Champagne and a mouth full of  watering garlic doesn’t sound like a recipe for love on Valentines Day, however, garlic has a history of being a “hot” herb as an aphrodisiac.

Garlic owes its smell to a sulfur compound. The fact that it stinks isn’t unique–sulfur compounds are renowned for their nasty odors. In fact, sulfur compounds in intestinal gas are responsible for the smell of flatulence. Those sulfur compounds are pretty potent stuff, considering that they make up just one percent of the total intestinal gas released!

Health Benefits of Garlic

1. Garlic Reduces Cholesterol

• There many studies confirming that garlic in several forms can reduce cholesterol. (Silagy CS, Neil HAW, 1994, The Journal of the Royal College of Physicians, Vol 28 No 1:39-45)

2. Garlic is an Aphrodisiac

• Tibetan monks were forbidden from entering the monasteries if they had eaten garlic.
• It stirs up passions due to it’s ability to increase the circulation.

3. Garlic is an Antioxidant

• Researchers have widely believed that the organic compound, allicin, which gives garlic its aroma and flavour, acts as the world’s most powerful antioxidant. But until now it hasn’t been clear how allicin works, or how it stacks up compared to more common antioxidants such as Vitamin E and coenzym.Research Sheds Light on Health Benefits of Garlic
• Traditional Chinese medicine used of garlic for more than 3,000 years. Current research is trying to determine the role it could play in treating many health problems such as heart disease and stroke to possibly helping to prevent cancer and increasing your immune system..Research Sheds Light on Health Benefits of Garlic

4. Garlic is an Antibiotic

• The allicin in garlic is also a powerful antibiotic, which fights infection and bacteria. British researchers gave 146 people either a placebo or a garlic extract for 12 weeks. The garlic takers were two-thirds less likely to catch a cold. Other studies suggest that garlic lovers who chow more than six cloves a week have a 30 percent lower rate of colorectal cancer and a 50 percent lower rate of stomach cancer. Garlic helps to open clogged sinuses.
• Listen to a garlic lover (me) and a garlic hater argue about these benefits: Garlic Health Benefits.

“We ate lots of garlic in my home…My father would grow it and it went in everything. He would make garlic sandwiches, which we all loved to eat. Toast with butter and chopped garlic and a sprinkle of salt–mmmm it was yummy. There were three girls in our family and my father used to love to tell us that the garlic would grow hair on our chests!” -Diana Herrington

Garlic History

Once upon a time it was used as currency.
In the days of the pharaohs, ancient Egyptians considered garlic so valuable that they placed it in tombs, including in King Tut’s.
Ancient Greeks gave it to Olympian athletes for strength and stamina.
In India, 5,000-year-old Sanskrit records describe its curative properties.
Why should you let Garlic sit for 5–10 minutes?

To get most health benefits from Garlic, let it sit for a minimum of 5 minutes, after cutting and before eating or cooking. Waiting 5–10 minutes allows the health-promoting allicin to form. If you do not let it sit, allicin is never formed, so it is worth the wait. What is Allicin?

I was having dinner with some friends one evening. My friend made a stir fry with lots of garlic in it. She told me that she could only eat organic garlic because when she ate non-organic garlic, she would have extreme digestive problems.

Ultimate Garlic Recipe: Simple Garlic Zucchini

For some, this zucchini is just an excuse to add extra garlic. Either way, it’s a heavenly combination!

Ingredients:

2 large zucchinis
10 cloves of garlic*
Almond oil
Sea salt

Directions:

Grate 2 large zucchinis.
Chop 10 cloves of garlic
Sauté zucchini and garlic in almond oil till soft for 5 minutes.
Add salt to taste.
Serve

Full Article Diana HerringtonCare to make a Difference

The Supreme Court rules that companies cannot attain patents on naturally occurring strands of human DNA. Companies can, however, patent synthetic ally created strands composed of cDNA, or composite DNA.

As gene therapy progresses and expands in scope, emerging medical technology has burgeoned to a $1B industry.  As private genetic labs race to find new ways to harness the building blocks of our DNA to create new diagnostics tests, cures, and treatments to illnesses, major legal and philosophical implications have developed.

Even if a company uses groundbreaking technology and techniques to discover new strands of DNA, like the BRCA1 and BRCA2 that are indicates for risk of breast and ovarian cancer, they cannot hold a patent on the DNA strands themselves. The decision rules against Myriad, a genetics company that has been selling a very expensive test to determine if women have these two strands.

