Testing It Up

You can get many home tests that test the state of your health. To see how well you are doing when it comes to antioxidants properties in your body, you can use a home testing kit that will give you an assessment of your antioxidant and detoxification values.

If you find that you are low in antioxidant properties in your system, you can use products such as vitamins and foods that will raise the amount of antioxidants you have in your body. Antioxidants are key to fighting disease as they keep your body healthy and boost your immune system. Testing for antioxidants to see if you are in good health is one way that you can learn if you are eating the right foods and how to improve your overall health. You can use an at home testing kit for this purpose so that you can get started on the path to good health right away.

The efforts of the American Cancer Society to get smokers to quit continue, and one of the ways through which they attempt to do this is by organizing an annual Great American Smokeout. Basically, willing participants take a break from puffing cigarettes on this particular day of the year; this year marks the 34th year that the ACS is spearheading this effort. The rationale behind it is “if you can quit for a day, you can quit for good”.

Despite these efforts, however, the number of adult smokers reportedly rose according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. According to CDC’s estimates, between 2007 and 2008, the number of adult smokers rose by 2 million. The good thing, though, is that the smoking rate among young adults – aged 18 to 24 – dropped 3.6%.

Smoking is considered as the “leading preventable cause of death”; it is being linked to a number of diseases as a risk factor. Health authorities have long campaigned against smoking and implement various programs, including controlling who are able to purchase tobacco products and implementing smoking bans.

There are a number of options available to those who are intent on kicking the habit, including patches, medication and counseling. The American Cancer Society has an interactive webpage that will help interested smokers to quit for good.

One of the key things that smokers who would like to quit may want to consider is to find a method, or a combination of methods, that are realistic and achievable and that they are comfortable with. What may work for someone may not work for another, so it is important to find out what makes sense to a person. A counselor will be able to assist in setting goals and coming up with a plan for quitting.

In a previous post, we shared that China was looking into two separate cases of two people who died after being administered with swine flu vaccine. At the global level, the World Health Organization monitored the efforts of various health officials towards investigating suspicious deaths of people who have received vaccination against H1N1 flu.

As of Thursday, 41 cases of death after inoculation have reportedly been proven to NOT being caused by the vaccine.

This further emphasizes what health authorities have been trying to say to assure people — the vaccine is safe, just as the seasonal flu vaccine is. Marie-Paule Kieny, top vaccine expert for the WHO, stated this fact in a telephone conference after saying that there has been “no new safety issue” based on the reports that have been issued.

There are, however, still investigations that are ongoing. For the time being, though, among the investigations that have been completed revealed that the causes of the deaths of these people are not related in any way to the fact that they were vaccinated and cannot be traced back to the vaccine itself.

The WHO pegs the number of vaccinations worldwide at about 65 million, spread over 16 countries; more should be added to this figure, though, as immunization is reportedly ongoing in at least 40 countries.

Eleven million of these vaccinations were done in China, the first country to start immunization programs against swine flu. As mentioned in an earlier post, two deaths have been reported, and these have been proven to be “coincidental” to the administration of the vaccine and caused by underlying medical conditions; the vaccine has already been ruled out as the cause of death. There are reportedly 15 cases of severe side effects.

The Christmas Tree being put up at the Rockefeller Center will be lit on December 2nd, signaling the start of the Christmas season, and department stores and malls all across America will definitely have a resident harbinger of joy: Santa and his happy helpers. And while they are handing out presents without expecting anything in return, they would nevertheless like to be protected from something that they might unknowingly receive – swine flu.

Jolly old Santa, his round belly and his snowy white beard, however, are not on the priority list of people who should receive swine flu shots. When we come to think of it, however, at this time of year, it does seem that Santas everywhere fit the description of someone who ought to be on the priority list — they will be exposed to and associate closely with potential swine flu carriers. This is especially true for Santas who will be volunteering to visit sick children in hospitals and health care facilities.

Also mentioned was their generous bellies, as obesity is considered as a major risk factor – except, of course, the Santa with the fake belly. Since we have not even gotten through immunizing all those who are in the priority list, we think there is no telling whether they will get their shots in time for their scheduled appearances at shopping halls.

