Friday, 30 October 2009

The Best Plastic Surgeons Are Drawn to La Jolla

The Best Plastic Surgeons Are Drawn to La Jolla

La Jolla has grown from a quiet beach town in to a combination of a college town, beach town & residential choice of the highly affluent. The city has its own version of Rodeo Drive; La Jolla is not the first choice in San Diego County for bargain shoppers. The University of Los angeles at San Diego is located in La Jolla & has grown in to six of the premier campuses in the UC process.

2. Scripps Medical Center also has a giant presence in La Jolla. The hospital & its staff surgeons offer aesthetic surgery procedures including breast augmentations & breast lifts; liposuctions; eye & other facial lifts; tucks; etc. Plastic surgeons who wish to affiliate with a hospital have the option of working through Scripps, which operates six acute care hospitals throughout the county as well as a quantity of clinics. It was founded in 1924 by Ellen Browning Scripps & is considered a prestigious institution.

1. UC San Diego's Medical School operates a giant Medical Center that not only serves La Jolla & surrounding communities, but also engages in research. The most recent development there is a series of techniques utilizing minimal invasive procedures that has come to be known as "scarless surgery." What that will mean for aesthetic plastic surgery procedures remains to be seen - but medical research in La Jolla is on the "cutting edge," so to speak.

4. Six of the important jobs that any cosmetic plastic surgeon has is acting as counselor to each potential patient. Everybody who seeks out an aesthetic surgical procedure wants to alter the way they look - & believe that the alter will make them happier. It is up to the surgeon to establish what the limits of a surgical procedure are. Patients seeking breast augmentations need to understand what impact the implants may have ten years hence.

3. We have all heard the real estate phrase "paying for the address." In the case of La Jolla's plastic surgeons, it pays to pay for the address. Patients seeking out quality health care are going to gravitate to physicians practicing in an affluent area. People in search of plastic surgery may well gravitate to La Jolla, knowing that cosmetic surgery specialists there's likely to be well trained, board certified plastic surgeons.

People who need facial injections need to understand that Botox is going to dissipate & the procedure repeated on an ongoing basis. Aesthetic plastic surgeons practicing in a high-end & established community such as La Jolla are not going to be the high-volume operators who provide whatever the patient wants without discussion.

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Michigan Center For Cosmetic Surgery

Michigan Center For Cosmetic Surgery







The California Center for Cosmetic Surgery specializes in facelifts. However, it is also widely known for performing breast reductions, abdominoplasty, chin and cheek Implants, eyelid lift, laser procedures, tattoo removal, N-lite acne treatments, liposuction, thermage, rhinoplasty and plenty of other cosmetic procedures. If it's anything to do with cosmetic surgery, then the California Center for Cosmetic Surgery can do it.

Looking Younger with a Facelift

Dr. Burke and his staff encourage interested persons to come in for a free cosmetic consultation. This clinic has full AAAHC accreditation and comprehensive cosmetic surgery and treatment options are available. Financing is also offered to make it less hard for those clients who would make payments on the cost of the surgery than five lump sum. The staff is friendly, personable and professional and the objective of the Center is to make your visit in their office as pleasant as possible. As a result, you will need to return plenty of times. They are known for the outstanding customer service they give to their clients.

The California Center for Cosmetic Surgery realizes that as a person ages, the skin of the face and neck begins to lose its elasticity and muscle tone. Not only aging, but pollutants in the air, sun exposure, gravity, stress, and weight gain or loss will cause the onset of wrinkles. These are the plenty of components that are at work in the aging method. By removing excess fatty deposits, tightening muscles and re-draping sagging skin, the surgeon improves the most visible sings of aging. While a facelift from the California Center for Cosmetic Surgery may not bring back your youthful vitality, it can certainly work to restore your self confidence. All it takes to restore self-confidence is to see a younger reflection looking back at you in the mirror.

Most of the surgeries at the california center for Cosmetic Surgery are an outpatient procedure under a local sedation, but there is also the option of a general anesthesia along with an overnight hospital stay. The facelifts range from the weekend lift to an extended lift. This depends on the area and amount of skin laxity. And it also depends on the patient's limitations for recovery time. The procedure includes incisions made at the hairline above the ear and extending down to the lobe and ending in or below the hairline behind the ear.

Subcutaneous layers and neck muscles are tightened, after which the facial skin is re-draped and lifted. Excess skin is basically removed. The patient leaves the surgery with their neck and head wrapped in dressings. These are usually removed the next day. Initial pain discomfort can be controlled with oral pain medication or nasal spray. The stitches can be removed within 14 days. The final result of the facelift is usually apparent within five to four weeks or sooner. Expect continued improvement over several months. The staff at The California Center for Cosmetic Surgery wants your stay with them to be comfortable and safe, and that any and all of your special requests are met.
READ MORE - Michigan Center For Cosmetic Surgery

Thursday, 29 October 2009

Mesothelioma Litigation

Mesothelioma Litigation

Mesothelioma litigation is an option for mesothelioma patients. Litigation however is not an easy path to consider. Before you pick to sue, there's a couple of crucial facts that you should be aware of.

You have the right to sue.