Implications on Medicare Plan Subscribers

In a previous article we wrote on preventative care, it may be possible in the coming months and years that new genetic tests to predict if you have risk factors for certain cancers and diseases may be covered by Medicare coverage.

It is also conceivable that future treatments that use gene-therapy will become “reasonable” best practices for application on conditions affecting Medicare patients. We will keep you posted on the emerging trends in genetics-based medical technology and treatments, and how they relate to Medicare patients and coverage.

Source: https://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20130613/NEWS/306139946

Life has a natural progression that takes each one of us from being young to realizing the beauty of getting older.   Some of the comparisons created when we look back on from our college years as we age are hilarious, but also a wake up call.

For example, let’s consider the following comparisons:

Food

College:   No problem eating a whole pizza by yourself and staying a petite size 2

vs

Now:      Eat a slice of pizza and gain a bulging belly the next day with an extra pound that never leaves.

Sleep

College:    No problem going out late partying and them bouncing back the next day to take a school exam, then heading out for another party that night.

 vs

Now:  Home in bed by 10 and still tired the next day

Alcohol

College:  No problem drinking 6 pack with no hang over the next day

  vs

Now:  I had 2 glasses of wine last night and I have a headache

How life changes.  Enough reminiscing – let’s take a closer look at just one area – sleep.  As seniors (or even anyone remotely approaching retirement age), we analyze everything because there is usually more to it than just the beer from last night.  There are several sleep disorders that we need to consider that may cause sleep deprivation.  We have to also look at what sleep deprivation may cause the body to not act in ways that we want it to or reduce the body’s ability to fight disease.

Lack of sleep studies

Studies have shown that a lack of sleep does not produce enough RNA or Ribonucleic acid, which is taken from the blood stream.  The main RNA is a messenger RNA that plays a vital role in producing proteins.  Professor Derk-Jan Dijik a professor and Director of Surrey Sleep Research Center  and colleagues conducted a study that showed that when there is a sleep deprivation for seven (7) days straight, it would resulted in changes of  711 RNA genes.  These genes are directly linked to inflammation, the ability to fight disease and reduce stress.  The known damage effect on health impacts obesity, diabetes, heart disease and brain functions.

Types of sleep disorders

Some of the causes that Seniors will want to look into to properly diagnosis what may cause their deprivation:

• Central Sleep Apnea (CSA)  Brain fails to tell lungs to breath.  Thus, causing a lack of oxygen that the body needs.   This is common amongst seniors that have heart disease or shallow breathing due to a stroke.
• Narcolepsy (aka Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS)) often falling asleep spontaneously
• Upper airway resistance syndrome, which is difficult to diagnosis due and not recognized amongst medical society.  Symptoms include daytime excessive fatigue.
• Periodic limb movement disorder(PLMD) sudden involuntary movement of legs and arms.
• Cataplexy: sudden weakness tin motor muscles can cause you to fall to the floor
• Circadian Rhythm
• Delayed sleep phase syndrome (DSPS)
• Advanced sleep phase disorder (ASPS)
• Non-24 hour sleep way syndrome
• Restless leg syndrome (RLS)
• Hypersomnia – chronic disease those who can not obtain enough sleep for a regular day of activities
• Insomnia symptom of mood disorder

It is necessary for any and everyone to maintain healthy sleeping habits of a minimum of 6-7 hours a night.  It is even more important to maintain that as we age.  If you suspect your body to be experience any sleep issues, I urge to seek advise from your doctor.

Earlier this week

Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released an updated federal budget outlook for the next 10 year “budget window.” Included in this report were some telling revisions to the previous baseline projection for the effects of the Affordable Care Act (ACA).

The first thing to note is that they have increased the number of people projected to be uninsured, and at the same time reduced the projected federal revenue from the penalty for not having insurance.

How is this possible? Recent regulations issued by the administration have restricted access to health insurance subsidies, but at the same granted exemptions to the penalty for more categories of people who cannot qualify for those subsidies. For example, an IRS regulation clarified that employers are obligated to offer coverage only to their employees, but not to their employees’ families. However, the language of the health reform law makes it clear that if the employee has the ability to get employer-sponsored coverage for himself or herself only, the rest of the family is not eligible for subsidized exchange coverage, and may end up being uninsured because they are unable to afford the full, unsubsidized premium. In this case, the IRS exempts the rest of a family in this situation from having to pay the penalty for not having insurance.

