Category: Healthcare

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exercise Healthcare

7 Herbal Teas That Calm Anxiety

According to nonprofit organization Anxiety Disorders Association of America (ADAA), anxiety disorders are the number one mental health problem in America, affecting about 18 percent of the population (40 million adults over 18 years of age).  Adding herbal teas to your daily diet and routine can be both a healthy and convenient way to soothe feelings of anxiety. Stay away from teas that contain caffeine, as caffeine is known to increase anxiety. Below are just 7 of the many natural herbal tea remedies that can help you relax.

1. Kava
Kava is by far the most well-known and well-researched herbal treatment available for controlling anxiety symptoms. Many have likened the effects of kava to a very common anxiety drug called Buspar, and kava itself appears to have all of the qualities of an effective herbal remedy – it’s non-addictive and can be taken as needed, it’s safe, and it is completely natural. However, there are a few things to note about kava tea. First, the kava tea you buy at a grocery store is not strong enough to combat anxiety. You need 300 or so kavalactones a day at some estimates, and basic teas only provide 30 to 50 – not enough to feel any effects. You’ll need to buy a more pure kava herbal tea, like the ones sold in tea shops. You’ll also need to combine it with something that has fat in it, like butter or coconut milk.

2. Passionflower Tea
Passionflower tea is “kava-lite.” It’s not nearly as strong as kava and fewer studies have confirmed its benefits, but many people swear that Passionflower has provided them with the same relaxation effects as kava without the same risk of side effects.
Because passionflower’s “dosing” isn’t quite as well known, it’s unclear whether store-bought teas provide enough of the flavonoids that make passionflower effective. Research has only focused on “drops” of passionflower extract, usually around 30 drops three times a day. In tea, the amount of flavonoids compared to a “drop” is much less clear. It’s best to start small and work your way up, seeing if there is any effect along the way.

3. Valerian Root Tea
Valerian root is unique, in that while it is not designed for anxiety, many people find that the calming nature of valerian is extremely effective for soothing anxiety symptoms. Valerian’s traditional use is as a sleep aid. Many people use valerian root to help them get to sleep when they’re suffering from insomnia.
But those same calming properties may have an effect on anxiety as well. In this case, valerian is dealing with anxiety symptoms directly, not the anxiety itself. Valerian root should be taken carefully until you know how it affects you. The tea should be taken at night at first to see if it helps aid your sleep. If you decide it is providing you with the effects you’d hoped for, try taking it during the day, but make sure that you avoid driving until you know how fatigued it makes you feel.

4. St. John’s Wort
The St. John’s wort plant has yellow flowers and is considered to be a weed throughout most of the United States. It has been used for medical purposes in other parts of the world for thousands of years. Today, St. John’s wort is continually being studied to try to validate its alleged mood-improving benefits.
Many studies have been conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of St. John’s wort. Some studies have suggested benefit, but other studies have not. While the true benefits of St. John’s wort are still being explored, if you do choose to use it, be sure to learn all you can and check with your doctor before taking it. St. John’s wort can interact with other medicines or supplements you may be taking and may have side effects.

5. Chamomile 
A study in the Journal of Clinical Psychopharmacology shows that patients who received chamomile treatment experienced a significant change in the severity of Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) symptoms. The herb has been used to calm nerves, decrease indigestion and calm the stomach. Steep 1 tablespoon of dried chamomile in a cup of boiling water, three times a day for about two months.
Chamomile has been used as a traditional medicine for thousands of years to calm anxiety and settle stomachs. In the U.S., chamomile is best known as an ingredient in herbal tea. 

6. Peppermint 
Peppermint has several medicinal qualities. In addition to helping to calm anxiety, (mostly associated with other issues like depression), peppermint is also known to help relieve symptoms associated with the common cold, upset stomach, skin irritations, indigestion and headaches. To drink in a tea, combine 1 cup of boiling water and 1 teaspoon of dried peppermint leaves and let it steep for 10 minutes. You can drink peppermint tea about four or five times a day (between meals). However, it’s a good idea to check with a doctor if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.

7. Lemon Balm 
Lemon balm has been used to help reduce stress and anxiety, as well as increase appetite, improve sleep, heal wounds, ease pain, treat stings and other insect bites. The herb is commonly combined with other herbs, such as chamomile, to help calm nerves. Steep about a quarter to 1 teaspoon of dried lemon balm in hot water up to four times a day.

Source: CalmClinic & eHow Food 

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Healthcare ObamaCare

Dunkin Donuts And Whole Foods Among Companies Still Fighting ObamaCare

For large retail and restaurant chains, the big unknown in the year ahead is how much more they’ll pay for health coverage. Employers with 50 or more workers who put in 30 hours a week will be required to provide health care coverage or pay a fine, under the Affordable Care Act, also called the ACA or Obamacare.