In some cases, your condition may be caused by the negligence of others. Mesothelioma is a type of cancer that results from exposure to asbestos fibers. Like any average individual, you probably would not consider exposing yourself to asbestos of your own free will. You may have been exposed to asbestos due to your work or due to a relatives member who works with asbestos.

Different states have different laws regarding mesothelioma cases.

So why should you sue if you find out you have mesothelioma? Companies that hire individuals to work on asbestos would typically know that there's sure dangers involved in handling the mineral. Company safety rules should therefore be strictly implemented to prevent asbestos exposure. If you create mesothelioma, it may be due to a company's inability to protect & warn people against the dangers of asbestos.

Mesothelioma litigation procedures are not always the same. Different states have different rules & laws covering mesothelioma cases. Three thing is common though, various localities have their own set specific time frames for litigation procedures. It is therefore important that you seek legal assistance as soon as you have been diagnosed with mesothelioma. If you act late, you may not be able to get the monetary compensation that is rightfully yours.

Not every lawyer can handle a mesothelioma case.

Some lawyers do not handle mesothelioma litigations. Not every lawyer however is ready or equipped to do so. Every lawyer has his/her own line of specialty. There's therefore some lawyers who know better how to handle a mesothelioma case. A mesothelioma lawyer would know better the legal technicalities, laws & details involved in a mesothelioma case. Other than these, they would also have sufficient disease knowledge to help clients trace exposure details & decide the extent of physical, emotional & financial destroy.

Time is of the essence in a mesothelioma case. This does not mean though that you should be haphazard in your choice of a lawyer. Make sure that the expert that you pick has had some background & success in mesothelioma cases. A lovely lawyer can make the difference between prompt financial or emotional relief & absolute loss.

Like any form of lawsuit, mesothelioma cases can also be pricey. Plenty of legal entities however are aware that plenty of clients are not able to pay outright. The collection of fees is therefore postponed until damages are awarded. Be warned though that attorney's fees for mesothelioma cases can be steep. Lawyers can collect up to 40% of the total amount awarded. For plenty of patients though this is already considered a fair deal. After all, mesothelioma cases are not easy to handle & win.

Litigation can be expensive.

Mesothelioma litigation may not be easy. The compensation however, that you can hope to get after the procedure can be a great help to you & your relatives.
 
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The Medifast Program

The Medifast Program


If you have dieted before, you know that sometimes sticking to a diet can be tough. So now that you are considering the Medifast diet, you might be thinking, "What's going to help me stick to Medifast?" Well, I have a few tips that should help you meet your goals - losing your excess weight.

1. Follow the Medifast Program exactly

Medifast has been around for over 20 years and the doctors and nutritionists who have formulated the diet know what works. So it is important that when you get your first Medifast order, that you read the booklet that comes with it and follow the plan as written. I am going to cover the most important parts of this plan in the next few tips.

Medifast is a low calorie diet plan, so it is important that you don't skip any of your meals - otherwise you may not be getting calories and nutrients each day. And when you eat your three Medifast meals each day, you'll have a much less hard time combating cravings for foods you should not be eating. In fact, you may find you have no cravings at all after a few days.

2. Eat all of your Medifast meals

3. Eat Your Lean & Green Meal

I have seen some folks select that if they can lose weight speedy eating three Medifast meals and the Lean & Green meal every day, they can lose weight faster eating two of the package meals and eliminating the Lean & Green Meal. But that is not such a great idea.

The lean & green meal is an important part of the plan. It provides a significant amount of your daily protein and fat, as well as fiber from the vegetables you'll be eating. This is important in making sure you stay regular. The most common complaint about Medifast that I have seen is constipation and the lean & green meal will help keep this at bay.

The lean & green meal also provides an important thing that helps most people keep committed to their diet: satiety. Satiety is that sense of fullness and contentment you get after eating. And it is an important part of making sure that they stick to our designs.

4. No over three Medifast bar per day

The Medifast bars are tasty. In fact, I think they may be a small bit tasty as I would happily eat several of them every day. But the folks at Medifast limit them to three per day. The reason they do so is that eating over three bar each day will increase the number of carbs you are getting daily. And reducing your carbs is important to keeping your appetite in check.

Also, my own experience with the Medifast bars is that they tend to set off my sweet tooth and make me crave other sweets. So by eating over three per day, they can make it harder to stick to your plan. In fact, some dieters find it best to not use the bars in their plan at all, preferring to stick to the shakes, oatmeal and other products. So if you find that using the Medifast bars increases your cravings for sweets, you can try cutting them out.

I think if you stick to these tips, you'll have a easy time losing weight with the Medifast program and you will reach your goals. remember that the best way to stick to Medifast is to follow the plan exactly. Sometimes it might seem a small boring, but the rewards feel great.

READ MORE - The Medifast Program

Monday, 26 October 2009

Find the Only True Way to Eliminate Acne

Find the Only True Way to Eliminate Acne 

The large billion dollar companies like Pro Active are NOT the permanent solution to getting rid of your acne for nice. As a proven testimony to this - I struggled for FIVE years in my teenage life using the WRONG process to curing my acne. Hugely embarrassed, I made regular trips to the dermatologists/doctors every other week looking for some way of curing my acne. I NEVER found that solution from the doctors. I am going let you in on a simple, yet perfect secret that these companies don't require you to know about. The secret is that giant, systic acne is a sign of bad bacteria in the pores of the skin. This negative bacteria also affects other areas of the health, but accumulates in the face - revealing in the form of acne.