The CBO also forecasts a further decrease in the number of people obtaining health care through their employers. Six months ago, they projected that 4 million people would lose employer-based coverage, and now the projection is 7 million. This reflects, in part, an extension of the slightly lower income tax rates beyond 2012, which slightly reduces the tax advantage of employment-based insurance. Of course, many health reform watchers (including this author) think this estimate is wildly optimistic, since it doesn’t take into account the either the incentives for employers to drop their health plans, or the survey data indicating that a large number of employers plan to consider doing just that.

Of course, it remains to be seen if these projections will be close to reality. Many factors could affect the accuracy of these projections, mostly by altering the underlying assumptions. For example, people might realize that with the absence of exclusions for pre-existing conditions, it might make financial sense for healthy people to wait to enroll in health coverage until they “need” it. For most people, paying the penalty will be cheaper than paying the premium, and staying healthy for just a few years could be enough come out ahead (even if one has to pay out of pocket for care until the next enrollment period).

Also, employers might realize that in some circumstances, it will be to their mutual benefit to drop their employer-sponsored plan. If the premium subsidies – which depend on income and family size – are higher than the employer penalty (fixed at $2,000 per full-time employee) plus the tax advantage of employer-sponsored coverage – then it will be to their mutual advantage for the employer to drop coverage, pay the penalty, and split the difference with the employees. For employers with a large proportion of medium- and low-income, low-tax-bracket employees, this is quite likely to be the case.

Robert Book,

If you were told  that there was a pill to help your body fight off disease and inflammation, make you look younger and loose weight, would you buy it?

Yes, of course you would. One would go to great lengths to get it.

What if you were told that the pill was SLEEP?  Most Americans would laugh.  Why?  Because, one would rather spend time going to great lengths chasing a pill then to change their habits.  On a average most Americans get far less sleep then the required sleep of 7-9 hours a night.

As a cancer survivor, getting enough sleep can help your body respond better to treatment and may speed your recovery. It may also help you stay well if you’re exposed to other viruses, such as colds and the flu.

Researchers have discovered that during sleep, your immune system releases proteins called cytokines which can help you deal with stress, fight infections and decrease inflammation in the body. When you don’t get enough sleep, these protective proteins and other important infection-fighting cells are reduced.

Your body needs adequate sleep to fight infections and inflammation. Long-term lack of sleep can not only put you at risk for a weaker immune system, but can also increase your risk for other chronic conditions such as obesity, diabetes and heart disease.

Lack of sleep can also affect your mind. Sleep helps you rest your mind and prepare for a new day of activity, memories and experiences. If you’re not able to sleep well on a regular basis, you may find that you have trouble with memory and concentration. You may also have more anxiety and low emotions.

So, it’s important for both your body and your mind to get your zzz’s. Mayo Clinic experts recommend 7 steps to healthy sleep, which include:

• Be consistent with your sleep schedule
• Pay attention to what you eat and drink before bedtime
• Create a bedtime routine
• Be comfortable for sleeping
• Limit napping during the day
• Get some physical activity every day
• Manage your stress

Fo more information on these strategies, visit the sleep center on MayoClinic.com  By Sheryl M. Ness, R.N.

CDC has taken a stand because the U.S. is threatened by a Hospital-Acquired Infection (HAI) known as Carbapenem-resistant Enterobacteriaceae.  CRE germs are resistant and untreatable by any antibiotic that is known today.

The heightened alert has created a huge scare because the numbers have increased so dramatically between 2001 and today.  In 2001 the infection rate for enterobacteriaceae was 1.2%.  It has now increased to an alarming rate of 4.6% of hospitals in 2012 that reported at least one incidence; 3.9% of short-stay hospitals reported at least one and the largest increase was found within long-term acute care hospitals with an alarming 17.8% having at least one case of reported CRE infection.

Another concern about CRE is that the germs spreads so quickly.  CRE germ initially kills off good germs, then begins to reproduce new CRE germs.  CRE also shares genetic defenses, which makes other bacteria resistant to antibiotics.

Antibiotics kill some cells.  Therefore, when the remaining cells reproduce, they tend to be the cells that were resistant to that antibiotic.  The result of this is that a higher and higher percentage of the remaining CRE cells are resistant to the antibiotic.  The body is truly amazing. It goes to show the validity that Gods greatness in providing the very foods on earth that are the only thing that helps cells to reproduce new and healthy cells to fight off bad infectious cells versus that of the Medical society that provides man made chemicals of killing cells. Medical society does not out smart GOD.

