Chiropractors Offer Advice to Those With Diabetes

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(Diabetes
If current trends are to be believed, 1 in 5 Americans will have diabetes by 2025 — and 1 in 3 a generation later.

So says the Atlanta-based Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which calls the figures “alarming.” But when you think about today’s lifestyles — too often sedentary, with unhealthy diets — is it really all that surprising? ChirobetesC

“We simply cannot sustain this trajectory,” says the agency’s Dr. Ann Allbright.

Certainly genetics also play a part in explaining why 29.1 million Americans already suffer from the disease. It’s characterized by the body’s inability to produce (or properly use) the hormone insulin that’s needed to convert sugar, starches, and other food into energy.

But when it comes to those lifestyle issues — which, unlike genes, we can control — perhaps the best advice to limit the growing epidemic of diabetes comes from Dennis Marchiori, DC PhD, current president of the Association of Chiropractic Colleges: “Simply put, when you live healthier, you have a better chance of managing your blood sugar.”

The “DC” stands for doctor of chiropractic. And today’s chiropractors, with a minimum of seven years of education and clinical training, are helping to address the root cause of lifestyle-acquired Type II Diabetes (or Adult On-Set Diabetes) through their emphasis on healthy living and natural lifestyles. They’re also well-educated in nutrition, enabling them to construct individualized health regimens for patients that include:

• Eating well-balanced meals that are low in processed sugar.

• Consuming a variety of fiber-rich foods like fruit, vegetables, and whole grains.

• Weight management.

“Type II Diabetes is a preventable disease, and choosing a healthy lifestyle is critical,” says the not-for-profit Foundation for Chiropractic Progress’ Gerard Clum, DC.

And if you’re new to exercise, a chiropractor’s skill in manual care will also come in handy.

For more information or to find a chiropractor in your area, visit www.F4CP.org/findadoctor

Are You at Risk for Heart Failure? 5 Need-to-Know Facts

 From casual conversation to pop culture, the heart is the organ we love to talk about. We reminisce about our high school heartthrobs, center our hearts in yoga class and cry over our last heartbreaks.
The human heart is important — essential, actually — but not infallible. Heart failure is the cause for over a million hospital visits in the U.S. annually and an unimaginable $31 billion dollars of health care expenses. It is a chronic, progressively worsening disease with high mortality that affects more than 5.1 million Americans.
Is your heart at risk? Here are five facts about heart failure that you need to know:
1: Heart failure occurs from an overworking heart.
Heart failure occurs when the heart can’t pump enough blood to meet the body’s demands. Initially, in patients with heart damage from problems such as coronary artery disease, heart attack or chronic high blood pressure, the heart will work harder to provide the body an appropriate blood supply. As the heart becomes overworked, the heart muscle gradually weakens. Over time, the heart will fail to pump appropriately, generating a condition commonly known as heart failure.
2: Identifying heart failure is tricky.
Most people don’t discover they have heart failure until after they have experienced a heart attack or stroke. The leading causes of heart failure are diseases that damage the heart.
3: Heart failure is common.
Every 30 seconds, someone in America is hospitalized due to heart failure. In the United States, 550,000 people are diagnosed with this disease each year, and 30 percent of these individuals will pass away within six to 12 months.
Certain groups are at an increased risk. African-Americans are 20 times more likely to have heart failure before the age of 40. People over age 65 are at the greatest susceptibility.
4: There is hope.
New treatments and innovative monitoring tools are now available for people with heart failure. These include the CardioMEMS HF System, a first-of-its-kind remote monitoring device for Class III heart failure patients. The device, developed by St. Jude Medical, creates a monitoring bridge between a patients home and care team by remotely sending vital information to the physician’s office on a regular basis.
5: Stay in control.
If at risk for heart failure, manage your health by scheduling a checkup with your physician. If you have heart failure, talk to your physician about your options, including remote monitoring tools like the CardioMEMS HF System.
The human heart has earned a spot in our everyday conversation for a reason. Don’t take this organ for granted. Find more information about St. Jude Medical and its commitment to healthy hearts at www.heartfailureanswers.com.
The CardioMEMS HF System is indicated for wirelessly measuring and monitoring pulmonary artery (PA) pressure and heart rate in New York Heart Association (NYHA) Class III heart failure patients who have been hospitalized for heart failure in the previous year. The hemodynamic data are used by physicians for heart failure management with the goal of reducing heart failure hospitalizations.
The CardioMEMS HF System is contraindicated for patients with an inability to take dual antiplatelet or anticoagulants for one month post-implant.
Potential adverse events associated with the implantation procedure include, but are not limited to, the following: infection, arrhythmias, bleeding, hematoma, thrombus, myocardial infarction, transient ischemic attack, stroke, death, and device embolization. Refer to the user’s manual for detailed indications, contraindications, warnings, precautions and potential adverse events.

