Articles in Health Care
Medical Tourism – Gauging Pros & Cons
Medical tourism symbolizes the commercializing of medicine, the concept that when one has adequate bucks one could obtain care at whatever time or location – rectitude, profitable & at times also lawful & ethical concerns be darned. Medical tourism is a booming industry approximated at eighty billion dollars yearly and shows all signs of thriving. Due to the soaring healthcare costs in the U.S., people there are travelling in throngs. An approximate 6 million would be seeking medical assistance overseas in 2010. Nations like Costa Rica, Asia Bangkok, India are wooing patient populaces in a rather aggressive manner. Must Canada, a nation located just close by also be doing the analogous? Will vending services to well-heeled people from America be an ideal means to generate bucks for paying the high Medicare expenses? In Canada, operating rooms & diagnostics imaging equipments mostly are sitting unused. However, in case one starts to vend medical-care to foreigners, would it [...]
Medical Credit Card – What You Need to Know
With global slump continuing & joblessness peaking, increasingly more numbers of people in the U.S. are facing more difficulties in paying for health care & in several situations also postponing medical procedure for the same. Several fiscal services firms have sensed a rising place in the market & have come up with specially devised credit cards to be deployed exclusively for medical costs. Dubbed the ‘medical credit card’, it was formerly proposed for payment towards non-insured optional methods like liposuctions, lasik; however, lately have gained footing for other non-insured or under-insured health care requirements. Those issuing the medical credit card state that they are offering a means of having instant admission to therapies like weight reduction surgeries, chiropractics preservation, dental implant or also vet-care for pets. Here are some of the firms which offer medical credit card to customers. Citi Health Card by Citigroup. GE Money by CareCredit. ChaseHealthAdvance [...]
Artificial Sweeteners and Sugar – A Threat to Good Health
The most chronic and persistent health problem that most of the world residents face today is due to excessive weight gain or obesity. One of the main causes of obesity and other weight related ill conditions is calories, which are in turn obtained most from sugar. A simple glass of orange juice, which is considered as a refreshment or energy agent, consists of sweet calories equal to 26 grams of sugar. 26 grams, when analyzed, comes to be similar to 6 tea spoons of sugar. The normal health and diet chart, referred to by most doctors and dieticians, says that one can consume a maximum of 10 – 12 tea spoons of sugar, i.e. hardly 50 – 60 grams. This may not be just natural fructose, but also artificial sweeteners included. This was just an orange juice glass, with 6 tea spoons already done! One may have such 2 glasses a day, and added cups of coffee, candies, fruits, chocolates, desserts and other sweet goods (or may be no goods) in one day, which makes us bound to cross the 12- teaspoons- [...]
Jaw Clenching Habit and Associates
Clenching the jaws is a habit. The person, in this habit, grits the teeth very tightly and roughly. This habit can lead to pain in jaws and many diverse problems of dental health. The causes of jaw clenching can be varied, like stress, changes in diet, medications and so much more to these. Most often jaw clenching occurs during night, while the person is deep asleep and unconscious to notice his own doings. But during day also, the habit is common to see. This habit of jaw clenching is often referred to as bruxism or teeth grinding also. The doers are often unaware of their acts of clenching, since this happens involuntarily most of the times. But the effects of jaw clenching can be very dodgy. To address these kinds of jaw clenching and to prevent further associated disorders, there are ways like using a mouth guard. A mouth guard or a splint is a protective device that is used or worn by sports people and athletes to avoid injuries to their teeth while playing. These devices can be used [...]
Ex-Party Animals – Watch Out for Brewing Health Troubles
Largely the thought process is that ‘past imperfect’ does not get carried forward, but many ‘partyers’ might be oblivious carriers of detrimental reminders of their early life. Those who have intravenously administered drugs; engaged in coke-snorting and sharing straws or had non-sterilized tattoos or body-piercings can be having HCV (hepatitis C) infection and totally oblivious of its presence in their bodies. Transmission of this virus occurs through being exposed to blood or other bodily fluids. For ten or more years the infected individual would be asymptomatic during which time the virus slyly destroys the liver. Several individuals might have unknowingly contracted the infection in case they received blood transfusions prior to the early nineties when blood supplies screening was commended for viral presence. Other individuals might have caught the viral form just by shared toothbrushes or razors. Over 3 million people in the U.S. have been identified with HCV & health [...]
6 Quirky Health Tweaks
Here is strong evidence to back that bigger in not essentially better at all times. Many latest researches have shown that at times even the minute alterations in daily life could reap rich health dividends.
Caffeinated Napping
Glugging down a cupful of coffee prior to shut-eye time is a highly effectual means of combating day-time sleepiness, as per study findings. Although this might sound counter-intuitive, however caffeine would take around twenty minutes to be absorbed into the blood stream.
Hence, in case one takes the suggested twenty-minute nap (more than this time and one could awaken with grogginess), the stimulant effects of caffeine would kick-start when one’s napping is concluding and one would wake up all attentive and invigorated post-napping.
For helping oneself in falling asleep, try simulating bedtimes – which could translate to just placing head down on the desk or recline over the seat. In case napping is not doable then simply shut your eyes and try to [...]
Body Lumps – When to Worry – Part III
Here is a detailed guide to what body lumps actually mean and their pertinent treatment options.
Shoulder Lumps
Most Probaby- Lipomas
Causes
Lipomas are soft-textured, full of fat, non-malignant lumps of adipose cells most prevalently noticed on the shoulder region, although they could develop in all those places which have presence of fat cells. There is no definite cause for their occurrence and these lumps could differ in sizes from that of peas to almost one inch diameter-wise.
Therapy
Sporadically, lipoma would need removal in case it is exerting pressure on some nerve and causing pains. The procedure could be conducted after administering local anesthesia to the patient.
Caveat Indications
In case the lipoma or pains continually intensity or begin hurting then the person should get evaluated by his/her general practitioner.
Mouth Lumps
Most Probably – Oral Ulcers.
Causes
Oral ulcer is an agonizing sore within the mouth that arises due to teeth-caused wounds, [...]
Body Lumps – When to Worry – Part II
Expert opinion about lump formations in different regions of the body and when medical attention is needed.
Groin Lumps
Most Probably- Skin tags or hair in-growth.
Causes
Skin tag is a tiny, soft-textured lump affixed to the skin’s surface via a stalk. They are more likely to be largely spongy whereas a tumor tends to be more lump-like and are generally of the analogous color of that of the skin. Hair in-growth develops following weakening of hair follicles probably after the skin is waxed or shaved that cause hair growth in the inward direction, at times leading to infections. These might seem reddish, whitish or also blackish in appearance.
Therapy
Cutting, freezing or removal of large-sized skin tag is done by general practitioners after anesthesizing the patient however it is not harmful. Hair in-growth could lead to hair follicle becoming inflamed and infected leading to a condition known as folliculitis. The treatment for this is antiseptic and antibiotic medications.
Caveat [...]

