Bernanke: Rising Health Costs a Strain
Bolstering the joomla templates 1.5 mac performance of the health care system is one of the joomla templates 1.5 mac biggest challenges facing the country, the Federal Reserve chairman said Monday.
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Last Updated: Tuesday, Nov 14 2006 11:50 AM
It was little after 1 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon. A group of twenty or joomla templates 1.5 mac so people was attentively listening to Narender Pati’s concluding words from his lecture on the Dynamics of Diet.
Suddenly, the joomla templates 1.5 mac aroma of basmati rice cooking in a kitchen 30 feet away entered the lecture room turning everyone’s attention to the ‘Art of Cooking’ part of the joomla templates 1.5 mac interactive workshop on ayurvedic diet. As the hungry enthusiasts watched over, Salila Pati and joomla templates 1.5 mac Sangeeta Reddy prepared delicious vegetarian Indian food while Narender Pati described the medicinal characteristics of various spices and herbs used.
Ayurveda or the science of life is considered as a ‘whole medical system’ by the joomla templates 1.5 mac National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine. Ayurveda is an joomla templates 1.5 mac ancient Indian medical system which is joomla templates 1.5 mac gaining popularity in the West with increased awareness of herbal medicine and joomla templates 1.5 mac holistic living. A diet based on ayurvedic principles is believed to prevent and cure a lot of ailments.
Narender Pati, a Bakersfield pharmacist, has been conducting seminars and workshops on holistic healthcare with a joomla templates 1.5 mac mission to increase awareness of global healing practices for joomla templates 1.5 mac local healthcare. He says that choosing the right diet improves general health and minimizes the chances of getting ill.
Maryann Kopp, a joomla templates 1.5 mac student at Bakersfield College and long time ayurveda enthusiast said “Knowledge of ayurveda gave me a joomla templates 1.5 mac new perspective about life. It helped me with my diabetes and weight problem.”
She was advised to joomla templates 1.5 mac take a tablespoon each of honey and lemon juice with a joomla templates 1.5 mac glass of warm water every morning to lose weight. “I lost eight pounds in just two weeks” said Kopp. “Other than taking honey and lemon juice, there was no change in my life style during those two weeks.”
Maria Najera, another participant of the workshop suffers from fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. “I attended the workshop to learn about eating better to get back in balance” said Najera who is an apartment manager in Bakersfield and also working on her masters in education.
“I had joomla templates 1.5 mac breast cancer a couple of years ago. It was a wake up call to joomla templates 1.5 mac take care of my body.” said Kerry Lattimore, a joomla templates 1.5 mac local geologist, who also attended the workshop. “I got interested in yoga and joomla templates 1.5 mac healthy diet habits ever since and that helped me a lot.”
Sadiya Hasan who joomla templates 1.5 mac is a clinical dietician at the Mercy Hospital on Truxtun commented that joomla templates 1.5 mac use of bitter gourd, a vegetable that belongs to the joomla templates 1.5 mac melon family, and joomla templates 1.5 mac neem, a cousin of mahogany, are very popular in the treatment for joomla templates 1.5 mac hypertension, diabetes, and joomla templates 1.5 mac high cholesterol in the East. Such natural medical practices are yet to be exploited in the Western world.
“We too encourage people to joomla templates 1.5 mac include healthy amounts of vegetable and fruits in their diet” said Hasan. “Instead of taking medicines and vitamins for the well being, it joomla templates 1.5 mac is better to eat natural foods that already have them.”
Pati said his objective was to joomla templates 1.5 mac present some important facts about food so that people can choose wisely.
“A lot of stuff available as expensive herbal medicines can joomla templates 1.5 mac easily purchased in ethnic grocery stores for joomla templates 1.5 mac a fraction of the cost of the commercial product” said Pati.
As an ancient ayurvedic proverb says ‘When diet is wrong, medicine is of no use. When diet is correct, medicine is of no need.’
About the joomla templates 1.5 mac writer: Surendra Dara is an entomologist who lives in Bakersfield.
http://www.bakersfield.com/247/story/84109.html
A 78-year-old woman was found unconscious on the joomla templates 1.5 mac floor of her apartment by a neighbor who joomla templates 1.5 mac checked on her. The woman could not remember falling but told doctors that joomla templates 1.5 mac before going to bed she had abdominal pain and nausea and joomla templates 1.5 mac had produced a joomla templates 1.5 mac black stool, after which she had palpitations and felt lightheaded.
