General Article

Surviving Critical Illness, But at What Cost?

There is a significant increase in the chance of being diagnosed with critical illnesses such as cancer, heart attack, or stroke than dying under the age of 75.

There are more than 160,000 new cancer cases, 70,000 heart attacks and 40,000 strokes in Canada every year. It is estimated that approximately 10% of the population will be diagnosed with a critical illness.

Can you afford to be very sick?

According to a study by the CBCN (Canadian Breast Cancer Network) patients with long term cancer face serious financial difficulties, leading to use of all their savings in 44% of patients and rising debt levels in 27% of cases. The study claims that unemployment insurance only covers 15 weeks of the average 38 weeks of treatment.

Most people have contracted a life insurance, yet very few think of contracting critical illness insurance. This type of insurance is an interesting protection against unexpected outcome in life. It is a form of health insurance that provides a lump-sum payment should you become seriously ill.

How does one get insured? Quite easily. It is the insured person that decides on the required amount that will be provided by the insurance company in case of critical illness. Unfortunately, a number of low cost options are offered by some financial institutions, that only cover 3 or 4 illnesses and additionally the premiums are not guaranteed. Most products offered by known insurance companies’ covers up to 24 different critical illnesses, such as cancer, heart attacks, stroke, heart surgery, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer, paralysis, loss of vision or speech, and others.

As with life insurance, critical illness is offered as renewable term, whole life, or up to 75 years of age. Premiums are guaranteed in the contract and cannot be modified.

Certain insurance companies will even refund all premiums at the end of the contract if there were no claims after 15 or 20 years, or at the age of 75.

Now, this is what I call a win-win situation. You are insured for a many years and then you get your money back, tax-free.

Other companies offer partial cancellation, where the insured keeps 50% of his insurance at half the cost and gets reimbursed for the other 50% of premium paid.

These products are truly exceptional as they are relatively new in Canada and are still offered at relatively affordable rates.…

Ask Your Doctor About Vitamin E As a Blood Thinner

There is no doubt that vitamin E can be an important part of a healthy, daily diet.

There have been many research studies that have indicated the potential of vitamin E as blood thinner. This information may have significant implications on the use of vitamin E for helping to support a healthy heart.

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin that is naturally found in nuts, oils and seeds. It is highly regarded as a natural antioxidant, although the actual metabolic function of this vitamin hasn’t been clearly determined as of date. However, there are reports of the possibility of vitamin E as blood thinner, which makes it of interest to the studies regarding healthy arteries and healthy cardiovascular circulation.

Vitamin E and Its Antioxidant Abilities

Vitamin E has been studied for its helpfulness in promoting heart health. Its anti-oxidant properties are widely publicized and they are thought to help in the potential prevention of the formation of free radicals, which can lead to health problems.

As an antioxidant, vitamin E is also known to potentially help prevent substances like cholesterol from undergoing a process called oxidation. Oxidation in bad LDL cholesterols causes them to stick to the linings of the arteries and build up, forming blockages (a condition called atherosclerosis) and clots.

Deposition of oxidized cholesterol and fat onto the arterial walls can cause the blood vessels to narrow down preventing the normal flow of blood. Other substances like calcium and fibrin can also deposit onto the walls, which may result in the hardening of the arteries. When a blood clot occurs in the blocked area, flow of blood may be stopped, which could lead to a heart attack.

Vitamin E as a Blood Thinner

Vitamin E is also thought to have some natural anti-coagulant properties – which means that it may help to thin out the blood. The hope is that this blood thinning potential might help to keep blood thin so it can freely flow in the blood vessels, even in areas where minor arterial narrowing has occurred due to plaque build-up. Moreover, with vitamin E, substances dissolved in the blood might become more mobile so they could be less likely to stick to arterial walls.

