Asthma - Facts & Follows
Although good research is lacking on the effect of heat and humidity on asthma sufferers, it's clear that they can trigger asthma attacks.
Heat increases metabolism and body temperature, which makes the body use more energy and require more oxygen. For anyone with respiratory problems, the need for more oxygen poses problems.
Humidity, meanwhile, makes it more difficult to lower one's core body temperature, which keeps the body working longer and harder, again increasing the need for oxygen.
Asthma is a chronic inflammatory pulmonary disorder that prompts obstruction of the airways.
As a general rule, temperature extremes are hard on asthmatics, but the exact mechanism is not well known.
When dew point and temperature are the same, it means 100 percent humidity.
Doctors and respiratory specialists suggest that people with respiratory problems remain indoors with the air conditioner and humidifier working. They should also drink plenty of fluids and make sure to take all prescribed medications.
But not only asthma sufferers are feeling the effects of the heat and humidity. Everyone has felt the effects of heavy-air days.
While it’s not possible to control the weather, you can take steps to limit asthma attacks. Identify your weather triggers and then do what you can to protect yourself from the elements.
Asthma - Facts & Follows
Asthma continues to take its toll on Americans, with almost 19 million adults (8.2 percent) suffering from the disorder in 2010, according to a report released Tuesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The CDC analysis also found that more than 29 million (almost 13 percent) of adults have been diagnosed with the illness at some point in their lifetime.
Children are also being hit hard by the wheezing and discomfort of asthma. According to the report, in 2010 about 10 million children had been diagnosed with asthma in their lifetime and 7 million (9.4 percent) still had asthma.
Rates of asthma are rising, not falling, the experts noted. From 2001 to 2010, the proportion of people with asthma increased by almost 15 percent. And by 2009, asthma accounted for nearly 3,400 deaths, nearly 480,000 hospitalizations, 1.9 million emergency department visits, and 8.9 million physician office visits.
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The main enemies for people with asthma are heat and humidity. My next POST!
May is National Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month
Melanoma is the most serious cancer of the skin, affecting cells that produce and transport the pigment melanin – the substance that gives skin its color. In the U.S., melanoma is expected to be diagnosed in about 53,600 people this year, nearly double the rate of 1973. If caught early, and with treatment, more than 75 percent of patients with melanoma survive at least five years after diagnosis.
Risk factors
- Individuals with light-colored eyes and skin are at a higher risk than those with brown eyes and naturally darker skin.
- A history of severe blistering sunburns, particularly as a child and teenager, is a recurring theme among those diagnosed.
- Excessive tanning bed exposure and sunbathing puts the skin at higher risk.
- An increased presence of moles or the presence of dysplastic or other atypical moles may be a warning sign of higher risk.
- Suppressed immune systems enhance the risk of developing melanoma.
Examples include renal transplant patients and those with Hodgkin's Disease.
- Personal or family history of melanoma gives you a genetic predisposition for developing the disease.
Melanoma facts
- Cancer of the skin is the most common of all cancers. Melanoma
accounts for about four percent of skin cancer cases, but causes about
79 percent of skin cancer deaths.
- Melanoma is a more serious type of cancer than the more common skin cancers, basal cell cancer or squamous cell cancer.
- Melanoma can spread (metastasize) quickly to other parts of the body through the lymph or circulatory systems.
- Warning signs of melanoma: change in the size, shape, or color of a mole; oozing or bleeding from a mole; a mole that feels itchy, hard, lumpy, swollen, or tender to the touch; the pigmented area of a mole doesn't look normal.
Medicare Covers In-Home Care.
Many people assume that Medicare provides little to no continuing
coverage for in-home health care. In fact, the program covers up to 35
hours a week of nursing and home health care for those who meet specific
requirements.
While patients with chronic conditions are frequently denied
coverage, consumer advocates say it may be possible to prevail by
pursuing appeals.
In order to secure coverage for home health care, Medicare first
requires a patient to be homebound. That doesn't equate to being
bed-bound, says Judith Stein, founder of the nonprofit Center for
Medicare Advocacy. Rather, such individuals typically need help moving
about from a device (like a wheelchair) or a person.
