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Cancer patients and survivors have some of the most challenging experiences with our health care system, at a time in their lives when they are most vulnerable.

Federal and state programs that provide support to under served people with cancer are dramatically underfunded, leading to huge gaps in access to treatment. Even cancer patients with health insurance find that because of high cost sharing, annual and lifetime maximums, and other limitations, they may be exposed to extremely high out-of-pocket costs. If a cancer patient has to cut back on hours or leave their job to undergo treatment, they often face the prospect of losing their health insurance. And, cancer survivors face some of the largest hurdles for reentering the workforce or seeking private insurance, because they have a so-called preexisting condition.

Cancer costs the U.S. $228 billion each year in medical costs and lost productivity. It claims more than 565,000 lives each year and inflicts incalculable physical pain and emotional distress on cancer patients and their families.

We must take this opportunity to address the needs of cancer patients by making a strong investment in the fight against cancer. This investment will provide a short-term stimulus the economy needs today, while building a foundation for a healthier, more productive workforce in the future.

As Congress considers health care reform legislation, our elected officials have a unique opportunity to address the long-standing concerns of people with cancer, which have all too often been overlooked by the U.S. health care system.

There's no time to waste.

Labels: cancer, healthcare

Rapid eye movement (REM) sleep is a normal stage of sleep characterized by rapid movements of the eyes.

Because REM is a mixture of encephalic (brain) states of excitement and muscular immobility, it is sometimes called paradoxical sleep. It is generally thought that REM-associated muscle paralysis is meant to keep the body from acting out the dreams that occur during this intensely cerebral stage.

We examined the role of REM on creative problem solving, with the Remote Associates Test (RAT). Using a nap paradigm, we manipulated various conditions of prior exposure to elements of a creative problem.

A study done by Dr Sara Mednick, assistant professor of psychiatry at the University of California San Diego and the VA San Diego Healthcare System, and colleagues, on the positive effects of napping was published online in the 8th June issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

The researchers said their findings are important because they show that sleep, and REM sleep in particular, helps the brain to form "associative networks".

Mednick said:

"For creative problems that you've already been working on -- the passage of time is enough to find solutions."

"However," she added, "for new problems, only REM sleep enhances creativity."

The researchers discovered that it looks as if REM sleep stimulates associative networks helping the brain to make new and useful connections between unrelated ideas, the key to creativity.

Denise J Cai, Sarnoff A Mednick, Elizabeth M Harrison, Jennifer C Kanady, and Sara C Mednick

PNAS published online before print June 8, 2009

Labels: rem, sleep

Despite all of the media attention about the safety of kids products over the last year; the toxic chemical bisphenol-A (BPA) is still found in products that kids use every day, like baby bottles, sports water bottles, the lining of formula cans, and sippy cups.

This is a real problem because more than 200 studies have linked BPA exposures at very low doses to breast and prostate cancer, obesity, diabetes, altered development of the brain and immune systems, lowered sperm counts, and early puberty. Growing children are especially at risk from BPA because they have smaller bodies. In fact, BPA is so toxic that even very small amounts have been shown to cross the placenta and impact prenatal development.

MomsRising members are committed to eliminating BPA from products that pregnant women and children are exposed to on a daily basis. Over the last several decades, children have faced an increasingly challenging time making it through what should be normal stages of growth and development. Incidences of reproductive defects, childhood obesity, early onset puberty, learning disabilities, and many other chronic health problems are on the rise. Many of these problems have been linked with exposure to toxic chemicals.

BPA was first synthesized as an estrogen replacement therapy in the 1930s but was discarded in favor of other therapies. In the 1940s, chemists discovered they could use BPA to make plastic. Now BPA can be found in baby bottles, water bottles and food storage containers. It is also used the lining of metal food cans, including infant formula cans.

BPA is of particular concern to moms because even minuscule amounts--parts per billion or parts per trillion--have been shown to cross the placenta and disrupt normal prenatal development. Early life exposure to BPA has been linked to a host of developmental problems, such as breast cancer, prostate cancer, obesity, early onset puberty, abnormal brain development , hyperactivity, and the genetic defect that causes Down’s syndrome. The CDC found BPA in 93% of all Americans and the scientific literature points to food as being the major route of exposure.

Together we can change this! Urge your members of Congress to co-sponsor the Ban Poisonous Additives Act, which will prohibit the sale of food and beverage containers that contain BPA.

Labels: bpa, toxins

Today is Melanoma Monday, a day that stresses melanoma and other skin cancer prevention as well as early detection. It was established by the American Academy of Dermatology as part of Skin Cancer Awareness month in May.

Cancer of the skin is the most common of all cancers, accounting for more than 50% of new cancer cases. The two main types are non-melanoma and malignant melanoma skin cancers.

Melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, can appear suddenly on any part of the body or develop from a mole. Melanoma caused 8,110 of the 10,850 deaths due to skin cancer in 2007, according to the American Cancer Society.

