You deserve to know the cost of caring for your health.
Amino @AminoHealth recently launched new health care cost estimate tools that you will be interested in.
See cost estimates for ~50 medical procedures and services nationwide (USA) across dermatology, diagnostics, men’s health, orthopedics, preventative care, surgeries, and women’s health.
Amino tools now let you:
Compare cost differences in your region based on your insurance.
Calculate what you might pay from your own bank account with an out-of-pocket cost calculator.
View and compare cost estimates for individual doctors–and book an appointment with the doctor of your choice for free through Amino.
As part of their launch campaign, they created an exclusive infographic that will walk you through the complexities of estimating health care costs.
There’s a lion enclosure at your local zoo. The lions have a well-documented history of attacking people on sight. The lions have not yet been fed that day. Given the data at hand, deciding to jump into that enclosure would be pretty stupid, wouldn’t it?
Say there’s a different lion enclosure at another zoo. The lions are new to captivity. There’s no data regarding their reactions to humans. They’ve been fed.
Which enclosure would it be safer to jump into?
The second, obviously. The lions have at least been fed, so a human leaping in doesn’t look like a magically appearing meal. There’s no proof they’ve attacked before, so there’s at least a chance they won’t attack now. But is it safe to jump into that enclosure?
The answer, of course, is an emphatic no. Just because an activity is safer than, it doesn’t make it safe, especially when the data needed to make that decision is incomplete.
Vaping: Safer Than
Vaping delivers a nicotine fix without the tobacco, sating an addiction without the known carcinogenic and other medical dangers of tobacco. As such, it’s touted as a safe, satisfying alternative to smoking. It’s marketed as a fun hobby and an effective way to quit smoking cigarettes. Fact: neither of those marketing claims is facts.
Not enough studies and tests have been completed to support sweeping statements regarding the safety of e-cigarettes and vaping. There is no conclusive evidence that these alternatives are effective tools for kicking a tobacco habit.
The data has, simply put, not had the time to catch up to the market. Policymakers and lawmakers are struggling to decide if and how to regulate e-cigarette use. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), World Health Organization (WHO), and other guardian entities of health and public safety are scrambling to find the footholds they need to even begin studying the effects of vaping on the human body.
In other words, there isn’t enough data to show that vaping is a definite health threat, but there also isn’t enough data to prove that it’s safe.
Emerging Health Concerns
A lack of definitive answers does not equal a complete lack of data or concerns.
Health organizations like the American Lung Association are beginning to compile and investigate a growing list of concerns including, but not limited to:
Manufacturers have not revealed the chemicals used in their products
Early tests have already found significant cancer-causing chemicals
A child has already died from accidentally ingesting liquid nicotine from e-cigarettes
Preliminary studies also raise concerns over the risks of secondhand emissions
Frightening Setbacks
Thanks to diligent research and effective communication, the population of cigarette smokers in the United States has dropped to between 12 and 28%, depending on the state.
But while Big Tobacco’s control and influence are waning in traditional cigarette sales, they are starting to make up for it through vaping. In the case of youth sales, vaping has allowed them easy, unchecked access to a new market.
Between flavoring options and marketing, it is clear that the vaping industry is taking advantage of the lack of oversight and regulations to create an addicted consumer base among youth and children.
Pro-Profit, Anti-Truth
Whether it’s Big Tobacco at the helm or new vaping manufacturers, the end-goal is clear: profit. If the decades of runarounds, cover-ups, and deceptions from the tobacco industry have proven anything, it’s that the manufacturer of the goods has no incentive to reveal the dangers and risks their goods pose to consumer health and safety.
Does that sound too cynical to be true? For some light reading, read WHO’s information revealing just how much the tobacco industry was willing to lie, deny, and cover up in the name of profit.
With vaping profits on the rise, consumers need to ask: why should we believe an addiction-for-profit based industry’s word now?
Why Is Vaping as Dumb as Smoking?
It’s like jumping into that second den of lions because the lions told you: “Come on in – I already ate.”
Jennifer Landis is a tea-drinking, yoga loving, clean eating blogger, writer, wife, and mother. You can find more from Jennifer at her blog, Mindfulness Mama.