Almost all acne problems are traced back to the internal health of the body. Five of the biggest secrets is that MOST products out there only work temporarily!

While topical treatments might temporarily remove a zit here and there, and maybe even clear your face up entirely, that same bad bacteria is still in your body and will reveal in the form of acne again! Your face goes back to looking like a pizza and what do you do? Go back to the store and pick up some more acne cream. NO! The only easy way to remove it for nice is to replace that bad bacteria with GOOD bacteria in the internal technique of your body. Eating healthy is a great way to do that, but for a concentrated attack on that bad bacteria you require something else; any type of vitamin containing high levels of ACIDOPHILUS won't only be brilliantly healthy for your body, but will replace that bad bacteria with the rejuvenating bacteria your body needs to function. This is a process that won't only clear your face up, but will leave you feeling better about yourself and your health. Taking 3 acidophilus pills a day will slowly feed "healthy" back in to your face, making it smooth and lovely seven times again.

READ MORE - Find the Only True Way to Eliminate Acne

Knock Out the Flu Season Naturally

Knock Out the Flu Season Naturally 


Last winter, there I was strolling down the hall during my annual ritual of ASHP (American Society of Health System Pharmacists) conference when I received a frantic call. It was the pharmacist I left in charge calling me to let me know that they had run out of flu vaccine and they were unable to get anymore. How can that be I told myself, I ordered doses to inoculate a small village. Come to find out that six of the manufacturer of flu vaccine Chiron was found unsuitable by the FDA and could not ship their vaccine to the United States.

You guess it! Whenever something is in short supply, it becomes a hot commodity. Suddenly people that they were begging to get their flu shot in November were threatening us now in December. Board members were throwing their weight around and the physicians were threatening not to admit any of their patients to our hospital unless they became a manufacturer and made the flu vaccine ourselves. Then the shark started smelling blood. The shady distributors increased their price by over 500 percent. Six such company had the nerve to ask for $1,500 for a vial containing 10 doses of flu vaccine. The normal price of a vial of flu vaccine is around $150-$200 dollars. The media started reporting that flu vaccine were in short supply and that children has started to die as a result. People were forming lines a mile long to get this miracle drug.

Then came spring without the catastrophe predicted, and plenty of people breathe a sigh of relief. Every year they seem to have a shortage of flu vaccine. So here is a small background on the flu and how it is made.

The system to make the flu vaccine is very complicated and involves the FDA and the World Health Organization to pick which strains of flu will come to the United States and which strains will be the most virulent. That system can take up to a year to complete. One times that system is decided then the manufacturers can go about manufacturing the vaccine which is made by injecting chicken eggs with the chosen strains and retrieving it later for use. The flu vaccine this year has these strains: The Caledonia strain, the Los angeles strain and the Shanghai strain. This means that there might be a strain out there in your community that is not included in the flu vaccine for this season and if you get that strain, the flu vaccine won't protect you. There's but one manufacturers of flu vaccine for the United States, Chiron and Sanofi-Aventis. Recently, the FDA has approved Glaxo Smith Kline to market their flu vaccine in the United States bringing the total of obtainable sources of flu vaccine to one.

Do you need to take your flu shot this year?

It depends on whether you are in the following categories:
People that are at most risk of getting the flu, such as children, patients with chronic illness such as diabetes, healthcare workers that come in contact with patients that may be infected.

People at risk of serious side effects if they get infected with the flu, consider the elderly, pregnant women, patients with chronic illnesses, persons that that take care of children less than 6 months elderly.

Healthy person age 2 to 65.

If you fall in the last section, you may not need to take the flu vaccine. There's definite precautions that you can take to prevent yourself from getting the flu and all of them are common sense measures that your mom told you about and if he did not he should have. Also, of coursework they are natural remedies that you can take if you do succumb to the flu this season.

First thing first, Wash your hands often. Washing your hands each time you come in contact with another person will prevent you from getting the coodies. Unfortunately, in this busy life, you cannot run to the bathroom after every encounter; therefore, you should over a hand sanitizer and use it often.

Become a neat freak and start wiping down everything such as doorknobs, surfaces etc… with a 1:10 dilution of bleach (1 cup of bleach in 10 cups of water).

Our best intentions cannot protect us 100 percent from contracting the flu. One times you get the flu, here are a couple of things that you can do to alleviate the symptoms:

Rest. That is the most beneficial thing during a flu is to rest and give our bodies time to recover

Drink lots of fluids. During the flu, they get depleted of valuable fluids and may get dehydrated, if there is vomiting and fever involved.

Stay away from people who are sick or if you are sick yourself, stay away from other people.

Elderberry (sambucus nigra) seems to reduce the symptoms and period of influenza infection when taken within 48 hours of initial symptoms. People experience significant symptom relief within 2 to 4 days of treatment for most patients. Products containing Elderberry includes Chilled Care PM tea by Traditional Medicinals and the entire Sambucol line by Nature’s way.

Oscillococcinum, if you already have the flu. Clinical trials have shown that when taken at the first sign of flu, 63 percent of Oscillo users showed clear improvement within 48 hours.