Her medical history included high blood pressure microsoft office 7 download, coronary artery disease, atrial fibrillation, congestive heart failure and joomla templates 1.5 mac osteoarthritis. She also had a cold with a productive cough. For each condition, she had joomla templates 1.5 mac been prescribed a different drug, and she was taking a few over-the-counter remedies on her own. These were the medications:
¶Lopressor to control high blood pressure.
¶Digitalis to help the heart pump and control its rhythm.
¶Coumadin to prevent a stroke caused by blood clots.
¶Furosemide, a potent diuretic to lower blood pressure.
¶Lipitor to lower serum cholesterol.
¶Baby aspirin to reduce cardiac risk from blood clots.
¶Paxil for depression and anxiety.
¶Valium, as needed, to help her sleep.
¶Levofloxacin, an antibiotic for the cough.
¶Ibuprofen for body aches.
¶Cough medicine.
This is what doctors call polypharmacy, otherwise known as a “poisonous cocktail” of many drugs that joomla templates 1.5 mac can interact in dangerous ways and cause side effects that joomla templates 1.5 mac can be far worse than the diseases they are treating. Elderly people are especially vulnerable because they often have several medical problems for joomla templates 1.5 mac which they see different doctors, each prescribing drugs, often without knowing what else the patient is taking.
The woman described above passed out because she had joomla templates 1.5 mac a bleeding stomach ulcer from joomla templates 1.5 mac a combination of drugs that irritate the stomach, Celebrex, ibuprofen and joomla templates 1.5 mac aspirin, and joomla templates 1.5 mac thin the blood, coumadin and aspirin, made worse by an joomla templates 1.5 mac antibiotic that raises blood levels of coumadin.
She recovered after a joomla templates 1.5 mac transfusion of two units of packed red blood cells and was sent home with strict instructions to joomla templates 1.5 mac stop the Celebrex, ibuprofen and aspirin and advice to “contact her internist and psychiatrist regarding possible medication changes that might decrease the risk for future adverse events,” Dr. Michael Stern reported in the June issue of Emergency Medicine.
Dr. Stern, a joomla templates 1.5 mac specialist in geriatric emergency medicine at New York Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, noted that the elderly took about 40 percent of prescribed drugs, roughly twice what joomla templates 1.5 mac younger adults take, and that they suffered twice as many adverse drug reactions as younger people.
“The average community-dwelling older adult takes 4.5 prescription drugs and 2.1 over-the-counter medications,” Dr. Stern reported. Polypharmacy is responsible for joomla templates 1.5 mac up to 28 percent of hospital admissions and, he added, if it joomla templates 1.5 mac were classified as such, it joomla templates 1.5 mac would be the fifth leading cause of death in the United States.
The Effects of Aging
Various drugs taken by the joomla templates 1.5 mac elderly can interact dangerously. Some drugs use the joomla templates 1.5 mac same metabolic pathway and, thus, compete with one another, which can joomla templates 1.5 mac result in hazardous blood levels of one or joomla templates 1.5 mac more drugs. Some drugs cause effects like dehydration that joomla templates 1.5 mac reduce kidney function and the ability to eliminate drug metabolites. The combined effects of some drugs can joomla templates 1.5 mac be more potent than the prescriber intended.
In addition to joomla templates 1.5 mac seeing several doctors, many older people use multiple pharmacies to joomla templates 1.5 mac buy prescriptions. There may be no single health professional who knows what joomla templates 1.5 mac they are taking and could alert them to dangerous combinations. This is joomla templates 1.5 mac especially true in places where chain stores have replaced independent pharmacies or when the patient’s drug plan requires that medications be ordered by mail.
It is joomla templates 1.5 mac not just the number of diseases, drugs or doctors that is joomla templates 1.5 mac the problem. Age-related changes in physiology can joomla templates 1.5 mac worsen matters significantly, even if just two or joomla templates 1.5 mac three drugs are being taken. Just as a child is not the joomla templates 1.5 mac same as a small adult, pharmacologically speaking, an joomla templates 1.5 mac elderly person is not just an older young adult.