Santas are already meeting and talking ways through which they can protect themselves, even sans vaccine. Organizations such as the Amalgamated Order of Bearded Santas and Santa America are reportedly organizing seminars and talking strategies and health guidelines, such as using hand sanitizers and ensuring that their immune systems are bolstered by taking vitamins.

Parents are also advised to be keen about the health condition of their children, and if their children are sniffling and coughing or having intermittent fevers, then it is more prudent to keep them at home. Santa could wait another day.

There has been much ado lately – and it is not about nothing. Guidelines released by the United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), considered as an “independent panel of experts,” recommended against conducting routine mammograms for women in their 40s. A quick look at news, health and cancer websites now yield all sorts of opinions for and against these new revelations. It was emphasized in some features, though, that the recommendation referred to routine procedures and not cases where women find lumps on their breasts.

What the task force does recommend is for mammograms to start at age 50 to 69, done every other year. Performing the screening procedure among women of this age group will reportedly detect almost just as many breast cancers while at the same time producing only half as many false positives.

The occurrence of false positives – and the numbers are reportedly not exactly a rarity – has long been a criticism that has been hurled against mammograms. Conducting additional and more invasive procedures that turn out to be unnecessary due to a false positive mammogram result is said to cause anxiety and depression to a woman.

Women, the group of people in question, however, will have mixed reactions to this fact; some may even rather go through that just to keep breast cancer at bay, as opposed to just sitting back and doing nothing and being caught unaware when it may be too late. We will agree, however, that having a more efficient and accurate way of detecting breast cancer should be available.

And then again there is the question of health care coverage. With the current administration’s health care reform campaign still the talk of many circles, the task force’s recommendations were seen as another way for the populace to once again be deprived of health care coverage that they should be entitled to.

Several officials and task force representatives are quick to counter, though, that the USPSTF does not have the power to deny coverage, nor are their recommendations enough basis for anyone to assume that companies can therefore deny coverage for these procedures. We certainly hope so.

So what now? Should women not quite 50 still undergo a routine mammogram or not? We are inclined to believe that our body is our own, and that it is difficult to generalize health in terms of culture, gender or age group. It will probably still be to a woman’s advantage to work closely with a physician, who should be able to recommend whether a procedure is necessary based on a patient’s specific condition, medical history and risk factors.

Those who suffer from nasal allergies and their symptoms are likely to also be experiencing a diminished sex life according to research. Why? The symptoms associated with these sort of allergies don’t exactly leave the sufferer feeling very sexy.  We know coughing, sneezing, runny nose and headaches leave us feeling terrible and out if sorts but what we may not be aware of is the fact that we’re also embarrassed by these things, causing us to avoid intimate contact even kissing.

More self-aware and self-conscious when we’re sick dealing with allergies can make us feel as if the allergies make us seem weak and unappealing or gross.  Exhaustion could also play a part in this decrease. The research was based on quality of life surveys conducted with 320 nasal allergy patients, 337 patients who suffered other nasal problems and 44 people who had no nasal health problems. Roughly 17% of those who suffered nasal allergies reported that their allergies always or almost always affect their sex lives, the largest of these three groups to report this problem.

The traditional stove style of cooking meth is gone and now it’s been replaced by a variety that is far easier to make and harder to detect than the old method. A self-contained bottle (generally an empty 2 liter soda bottle) is filled with the ingredients and then shaken not allowing the ingredients to settle out. Then the liquid is poured through a coffee filter. To make matters worse the new method and ease of use has attracted even more meth makers. Before there were usually only a few in the group who could cook the meth now many of them can do it, opening the ability of small drug producing groups to make quick efficient supply.

The drugs are also much stronger where before they had access to tabs that were 30 milligrams now they have the 24 hour 240 milligram tabs to make meth from. The risk of explosion is also less, meaning that makers can shake the product in a driving car if they’d like to. It also means that it’s easier to make up the meth outside of the home and away from their families, making for more conscientious meth labs.

There may be an answer to what is being experienced in the United States as far as supply of the swine flu vaccine is concerned, brought to us by the company Novartis.