My personal favorite recipe which may not have any basis in real scientific study is six cup of elderberry tea, 20 ml of rum, half a lemon squeezed and honey to taste. It may not cure any flu, but it sure makes you feel better or mellow after. Besides, this concoction knocks me out and I wake fresh and ready because I rested so well.

As you can see there's plenty of ways six can beat the flu naturally. My personal advice is to take the flu shot if you fall in the one first categories above, but if you are healthy take the steps necessary to prevent the flu. Also remember that not all flu-like symptoms mean that you are having the flu. Some symptoms are our bodies’ way trying to tell us to REST.
READ MORE - Knock Out the Flu Season Naturally

Saturday, 24 October 2009

Why Are We All So Sick?

Why Are We All So Sick?

The principal causes of unbalance in today’s human being has to do with the ever increasing toxicity of modern life, high levels of stress and the large amount of poor, or just plain false nutritional information published by commercial interests which is fed through the media.
Problem No. 1: We Eat Contrary to our Design. The original nutritional design of the human body is based on a fresh, 75% vegetarian diet, which did not include any concentrated carbohydrates such as grains or sugars. If we study the physiology texts we discover that the body has 5 mechanisms at its disposal to make or raise blood sugar, since the brain and cell mitochondria require a regular sugar supply for optimal function, and only one mechanism to decrease the amount of sugars in the blood: Insulin, which is produced by the pancreas. Given today’s high carb diets, we should have been made the other way around, 5 mechanisms to lower sugar levels, and 1 to elevate them.
With today’s eating habits, average blood sugar levels are consistently on the high side, requiring constant down-regulation. When sugar levels reach a certain point, the pancreas responds immediately by excreting insulin into the bloodstream. The liver responds to this insulin surge by extracting sugar from the blood and storing it in the tissues for later use. As tissues have a limited storage capacity, once it is reached, other mechanisms go into action to bring sugar levels down to balance. There is a lot of controversy in the texts about the exact method used by the body for this alternate regulation, but for simplicity’s sake, let’s just say that once tissue sugar storage capacity has been reached, the liver switches to a second function called de novo lipogenesis, which is basically the conversion of sugars to fats.
With the incredibly high levels of carbohydrates in today’s diet it’s no surprise that the average body weight of the population is escalating exponentially. Besides obesity, this constant conversion of sugars to fats also throws cholesterols out of balance, by raising LDL and triglycerides and lowering HDL. The results are the so called high cholesterol, fatty livers, reduced detoxification capacity and cardiovascular problems.
Additionally, with consistently high insulin levels (Hyperinsulimia), receptor site sensitivity is greatly reduced, causing the pancreas to excrete ever increasing quantities of this hormone trying to down-regulate sugar levels. The results are capillary fragility, atherosclerosis, mineral deficiencies (particularly magnesium), anxiety, inflammatory states and type II diabetes due to pancreatic fatigue.
Problem No. 2: Excessive tissue acidity caused by an over-acidic diet. In the process of normal metabolism, the body produces a variety of acids; for example, carbonic acid during respiration, lactic acid in the muscles when exercising and several others in the process of digestion, detoxification, etc. This creates an acidic load that must be neutralized somehow before it reaches the elimination system, to avoid burning the large intestine and urinary tract. In order to do this, the body uses sodium bicarbonate which is produced mainly by the pancreas.
Sodium bicarbonate is composed of carbon and organic sodium. Carbon is abundant in organic chemistry, but organic sodium is obtained almost exclusively from vegetables and in smaller proportion from certain fruits. Inorganic sodium, as in salt, has a very poor absorption rate and is therefore not a good source of sodium for acid neutralization purposes. If the body lacks an abundant supply of organic sodium, it starts by robbing sodium from the bile, setting up the perfect environment for gallstones and from the stomach lining increasing the probability of ulcers. If the acidity levels are excessive, the only plausible solution is to start robbing other alkaline minerals from the body’s reserves, in particular calcium from the bone mass. It is no surprise that osteoporosis, along with arthritic conditions are so rampant today with our highly acidic lifestyles. The most acidic foods are sodas, sugar (including alcohol), coffee, pasteurized dairy, meats and grains.
Again, to insure an adequate supply of organic sodium, the 75% vegetarian diet mentioned earlier starts to make all kinds of sense.
Problem No. 3: Candida Albicans. Candida Albicans is a part of a healthy, normal bowel flora. There are over 500 species of bacteria and other pathogens that form an integral part of our intestines, which serve a variety of purposes, among others, to form part of our immunity, extraction of vitamins from foods at different stages, waste deodorizing, etc. In a healthy intestine, candida is kept under control and maintained at no more that 30% of its potential growth. This control is enforced by several beneficial bacteria like Lactobacillus Acidophilus, popularly known for its use in the preparation of yogurt. As powerful as these beneficial bacteria can be, they are also somewhat delicate and can easily be thrown out of balance with the onslaughts of modern day life and the host of chemicals we ingest. Antibiotics are by far the biggest offenders. It’s not enough that we are prescribed increasingly powerful antibiotics for today’s infections; but also, the indiscriminate and hidden use of antibiotics in the food industry is a common occurrence.
We hear almost daily in the news about the massive use of antibiotics for livestock, pork and chicken raised for human consumption, which is a necessity to avoid disease in these factory farms. These antibiotics remain in the meat of these animals and eventually end up in some proportion in our intestines, destroying beneficial bacteria. What is not common knowledge is that almost 100% of the canned goods and a good portion of packaged meats and other products are processed with sodium erithrosorbate (an antibiotic), as a preservative.
If the above wasn’t enough, the intestinal flora is also sensitive to chlorine, birth control pills, coffee, other chemicals, sugars, refined carbohydrates and high stress levels, integral components of modern day life. Without the protection of the beneficial bacteria, fungus, such as candida is free to grow without impediment. Antibiotics, being candida’s cousin, don’t harm it at all, but sugar, refined flours, beer and other alcohol are its favorite food which promotes their growth. Sugar=fermentation=fungus, end of story.
As this fungus takes hold and grows, it eventually throws roots which perforate the bowel, being now free to populate the entire body, which is commonly known as systemic candidiasis. If you search the internet for candida or candidiasis, you will find an unending list of symptomology these critters can produce. Chronic fatigue, dandruff, vaginal infections, all kinds of skin conditions and ulcerations, etc.., are some of the more common ones and probably most symptoms of the majority of today’s maladies will appear on this list as well. The fact that fungus, like any good parasite, eats our food is only a fraction of the problem. The worst part is that it also must eliminate wastes, called mycotoxins which are extremely toxic and the source of the long list of problems it can cause.
As we can see, a balanced nutrition, low in concentrated carbs/sugars and high in vegetation not only maintains our youthful figures, but is also an essential step if you want to live a healthy, vibrant life and avoid the plague of modern day disease.