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A Yogi’s Guide to Finding Joy in 2017

 Many people claim to be searching for peace and joy in their lives, especially as a new year begins after the intense and often stressful holiday season. However, many joy seekers may be looking in the wrong places, according to yogi and spiritual teacher Sadhguru. The founder of the Isha Foundation and social activist has published a new book on finding joy within oneself rather than expecting to find it in the outside world. His book, Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy (Spiegel & Grau Hardcover/Random House, September 20, 2016), emphasizes that self-awareness is one of the keys to unlocking a life of joy from the inside.
In a recent interview with Yoga Journal, Sadhguru said that joy comes from creating an “inner chemistry of blissfulness where being joyful is not being subject to something outside of you.”
“[If] someone or something can make you happy or unhappy, [that] means what happens within you is determined by an aspect outside of you. This is the worst form of slavery,” he emphasizes.
The book features sadhanas, daily guidelines designed to help individuals lead a life of joy by looking inward, and other insights on joyful living. To begin, Sadhguru asks readers to consider what constitutes a state of well-being. He defines it as a sense of pleasantness. “When pleasantness is within, it is termed peace, joy, happiness,” he writes.
He encourages individuals to focus on happiness within to help them create pleasantness, and therefore joy, in the world at large. “When you are in a pleasant inner state, you are naturally pleasant to everyone and everything around you,” he notes. “Inner pleasantness is a surefire insurance for the making of a peaceful society and a joyful world.”
The editors at Yoga Journal suggest the following meditation for finding inner joy by invoking a state of well-being:
*Breathe deeply, relax, and think of a time of great joy and well-being.
*Try to remember all the details of that joyful experience, including sights, sounds, and smells, and try to recall how your mind and body felt in that moment.
*Practice recalling your joyful moment each day for a week, and ultimately you may be able to tune in to the general feeling of joy without recalling the specific occasion.
For more information about Inner Engineering: A Yogi’s Guide to Joy, visit the book site at http://isha.sadhguru.org/us-en/ie-book.

Improved Treatment for COPD Coming, Says Harvard Scientist

 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) takes an enormous toll in human suffering and medical costs. More than 30 million Americans struggle from frequent coughing, increased breathlessness, wheezing, and the other symptoms of the progressive lung disease.
Most COPD patients must take medications every day. As a result, inhaled drugs for COPD, such as Spiriva, have become blockbusters, bringing in billions of dollars a year in revenue.
These drugs work by opening up airways in the lungs to make breathing easier. Unfortunately, the so-called bronchodilator drugs currently on the market have limitations, says Dr. David A. Edwards, Professor of the Practice of Idea Translation at Harvard University. “The main problem is that they are not very efficient at delivering drugs to the lungs,” he explains. Much of the drug sticks in the mouth or throat rather than getting to the lungs where it is needed. In addition, says Dr. Edwards, “the fact that the drugs remain in the mouth and throat can lead to serious side effects.”
That’s why a number of companies have been working on innovative new approaches to increase the efficiency of drug delivery. “One particularly promising idea, being developed by Pulmatrix, Inc. [NASDAQ: PULM], is to attach drugs to small particles that can ‘fly’ far more easily into the lungs,” says Dr. Edwards. Such advanced “dry powder” technology can deliver three to 50 times more drug to the lungs compared to current inhalers, while dramatically reducing the amount stuck in the mouth or throat. “It’s like a pill for the lungs,” he says.
Pulmatrix is now developing an inhaled bronchodilator product for COPD that combines the active ingredient found in Spiriva with its proprietary dry particles. Clinical trials show that the product is five times more efficient at delivering the drug to the lungs than the currently marketed alternatives.
“That should bring both good efficiency and fewer side effects — offering important benefits to COPD patients,” says Dr. Edwards.

