Princess Health and Nightmare, drug-resistant superbugs, including one that kills half the people who get it, are a big threat.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Nightmare, drug-resistant superbugs, including one that kills half the people who get it, are a big threat.Princessiccia

bacterial infections Centers for Disease Control healthcare-associated infections hospital-acquired infections

Gusty 13:04 Add Comment

"Nightmare bacteria" leading to deadly infections that are difficult and sometimes impossible to treat are on the rise in American hospitals, and threaten to spread to otherwise healthy people outside of medical facilities, according to a federal Centers for Disease Control Vital Signs report published Tuesday.
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These superbugs, carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae, or CRE, have become resistant to nearly all the antibiotics available today, including drugs of last resort. According to the report, CRE infections are caused by a family of germs that are a normal part of a person's healthy digestive system, but can cause infections when they get into the bladder, blood or other areas where they don't belong.

The report says almost all CRE infections are found in patients receiving serious medical care, and they kill up to half of patients who get bloodstream infections from them. In addition to spreading among people, CREs easily spread their antibiotic resistance to other kinds of germs, making those potentially untreatable as well.

Only 10 years ago, such resistance was hardly ever seen in this group of germs. Although these superbugs are uncommon, their prevalence has quadrupled in the past decade in medical facilities in 42 states, the CDC says.

The report calls for immediate action to stop the spread of these deadly infection; it is a critical time for U.S. doctors, nurses lab staff, medical facility leaders, health departments, states, policymakers and patients to help fight the spread through coordinated and consistent efforts.

The report asks patients to do three things: Tell your doctor if you have been hospitalized in another facility or country, take antibiotics only as prescribed, and insist that everyone wash their hands before touching you. For more details, click here for the Vital Signs report.

Princess Health and Commission says drastic changes to doctor pay and cuts to wasteful services can fix Medicare problem without tax hikes.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Commission says drastic changes to doctor pay and cuts to wasteful services can fix Medicare problem without tax hikes.Princessiccia

health care costs health reform Medicaid Medicare physicians taxes

Gusty 12:51 Add Comment

A national advisory panel says �drastic changes� in how Medicare reimburses doctors and other providers are needed to shore up Medicare's finances, improve patient outcomes and rein in health care costs, and there is no need to seek more taxpayer money.

Medicare needs $138 billion over the next decade to avoid steep cuts in physician pay, and avoiding those cuts has become an annual scramble in Congress known as "the doc fix."  A panel dominated by internal-medicine specialists, The National Commission on Physician Payment Reform, has concluded that reduction of wasteful medical services can help solve the problem and "our nation cannot control runaway medical spending without fundamentally changing how physicians are paid," it says in its report.

Source: Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation and Congressional
Budget Office, Budget and Economic Outlook, January 2011

The U.S. spends nearly $3 trillion a year on health care, and that level of spending is unsustainable. The report says that as a proportion of the federal budget, the cost of Medicare has risen from 3.5 percent in 1975 to 15.1 percent in 2010 in 2010). In 2020, it is projected to consume 17 percent, or 4 percent of the U.S. gross domestic product.

Recognizing the way that physicians are paid contributes substantially to the high cost of health care, The Society of General Internal Medicine convened the commission in March 2012 to make recommendations for payment reform. According to the report, some of the factors that drive up health care expenditures are:

• Fee-for-service reimbursement
• Consolidation in the health-care industry
• Reliance on technology and expensive care
• Reliance on a high proportion of specialists
• Paying more for the same service or procedure when done in a hospital setting as opposed to an outpatient setting
• A disproportionate percentage of health care spending directed to a small number of people who are very sick and costly to treat
• High administrative costs
• Fear of malpractice lawsuits
• Fraud and abuse

The commission says increased taxes are not needed to fix the Medicare problem, and the Medicaid shortfall could be entirely found by reducing overuse of services within Medicare. See the chart to the right for a breakdown of those excess medical costs.

The commission developed 12 recommendations to reduce health costs, calling for drastic changes to the current fee-for-service payment system and a five-year transition to a physician payment system that rewards quality and value-based care and not the volume of care.

The 12 recommendations were based on the principles that payment reform should improve care quality and efficiency, encourage care for the medically disadvantaged, reduce marginal and ineffective services, increase transparency to the public and should reward patient-centered comprehensive care. (Click here to see those recommendations)

Princess Health and Study finds only counties in Appalachia, mostly in Kentucky, had increasing rates of death among both sexes as century turned.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Study finds only counties in Appalachia, mostly in Kentucky, had increasing rates of death among both sexes as century turned.Princessiccia

Appalachia county health education health rankings poverty rural health women women's health

Gusty 14:39 Add Comment

By Molly Burchett
Kentucky Health News

More than 40 percent of counties saw increases in female death rates as the 21st Century began, while the death rate for men rose in just 3 percent of counties, a study shows. Only Appalachian counties, mostly in Kentucky, had worsening rates for both sexes. (Click on a map for a larger version.)