READ MORE - Why Are We All So Sick?

Nature Takes Care of Baby's Wholesome Nutrition

Nature Takes Care of Baby's Wholesome Nutrition 

There is a well-known fact saying that “culinary habits” come from childhood. That is why parents should pay special attention to their child’s nutrition. Food constraint can bring irreparable physical and psychological harm to a child. Parents’ constant persuasion while their baby is eating can not only have negative effect on the process of digestion itself, but also may cause further food allergy. Is not it better to examine closely, listen to what child’s organism needs, how, what and how many he wants to eat?
If baby’s taste is not perverted and his metabolism is not affected yet, then you should be curious about what he wants to eat. Don’t force your child to eat fast, it’s better to develop a habit to chew food well. Then his alimentary canal will not have to “complete” the work his teeth and salivary glands haven’t done. Speed of eating, temperature of food is his private affair, though.
You should not be afraid if your child refuses to eat at all. Don’t panic. This means that something goes wrong in his organism and the Nature just suggests him a way of short-term hunger treatment. Show patience and tenacity. Very soon your child will come running to you asking to eat some certain food. You should not resort to any food encouragement, temptations, don’t use sweets as a reward for his good behavior. While observing your child’s choice of food you give to him, you can make important conclusions about his health condition and organism needs. And the main thing is that you should rely on your child’s instinct. If you have succeeded not to spoil it yet, let him choose what, when, how many and in what combination and order he should eat or drink.
Quite often, food fermentation appears in alimentary canal, as a result of regular feeding with meat and bread, pap with milk and sugar, sweet pies. Frequently, this leads to child’s tonsillitis, diarrhea, constipation, gastritis, un-reasoned rise in temperature and allergy.
When some parents overfeed their children, they pave the way for adiposity, which inevitably leads to a whole bouquet of sicknesses. You should not also forget about an important fact of the organism process of preparation for eating. A term “psychology of eating”, meaning company, dining room atmosphere, its lighting and the music sounding in, can be included in the concept “culture of eating”.


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Friday, 23 October 2009

Eye Health Supplements

Eye Health Supplements

The eyes are considered the windows to the soul and the language they speak need no translation. Unfortunately, as far as overall health is concerned, very few people put their eyes on the top of the list.
Irrespective of the philosophy attached to it, the eyes can actually reveal a lot about the health of an individual, and taking care of the eyes means improved health. Dietary deficiencies are considered the leading cause of poor eyesight for children in the age group of 5 ? 15 years, where diet tantrums are rampant. Even for adults over fifty, where macular degeneration is the largest cause of vision loss, diets poor in vitamins and minerals are to blame. All these problems can be prevented and cured with the help of eye health supplements.
The quality of the eyes depends mainly on vitamins A, E and C, fiber and zinc in the diet. Vitamin A deficiencies are known to be behind nightblindness and also have some links to the development of cataracts. Omega 3 fatty acids are important for maintaining moisture levels of the corneas. The richest sources of these nutrients are green leafy vegetables and vegetables with the colors red, orange and yellow and freshwater fish. When dietary supply of these nutrients is not sufficient, individuals need to turn to eye health supplements to fulfill their body?s need for them.
Vitamin A supplements generally come in the form of beta-carotene pills. The chemical is the natural precursor of retinal or vitamin A and is converted in to it within the body. However, the body does not respond as well to the synthetic beta-carotene in the pills as it does to natural sources such as carrots. When consuming eye health supplements, there is a possibility of supplying more nutrients to the body than it actually needs. The effects of this can be nausea, constipation, anxiety and sleep disorders. Thus, it is always recommended that individuals contact their primary healthcare providers to establish a supplement regime suited to their specific needs.