Harvard Scientist Says Improved Treatment Coming for COPD

 Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) takes an enormous toll in human suffering and medical costs. More than 30 million Americans battle with frequent coughing, increased breathlessness, wheezing, and the other symptoms of the progressive lung disease.
Most COPD patients have to take medications every day. As a result, inhaled drugs for COPD, such as Spiriva, have become blockbusters, bringing in billions of dollars a year in revenue.
These particular drugs work by opening up airways in the lungs to make breathing easier. Unfortunately, the so-called bronchodilator drugs currently on the market have limitations, says Dr. David A. Edwards, Professor of the Practice of Idea Translation at Harvard University. “The main problem is that they are not very efficient at delivering drugs to the lungs,” he explains. Much of the drug sticks in the mouth or throat rather than getting to the lungs where it is needed. In addition, says Dr. Edwards, “the fact that the drugs remain in the mouth and throat can lead to serious side effects.”
Which is why a number of companies have been working on innovative new approaches to increase the efficiency of drug delivery. “One particularly promising idea, being developed by Pulmatrix, Inc. [NASDAQ: PULM], is to attach drugs to small particles that can ‘fly’ far more easily into the lungs,” says Dr. Edwards. Such advanced “dry powder” technology can deliver three to 50 times more drug to the lungs compared to current inhalers, while dramatically reducing the amount stuck in the mouth or throat. “It’s like a pill for the lungs,” he says.
Pulmatrix is now developing an inhaled bronchodilator product for COPD that combines the active ingredient found in Spiriva with its proprietary dry particles. Clinical trials show that the product is five times more efficient at delivering the drug to the lungs than the currently marketed alternatives.
“That should bring both good efficiency and fewer side effects — offering important benefits to COPD patients,” says Dr. Edwards.

Are You Rehydrating for Optimal Health?

 Everyone knows that water is essential for life and health, but not all water is the same. Ionized alkaline water, for instance, takes full advantage of the science of hydration.
Scientists can measure hydration, or dehydration, by the thickness of blood, also known as blood viscosity. The more dehydrated you are, the thicker your blood becomes. Chronic dehydration can have negative effects, which is why water is so important to our bodies.
Water that is produced through an ionization process yields a pure water with a high pH level that has shown to be more effective at reducing blood viscosity and improving rehydration than a leading bottled water brand, according to a recently published clinical study.
The study, published in the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition (JISSN), used a sample of 100 healthy adults (50 men and 50 women) aged 25 to 49 years, who were randomized to drink either standard purified bottled water or Essentia, a high-pH, ionized alkaline water. Those who drank the Essentia water following exercis-induced dehydration showed significantly better rehydration compared to the other leading bottled-water brand.
“These findings underscore Essentia’s superior impact on hydration, important to a variety of lifestyles, and reinforces our commitment to providing a unique, effective, and quality product,” says the company in a statement. In addition, Essentia is the only bottled water featured in the Physicians’ Desk Reference (PDR) to alert clinicians to the latest research on optimal hydration.
Essentia’s unique ionization process consists of three specific parts. First, water from any source is passed through micro-filters, reverse osmosis and ultraviolet exposure to achieve a purity of 99.9 percent. Pure alkaline electrolytes such as magnesium, calcium, potassium and sodium bicarbonate are infused in trace amounts creating a perfect blend for a clean, smooth taste.
From there, bitter-tasting acidic water ions are removed, producing an ionized-9.5-ph-or-higher alkaline water that’s better at rehydrating.
Essentia’s bottles are free of BPA (bisphenol A and phthalates), and are recyclable anywhere in the United States.
Visit www.essentiawater.com for more information about the clinical study.

What Would You Have to Give Up to Pay for An Unexpected Hospital Visit?

 We may all be one stomach bug away from an unexpected hospital visit. Accidents and illnesses can occur without warning, wreaking havoc on finances and negatively impacting everyday life, even with health insurance.
While many people have major medical insurance, rarely do they prepare for the additional financial impact of out-of-pocket costs even a short stay in the hospital can incur. The average length of a hospital stay is 4.6 days and costs $11,000, according to the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.
What would the average family have to give up to pay that type of medical bill — eating out at restaurants for a year or more, weekly lawn service, maid service, pet grooming or family movie nights?
No one should have to stress about the impact hospital visits and related expenses could have on everyday life. That’s why companies like Aflac have designed supplemental hospital indemnity insurance policies to help cover what major medical insurance may not. Hospital insurance provides additional coverage that can help protect individuals and families from potentially devastating medical expenses, allowing them to keep their lives on track.
When specific events associated with a hospital visit occur, policyholders receive cash benefits that can be used to help cover everything from treatment costs to expenses that health insurance doesn’t typically cover, such as, rent, gas, groceries, utilities, child care and other necessities.

Unique Needs Require Unique Benefits
It is important to note that not all hospital plans are created equal and not all hospital visits are necessarily related to an accident or critical illness. Appendicitis, fever or even a child’s repeated earache can lead to a hospital stay.
Keep an eye out for plans that include customizable benefits, such as telemedicine, diagnostic exams, acute care and psychologist visits, and that provide the coverage you and your family may need. The right combination of hospital benefits can enhance your existing coverage and help add protection from life’s mishaps.
Be Prepared for The Unexpected
Even if your health changes, life doesn’t have to. So help protect your lifestyle through benefits options tailored to your needs. Consider talking to your human resources representative about making supplemental hospital indemnity insurance available at your workplace.
To learn more about Aflac’s hospital indemnity policies, visit www.aflac.com/hospital.