Change In Male Mortality Rates From 1992�96 To 2002�06

Change In Female Mortality Rates From 1992�96 To 2002�06

On the Health Affairs maps above, blue counties showed substantial improvement, while those in aqua showed minimal improvement and worsening counties are in red.

The study identifies some shared characteristics among the 1,334 counties where more women are dying prematurely, but the main factors weren't medical or behavioral, according to David Kindig and Erika Cheng, authors of the study report.

Although counties with high rates of smoking and obesity had increased mortality rates, the report found socioeconomic factors in the Appalachian states of Kentucky and West Virginia, such as the percentage of a county�s population with a college education and the rate of children living in poverty, had more to do with increased mortality rates.

In Kentucky, Owsley County has been ranked last on health-related measures by the Population Health Institute. Areas like this in Appalachia suffered rising death rates in both sexes because college education is a rarity, child poverty is normal, recreational facilities are scarce, restaurants are mostly fast-food outlets, and adults lack social support, reports Geoffrey Cowley of msnbc.

The chart below shows how Kentucky compares to the national average in premature death and that Owsley County suffers from tremendously high rates.

County Health Rankings by University of Wisconsin's Population Health
Institute and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (countyhealthrankings.org)

These findings provide supporting evidence for the ever-increasing need for significant health improvement efforts in Appalachia. According to the report, efforts must extend beyond a focus on health care delivery and include stronger policies affecting health behaviors and the social and environmental determinants of health,with corresponding investments in those areas. (Read more)

Kentucky Health News is an independent news service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.

Princess Health and Toning Up Your Body With ZUMBA Fitness. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Toning Up Your Body With ZUMBA Fitness. Princessiccia

Gusty 03:05 Add Comment

Most of the time we hear about the aerobic benefits of the ZUMBA classes. Can ZUMBA Fitness actually help with toning up the body? Keep reading to find out!


What do we actually mean when saying we want to "tone up"?

The goal is to have less body fat and have a little muscle definition. Not too much of course, because we don't want to become body builders. So toned up body means some visible muscles, but not huge muscles.
Of course first of all we have to "get rid" of the fat covering those muscles, because as long as we have the fat there, doesn't matter how "nice" your muscle is, it won't be visible.

What can ZUMBA Fitness do for you?

ZUMBA is an exercise which involves dancing and as such it engages lot of muscle groups. It can tone up your abs, thighs, bums if done right.

ZUMBA Fitness alternates slower and faster moves. It is suitable for all ages and fitness levels. It strengthens your bones and keeps your immune system healthy, so you will be protected from many diseases.

ZUMBA is a fun way to exercise and tone up, it is performed on entertaining music and depending on your fitness level you can decide to skip certain moves or just do them in your own way (e.g. doing steps instead of jumps).

ZUMBA Fitness gives you energy and motivates you to keep going and achive your fitness goals, shape your body, tone your muscles.

It is absolutely an entertaining type of workout, and you will enjoy every minute of it.

How to get the most out of your ZUMBA class when it comes to toning?

At fitness clubs you can find classes called 'Bums, Tums and Thighs'. When you join a ZUMBA class, it is like getting more for your money.

ZUMBA - even if it is somewhat close to the old type aerobics - it doesn't mean that it is an exercise class with constant jumping. As mentioned above, slower and faster dance moves follow each other, "spiced up" with some squats, lunges, leg lifts and so forth. All these, done correctly, will lead to have a toned body.
One of the great things about ZUMBA is that you can decide for yourself before each class what your goal is that day.

Let's say you only want to de-stress after a hard day's work, loose yourself to the energetic music and not concentrating much - there you go! You will get the energizing and also the cardio benefit of the ZUMBA class.

And let's say another day you feel like having a lot of energy even before the class, and want to add some more, so your body can work out hard. Then you can concentrate on keeping your muscles (especially abs and arms) tight all the time - and there you go! You just had a tough toning class, attending the same ZUMBA class.

Doesn't that sound great?