Blood Thinning Isn’t Always Ideal

Note though that blood coagulation should only fall within a definite, reasonable range. Blood thinning is ideal to a certain extent but when the clotting ability of the blood is reduced to a minimum level, excessive bleeding (nosebleeds), bleeding strokes, hemorrhages, hematuria (blood in the urine), and heavy menstrual periods in women may occur. Remember that blood clotting is a very important function of the cardiovascular system as it helps prevent too much blood loss when cuts and wounds happen.

The role of Vitamin E as potential blood thinner has two sides. On one side, vitamin E might help promote cardiovascular health and support the reduced risk for heart diseases. On another, care must be taken to …

Canine Heat Stress

It is very important that you pay attention to your dog in the hot months. I know from experience that dogs being field tested during the summer months occasionally slow down and if you are not aware what is happening, you may cause the dog irreparable harm or even death. One of my friends had that happen to her Springer Spaniel. This dog was an eager retriever that loved to fetch tennis balls. You could throw the tennis ball, as far into the woods as possible and the dog would bring it back within minutes and drop it at your feet. You could literally keep throwing the ball until your arm got tired. If you feinted as if you were throwing the ball into the woods towards east, the dog would charge into the woods while you threw the ball unseen by the dog into the woods towards west. The dog would search and search and even if it took the dog 45 minutes, she would eventually come back with the ball, because she trusted you that the ball was somewhere and she wanted to bring it back. Her owner did a lot of retrieving with the dog, and one summer when the temperatures were about 95 degrees F and the relative humidity at 90%, she took the dog for its normal run and threw balls for the dog and kept doing it until the dog collapsed. The dog got its leg caught on a ground vine, flipped over and never stood up again. The owner thought that the dog had broken her neck and since she couldn’t carry it out of the woods, she came to get Vibeke and me and we brought a spade with us and buried the dog in the woods where she had loved to run. She had clearly died of heat stroke, but we never had the heart to tell our friend the real reason the dog died.

Canine Heat Stress – Prevention

Although any dog may suffer from heat stress, certain dogs are more vulnerable. They include puppies and geriatric dogs. Overweight dogs are especially susceptible because the fat insulation reduces the dog’s ability to radiate heat. Dogs with a history of heat stress are short-nosed breeds like bulldogs and pugs, which normally have difficulty breathing and panting, but as the saying goes: “It can happen to you” – so look out. Dogs with cardiovascular or respiratory disorders may be more easily affected than other breeds. Some basic guidelines:

1. Never leave a dog in a closed automobile, an unventilated garage or other enclosure for any length of time in hot weather.

2. Kennels should have adequate ventilation to provide adequate air circulation in summer months.

3. When dogs are outdoors, some type of shade cover should be provided.

4. Avoid excessive exercise during hot weather.

5. Keep plenty of fresh drinking water available at all times for dogs.

Canine Heat Stress – Treatment

In heat stroke cases, high fever …

Should You Consider a Sugar Free Life Style? Part I

If you have a sweet tooth, a sugar free life style simple doesn’t make sense or does it? For you it makes the best sense. Perhaps the biggest reason to consider a shift in eating would be for your good health and to fight chronic health diseases, i.e. heart attack, stroke and diabetes. Although sweets add great taste and zest to your life, the empty calories are slowly killing you.

When you consider a sugar free life style, you come one step closer to becoming the best you that you can be. Why? By eliminating sugar and foods that become sugar in your gastrointestinal tract (GI tract), you will begin to feel like your old self within a matter of weeks. A brand new you will emerge. Most people feel bad daily without really knowing the cause. Most often, you feel bad because of your eating habits.

So it becomes pretty simple, change your eating habits and change the way you feel! Your decision to go sugar free can’t be just an “I’ll try it to see if it works” decision. To change your eating habits to a sugar free dietary program will require a quality decision on your part. You will need to determine if the change is right for you. Do research, read everything you can find about the benefits and then make your decision-one way or the other.

Your sugar free lifestyle, coupled with a daily caloric intake, will help you lose weight. America is overweight! Obesity has reared its ugly head even among middle school aged youngsters. Recent research has confirmed a direct correlation between the size of your waist to chronic heart diseases. Men with a waist size of larger than 39″ is at risk for heart disease and diabetes even more so than those with smaller waist sizes. So a really sensible plan in addition to a sugar free life style is a lower caloric intake. Part II of this article will discuss the daily caloric intake and how to determine the teaspoons (tps) of sugar you can consume each day.