A doctor also must approve a "plan of care" that includes the
services of a nurse or physical or speech therapist. (In addition, the
plan can include the services of an occupational therapist and a home
health aide to assist with so-called "activities of daily living," such
as bathing, eating and dressing.) The doctor must renew the "plan of
care" once every 60 days, says Kim Glaun, senior education and policy
counsel at the nonprofit Medicare Rights Center.
The patient must contract with a home health agency that is certified
by Medicare.
A hospitalization isn't a prerequisite for coverage, Ms.
Stein says.
A nurse or therapist can come to a
patient's home as often as daily or as infrequently as once every 60
days. But when nursing care occurs daily, Medicare will cover it only if
there is "a predictable end to the need" for daily care, according to
the Center for Medicare Advocacy.
Be aware that home health agencies aren't obligated to provide
services to every patient. They turn away those they feel aren't in
compliance with Medicare's requirements. Often, agencies are reluctant
to take on patients with chronic conditions, such as Alzheimer's and
Parkinson's disease.
In such instances, they may cite the notion that only patients with
conditions that are likely to improve can qualify for coverage, says Ms.
Stein, who argues the so-called "improvement standard" isn't sanctioned
under the law.
The Center for Medicare Advocacy recently filed a lawsuit in federal district court in Vermont that addresses this issue.
"There is absolutely no reason why someone with a chronic condition
who is homebound and needs skilled care cannot get home care for a long
period of time, which is why we brought this lawsuit," Ms. Stein says.
"It's a big issue."
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services declined to comment on pending litigation.
If you are unable to secure coverage from a home health agency, you
can search for another agency. You also can pay out-of-pocket for
services and request in writing that the agency submit the bill to
Medicare. If Medicare approves your claim, you'll get reimbursed.
If not, you can appeal. For instructions, see the "Self Help Packet for Home Health Denials" at
medicareadvocacy.org .
medicareadvocacy.org .
Summer is near!
Top 10 Summer Health Concerns for Kids
As spring sliding towards summer, parents are weighing in on the summer health risks they see for their adolescent children.
Sunburn, bee stings, and heat strokes made the list. So did
concerns such as online safety and knowing how to handle an unsafe
situation.
That's according to an online survey taken by 542 parents of kids aged 10-13 years.
Nearly one in four parents are "extremely" or "very" concerned
about their school-aged child's health during summer break, the survey
shows.
The survey, conducted in late March, comes from the National
Parent Teacher Association's survey and was funded by the drug company
GlaxoSmithKline.
Parents' Summer Health Concerns
The parents rated a list of 10 health issues related to their young adolescent.
Here is that list, along with the percentages of parents noting concern about those issues:
- Knowing what to do in an unsafe situation: 77%
- Understanding how to be safe online: 75%
- Making healthy food choices: 71%
- Getting a sunburn: 61%
- Getting injured while playing sports: 56%
- Getting bitten by a tick: 46%
- Swimming or playing at a pool, lake, or beach not attended by a lifeguard: 46%
- Getting stung by a bee or wasp: 44%
- Suffering from heat/sun stroke or dehydration: 44%
- Being exposed to an infectious disease: 42%
Almost all parents -- 95% -- said they want their child to be
active and fit over the summer. Nearly a quarter said their child
doesn't get enough exercise over the summer. About half said their child
spends too much time watching TV or playing video games.
Parents' Stay-Safe Summer Strategies
The parents also rated how likely they were to take certain steps
to keep preteens and young teens healthy over the summer. Here are the
eight steps most frequently chosen:
- Maintain open communication with him/her: 92%
- Provide him/her with healthy food choices: 81%
- Insist that he/she wear sunscreen: 75%
- Talk to him/her about Internet safety: 71%
- Ensure that he/she takes a bottle of water with him/her every day: 68%
- Make sure his/her vaccinations are up to date: 62%
- Teach him/her 911 protocols: 61%
- Teach him/her first aid protocols: 52%
Oh! That Sun!!!! Screen!
Just in time for the beginning of summer, the Environmental Working
Group (EWG) has issued its 5th annual guide to sunscreen products.
Just one in five of more than 600 beach and sport sunscreens made
the cut. Another 11 products earned a spot in the group's Hall of
Shame.
The report also evaluates lip balms, moisturizers, and makeup products that claim sun protection.