ZUMBA Fitness Classes in Dublin 2, Dublin 6 and Dublin 8. Book your next class and tone up your body! CLICK HERE

Princess Health and Smoking ban gets 'a good scrubbing' before Judiciary Committee.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Smoking ban gets 'a good scrubbing' before Judiciary Committee.Princessiccia

General Assembly legislation legislature smokeless tobacco smoking smoking ban tobacco tobacco prevention

Gusty 18:45 Add Comment

By Al Cross
Kentucky Health News

The bill for a statewide smoking ban is favored by three-fifths of Kentucky adults, but is dead for this session of the General Assembly. However, its supporters think they made some headway Monday as they laid groundwork for getting it through the state House a year from now.

The House Judiciary Committee held an informational hearing on House Bill 190 to "give it a good scrubbing" before a committee that is more skeptical of it than the Health and Welfare Committee, which approved it early in the session, the bill's sponsor, Rep, Susan Westrom, D-Lexington, said afterward.

Westrom said she was encouraged by the hearing because it exposed weaknesses in the bill that she will correct for the next regular session, beginning in January 2014. For example, she said, Rep. Steven Rudy, R-Paducah, argued that the bill's language would make it illegal to use smoke in barns to cure the dark tobacco grown in Western Kentucky, largely for smokeless consumption.

"This is about vetting," Westrom told Rudy. "You have a different mindset that I do sitting on the Health and Welfare Committee."

Rudy acknowledged that secondhand smoke is not beneficial, but asked, "Has there ever been a death certificate that secondhand smoke killed this person?"

Dr. Sylvia Cerel-Suhl, Central Kentucky president of the American Heart Association, replied that Lexington recorded a significant drop in acute heart attacks after enacting a smoking ban, and said "thousands of studies" of secondhand smoke have shown exposure to it can cause premature death.

"The evidence is absolutely overwhelming," she said, and asked if anyone else had any questions. No one did, but the committee was one member short of a quorum.

Advocates told the legislators that 37 jurisdictions, covering 34 percent of the state's population, limit smoking in some way. Mark Hayden, a trial lawyer and former Campbell County commissioner, said a statewide ban is needed because enacting ordinances, writing regulations and enforcing them is a burden for local officials.

The bill would give local health departments power to enforce the ban. Scott Lockard, president of the Kentucky Health Departments Association and the health director in Clark County, said his agency has issued no court charges, only warning citations, since its board passed a ban, and Woodford County has issued only three citations.

Others appearing at the hearing included Dr. Stephanie Mayfield, commissioner of the state Department of Public Health, and Lt. Gov. Jerry Abramson, who was invited by the Kentucky Smoke-Free Kentucky Coalition. He discussed enforcement of of the ban in Louisville, where he was mayor.

Rep. Tom Riner, D-Louisville, said the ban is "one of the most important pieces of legislation that has been brought before this body, because it literally affects every Kentuckian. . . perhaps the most important piece."

Kentucky Health News is an independent news service of the Institute for Rural Journalism and Community Issues at the University of Kentucky, with support from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky.

Princess Health and Legislature sends fix of last year's pill-mill bill to Beshear.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Legislature sends fix of last year's pill-mill bill to Beshear.Princessiccia

doctor shopping doctors drug abuse General Assembly legislation legislature physicians pill mills prescription drug abuse prescription drugs state government

Gusty 18:06 Add Comment

"After more than a year of debate, a bill that would revamp Kentucky�s prescription-drug law to more strictly focus on pill abuse and ease requirements on patients is heading to the governor�s desk," Mike Wynn reports for The Courier-Journal. On a 36-0 vote, the Senate sent House Bill 217 to Gov. Steve Beshear, who said he will sign it tomorrow.

The chief lobbyist for the Kentucky Medical Association said the physicians' group did not get all the changes it requested in last year's law but is satisfied with the bill. It "would exempt hospitals and long-term care facilities from many of the requirements that doctors must follow before prescribing drugs," Wynn writes. "It also creates a 14-day exemption for surgery patients and gives doctors more discretion in examining patients before a prescription is given." (Read more)

Princess Health and Does the Mediterranean Diet Reduce Cardiovascular Risk?. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Does the Mediterranean Diet Reduce Cardiovascular Risk?. Princessiccia

cardiovascular disease diet

Gusty 15:34 Add Comment

By now, most of you have probably heard about the recent study on the "Mediterranean diet" (1), a diet that was designed by diet-heart researchers and is based loosely on the traditional diet of Crete and certain other Mediterranean regions. The popular press has been enthusiastically reporting this trial as long-awaited proof that the Mediterranean diet reduces the risk of cardiovascular events-- by a full 30 percent over a 4.8-year period. I wish I could share their enthusiasm for the study.

Read more �