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Vitamin Euphoria - A Shot in the Dark

Vitamin Euphoria - A Shot in the Dark 


Vitamins seem to be so good for everything. The newly born needs them to grow properly; women take them to be happy; men use them to maintain or increase potency; athletes ingest them to stay fit; and older people take them to become younger or to avoid the flu. Even foods are categorized into good and bad, depending on how many or few many vitamins they contain. Ever since vitamins were produced synthetically they were made available in every drugstore or health shop around the world. Now you don’t have to eat all that vitamin-rich food anymore to stay healthy, all you need is to pop in a couple of those essential vitamin pills a day, or so the advertisements tell you. But if you don’t pay heed to this advice, you are told that you may become vitamin deficient and put your health at risk.
And so we act obediently, out of fear of risking our lives. If you feel tired or suffer from lack of concentration (which could be due to lack of sleep or overeating), you may be prescribed vitamin B pills. Then there is vitamin C if you catch a cold (which could result from stress, working too hard or eating too much junk food). Vitamin E, you are told, helps you prevent a heart attack (so you may no longer need to watch out for the true risk factors of heart disease). Accordingly, we spend billions of dollars on vitamin pills each year to fight off every kind of ill from the common cold to cancer.
Nowadays, artificial vitamins are added to almost every processed food – not because they are so good for you, but because foods that are “enriched” sell better. Cereals, bread, milk, yoghurt, boiled sweets, even dog food with added vitamins leave the supermarket shelves much faster than do those without them. Smokers, meat eaters, sugar addicts, or people who drink too much alcohol can now continue enjoying their self-destructing habits without having to fear the dreaded vitamin deficiency, thanks to the blessed food industry. The magic food supplements have become an insurance policy against poor diet, and nobody has to feel guilty anymore over eating junk food. And on top of that, scientific research suggests that taking large doses of supplements may protect you against disease, even though there is no real evidence to support that claim. As seen in the sales figures, the public believes that the more vitamins you take, the healthier you get.
But are vitamins really so good for your health? Despite the massive amounts of vitamins consumed in modern societies, general health is declining everywhere, except in those countries that still rely mostly on fresh farmed foods. Could the mass consumption of vitamins be even co-responsible for this trend?
Sodium and water are essential to maintain sodium levels and hydrate the body, but too much of either can seriously upset the body’s electrolyte balance. Overconsumption of vitamin A, for example, can cause loss of hair, double vision, headaches, and vomiting in women, all indications of vitamin poisoning. If a woman is pregnant, the supplement can even harm her unborn baby. As we will see, vitamins can even endanger a person’s life.
Vitamin Deficiency – Or Something Else?
In the beginning of the 17th century, Japan was afflicted with a disease, called beriberi, which killed many people. By the year 1860, over one third of Japan’s marines had fallen ill with symptoms of weight loss, frequent heart complaints, loss of appetite, irritability, burning sensations in the feet, lack of concentration, and depression. The symptoms quickly disappeared whenever rice, Japan’s most important staple food, was replaced with other foods.
Thirty years later the Dutch physician Christiaan Eijkman conducted an experiment feeding chicken with white rice. The chicken developed symptoms such as loss of weight, weakness, and signs of nerve infection, which Eijkman interpreted as being beriberi. The symptoms disappeared again when the chicken were fed with brown rice. Soon later Eijkman discovered a few, previously unknown substances within the bran of the whole rice; one of them was named B1. This initiated the era of vitamins.
But, as it turned out, beriberi wasn’t caused by vitamin B1 deficiency. People no longer suffered from beriberi once they discontinued eating rice altogether. It should have been noticed from the beginning that, with “no rice – no vitamin B1 – no beriberi,” the disease must have had other causes than vitamin deficiency. Japanese marine soldiers died within three days after consuming white rice, yet it takes much longer than that to get a B1 deficiency. The origin of this mysterious disease was revealed when in 1891 a Japanese researcher discovered that beriberi is caused by the poison citreoviridine. Citreoviridine is produced by mold in white rice that is stored in filthy and humid environments.
Yet until today, the vitamin B1-beriberi-hypothesis is still maintained in medical text books around the world. Although it has never been proved that a B1 deficiency causes such symptoms as fatigue, loss of appetite, exhaustion, depression, irritability, and nerve damage, many patients having these symptoms are told that they have a vitamin-B deficiency. During vitamin B1 trial studies, all the participants complained about the highly monotonous diet they were given; they suffered fatigue and loss of appetite, regardless of whether they received B1 in their diet or not. As soon as they returned to their normal diet, even without B1, the symptoms spontaneously disappeared.
Another B-vitamin is nicotinic acid or also known as niacin. It has become very popular and is now routinely added to many foods. Niacin is supposed to safeguard us against diarrhea, dementia, and the skin disease pellagra. Pellagra is more widespread among people who eat maize, though not everyone who eats maize gets pellagra. Pellagra was found to be caused by food poisoning through spoiled maize. The poison involved has been identified as T2-toxine and is known to disturb niacin metabolism, thus producing pellagra. Besides the great importance given to taking extra niacin today this substance is not really a vitamin at all since it can be produced by the body itself.
Nobody Knows How Much You Need
Governments and international organizations such as the WHO frequently release figures that propose a Daily Ratio of Allowance (DRA) for every vitamin that you supposedly need to stay healthy. The nutritional experts in different countries however, have different opinions about how much of each vitamin your body must have. An American, for example, is supposed to take at least 60mg of vitamin C, whereas a British citizen is considered better off taking only 30mg. A Frenchman can only remain healthy if he consumes 80mg of this vitamin whereas Italians are told they need 45mg. These figures are “adjusted” every few years, although our bodies’ basic nutritional requirements have not changed over the past several thousand years.