Patients most at risk

Patients who are most at risk are people who are in healthcare settings like hospitals, long-term care, and skilled nursing facilities. Additionally, patients who uses ventilators or catheters. Also, if a patient has taken antibiotics for a long period of time, then you may be at risk for CRE infections.

Immediate Action Needed

Never the less, rapid action must now be taken to out smart these germs. On a Federal level, CRE infections must be reported and tracked through the National Healthcare Safety Network (NHSN) and Emerging Infections Program (EIP). The government must also provide the research, skills, expertise and testing to states and facilities.  Additionally, they must provide prevention control programs that will take measures to prevent the germs from transferring from one person to another through common practices and treatment of patients.

State and Local authorities must make it a high priority to know the CRE trends and coordinate regional CRE tracking and control efforts. They should take a proactive stance and initiate procedures in hospitals and other care facilities that have not been infected yet by the germ. Strict laws should be in place to alert hospitals when transferring patients with any infection.  States now need to consider including CRE infections on states’ notifiable disease lists, which is not presently a requirement.

Rapid action must be taken by hospitals and long-term care facilities to prevent the increase and spread of this very infectious germ. Patients whose care requires devices like ventilators (breathing), urinary (bladder) catheters, or intravenous (vein) catheters, and patients who are taking long courses of certain antibiotics are among those most at risk for CRE infections, and special precautions should be standard among all such facilities.

Core Measures

There are 8 core measures facilities should follow.

1.  Hand Hygiene – 
Hand hygiene is a primary part of preventing multi-drug-resistant organism (MDRO) transmission. Facilities should ensure that healthcare personnel are familiar with proper hand hygiene technique as well as its rationale. Proper use of Contact Precautions includes:

1. Performing hand hygiene before donning a gown and gloves
2. Donning gown and gloves before entering the affected patient’s room
3. Removing the gown and gloves and performing hand hygiene prior to exiting the affected patient’s room

2.  Contact Precautions
 – People who are infected with CRE should be placed on contact precautions.  Systems, including a defined CRE protocol should be in place for if a patient is known previously to have had CRE.

3.  Healthcare Personnel Education
 – HCP (in all settings) who care for patients with MDROs, including CRE, should be educated about preventing transmission of these organisms.

4.  Use of Devices – 
Use of devices (e.g., central veinous catheters, endotracheal tubes, urinary catheters) puts patients at risk for device–associated infections and minimizing device use is an important part of the effort to decrease the incidence of these infections.  More information can be found in the Guidelines for the Prevention of Intravascular Catheter-Related Infections and Guideline for Prevention of Catheter-associated Urinary Tract Infections, 2009.

5.  Patient and Staff Cohorting – 
When available, patients colonized or infected with CRE should be housed in single patient rooms

6.  Laboratory Notification
 – Laboratories should have protocols in place that facilitate the rapid notification of appropriate clinical and infection prevention staff

7.  Antimicrobial Stewardship – 
Antimicrobial stewardship is another primary part of MDRO control.  This intervention is applicable to both acute and long-term care settings.

8.  CRE Screening is used to identify unrecognized CRE colonization among epidemiologically-linked contacts of known CRE colonies or infected patients, as clinical cultures will usually identify only a fraction of all patients with CRE. Generally, this screening has involved stool, rectal, or peri-rectal cultures and sometimes cultures of wounds or urine (if a urinary catheter is present).

Abbreviated measures have been listed here – you can find a full listing of the Preventive Measures on the CDC website. https://www.cdc.gov/hai/organisms/cre/cre-toolkit/f-level-prevention.html#facility-strategies

Eye specialists and vegetarians have said fruits have special minerals that can restore sight to the blind, the partially-blind and those with some eye defects.

This assertion has brought hope to those who have some eye defects as according to the experts eating certain fruits and vegetables continuously can correct bad eyesight, since some fruits have curative materials to restore full sight!

Recently an NGO, the International Vegetarian Fellowship met in Calabar to educate people on the importance of taking up vegetarian lifestyle in order to check their weight and live a disease-free life.

Speaking on the claims propounded by the Fellowship, the chief ophthalmologist at the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), Dr Dennis Nkanga said he agrees with them that fruits and vegetables have the capability to improve human health and can also help solve many eye problems but he had some reservations about fruits actually restoring the sight of a permanently blind person.