When you consume more calories than you burn with your daily activities, your body stores these calories as fat. So the ideal situation is to burn all the calories you consume. A sugar free lifestyle goes hand in hand with a good daily exercise plan. Before you begin an exercise program, consult your physician to be sure you are healthy enough to exercise. The exercise and daily calorie plan will be discussed in a Part II article.

Yes, you should consider a sugar free life style. It will take some planning, you will need to be devoted to your plan but above all you will need to make a quality decision to stick with your sugar free life style plan. Maybe it is not too late to reverse the damage already done to your body. You may be able to get off some …

Does Your Diet Need a Potassium Make-Over?

As both a dietitian counseling private patients and a college level nutrition course instructor, I have become concerned that both my patients and students consistently have difficulty consuming enough dietary potassium. Given that the daily dietary recommendation for North Americans is 4700 mg., it’s not that surprising that people fall short of meeting their potassium requirements. Although many health care providers think it is an easy process to eat this much potassium on a daily basis, Americans eat too few servings of unprocessed foods which leads to this problem. Additionally, as chronic dieters edit out calories to lose weight, they may also be editing out potassium rich foods in the process. With that stated, consuming enough potassium does not have to be as difficult as one would think. The key is knowing the best food sources of potassium, and making sure these foods are consumed on a regular basis.

Why is potassium so important for our health and well-being? Potassium is necessary for healthy nerve and heart function. Evidence also suggests that diets low in sodium and ample in potassium seem to prevent or correct some types of high blood pressure and lessen the likelihood of stroke.

With these health benefits in mind, it is crucial to know how we can increase our dietary intake of potassium. Potassium comes mainly from unprocessed foods, like fruit and vegetables- something that all Americans need to incorporate more regularly in their diets. Consider the following options when specifically trying to target your levels of potassium intake:

-1/2 cup navy beans, lima beans, and soybeans all have about 450 mg.

-1 cup cooked spinach has 466 mg.

-1 small can low sodium V-8 juice has 700 mg.

-6 prunes have about 290 mg.

-1 cup orange juice has about 500 mg.

-1 cup of skim milk has about 400 mg.

-1 banana has 420 mg.

-1/2 cup uncooked oatmeal has about 335 mg.

-3 oz. salmon has about 380 mg.

-3 oz. chicken or beef has about 290 mg.

-1/2 cup cooked carrots has about 185 mg.

-1 cup of honeydew melon and cantaloupe have about 400 mg.

-1/3 avocado has about 360 mg.

-6-oz. baked potato has about 850 mg.

-1/2 cup sweet potato has about 400 mg.

-1/2 cup sliced strawberries have about 250 mg.

The beauty of this list? These potassium rich fruits and vegetables are also the foods with high levels of cancer-fighting antioxidants, and the foods least likely to add pounds to your waistline! Yet one more reason to make sure you get five or more servings of fruits and veggies per day. Bon appetit.…

Recognizing the Signs of a Stroke

A stroke occurs when a blood vessel within the brain is blocked or ruptures. When a stroke occurs the parts of the brain that are deprived of oxygen start to die. The parts of the body that are controlled by the damaged part of the brain do not function properly. Recognizing the symptoms of a stroke and getting medical treatment quickly can help limit the damage and increase the chance of recovery.

There are two types of strokes, ischemic and hemorrhagic. An ischemic stroke occurs when a blood clot blocks a blood vessel in the brain. The clot may have traveled to the brain from another part of the body, or the vessel itself may be clogged due to a buildup of fatty deposits. Ischemic strokes are the most common type of strokes. A hemorrhagic stroke occurs when an artery in the brain leaks or bursts, causing bleeding in the brain. The artery may have become weakened due to an aneurysm or other disorder affecting the blood vessels. This is a less common type of stroke, but is more difficult to treat and more deadly.