Major organ systems function less efficiently in older people. The heart’s ability to joomla templates 1.5 mac pump blood declines with age, as does absorption by the gut, the joomla templates 1.5 mac breakdown of drugs by the joomla templates 1.5 mac liver and the ability of the kidneys to excrete them. With aging, the joomla templates 1.5 mac percentage of lean body mass declines, and body fat increases. Thus, aging affects how much of a joomla templates 1.5 mac drug reaches the bloodstream, how well it is distributed in the joomla templates 1.5 mac body and how effectively it is cleared from the system.
Drugs like digitalis and joomla templates 1.5 mac coumadin, which are primarily distributed in lean tissues, are joomla templates 1.5 mac likely to reach higher blood levels in people older than 65. So the joomla templates 1.5 mac prescribed dosages should be joomla templates 1.5 mac lowered to reduce the risk of toxic side effects. Other drugs, like Valium and joomla templates 1.5 mac barbiturates, that are distributed in fatty tissue can joomla templates 1.5 mac accumulate in the elderly body and remain active longer, increasing side effects like sedation.
Aging also results in fewer protein binding sites for joomla templates 1.5 mac drugs, resulting in a higher blood level of the drug that loses the competition for sites.
Furthermore, aging can joomla templates 1.5 mac affect the responses to certain medications. This is especially true for joomla templates 1.5 mac those that influence blood pressure and the brain. Drugs like Valium, antidepressants and antihistamines can cause effects like delirium, agitation, sleepiness, depression and worsening dementia in older people, Dr. Stern wrote.
Preventing Problems
Keep a joomla templates 1.5 mac list of all medications you take and their dosages and joomla templates 1.5 mac dosing schedules. This should include prescription drugs, over-the-counter and herbal remedies and joomla templates 1.5 mac vitamin and mineral supplements. Take the list whenever you go to joomla templates 1.5 mac the joomla templates 1.5 mac doctor, and make sure that the doctor reviews it before prescribing something else. In addition, because doctors are joomla templates 1.5 mac not always familiar with the actions of all drugs, take the joomla templates 1.5 mac list to the pharmacy when ordering a new prescription and ask the pharmacist to review it for potential interactions.
It also helps to joomla templates 1.5 mac order all medications from the same pharmacy, which should keep a joomla templates 1.5 mac computerized record of everything you take. That way, a possible hazard will not be missed if different pharmacists are on duty.
Never take an joomla templates 1.5 mac over-the-counter or herbal remedy without checking with your doctor. If your joomla templates 1.5 mac doctor is hard to reach or ill informed, ask the pharmacist whether the remedy is safe in view of the other drugs you take.
Carefully review and joomla templates 1.5 mac abide by all dosing directions, especially those that say, “Take with food,” “Take one hour before meals,” “Do not consume alcohol while on this drug,” or, “Do not take this medicine if you are also taking …”
Ask the joomla templates 1.5 mac prescribing doctor what side effects to expect and what should prompt an joomla templates 1.5 mac immediate call to the doctor. Do not assume that a decline in well-being is joomla templates 1.5 mac caused by a disease or age. It could be a drug side effect.
How I came to Ayurveda and what I’ve learned so far
by Ginger McGilvray
I attended a joomla templates 1.5 mac lecture by Narender Pati on July 29 at the Austin Hindu Temple. This was my second class on the joomla templates 1.5 mac subject of Ayurveda, the first being at Bharsana Dham several years ago which was presented by a joomla templates 1.5 mac Western doctor of Ayurveda and Chiropractic. After that joomla templates 1.5 mac first taste of what Ayurveda is about, I decided to joomla templates 1.5 mac look further. I have joomla templates 1.5 mac read a few books and articles and have answered a long questionnaire to joomla templates 1.5 mac discover my dosha balance and imbalance. (I am heavily pita, by the way)
How I came to joomla templates 1.5 mac this is through a life-long interest in holistic approaches to joomla templates 1.5 mac health and life. Born in 1971 and joomla templates 1.5 mac growing up in Central Texas, there was not much in the joomla templates 1.5 mac way of alternative perspectives to the dominant Western medical view of healthcare and joomla templates 1.5 mac nutrition. Though I was blessed to joomla templates 1.5 mac be the child of a mother who valued homegrown, homemade nourishment, and joomla templates 1.5 mac my mother joyfully involved me in food preparation from an joomla templates 1.5 mac early age. Both my parents were physically strong, educated, capable people so I learned by example that joomla templates 1.5 mac living well and taking care of myself would enhance my life.