The other types of skin cancer - basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma - rarely spread, are less worrisome, and are treated differently than melanoma.

Lawrence A. Mark, M.D., Ph.D., an assistant professor of dermatology at the Indiana University School of Medicine and a researcher with the IU Simon Cancer Center, advises people to know their bodies and talk with their physicians about any changes they notice. Also be mindful that skin cancer can develop in places you may not consider: between the toes, on the soles of the feet, on the palms of the hands, under finger and toe nails, and on oral or genital mucous membranes.

Dr. Mark and his colleagues use the ABCD's to evaluate melanoma:

- A, asymmetry: Half of a mole or birthmark does not match the other half
- B, border: Edges are irregular, ragged, notched, or blurred
- C, color: The color isn't the same all over but may have differing shades of brown or black, sometimes with patches of red, white or blue
- D, diameter: The area is larger than six millimeters (about the size of a pencil eraser) or is growing larger

Most of the more than one million cases of skin cancer diagnosed yearly in the United States are considered to be sun-related, according to the American Cancer Society.

Physicians recommend limiting outdoor sun exposure, ultraviolet radiation is often the strongest between the hours of 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Protective clothing, sunglasses, and sunscreen are also effective ways to protect against exposure to UV light. The American Cancer Society advises using a sunscreen with an SPF factor of 15 or higher.

Labels: cancer, melanoma, skin cancer, skincare

So this is my concern, feel free to refute...

Four samples sent to the Center for Disease Control (CDC) from the University of Delaware have officially been confirmed as being swine flu or H1N1 as it is now being called.

However, now the CDC is telling the University of Delaware not to send any further samples and to treat all cases as if they were the swine flu. "With confirmation from CDC that swine flu is present in the community, routine testing of UD students is no longer required and all flu-like symptoms will be treated as potential swine flu." - SOURCE

My feeling is that if the CDC does not confirm further cases officially than how do we know what the real numbers are nationwide, because you can be sure they have told other states the same thing, right?

In response to an intensifying outbreak in the United States and internationally caused by a new influenza virus of swine origin, the World Health Organization raised the worldwide pandemic alert level to Phase 5 on April 29, 2009. A Phase 5 alert is a "strong signal that a pandemic is imminent and that the time to finalize the organization, communication, and implementation of the planned mitigation measures is short."

Labels: swine flu

When the phone rang after 9 p.m. and it was a work number I didn't answer it. I thought to myself, if they leave a message I'll see what's going on. Well, they left a message and sent a text and then called again.

The recording I heard started with "This is a University of Delaware Health Alert..."

The warning continued to say that four UD students were experience mild flu-like symptoms which meet probable definitions for swine flu.

Oh great!

I work for the University of Delaware, as a web developer for their College of Agriculture & Natural Resources. This semester there are not any swine on campus, but of course we know that this swine flu is spreading from human-to-human contact and not just from animal-to-human so it doesn't matter if there are no swine on the farm.

Regardless I find myself creating a health alert graphic banner to link to the UD page which is now collecting information about swine flu in the area and on campus. We're expecting to hear more at a news conference at 11 a.m. today.

Labels: swine flu

At a time of hardship, there are people spending millions of dollars to prey upon your fears.

Right now in our country there are 47 million without health coverage and millions more inadequately covered. Even knowing that fact there are groups fighting against a system which could help remedy this situation.

The Conservatives for Patient Rights ad argues the U.S. is headed in the direction of Britain and Canada, citing the creation this year of a federal council to study the cost and effectiveness of medical treatments and procedures.

In the ad, a British doctor says patients in a government-run system "lost control of their own destiny in the medical system." A Canadian doctor says patients in his country are "languishing and suffering on wait lists."

US Census Bureau statistics show that 24.3% of people with incomes less than $25,000 went without insurance during some portion of 1996. 15.4% of the total US population went without insurance for all of 1995. Millions of people are unable to get medical care unless they pay out-of-pocket.

Private insurers necessarily waste health dollars on things that have nothing to do with care: overhead, underwriting, billing, sales and marketing departments as well as huge profits and exorbitant executive pay. Doctors and hospitals must maintain costly administrative staffs to deal with the bureaucracy.

Since national health insurance (NHI) would require fundamental restructuring of the health care system, it poses a threat to the stakeholders in the present system. For many reasons, when NHI is raised as a policy alternative, it therefore becomes a target of opportunity for interests vested in the status quo. Each time this occurs it obscures a national debate on the real issues, which should focus on which of the policy alternatives best serves the public interest.

Download this handout ... "Top 10 Reasons For Enacting a Single Payer Healthcare System" from the California Nurses Assocation.

Link to the Obama Administration Pages on Healthcare Reform >>

And please, I would love to hear your thoughts on this topic.

Labels: healthcare