That lower full-time threshold is one of the big issues business groups are trying to negotiate with the Obama administration as the rules are being finalized.  Large chains like Dunkin’ Donuts parent firm Dunkin’ Brands argue that full-time status should remain based on the traditional 40-hour work week.

“We believe that the definition of a full-time employee, and the number of hours a full-time employee works each week, should be consistent with existing Federal and State laws, and we have communicated this to the Administration,” explained a Dunkin’ Brands spokesperson in a written statement.

At upscale grocer Whole Foods, workers who put in 30 hours a week already get full health benefits. Still, John Mackey, co-founder and co-CEO of the grocery chain, said the company may still be forced to reconsider its full-time staffing levels, because the proposed rules include more expensive benefit requirements.

“Say we’re paying $3,200 a year for insurance for somebody, and the new regulations cost us $5,000 to insure somebody. If they work fewer hours, we just saved $5,000 per person” because there is no mandate to provide coverage for part-time workers, he explained.

h/t Yahoo News

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exercise Healthcare

Research: Physical Exercise Is Great For The Aging Brain

l If you want to protect your brain against the effects of aging, a brisk daily walk may do more for you than brain teaser puzzles or social activities, a new study finds.

Researchers with the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, studying nearly 700 people in their early 70s, found that those who were most physically active had less brain shrinkage than those who got less exercise. At the same time, social and intellectually challenging activities, like going to the museum, learning a new language or visiting friends, seemed to have no protective effect on brain changes.

“Those who took more exercise had less brain atrophy, less damage to the wiring of the brain, and greater volumes of grey matter, which are the ‘thinking’ cells. We did not find any associations between being more socially or intellectually engaged and brain health,” says study author Alan Gow, a senior research fellow at the University of Edinburgh.

The research, published in the journal Neurology, is part of a long-term study on aging that involves a group of participants born in 1936. Those involved in this study were given brain MRI scans at age 73. They also filled out questionnaires about their physical activity, ranking it on a six-point scale from ” moving only in connection with necessary (household) chores” to “keep fit/heavy exercise or competitive sport several times per week” and rated how often they participated in 15 different leisure activities.

While researchers wrote that exercise seemed to protect against brain shrinkage, they added that it’s still unclear exactly how. Is exercise really protective, or is that those experiencing cognitive decline are less likely to exercise? While Gow stops short of recommending exactly how much exercise is best for brain health, Paul Thompson, professor of neurology at UCLA’s School of Medicine, says any exercise increases the oxygen level of blood, and that may keep brain tissues healthier. “It’s not necessary to run or even lift weights. Walking is just as effective. The bulk of the evidence is really just calories burned.”

r/t AARP

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China Healthcare

Fears Of Bird Flu Outbreak As New Cases Found In China

The bird flu has been discovered in two new cases in China in what has become the second outbreak in that country this year.

The cases were discovered in Guiyang, located in Southwest China. There a 21-year-old woman and a 31-year-old man tested positive for the H1N1 bird flu virus over the weekend, the Global Post reported. Both were taken in to a hospital for treatment and were listed in critical condition.

“They are in critical condition and medical workers are carrying out emergency treatment. No epidemiological connections have been found between the two cases,” the Chinese health ministry stated (via Xinhua).

The two began developing symptoms on February 2 and February 3, and investigators believe neither had direct contact with birds before falling ill.

The new bird flu cases have sparked fears of an outbreak in China. From Reuters:

“China is considered one of the nations most at risk from bird flu epidemics because it has the world’s biggest poultry population and many chickens in rural areas are kept close to humans.”

The bird flu cases in Guiyang makes the second major city in China to be struck by the disease. In January, a 19-year-old migrant worker died in Beijing after contracting bird flu.

Since the first major outbreak in 2003, bird flu has been responsible for 365 deaths across the world, the World Health Organization noted. It is most commonly spread through direct contact between birds and humans, but health experts worry that it could mutate to spread by person-to-person contact.

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Healthcare ObamaCare

December 3rd Report: Seniors Have Saved $5.1 Billion Thanks To ObamaCare

Savings on prescription drugs related to the Affordable Care Act have reached $5.1 billion, according to a Dec. 3 news release from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

The Department notes that more than 5.8 million people with Medicare have benefited from the assistance offered to bridge the prescription coverage gap known as the donut hole, with savings reaching $5.1 billion.

For 2013, the new health care law provides Medicare beneficiaries who are in the donut hole with greater savings, with discounts increasing to 53% and 21% of the cost of brand name and generic drugs, respectively. Savings on Medicare coverage of prescription drugs will increase gradually until 2020 to close the donut hole. Almost 2.8 million individuals saved an average of $677 on prescription drugs in the first 10 months of 2012. In addition, for about 23.4 million people with original Medicare, one or more preventive services were received at no cost during the same period, and 2.5 million received an Annual Wellness Visit.

