease the toll that various flu strains take if people take advantage of them and get a flu shot.
That is the big key right there. People need to take responsibility to make certain they can continue to enjoy good health throughout the flu season. With how easily diseases spread in our modern world, you can never take too many precautions.
The Center for Disease Control recommends that anyone older than six months should get a flu shot annually. For seniors and people with respiratory illnesses such as asthma, getting flu shots in a timely manner is not only a good idea, it literally could be the difference between life and death.

Getting a flu shot during the flu season should offer protection for a wider variety of flu strains now than in past years. The vaccine approved for use by the FDA for the upcoming flu season will protect against H1N1, influenza A and influenza B. It is good news after the global H1N1 scare that gripped us late in 2009. Manufacturers plan to produce about 170 million doses of the new seasonal vaccine. That number will be substantially higher than the 100 million doses offered to the public during a typical flu season, but it is still lower than the nearly 200 million doses of H1N1 vaccine that was ordered by the Federal government a year ago. The reason for the lower numbers is that nearly 40 million doses of the H1N1 vaccine were destroyed after they expired – costing the Federal government $260 million. The H1N1 outbreak occurred too quickly to combine the vaccine for that strain with the usual seasonal flu shot. There are no such problems this year and people will not need two shots like they did just a year ago. It’s a good thing that new vaccines will cover more major flu strains. We saw how quickly last year how a flu virus can spread and cause sickness, death and panic. The modified vaccines this year should help decrease the toll that various flu strains take if people take advantage of them and get a flu shot. That is the big key right there. People need to take responsibility to make certain they can continue to enjoy good health throughout the flu season. With how easily diseases spread in our modern world, you can never take too many precautions. The Center for Disease Control recommends that anyone older than six months should get a flu shot annually. For seniors and people with respiratory illnesses such as asthma, getting flu shots in a timely manner is not only a good idea, it literally could be the difference between life and death.

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Let a Mini Electronic Cigarette Reduce Your Exposure to Harmful Substances

August 20, 2010 by Leave a Comment
The electronic cigarette and the pigeon
Image by Frederic della Faille via Flickr

Do you know how many harmful chemicals a tobacco cigarette contains? You will be horrified to know that it has over 4,000 different toxic substances. You’re inhaling them into your body with each one of those luxurious puffs. That fact has driven many people to switch to the mini electronic cigarette.

As the name suggests, these cigarettes are a smaller version of the standard electronic cigarette. These devices use an atomizer to vaporize liquid nicotine. They produce a sensation that’s comparable to smoking an actual cigarette. The good news is that you’re smoking without being exposed to 3,999 of those nasty chemicals (remember, nicotine is still present). Switching to e-cigarettes will have a positive impact on your health.

Mini electronic cigarettes are popular because of the ease of handling, lower costs, and the fact that they do not produce passive smoke that can bother friends and family. Many smokers like the fact that they come in a variety of flavors. The most interesting aspect of some of these e-cigarette cartridges is that you can control the level of nicotine you consume. So, people can use electronic cigarettes as a way to wean themselves off cigarettes altogether. It’s a way to slowly reduce the concentration of nicotine you put in your body. Smokers tend to prefer this approach to quitting rather than medications, patches, or gum.

Smokers, especially those living in stressful conditions, may find it’s difficult to quit cold turkey. Mini electronic cigarettes offer you the choice of becoming completely nicotine free over a period of time. What’s more, you’ll improve your health by eliminating your exposure to the thousands of toxins that are present in traditional cigarettes.

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Voluntary Euthanasia

August 13, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Dr. Jack Kevorkian, best known for his advocac...
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The number of elderly and terminally ill patients throughout the world seeking a more dignified and less painless way out from their current situation is not a recent phenomenon.  For decades, this has been a hot topic, strongly debated from both sides.  As the ability to care for patients way beyond their body’s natural ability to survive, the topic of voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide have only become more relevant and discussed.
In certain countries, voluntary euthanasia is legal, such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the Netherlands and in the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon.  However, for most parts of the world, it is still considered illegal and patients and families of those patients are often faced with difficult and troubling prospects when the will or desire to live has long vanished.  Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a one time practicing pathologist out of Michigan is probably one of the most recognized figures within the debate of physician-assisted suicide.  During the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, Kevorkian is said to have assisted over 100 patients in ending their lives.   He is famously quoted for saying, “dying is not a crime.”
There also exists a distinction between voluntary euthanasia and active euthanasia, where active euthanasia is seen as more difficult to justify or evaluate in the public’s eye.  The distinction is drawn where in voluntary euthanasia, the patient takes the steps towards ending his or her life, as in taking a pill or self-administering the drug intravenously.   Active euthanasia is when the doctor administers the required protocols for ending the patient’s life, whereas the patient is physically unable to do so.
There is also the consideration of insurability among those whose death is due to voluntary euthanasia.  Most, if not all, life insurance policies do not cover death as a result of suicide.  Therefore, in the case of Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act: “… participation under the Act is not suicide, so should not affect insurance benefits by that definition.”