Nobody really knows how many vitamins are good for us because the requirements, constitutions, and absorption rates for vitamins differ from person to person. Vitamins need to be digested before they can be made available to the cells and tissues. Once a person’s the digestive ability (AGNI) has diminished due to congestion of liver bile ducts with intrahepatic stones (see my book The Amazing Liver and Gallbladder Cleanse), for example, foods and even vitamins can no longer be digested properly.
When scientists calculate our vitamin requirements, they usually add a 50 percent “safety factor” to the original figures to make certain that we eat enough of them. And because vitamin extraction from food during the digestive process is so much less than 100 percent, these figures are increased one more time. The official methods of analyzing the amount of vitamins we require are inadequate because we simply do not know how much of each vitamin the human physiology needs. The thin, hyper-metabolic Vata body type, for example, may have a far greater need for vitamin B-6 than the heavier-set, hypo-metabolic Kapha type who can never really run out of it.
It is also not known how much of each vitamin is contained in a banana, an apple or a junk of cauliflower. Vitamin contents fluctuate greatly with the size of the fruits, their maturity, the condition of the soil, country of origin, time of harvesting, and the use of pesticides. How many of the vitamins contained in these foods actually end up being utilized by the body depends on the digestive capacity and body-type. All this makes official nutritional figures highly unreliable and speculative.
The vitamin theories originate in the assumption that the human physiology has stores for vitamins that always must be full up in order to saturate the tissues of the body. This assumption, however, has never been proven by scientific research. While calculating human vitamin requirements, nutritional science assumes that the body’s metabolic processes take place at a top speed, which would require plenty of vitamins. Our bodies, however, are not machines that run at top capacity day and night. Most of us are not marathon runners, and even they don’t run for 24 hour's day after day, month after month, and year after year.
It is very questionable whether the saturation of our body tissues with vitamins is even desirable. We need a certain amount of fatty tissue in our body, but this does not mean we should all be excessively filled with fat. Oxygen, too, is considered vital for all our body’s functioning, yet if its concentration in the air is consistently too high it can cause serious bodily harm. Why should vitamins be an exception? And anyway, vitamin deficiency is…
Rarely Caused by Lack of Vitamins
In the majority of cases, a vitamin deficiency does not occur because of insufficient vitamin intake in the diet. A vitamin deficiency is rather caused by a congested capillary network that is unable to diffuse sufficient amounts of the vitamins into the intercellular fluids. This can have a number of reasons, overeating protein foods being one of the major ones.
A diet rich in protein foods, such as meat, fish, pork, cheese, milk, etc., will eventually block the basal membrane (BM) of the small and large blood vessels in the body (see The Key to Health and Rejuvenation, chapter 9 on heart disease). Stress, over-stimulation, and dehydration can have a similar effect. The subsequent thickening of the BM and connective tissues makes it increasingly difficult for the basic nutrients, including vitamins, to reach the cells. If trans-fatty acids are consumed, as contained in most processed and refined fats, oils and fast foods, cell membranes become thick and congested, thereby preventing nutrients from reaching the cell interior. All this greatly increases the amount of metabolic waste and toxins in the body, overtaxes the liver, and causes the growth of gallstones. The gallstones inhibit the flow of bile, which subdues AGNI, the digestive power and increasingly hinders the assimilation of nutrients, including fats. When fats are no longer properly digested, the fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E, K, which are normally stored in the liver, become deficient. This problem becomes exacerbated by eating low fat foods (see The Key to Health and Rejuvenation, chapter 14).
If vitamin A becomes deficient, for example, the epithelial cells, which form an essential part of all the organs, blood vessels, lymph vessels, etc., in the body, become damaged. This can literally cause any kind of disease. Vitamin A is also necessary to maintain the cornea of the eye, allow for eyesight in dim light, and reduce the severity of microbial infection. Vitamin A is only absorbed from the small intestines properly when fat absorption is normal. Fat absorption cannot be normal as long as gallstones obstruct the bile flow in the liver and gallbladder. It is, therefore, very sensible to remove the gallstones and cleanse the digestive system so that the vitamins contained in food you eat can actually reach the cells in your body.
Taking extra vitamins can be harmful if the body is unable to make use of them and is given the additional burden of having to break them down or try eliminating them from the system. Because vitamins are strong acids, an overload can lead to vitamin poisoning (vitaminosis) and thus damage the kidneys, and actually cause the same symptoms that accompany a vitamin deficiency. Instead of filling the body up with large doses of vitamins it cannot even process properly, it would be more healthful and efficient to cleanse the body from accumulated toxins, stored proteins in the blood vessel walls, and impeding gallstones from the liver. Although taking mega doses of vitamins may temporarily increase the pressure of diffusion of these nutrients for a short time and quickly relieve symptoms, the “benefits” are often short-lived. If digestive functions are impaired, taking extra vitamins may actually endanger your health.
Contrary to popular belief, vitamins do not have isolated functions, but are work as a “team” in the body. If taken in supplemental form, versus from food, may be counter productive as excess of one vitamin can have a suppressing effect on another. When isolated and extracted from foods, vitamins arouse your nervous system should you take them. Feeling stimulated, and therefore energized, you naturally assume these vitamins must be doing you good. But stimulants never give you extra energy, they force the body to spend and give up energy.
The best source of healthy vitamins is fresh fruit, vegetables, grains, legumes, nuts, seeds, etc. Fruits and vegetables also contain important health-essential nutrients known as phytochemicals –nature’s food coloring agents. They are what gives them their color. To obtain vitamin D, the best and cheapest source is sunlight. B12 is produced from microbes living in your mouth and gut.