Recognizing the signs of a stroke and getting prompt medical treatment are essential to the person’s chance of recovery. The following list of symptoms indicates that a stroke may be occurring.

A� Sudden numbness, tingling, weakness, or paralysis on one side of the body

A� Sudden trouble speaking

A� Sudden vision changes

A� Sudden problems with walking or balance

A� Sudden confusion or difficulty understanding simple statements

A� Sudden severe headache that is different from past headaches

According to the National Stroke Association, an easy way to evaluate for stroke is to remember the acronym FAST.

A� F- (Face) Ask the person to smile. Does one side of the face droop?

A� A- (Arms) Ask the person to raise both arms. Does one arm drift downward?

A� S- (Speech) Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase. Is their speech slurred or strange?

A� T- (Time) If you observe any of these signs, call 9-1-1 immediately. Note the time you experienced the first symptoms.

A stroke is a medical emergency. Seek medical help immediately. Do not wait to see if symptoms go away. Every minute counts. If treated quickly, there are medications that can help the stroke patient have a better recovery.…

Treadmills and Stroke Recovery

The treadmill has long been recognized as an important tool of the medical profession. As far back as the mid-1960s the treadmill was used as a diagnostic tool for pulmonary and cardiac diseases. It was around this time that it also came to be recognized as a beneficial tool for improving health and losing weight.

Treadmills Study With Stroke Victims

In recent years, research has produced some interesting and notable facts. Among these is the discovery that even several years after a stroke, using a treadmill can dramatically reduce symptoms of stroke damage, and result in improvements in mobility and general health. This is from a study conducted at John Hopkins University in 2008. The importance of this should be clear to everyone. It is never too late to repair stroke damage and reverse the effects of a stroke, and a treadmill can be used as a key tool in that recovery.

Improvement Still Possible Years Later

The study focused specifically on the use of a treadmill to “rewire” the patient’s brain and clearly demonstrated that the possibility of success with a treadmill is still there even years after the occurrence of the stroke.

There were seventy-one individuals used in the study, all of whom had a stroke at least six months before the beginning of the study. Among the seventy-one participants, the average time since the stroke was close to four years. Prior to the study, about thirty-five of the patients were able to walk without assistance, and the remainder needed help ranging from a cane to a wheelchair.

In the course of the study, half of the participants worked out for about forty minutes, three times every week. The others did stretching exercises for the same length of time and for the same number of days.

The Results

When all of them were retested after six months, the walking speed for the group which had worked out on the treadmill had increased over fifty percent, whereas the stretching group saw only an eleven percent improvement.

More interesting than the improvements in walking speed, were the results of the brain scans conducted before and after. There were no registered differences in the brain scans of the stretchers, but the treadmill exercisers showed significantly increased activity in the area of the brain that regulates ambulation.

This is important to point out because it demonstrates that the improvements that resulted from the treadmill workouts were due to changes in the brain rather than to the mere response of muscles to exercise.

Conclusion

For decades, stroke victims have been told that after a certain amount of time they simply have to live with their stroke-induced handicaps. This research clearly demonstrates that with the use of a treadmill they can continue to improve and heal.…

Steps of Rehabilitation – The Process of Recovering From a Stroke

Recovering from a stroke varies greatly upon the individual, type of stroke, and the severity of the damage it has caused to the brain. For many patients this is typically a long process and involves many different forms of treatment including rehabilitation.

While some individuals may experience a certain degree of spontaneous recovery, others will need a great deal of therapy to regain the abilities that they have lost and the type of rehabilitation varies depending upon the area of the brain that was damaged and the severity.

The First Steps of Rehabilitation

After the patient has been treated for the immediate medical concerns following a stroke and examined for any other underlying medical conditions and the severity of the damage has been determined, the first step for treatment is typically to have the patient get out of bed as soon as possible and begin moving around and performing everyday self-care tasks such as eating.