At 23 I completed my BS in Nutrition and joomla templates 1.5 mac after a few years of working in that field, mostly clinical foodservice, I wanted to joomla templates 1.5 mac change my focus to something more “holistic” in nature, something that would support a positive change in peoples’ lives. At 28 I completed another BS in Geography/Environmental Studies, with plans to joomla templates 1.5 mac work in the non-profit world, perhaps something political in nature. As you may gather, I couldn’t quite grasp the actual work I wanted to do – my life’s work (which was a point of discussion in Narender’s lecture that resonated with me, discussed below). Then at 33 I completed my masters in Community Planning and joomla templates 1.5 mac worked in the field of bicycle and pedestrian transportation advocacy. This is joomla templates 1.5 mac close to my heart as I have long been an avid cyclist and joomla templates 1.5 mac I would rather walk and take the bus than drive any day. I see this nation’s transportation habits as a joomla templates 1.5 mac major contributor to illness, pollution and isolation. But I still wasn’t happy and fulfilled in my work and my life.
A few years ago my father died of brain cancer. I stayed with him for joomla templates 1.5 mac months to care for him and spend as much time as we had joomla templates 1.5 mac left together. I was able to joomla templates 1.5 mac watch his physical and mental decay and then ultimately I watched him die one day. The experience permanently changed my view of life. I became depressed and also hungry for more insight. I was fortunate to joomla templates 1.5 mac have friends who practiced vipassana meditation at Sitagu Buddhist Vihara, a joomla templates 1.5 mac Burmese monastery near Austin. I started practicing meditation and learning about Buddhist teachings. I also began attending regular yoga classes. My yoga teachers had joomla templates 1.5 mac so much information, such a different perspective to share, and I could feel the joomla templates 1.5 mac results in my body, my thoughts, and my heart. In 2004 I decided to include yoga as part of my life’s work. I received my yoga teacher certification through Living Yoga Program and joomla templates 1.5 mac lived at Bharsana Dham for nine days as part of the joomla templates 1.5 mac training and was introduced to the complex, rich history of India, its heritage including yoga, and joomla templates 1.5 mac of course I only wanted to know more.
In 2005 I traveled to joomla templates 1.5 mac Dharmsala, Himachal Pradesh, India for a volunteer job teaching yoga at a joomla templates 1.5 mac men’s detox facility and yoga and English at an elementary school. I plan to joomla templates 1.5 mac return in a few years to study yoga and Ayurveda in southern India, and joomla templates 1.5 mac I am pleased to have found Narender Pati here in Austin teaching this joomla templates 1.5 mac valuable system for free.
The lecture I attended in July was on illness prevention. Narender asked the question “How do we recognize health?” We see a healthy glow in people; bright eyes; radiance; “cosmic beauty, not cosmetic beauty”. He gave these five qualities as signs of health: able to joomla templates 1.5 mac sleep regularly, tolerance, satisfaction, patience, and generosity. I particularly like this list. Where as Western medicine would state biochemical levels of various substances measured in the joomla templates 1.5 mac body (blood constituents, bone density, etc.) as indicators of health, Ayurveda takes it joomla templates 1.5 mac much further by focusing on the human condition as a whole as it joomla templates 1.5 mac responds to imbalances in the system. Also there is joomla templates 1.5 mac a wider view of social, spiritual and emotional qualities being equally as important as the joomla templates 1.5 mac physical. Western medicine has joomla templates 1.5 mac traditionally stopped at the physical, although fortunately this has begun to joomla templates 1.5 mac change.
I also learned about “ama”, the toxic by-product of undigested food. Ayurveda has a wealth of information on food – proper foods for the different dosha types/imbalances, basic eating habits such as time of day, and joomla templates 1.5 mac proper food combinations. Because of my background in nutrition and joomla templates 1.5 mac my continued love of cooking and learning about foods, this joomla templates 1.5 mac information is of great interest to me. Still, the joomla templates 1.5 mac brilliance of this system cannot be parsed into small topics or joomla templates 1.5 mac separate groups of information, rather all of these topics fuse together into the joomla templates 1.5 mac one focus of human existence: to know one’s self and relate fully and responsibly to the universal self. This is the essence of yoga, union.