READ MORE - Vitamin Euphoria - A Shot in the Dark

Thursday, 22 October 2009

6 Essential Keys to Choosing a Quality Medical Billing and Coding School


6 Essential Keys to Choosing a Quality Medical Billing and Coding School

Open an employment guide and you’ll probably find dozens of ads from schools offering a medical billing and coding program. So how do you know what school to attend? How do you find a quality medical billing and coding program?

Don’t make the mistake that many students have made by enrolling in a medical billing program and then dropping out several months later. Do the research to find the best medical billing and coding school in your area.

Here are 6 keys to help you find a quality medical billing and coding school:

Accredited Curriculum
Don’t visit a medical billing school unless the campus is accredited by either a regional or national accrediting agency. Regional accreditation is better than national accreditation, so find out what accrediting body monitors their curriculum and teaching standards.

And just because the campus has accreditation, make sure to investigate what type of accreditation. Some diploma mills (schools that give out diplomas and degrees for little or no training) might claim accreditation, but it’s meaningless. So do some research on what their accreditation means.

Along with accreditation, you want to make sure the medical billing school is teaching classes that will be useful to you in your career.

Extensive Hands-On Training
Hands-on training is vital for a successful career in medical billing. You need to make sure the education you receive is combined with hands-on experience practicing codes.

You want to graduate from the program with enough hands-on training that you feel confident and ready to start your career as an experienced medical biller. If they don’t offer much hands-on training, the school isn’t going to be very valuable to you. The whole point of getting trained as a medical biller is to get experience—not just book knowledge.

And if they offer hands-on training, find out how much of the program is dedicated to giving you a chance to practice what you learned. Ask how soon you’ll start getting hands-on training, and how many hours are dedicated to giving you experience.

Another crucial issue is to find out if the hands-on training includes an internship in a real medical office. Sometimes schools call these “externships.” Although internships are not vital to getting a job after graduation, it definitely will help you with hands-on training and also getting references on your resume.

Short-term Program
It’s important when finding a medical billing and coding school that they will train you quickly and efficiently. You don’t want to spend two to four years getting trained. You also don’t’ want a shot-term program that isn’t going to give you enough time to get trained. You need to find the balance.

There’s no reason why you can’t find a medical billing and coding school that can train you in less than a year. Many programs suggest you can finish in 9 months, which is wonderful. This means you’ll probably start working in less than a year.

Excited Teachers and Motivated Students
One of the best ways to find out about the quality of the medical billing school you’re considering, you should definitely talk with the students and teachers.

Walk around the school and talk with a medical billing student. Find out what he or she likes about the school. Ask him or her what it’s like being a medical assisting students. Ask about the teachers. Ask about the career placement department. Ask about the hands-on experience. The students are going to reveal a lot about the school that you can’t find anywhere else.

You also should talk with the teachers. Find out how much they love teaching and what they do to make the classes fun. Ask them what to expect as a medical billing student.

Even brief conversations with teachers and students will give you tremendous insight into that school, and will help you decide on what medical assisting school to join.

Reputable School
Does the school you’re considering have a good reputation? What do others in your community think of the school? Has the school been around awhile?

If you have time, you should call the school’s career placement department and ask for a list of employers that hire their medical billing graduates. Call the employers and find out their opinion of the graduates they’ve hired. Are they well trained? How are they perceived by others in that work environment?

School reputation isn’t everything because there are new schools offering medical assisting programs that don’t have any reputation yet. You just need to do the research to find out if you will enjoy your experience there and feel confident they will help you with your job search.

Excellent Career Placement Department
Another key to finding a great medical billing school is the quality of its career placement department. Every school should have a career services department, and you’ll want to meet with the career services director or representative to find out how many graduates they place every year. The percentage of graduates placed in jobs is vital to making a decision to attend that school.

You also should find out what types of services they will provide you as a student. For example, will they help you with your resume? Will they help you prepare for the interview? Will they find you jobs within the area? How committed will they be to help you?

Final Thoughts
When deciding on a medical billing program, the reputation of the school, career placement department, core curriculum, short-term training, and motivated staff are all keys to finding a great school.

You may not find a medical billing school in your area that has all these qualities. That’s okay. You just want to make sure that as you visit different schools that you know what to look for. These keys will help you make an educated decision that you’ll feel good about.

READ MORE - 6 Essential Keys to Choosing a Quality Medical Billing and Coding School