The next step involves deciding upon the type of rehabilitation program. While some patients may not require rehabilitation due to a full recovery and others may have disabilities that are too severe for rehabilitation, many individuals benefit significantly from rehabilitation programs specifically designed for stroke patients.

Types of Rehabilitation Programs

There are several types of rehabilitation programs including those that are done within the hospital. Hospital rehabilitation programs typically provide full rehabilitation services while the patient remains in the hospital and is performed by an organized team that specializes in rehabilitation therapy.

This type of therapy is typically more intense than other forms of therapy and generally requires a great amount of effort on the part of the patient. Many nursing homes or nursing facilities also provide rehabilitation programs for stroke patients who stay in the facility, however, these types of programs vary greatly from one facility to another with some providing full rehabilitation programs while others only provide a limited amount of services.

There are many types of outpatient rehabilitation programs where the patient can remain at home while receiving rehabilitation therapy by visiting a hospital outpatient facility through scheduled appointments. In home rehabilitation services are also available in which a therapist visits the patient’s home.

This type of rehabilitation can be particularly beneficial for some patients as they are able to regain the skills normally used in their own home. There are also many types of specific therapy such as speech therapy that can be obtained on an outpatient basis or within the home.

The process of recovering from a stroke also involves the support of friends and family members as well as certain modifications that can be made to the home for mobility and safety precautions. Medical professionals that specialize in the treatment of stroke patients can advise the patient and family members in the best way to optimize the home based upon the specific needs of the individual.…

How Vital is Your Eye Line to Your Golf Putting Setup?

If you are looking to improve your golf putting by becoming a more efficient and consistent putter, then one golf putting setup fundamental that you certainly want to get right is to learn where your eye line needs to be.

This golf putting setup fundamental is not really up for debate! It is the most crucial elements of the putting setup and will basically determine how successful your putting performance will be.

So take a moment to follow the advice below and take your golf putting game to the next level!

Where should you Eye Line be?

Your eyes needs to be directly overlooking the golf ball or at worst directly behind it. An easy way to test that your eyes are lined up in the correct position is to place another ball between your eyes and allow it to drop. If it lands on top of the ball you are about to putt, then your eye line is correct.

Why is eye line so important?

Having your eyes directly over the ball is vital because it puts you in the best position to look straight down the target line, this with help you to consistently keep your putting stroke on the correct path straight back and straight through to the target line (the imaginary line from the target to and through the ball).

Staying on path will ensure that your putting stroke is accurate and consistent. If you eye line is inside the target line then your putting stroke will tend to go to far inside on the backswing and you will find that you push a lot of putts. On the other hand if your eye line is outside the target line your putting stroke will tend to go too far outside the line on the backswing and you will find that you pull a lot of putts.…

Golf Putting Rules – Top 3 Rules On The Putting Green

In addition to the general rules of golf there are also some specific golf putting rules which must be adhered to when on the putting green. This article highlights what I believe to be the 3 most important rules of golf on the putting green to be aware of.

Top 3 Golf Putting Rules:

1) Lifting the Ball – unlike any other area on the golf course, when you are on the putting green you are entitled to pick your ball up and clean it if you wish, as long as the position of the ball is marked with either a coin or ball marker and replaced in the same spot.

It is important to know that if you accidentally move your ball when marking or replacing it, there is no penalty incurred, you simply have to return the ball to its original spot.

2) Line of Putt – this is the intended line that the player wishes his ball to travel along once he has made the putting stroke and includes a reasonable distance either side of this intended line, but does not extend beyond the hole.

This line of putt cannot be touched unless you are either removing any loose impediments, marking or replacing your ball, repairing old plug holes or ball marks on the putting surface or addressing the ball with your putter. Pressing spike marks down or any other scuffs to improve the surface condition will result in a penalty shot.

3) Testing the Surface – whilst you are playing the hole you are not allowed to test the surface of the putting green by rolling the ball, scraping or roughening up the surface or any other form of testing. Once the hole has been completed you are allowed to have a few practice putts on that putting green, unless the committee has stated otherwise.…