Supply has been a rather sensitive topic since the United States officially started immunizing high priority groups, with delays being experienced in the delivery of vaccines and people – patients and health care providers alike – began to feel frustrated with the entire process.

Novartis recently announced, however, that based on the results that the company has gathered from ongoing trials, a 7.5 µg dose of Novartis’ A(H1N1) 2009 unadjuvanted vaccine was able to meet the immune response criteria set for protection of adults as well as the elderly. The dose is only half of the current 15 µg dose that is approved in the United States for adolescents, adults and the elderly.

Andrin Oswald, CEO of Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, verbalized what this may potentially mean to the United States’ immunization efforts: we may just be able to double the current vaccine supply – at least the vaccines manufactured by Novartis, which was presumably the only vaccines that the company can accurately vouch for – and inoculate more people. We wonder whether the same possibility holds true for vaccines manufactured by other companies and facilities. If so, then it means that the entire supply of swine flu vaccine doses can indeed be doubled.

There is even more potential for increasing vaccine supply when using adjuvanted vaccine – these are vaccines to which a substance that will improve immune response, which means that less vaccine may be used to achieve the desired protection – is added. For adjuvanted vaccines, even less dose is reportedly needed, at least according to the trials: 3.75 µg. The company’s flu manufacturing facility based in Liverpool, the output of which is destined exclusively for the use of the United States, can quadruple its output if the vaccines are adjuvanted.

We have mentioned this comment quite a number of times – and here we are saying it yet again — cancer can strike anyone, anywhere. It will not care about your status in life, cultural background or gender.

Yet another prominent figure recently received a cancer diagnosis. Paul Allen is a private investor and a co-founder of industry giant Microsoft. This month, Mr. Allen was reportedly diagnosed as suffering from diffuse large B-cell lymphoma. An e-mail has been sent to the employees of Mr. Allen’s investment firm, Vulcan, informing them of the diagnosis. The message reportedly came from Jody Allen, Mr. Allen’s sister as well as Chief Executive of Vulcan.

Mr. Allen, however, is no stranger to health issues. In 1983, he was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease and left Microsoft to undergo radiation therapy as well as a bone marrow transplant. He has since not gone back to being active in Microsoft’s daily operations. However, his shares of stock in the company were enough to catapult him into the 17th place among the richest men in the United States, as revealed by Forbes magazine through their annual list.

What is perhaps a promising fact despite the concerning diagnosis is that diffuse large B-cell lymphoma is considered as a relatively common form of lymphoma.

Ms. Allen did reportedly mention in her message that the news is “tough” for Mr. Allen and his family. She continues to say, though, that “Paul is feeling okay and remains upbeat,” despite the diagnosis. Allen, however, reportedly intends to continue working and retain his current role at Vulcan. Ms. Allen stressed, however, that Paul Allen’s health “comes first”.

Lupus has proven as much of a challenge for pharmaceutical companies seeking a cure as it is for those who suffer from the disease itself. Setbacks and failures have killed many of the treatment drugs seeking to aid those with lupus and until now none have made much ground. Human Genome Sciences claims to have a new drug that’s succeeded in its second trial, if that’s true then it could be the first major step to having an effective drug for Lupus treatment in nearly 40 years.

Benlysta performed well in the second trial though not as well as it had in the first making some wary but Human Genome Sciences seems confident that the effectiveness of the drug will show itself in the coming months. If all goes well Benlysta should be seeking approval in the first half of 2010.

Lupus, an autoimmune disease, is a condition in which the body’s natural protective pathogens instead begin to attack the tissues of the body. The disease can cause arthritis, mouth sores, kidney damage, and rashes among other problems. The diseases is particularly affecting because it targets women of child-bearing age.  The varying times of activity and inactivity involved with Lupus and the case by case symptoms make the disease detection difficult.

An estimates 200,000 of those affected by the disease could be looking at being candidates for the drug. Belysta works by blocking a protein that stimulates B cells, a part of the immune system that plays a part in the effects of Lupus. If the drug us proven effective many sufferers could be seeing how the drug works for themselves by the end of next year.