Imagine having an incurable bacterial infection that doctors can’t stop from spreading. How long have you got to live? You are asking yourself, how this can be possible in the 21st century. The era of the superbug has dawned upon us. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), about 2 million people get sick from a superbug every year, out of which 23,000 die.
How super is a superbug?
The term ‘superbug’ is a sensational one that has been coined by the media because it resonates by creating fear. We all know how the media loves a little bit of drama right? Brian K. Coombes, PhD, of McMaster University in Ontario explains:
Doctors often use phrases like “multidrug-resistant bacteria.” That’s because a superbug isn’t necessarily resistant to all antibiotics. It refers to bacteria that can’t be treated using two or more.
And yes, on the 27th of May the case of a 49 year old woman with a superbug that beat even the last-resort antibiotic was all over the news:
However as the article on CNN’s website shows, it all ended well:
So no big deal right?
Wrong! Let’s not even think of belittling the situation. The threat is real, and 23,000 deaths a year is no joke. Besides, antibiotics are the backbone of modern medicine. Here is more from Brian K. Coombes:
Cancer chemotherapy, organ transplants, surgeries, and childbirth all rely on antibiotics to prevent infections. If you can’t treat those, then we lose the medical advances we have made in the last 50 years.
How do I protect myself from a superbug?
1. Avoid antibiotic misuse
Do not misuse antibiotics by taking them when you don’t need them or by not finishing all of your medicine. According to the CDC, this is the “single leading factor” contributing to this problem. Also know that the more antibiotics you’ve taken, the higher your risk of catching a superbug.
2. Stay alert in hospitals
The hospital is also a high-risk place to be. The more visits you to the hospital setting, the more you risk catching a superbug. In the hospital environment, you may catch a superbug through what experts call ‘healthcare-associated infections’ (HAIs). According to the CDC,” Many of the most urgent and serious antibiotic-resistant bacteria threaten patients while they are being treated in healthcare facilities for other conditions, and may lead to sepsis or death.” So make sure the doctors and nurses are following the right protocol to avoid infections.
Please see the CDC infographic below:
3. Avoid antibiotic-tainted meat
The use of antibiotics in farm animals leads to an increased risk of antibiotic resistant infections in humans. Get your meat from your local farmers, it may be more expensive but it tastes better and is much safer.
What can science do to fight antibiotic resistance?
Anya Vanecek put this question out on Quora and we found the best answer for you. Mary Bushman who does research on resistance in malaria had the best answer. I have put it down word for word:
There are multiple ways we can manage antibiotic resistance. The following is a mix of current, well-accepted methods, as well as some ideas that are still being explored/tested.
1. Preserve the effectiveness of the drugs that still work
(a) Limit use of antibiotics (agricultural use and inappropriate prescribing, as well as over-the-counter availability in many countries) and encourage correct use (finishing the course of treatment).
(b) Prevent resistant bugs from infecting others (infection control in clinical settings, plus regular public health interventions to reduce transmission).
(c) Combination therapy – treating with multiple drugs simultaneously. Using two or more drugs makes it harder for resistance to emerge, since the bug would have to develop resistance to both drugs.
(d) Vary the selection pressure. The more consistently a drug is used, the more advantage there is in being resistant. Using a variety of drugs (by giving different drugs to different people or switching the “drug of choice” every few years) may help prevent or reduce resistance.
2. Develop new drugs
(a) Find drugs with mechanisms of action (ways of killing) that don’t overlap with current drugs. When drugs share a mechanism, resistance to one will often mean resistance to the other. Finding drugs that work in different ways helps avoid this, and also works better for combination therapy.
(b) Search for drugs that are hard to develop resistance to. As we learn more about how different drugs kill, and how resistance works, drug development can be smarter and more targeted (as opposed to random screening of thousands of compounds for antibiotic activity).
(c) Unfortunately, developing new drugs is expensive, and pharmaceutical companies weigh the cost of development against a new drug’s money-making potential. We badly need new drugs for malaria and tuberculosis, but since these are mainly diseases of “poor people” who can’t afford expensive new drugs, pharm companies consider it a bad investment.