The number of elderly and terminally ill patients throughout the world seeking a more dignified and less painless way out from their current situation is not a recent phenomenon.  For decades, this has been a hot topic, strongly debated from both sides.  As the ability to care for patients way beyond their body’s natural ability to survive, the topic of voluntary euthanasia and physician-assisted suicide have only become more relevant and discussed.    In certain countries, voluntary euthanasia is legal, such as Belgium, Luxembourg, Switzerland, the Netherlands and in the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon.  However, for most parts of the world, it is still considered illegal and patients and families of those patients are often faced with difficult and troubling prospects when the will or desire to live has long vanished.  Dr. Jack Kevorkian, a one time practicing pathologist out of Michigan is probably one of the most recognized figures within the debate of physician-assisted suicide.  During the late 1980s and throughout the 1990s, Kevorkian is said to have assisted over 100 patients in ending their lives.   He is famously quoted for saying, “dying is not a crime.”  There also exists a distinction between voluntary euthanasia and active euthanasia, where active euthanasia is seen as more difficult to justify or evaluate in the public’s eye.  The distinction is drawn where in voluntary euthanasia, the patient takes the steps towards ending his or her life, as in taking a pill or self-administering the drug intravenously.   Active euthanasia is when the doctor administers the required protocols for ending the patient’s life, whereas the patient is physically unable to do so.    There is also the consideration of insurability among those whose death is due to voluntary euthanasia.  Most, if not all, life insurance policies do not cover death as a result of suicide.  Therefore, in the case of Oregon’s Death with Dignity Act: “… participation under the Act is not suicide, so should not affect insurance benefits by that definition.”

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Life Expectancy

August 12, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Health care
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Who doesn’t dream or at least imagine what it would be like to live for more than 200 years, or even 500 hundred years?  What might be the world we live in if experience of an individual could extend that long?  From science fiction novels to vampire tales, where the living dead are described as living forever – something often described as a curse, yet the fascination continues with the notion of living without end – of cheating death.
Regardless of what popular fiction or fairy tales may have to say about the possibilities, the reality is that the average human life span has less to do with what our imaginations may desire and everything to do with our bodies and how well they develop, adapt and are treated during the life span of the average person.  The predominant factors affecting longevity, or varying life spans of individuals include genetics, gender, health care, hygiene, diet, lifestyle and crime rates.  On average, the life expectancy of individuals born in developing countries with less access to health care, poor nutrition, and higher crime rates range from 35 to 60 years of age.  In comparison to developed countries where health care is more prevalent and inclusive of latest developments and access to proper nutrition is easier, life expectancies range from 77 to 83 years of age.
Currently, the Gerontology Research Group is an organization that validates longevity records using modern standards.  It maintains that Jeanne Calment of France has held the longest confirmed human life of 122 years and 164 days.  Of course there exist other cases of people having lived to similar ages, yet Calment’s seems to be the best documented, with more records produced that verify her age than any other.
Will future generations experience increased life spans, it is hard to say, though it is commonly believed that unless modern science is able to regenerate or reproduce organs of the body as they age, the human body is simply not designed to surpass a certain limit.