The environmental group had some general advice for consumers, as
well. "We recommend people avoid sunscreen sprays," says report
co-author Sonya Lunder, MPH, a senior analyst at EWG. The concern, she
says, is that chemicals can be inhaled.
Sunscreens with a form of vitamin A known as retinyl palminate --
in about 30% of sunscreens -- should also be avoided because of
concerns about it producing skin lesions, she tells WebMD. Oxybenzone,
which EWG calls a ''hormone disrupter," is another ingredient to be
avoided, she says.
Meanwhile, the report is termed ''reckless'' by Farah Ahmed,
chair of the Sunscreen Task Force for the Personal Care Products
Council, an industry group. Ahmed reviewed the findings for WebMD. "It's
very, very similar and probably 90% of it is verbatim from last year,"
she says.
Ahmed takes exception with some of the EWG evaluation methods.
Lunder counters: "We think the industry really needs to catch up with the science."
Best Sunscreens, According to EWG
Sunscreens earning a spot on the EWG recommended list contain the
minerals zinc or titanium as their active ingredient. "We think they
are the most stable," Lunder tells WebMD.
Among the sunscreens on the EWG top pick list:
- Alba Botanica Mineral Sunscreen, Fragrance-Free, SPF 30
- Aveeno Baby Natural Protection Mineral Block Face Stick SPF 50
- Climb On! Mineral Sunblock SPF 30
- Karen's Botanicals Simple Sunblock Lotion, Unscented, SPF 30
- Loving Naturals Sunscreen, SPF 30 plus
- Sun Putty Face SPF 30
- Vanicream Sunscreen for Sensitive Skin, SPF 30
None of the recommended sunscreens include chemicals that EWG
considers hormone-disrupting, such as oxybenzone. None of the
recommended sunscreens had retinyl palminate.
EWG named 11 products to its Hall of Shame. They earned the spot for
various reasons. Some contain oxybenzone or retinyl palminate. Some were
sprays. Others made exaggerated or misleading claims, according to EWG.
Among products listed in the Hall of Shame:
- Hawaiian Tropic Baby Stick Sunscreen SPF 50.
- Baby Blanket SunBlankie Towelette SPF 45+
- Coppertone Water Babies Sunscreen Lotion SPF 70+
- Banana Boat Sport Performance Active Max Protect, SPF 110
- Elizabeth Arden--Eight Hour Cream Sun Defense for Face, SPF 50
- Rite Aid Kids Sunscreen Spray Lotion SPF 45
- Anthony Logistics for Men Sun Stick SPF 15
- iS SPF 20 Powder Sunscreen & Peter Thomas Roth Instant Mineral SPF 30 & colorescience Suncanny Face Colore SPF 20
EWG also calls out the FDA for its failure to finalize the
proposed regulations on sunscreen, first suggested in 1978. The most
recent version of the proposed regulations was issued in 2007. They are
not yet finalized.
The proposed regulations would require sunscreen makers to give
information on the amount of UVA screening their products provide, among
other requirements.
FDA spokeswoman Shelly Burgess says the regulations are expected
to be finalized shortly. "We're close, we're really close," she tells
WebMD. In an email, she says that the "FDA recognizes the importance of
publishing a final OTC monograph for sunscreen products and is making
every effort to publish it as soon as possible."
EWG Report: Industry Response
Ahmed takes exception to the report, including the method used to evaluate the sunscreens.
For instance, she says, EWG calculated the protection level of
individual ingredients. In its report, EWG explains that it determined
the amount and type of UV light filtered out by an ingredient or
ingredient combination at every wavelength along the UVA and UVB
spectrum.
According to the EWG report: "We based our analysis of sunscreen
effectiveness in part on the absorbance spectrum of each active
ingredient."
Ahmed says protection could change, either increasing or
decreasing, when ingredients are evaluated in combination, as they are
in the product.
As for concerns about retinyl palminate, Ahmed says "We have no data to demonstrate there is an issue."
Sun Protection: Common Ground
On one point industry and EWG agree: sunscreen is only part of a
good sun protection program. "We never say sunscreens alone are enough,"
Ahmed says.
Covering up with clothing, wearing sunglasses, and avoiding the most potent sun rays at midday are also advised.
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