According to the Department’s news release, “because of the health care law, people with Medicare can be healthier with free access (no deductible or co-pay) to many preventive services. Before 2011, people with Medicare had to pay part of the cost for many preventive services. Cost is no longer a barrier for seniors who want to stay healthy and treat problems early. In 2011, an estimated 32.5 million people with original Medicare or Medicare Advantage received one or more free preventive benefits.”

h/t MPR

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Health Care Healthcare Mitt Romney

Mitt Romney To Americans – Use The Emergency Room As Your Primary Health Care Provider

With 46 days to go before the general election, Romney is shedding some light on his plans for Americans after he repeal ObamaCare. The Mitt Romney Health Care plan for Americans would be to get your healthcare needs from your local emergency room.

No joke. In an appearance on 60 Minutes, host Scott Pelley got Mr. Romney to shed some details on his plans for the millions of uninsured Americans. Romney replied;

“Well, we do provide care for people who don’t have insurance,” Romney said. “If someone has a heart attack, they don’t sit in their apartment and die. We pick them up in an ambulance, and take them to the hospital, and give them care.”

Crazy… yea, I know. Mitt Romney is promising to Repeal ObamaCare – the legislation signed into law by President Obama that finally addresses the health needs of most Americans – and Romney will replace ObamaCare with the suggestion that people get their healthcare from the emergency room.

But wait. That was what Mitt Romney said yesterday. Do we know how he felt about people using the emergency room for their primary care, say… two years ago? We do.

The Huffington Post quotes a Morning Joe interview from two years ago in which Romney said it “doesn’t make a lot of sense” to have millions of uninsured Americans who get “entirely free care” with “no responsibility” from emergency rooms, especially when those people “have sufficient means to pay their own way.”

And in his book, No Apology, Romney recalls the “collective epiphany” that lead to the creation of Romneycare: “The people in Massachusetts who didn’t have health insurance were, in fact, already receiving health care [from emergency rooms].”

He continues:

Under federal law, hospitals had to stabilize and treat people who arrived at their emergency rooms with acute conditions. And our state’s hospitals were offering even more assistance than the federal government required. That meant that someone was already paying for the cost of treating people who didn’t have health insurance. If we could get our hands on that money, and therefore redirect it to help the uninsured buy insurance instead and obtain treatment in the way that the vast majority of individuals did — before acute conditions developed — the cost of insuring everyone in the state might not be as expensive as I had feared.

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Healthcare ObamaCare Repeal

New Study – If Republicans Repeal ObamaCare Seniors Would Pay More

The report was done by the Kaiser Family Foundation. Among other findings, the report says;

A number of Republican proposals to repeal the 2010 health reform law, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), include the elimination of the law’s Medicare provisions. This Data Note reviews the impact of repealing those provisions for Medicare beneficiaries and program spending.

If the ACA was repealed, Medicare spending would increase by an additional $716 billion over 10 years, Medicare’s hospital trust fund would be projected to be insolvent beginning four years from now, in 2016, eight years earlier than current projections, and many beneficiaries could see increases in premiums and costs for other services.

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Healthcare

Mitt Romney Flips Again – Promises To Repeal ObamaCare “In Its Entirety”

Sunday: Mitt Romney went on Meet The Press and told the nation that he liked parts of ObamaCare. He reassured the American people that he will not repeal the entire bill because there are some parts he agreed with. Mr. Romney specifically mentioned the pre-existing conditions provision in ObamaCare, where insurance companies are required to provide insurance coverage to everyone no matter what their health history is. This, Mr. Romney said, was good policy and would remain in his version of healthcare.

Later on Sunday: Moments after Romney made his new position known, his campaign issued a statement basically saying, “there he go again!” The campaign explained that what Romney said on Meet The Press was incorrect, and reclaimed a previous position Romney held to repeal all of ObamaCare.

Monday: Romney backtracks on the new position he revealed on Meet The Press. On Monday, Romney bowed to his campaign and said in a radio interview that he will in fact, repeal all of ObamaCare in its entirety.

Some leader, huh? This is the man who Republicans have tapped to be the next leader of the free world, but he cannot stand up in opposition of his own campaign.

Romney’s Radio interview:

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Healthcare ObamaCare

President Obama: “I Like The Word ‘ObamaCare’ Because I Do Care”

President Obama is finally beginning to own the word “Obamacare and he is ripping the word straight out of the clutching hands of Republicans, who have used it as a divisive measure ever since the President proposed his Affordable Healthcare Plan back in 2009.

Until recently, any mention of the word “Obamacare” conjured up memories of town-hall brawls and misspelt Teaparty signs accusing the President of being a “communist socialist” who is setting up death panels and placing the government between you and your doctor. But as Americans realized that Republicans were intentionally lying about the law and its benefits, they too are referring to the word as a term of endearment.