3. Try to reverse existing resistance
(a) In some cases, when a drug stops being used because of resistance, the resistance will actually start to go back down. This is because of a “cost” of resistance, meaning when the drug is not there, the resistant types don’t do very well. An example is that chloroquine-resistant malaria is present in many places, but in a number of places where chloroquine is no longer used, the resistance has decreased. If we can control drug use enough to make this happen, we may be able to “save” some drugs that are losing their effectiveness.
(b) In some cases, there can be a “trade-off” with resistance to different drugs. You can be resistant to drug A, or to drug B, but not both. If resistance to drug A is very common, and you start treating everyone with drug B, the bug might evolve resistance to B, but would have to lose the resistance to A. So, you might be able to start using A again in the future. This won’t happen in every case, or even very often, but when it does happen it can be a neat solution.
So we can conclude that antibiotic resistance is not the end of antibiotics. The superbug that just came to the U.S. is still treatable as I explained. We have been creating more and more resistant strains by misusing antibiotics, be it through direct consumption or through farm animals. Perhaps someday all bacteria will be resistant to all types of current antibiotics, but that just means we will have to discover a new type of cure.
In a world where nearly all so-called “science” is actually little more than corporate fraud and government malfeasance, nearly all mainstream science journals have been taken over by pharmaceutical and biotech interests. As a result, they destroy and suppress human knowledge rather than expanding it. – Mike Adams (aka the “Health Ranger”)
About Mike Adams – Why you need to make him your friend!
If you haven’t heard of the Health Ranger, you need to. Mike Adams, also known as “Health Ranger” is the founder of NaturalNews.com, the biggest and ‘baddest’ natural health news website which boasts 7 million unique readers a month.
He conducts atomic spectroscopy research into food contaminants at his Natural News Forensic Food Lab, His efforts have made numerous food safety breakthroughs such as revealing that rice protein products imported from Asia are contaminated with toxic heavy metals like lead, cadmium, and tungsten.” As a food science researcher, he was first to document high levels of tungsten in superfoods. For more of his discoveries and objectives read his complete bio: Mike Adams – Health Ranger.
Why do you need to continue reading?
The worst kept secret in the world of science today is that the big science journals are puppets for corporate interests. As Mike Adams himself put it: “spewing out a vomitous cascade of fraudulent, industry ghostwritten “doctored” studies that the industry pretends represent real science”.
As consumers, we are constantly being told what to eat in order to stay healthy. The health industry is booming because we are told to buy this brand of food or follow a certain type of diet. We believe and we obey because we think science backs all these claims. Science, and the science of food and health in particular, has been held hostage by large corporations and big pharma. As a result, today’s science caters to the needs of those large corporations and pharmaceuticals instead of catering to your needs. I love how the ‘Health Ranger’ puts down his mission statement for the solution to science being held hostage:
“My aim is to rescue science from corporate prostitution and return science to the democratic, decentralized domain of the curious and the informed. (That means you.) This is why today, I have extraordinary news to unveil… a milestone for independent science conducted in the public interest… something that hasn’t happened before in the history of our world.”
What alternative is he offering?
On the 1st of June 2016, Mike Adams announced the launch of an independent, peer-reviewed science journal – Natural Science Journal – that has no affiliation with corporate bullies and government extortionists.
It’s time that We the People had a science journal that represents real science in the public interest! – Mike Adams
No Outside Advertising
There is no advertising space in the journal and therefore no outside money influencing the editorial process.
All published scientific papers are peer-reviewed before being published.
No grants or money is accepted from any government institution. This means honest, ethical, and authentic work that isn’t captive to the financial string-pulling of the government.
Instead of answering to drug companies, biotech corporations, and government institutions, the Natural Science Journal answers to YOU!