Who doesn’t dream or at least imagine what it would be like to live for more than 200 years, or even 500 hundred years?  What might be the world we live in if experience of an individual could extend that long?  From science fiction novels to vampire tales, where the living dead are described as living forever – something often described as a curse, yet the fascination continues with the notion of living without end – of cheating death.
Regardless of what popular fiction or fairy tales may have to say about the possibilities, the reality is that the average human life span has less to do with what our imaginations may desire and everything to do with our bodies and how well they develop, adapt and are treated during the life span of the average person.  The predominant factors affecting longevity, or varying life spans of individuals include genetics, gender, health care, hygiene, diet, lifestyle and crime rates.  On average, the life expectancy of individuals born in developing countries with less access to health care, poor nutrition, and higher crime rates range from 35 to 60 years of age.  In comparison to developed countries where health care is more prevalent and inclusive of latest developments and access to proper nutrition is easier, life expectancies range from 77 to 83 years of age.
Currently, the Gerontology Research Group is an organization that validates longevity records using modern standards.  It maintains that Jeanne Calment of France has held the longest confirmed human life of 122 years and 164 days.  Of course there exist other cases of people having lived to similar ages, yet Calment’s seems to be the best documented, with more records produced that verify her age than any other.
Will future generations experience increased life spans, it is hard to say, though it is commonly believed that unless modern science is able to regenerate or reproduce organs of the body as they age, the human body is simply not designed to surpass a certain limit.

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Health Insurance – Is it Worth It?

August 7, 2010 by Leave a Comment
United States Health Care: Is there a Doctor i...
Image by Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library via Flickr

Rarely has a debate divided the United States as the most recent health care debate, where the Obama administration proposed and for the first time in U.S. history succeeded in overhauling healthcare to cover a greater majority of previously uninsured citizens. Of course, it seems that more time is needed before the new legislation becomes law and is carried out by the states, as some states have filed law suits challenging the legality of this new legislation.

Regardless of the outcome, healthcare and its associated costs are a reality we all must face in our lives. Just how much of a role the federal government ultimately plays in assuring at least minimal care for all its citizens is a game of politics and power plays whose final outcome only time will tell. In the meantime, it is our individual responsibility to take charge of this matter as it pertains to our own lives. A variety of scenarios influenced by numerous variables can come into play, where deciding if insurance coverage is right for you now, or later. One corner we rarely look after is pet insurance; imagine situation when your pet is seriously ill or met with an accident, you can eliminate financial burden caused by medical bills. Pet insurance is increasingly becoming popular among Americans these days! On an average, Americans spend over $24 billion per year on insuring their pets.

Of course, there is the case of saving valuable dollars now to cover other obligations at the risk that health care will not be necessary – a common roll of the dice among a younger and relatively healthier population with limited income. There are also those that begin with some coverage, only to have the premiums increase by more than 30%, year after year, until coverage is but a distant dream eclipsed by the reality of more immediate obligations such as food, shelter and education. Others are unable to qualify for coverage, due to a pre-existing condition, age or other circumstance raising the risk of coverage beyond feasible for an industry without a conscience but rather profits as a guide.

More often than not, insurance coverage is not a choice people can make but rather one made for them. Of course health care coverage is worth it, if you can afford it, find it or both. But if none are an option – what is left?

Filed Under: Aid, Health Care, Insurance Tagged With: , ,

Health and Exercise

August 6, 2010 by Leave a Comment
Female jogger with good tan jogging - Scenes f...
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How often one exercises the body can have dramatic effects in overall health and well being for decades to come. A habit often nurtured, or instilled via your parents, friends or relatives, exercise seems to be an activity best developed at a young age in order to ensure its continued development and application throughout a person’s life. Those that start at an older age are often faced with combating bad habits and other psychological obstacles, in addition to the physical impediments of not having exercised at an earlier age.

Exercise can mean many things. While most may envision a long distance runner, swimmer or even tri-athlete as a true athlete, these are not necessarily the case. Exercise for healthy living more specifically translates to activities that increase a person’s heart rate for a set period of time at levels believed to be optimal for improved blood circulation and other key biological functions. Along with an increased heart rate, there are other components to consider with effective exercise. These are improved flexibility, joint function, immune function, muscular strength and even brain function.

Any number of activities might fall within the guidelines for effective exercise, though the one significant variable separating most activities is a sustained, increased heart rate for a minimum of 10 to 15 minutes. One might consider jumping rope, a number of calisthenics performed back to back, jogging, speed walking, tennis, basketball, soccer, hiking, and rowing. The younger you start on your journey towards an active lifestyle, incorporating exercise as a daily or sem-daily routine, the easier it will become to incorporate exercise as you age.

Often, many people start an exercise regimen with the best intentions but eventually fall short of their goals. Why is that? Some attribute this to the psychological barriers, in addition to the physical ones, of altering a more sedentary lifestyle towards a more active one.

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