And so is the President.

Yesterday at his most recent campaign stop in Colorado, Mr. Obama was heard saying; “The Affordable Care Act — also known as Obamacare,” as the audience applauded at the University of Denver. “I actually like the name,” he added. “Because I do care — that’s why we fought so hard to make it happen.”

Although the United States Supreme Court upheld the constitutionality of ObamaCare, Congressional Republicans are on a mission to repeal the bill. They have already held 33 failed attempts to void Mr. Obama’s healthcare law and the Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney, has sided with his base and is promising to repeal the law if he becomes president… although he passed the same law in Massachusetts as governor.

And as more benefits for the American people continue to materialized, Republicans will come to terms with the fact that repealing the law will be equivalent to political suicide.

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Healthcare ObamaCare women benefits

Beginning Today, More Health Benefits For Women Goes Into Effect Thanks To ObamaCare

More life saving health care benefits for women goes into effect today, thanks to ObamaCare. But have no fear women of America, if Mitt Romney gets his way and is elected as your next president, he’s promised to repeal this monstrous law that is saving the lives of many Americans, reducing our long-term deficit and contributing overall to a healthier nation.

How dare Mr. Obama sign such a law into effect!?

Beginning today, comprehensive preventive care coverage for women goes into effect as part of the latest rollout of reforms under the Affordable Care Act. Under the law, almost all new or renewed private health care plans issued after Aug. 1 must cover comprehensive women’s preventive services with no cost sharing, or co-payments.

One local health care practitioner believes the elimination of a co-pay requirement for preventive care is an important shift toward healthier outcomes that will decrease the number and cost of chronic illnesses.

“We have seen there are many women who don’t come in for an appointment because of a $10 to $25 co-pay,” said Margot Kingston, a women’s health nurse practitioner who works at the Families First Health and Support Center in Portsmouth and at Harbour Women’s Health. “More women need routine health care but they don’t get it because they can’t afford the co-payment. No woman should die of cervical cancer because they can’t afford a checkup.”

According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, in 2011 an estimated 20.4 million American women with private health insurance gained expanded no-cost sharing preventive services, including mammograms, cervical cancer screenings, prenatal care, flu and pneumonia shots, and regular well-baby and well-child visits. DHHS estimates that more than 253,000 women in New Hampshire on private insurance plans are now covered by the expanded preventive care provisions. By 2014, all Americans with private insurance will have a wide range of no co-pay, preventive care services as part of their basic coverage.

This new expansion of preventive services with no cost-sharing will cover so-called well-woman visits, which include contraceptive services and screening for gestational diabetes, domestic violence and sexually transmitted infections.

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Healthcare michael steele ObamaCare Tax

Michael Steele Confirms Only Small Percentage Of Americans Will Pay Penalty

Michael Steele, the former head of the Republican National Committee is not buying into the Republican talking points. Ever since the Supreme Court came out supporting the President’s healthcare reform law, Republicans have been on a rampage telling everyone who would listen that this law – also called ObamaCare – will be the biggest tax on middle class America. And not to be outdone, Rush Limbaugh, the unofficial official mouthpiece of the Republican party is telling his faithful radio following that ObamaCare would be the biggest tax “in the history of the world!”

Of course it’s all a lie, but that’s not stopping these Republicans from using fear to control their base. So imagine my surprise when Michael Steele went on MSNBC’s Hardball and told the truth!

Asked about the law and the fact that Americans are buying into the Republican lie, Steele admitted that the tax/penalty would only be on a small group of Americans who decides not to follow the law.

there is that element of confusion that now exist out there. You’re talking about a small percentage of people, those who does not comply with the law who would be subject to this penalty/tax. But the broader population thinks it applies to them.

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Health Care Healthcare ObamaCare

Americans To Republicans – Leave ObamaCare Alone, Move On Already!

A new poll by the Kaiser Family Foundation taken after the Supreme Court upheld ObamaCare finds a majority of Americans are tired of the Republican’s efforts to repeal President Obama’s Healthcare law.

This poll fielded following the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the heart of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) finds a majority of Americans (56 percent) now say they would like to see the law’s detractors stop their efforts to block its implementation and move on to other national problems.

Democrats overwhelmingly say opponents should move on to other issues (82 percent), as do half (51 percent) of independents and a quarter (26 percent) of Republicans.  But, seven in ten Republicans (69 percent) say they want to see efforts to stop the law continue, a view shared by 41 percent of independents and 14 percent of Democrats.

The public is also divided in its emotional reaction to the decision, with similar shares reporting being angry (17 percent) and enthusiastic (18 percent).  Negative emotions run highest among Republicans who support the Tea Party movement, with 49 percent of this group saying they are angry at the decision.

But what Americans want means nothing to Republicans, as John Boehner and Mitch McConnell are still promising to repeal the law.

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