Yes, the Natural Science Journal is YOUR science journal, covering the issues that matter to real people, real food consumers, real parents and health-conscious citizens. – Mike Adams
Explore Science That’s Censored by the Corrupt Establishment
Most topics covered in the Natural Science Journal are censored or blackballed by mainstream science journals. Below are some of the topics to expect in 2016:
The chemical analysis of vaccine composition
The glyphosate contamination of grocery store foods
Hidden pesticides found in counterfeit organics
Heavy metals in foods, superfoods and supplements from China
Mercury in dog food treats
Cadmium content of chocolate bars
Pesticide residues in popular food bars
Hard Data Speaks – Boundaries Shattered
The Natural Science Journal seeks “scientific papers based on hard analytics in chemistry, physics, botany, and so on”. The team behind the journal make it clear that it is not a philosophical or a thought-experimentation science journal. Whatever cannot be proven through hard experimental data will not be included.
Blink Health created an infographic that describes the differences between generic and brand name drugs and we feel it is important we share this with you. This, given the number of people who are overpaying for prescription drugs. Here at The Zeit, we have talked about how the Fitness & Health industry is making millions by taking advantage of desperate people trying to lose weight or look a certain way. We have also featured blog posts about the likes of FDA possibly suppressing a possible AIDS cure and how most supplements are a waste of your hard-earned money. We hope our readers benefit from our latest look into the vague world of the health industry.
Who are Blink Health?
Blink Health‘s mission is to make prescription medications available at lower prices to millions of people across America. They are the first company to develop a proprietary technology to group millions of patients together, creating the strength to negotiate the lowest drug prices possible. They are also the first company to allow patients to purchase their medications online and pick them up at their local pharmacy.
Blink has been making a lot of noise recently and has been featured in many high-profile media outlets including:
Last week, I was brushing my teeth, happily staring at my naked body in my full length 3 door closet mirrors that spreads across the whole wall of our bathroom, chatting with my hubby, who’s on a mission to run an 80 km (YES 80!!!! That’s NOT a typo!!!!) Ultramarathon this year.
My hubby also does not look like your typical, super lean runner.
He actually looks like a sexy (to me!) mountain man – stocky, thick and well, has what society is calling “Dadbod” (if you don’t know what that is, google it) 😉
My hubby is also an amazing runner, already completing impressive times for previous 50 km ultra marathons (ok,and the fact that he even runs and completes ultra marathons is amazing enough!!!)
My hubby also HATES weight training.
He says to me, “I am going to need to clean up my nutrition to lose some weight so I can perform better”.
Me: Sure if that’s what you want to do, hon. I’ll support you.
You see, my hubby has a “normal” relationship with food- he doesn’t ever worry about eating the “wrong” kinds of foods and if he overeats, he doesn’t beat himself up. He rarely has food hangovers if he over does it on sugar. He sometimes craves chocolate when he’s stressed, but it’s not a huge issue. Overall, he’s has a pretty nutritious diet. Continue reading →
Did you know you could hit menopause as early as age 30?
Making the right food choices can determine how you will handle menopause. Some of the menopause symptoms such as hot flushes, mood swings weight gain, and bloating can be managed by managing what we eat. The biggest mistake people make when eating is obeying their desires i.e. you just want to eat chicken because you crave it.
Dietary mistakes that lead to weight gain during menopause and their solutions:
1 Alcohol
According to research, alcohol contributes to the formation of empty calories in the stomach. This leads to weight gain in both men and women. Excess alcohol intake leads to the triggering of menopause supplements. Taking alcohol on en empty stomach is dangerous since it generally affects body health i.e. the liver cannot perform properly since the production of estrogen is low.
Solution: If you must take alcohol take a healthy heavy meal before alcohol, this will enable proper digestion with minimized negative impacts. Take plenty of water in between meals which will dilute alcohol in the body.
Include vegetables in your diet; this is because they contain vitamin C that is responsible for proper functioning of the liver and burning down excess calories.Continue reading →
Health insurance can be an aggressive topic for many Americans. Controversial national policies have been highly debated through out the land. Premiums can range by the thousands depending on your companies’ health care provider, the plan you join and what’s offered to you.
Many insurance companies have implemented ‘Wellness Plans’ that are designed to encourage you to actively participate in your health-life-plan. They tie regular check ups and consistent exercise to bonuses and rewards. Many employers have gone further and put a monetary consequence in place, if an employee refuses to answer questions regarding their personal stresses and health history or refuse to have blood tests to check for high cholesterol and blood sugar screenings.
The Zeit 