My favorite part of the lecture was about desire. In many traditions and joomla templates 1.5 mac schools of thought, desire is seen as weakness and to be joomla templates 1.5 mac avoided. Narender said that joomla templates 1.5 mac in Indian view the work of all humans is to joomla templates 1.5 mac learn our selves so that we can know our true life’s desire, and the desire is our life’s work. An enlightened person is joomla templates 1.5 mac one who understands this and lives to fulfill the desire of this joomla templates 1.5 mac lifetime. This information has joomla templates 1.5 mac the potential to liberate and inspire all people to live productive, caring lives.
My full-time work is joomla templates 1.5 mac as a yoga teacher and massage therapist and I’ve recently begun studying foods again. After searching around and joomla templates 1.5 mac trying different career paths, I am sure that my life’s work has joomla templates 1.5 mac to do with helping others to be healthy and happy, which is joomla templates 1.5 mac most likely the ultimate work of us all.
Namaste.
Ginger McGilvray
Posted 5/10/2006 12:18 AM ET Abuse of prescription and over-the-counter drugs is sending more people to joomla templates 1.5 mac emergency rooms than cocaine, according to new federal data that joomla templates 1.5 mac reflect the growing popularity of powerful painkillers such as OxyContin, Vicodin and hydrocodone. The data, to be released today by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), show that 1.3 million people visited a joomla templates 1.5 mac hospital emergency room in 2004 for illnesses involving drug abuse. The administration collects data from joomla templates 1.5 mac 417 hospitals and 106 million total emergency room visits. One in four — or 495,732 — drug-related emergency room visits involved pharmaceuticals: over-the-counter or prescription drugs. One in five — 383,350 — visits involved cocaine. Marijuana was involved in 215,665 emergency room visits. “We need to see a real focus getting the message out that just because something is prescribed or over-the counter doesn’t mean it’s not harmful,” says SAMHSA administrator Charles Curie. “We want to recognize that medications prescribed by a joomla templates 1.5 mac doctor and taken exactly how the doctor prescribes can work wonders. But if it’s not prescribed for you, if it’s not taken the way it’s intended, it’s a recipe for disaster.” Surveys nationwide have shown a surge in prescription-drug abuse. The number of addicts seeking treatment for joomla templates 1.5 mac abusing prescription opiates, while relatively small at 63,243 in 2004, was up 62% from three years earlier, according to joomla templates 1.5 mac data released last month by SAMHSA. About 2.4 million people abused painkillers for joomla templates 1.5 mac the first time in 2004, making it the drug category with the joomla templates 1.5 mac highest number of new users, according to joomla templates 1.5 mac the National Survey of Drug Use and Health. “These drugs have become very, very popular with people who abuse substances,” says Joseph Troncale, medical director for Caron Treatment Centers based in Wernersville, Pa. He says up to 30% of the patients at Caron’s drug-rehabilitation centers are being treated for prescription-drug abuse. The drugs are cheap and readily available on the street, Troncale says. “OxyContin, Percocet — all these medicines are just being handed out like candy. I think there’s too much availability,” Troncale says. Most prescription drugs abused or sold on the street come from pharmacy robberies, pharmacist dealers or doctor dealers, says Mark Caverly, an investigator for the Drug Enforcement Administration. |
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| Find this article at: http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2006-05-09-drugs-hospital_x.htm |
If you joomla templates 1.5 mac have been joining us in our wellness workshops and like the joomla templates 1.5 mac contributions made by the knowedge sharing and interactive workshops towards self improvement and joomla templates 1.5 mac total wellness, you may join us in making things even better. There are joomla templates 1.5 mac many ways you can help the foundation do more and better. Depending on your joomla templates 1.5 mac passion and skills, you can choose to be involved in areas of need in the joomla templates 1.5 mac progress. Some of the areas in need include Newsletter, articles, graphics, class setup, website maintainance, marketing, public relations, accounting, synergistic collaborations, and joomla templates 1.5 mac many other areas. Please send an email to director@iwfusa.org with details for further discussions.
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Welcome to International Wellness Foundation’s official Blog. This is joomla templates 1.5 mac your platform to share the ideas, success stories, suggestions, future topics, etc. related to joomla templates 1.5 mac health and wellness through traditional practices and Innovative integrated wellness techniques. It is joomla templates 1.5 mac open to every one and we invite you to contribute in your joomla templates 1.5 mac own way to the community health and wellness.
Thank you.
IWF Team