“Fruits and vegetables are very rich in vitamins, and some of these vitamins contain anti-oxidants which are good for eye treatment. Some of these vitamins help to produce ‘visual statement’. There are metabolic diseases which can cause damage to the eyes. Pawpaw, carrots, etc can help to correct these.”

Dr Nkanga has however challenged the vegetarians to avail their claims and findings for public and scientific scrutiny so that the work of specialists could be lessened.

A powerful spiritual leader regarded as an authority on the subject, Leader Olumba Olumba Obu who is the Sole Spiritual Head of the Brotherhood of the Cross and Star whom adherents claim survives majorly on some fruits said, “Many of those who are partially blind can practice vegetarianism by eating fruit, grains, legumes and vegetables and their eyes will be opened.

“Those suffering from hypertension will have their blood normalized if they chose to practice vegetarianism. Many who are certified anemic, by eating vegetarian diet, they will be filled with blood.”

Leader Obu said if people take to vegetarianism effectively, they would no longer experience any form of sickness but would be full of health and spiritual power, adding that the blood content of pure vegetarians is more than enough to donate to many people.

“People at the point of death could have their life-span elongated and rejuvenated if they turned to eating much fruits and vegetables consistently”, he maintained.

Obu faults those that incessantly fall sick because he said they eat flesh of animals which carries innumerable diseases. “When I look at those who continue to eat meat, fish, egg and drink milk, tears roll down my cheeks because these are the sources of their perennial sickness. As soon as one begins to live on fruits, seeds and vegetables, you will become a new person. Vegetarians are powerful people and assorted ailments do not affect them.”

Vegetarians are of the belief that some foods that human beings eat are really the cause of their assorted ailments, perennial ill-health and early death. Some even advance the debate that certain foods can make people become susceptible to some evil attacks!

In a presentation on excessive eating and how to live a drug-free life in Calabar, they stressed that much of the drugs, cigarettes and foods taken by man are poisonous and would continue to be harmful to him if he did not revert.

A staunch teetotaler advocating for healthy living, Paul Ugochukwu who is the current chairman of International Vegetarian Fellowship (IVF), renowned for the promotion of abstinence and the eating of natural foods, especially fruits and vegetables, said that people will continue to be afflicted with diverse diseases and predicaments as long as they continue to wallow in excessive drinking of alcohol and eating foods that are alien to their body.

The Congressional Budget Office’s report ups the ante in budget battles between the Obama administration and GOP lawmakers, who are staking out positions on the March 1 sequestration, as well as on trims to Medicare and other entitlement programs.

Los Angeles Times: Bright Fiscal Forecast For The Short Term
Revenue is increasing as the economy improves and as higher taxes on wealthier households take effect. The deficit is also shrinking because spending on unemployment insurance and other government assistance programs goes down as the economy improves. But the continued growth in healthcare costs and the increase in the nation’s population of senior citizens eligible for Medicare will keep the budget on an unsustainable path. Even though health spending has slowed in recent years for reasons analysts do not fully understand, the sheer volume of new Medicare and Medicaid recipients means costs will rise (Mascaro and Parsons, 2/5).

The Washington Post: As Obama Calls For Short-Term Fix To Avert Sequester, CBO Reports Falling Deficits
Obama said that he is committed to a broad effort to restrain the national debt and that past White House proposals to rein in Medicare costs and increases in Social Security benefits “are still very much on the table” as part of that effort. But with the sequester due to hammer the fragile economic recovery in less than a month, the president said Congress should take quick action on a short-term measure to replace it, giving policymakers more time “to finish the job of deficit reduction” (Montgomery and Goldfarb, 2/5).

Bloomberg: Deficit To Shrink Below $1 Trillion, U.S. Agency Predicts
The federal budget deficit will total $845 billion this year, the first time in five that the gap between taxes and spending will be less than $1 trillion, according to a government report…The agency said that health-care spending is growing less quickly than anticipated. In 2012, Medicare costs rose by 3 percent, or $16 billion, the smallest annual gain since 2000 (Faler, 2/6).

The Wall Street Journal: Debt Rise Colors Budget Talks
The projections will become a measuring stick for a rapid-fire series of budget decisions on Capitol Hill. Three key dates loom for policy makers: the across-the-board spending cuts are set to bite both military and domestic spending on March 1; that is followed by a March 27 deadline for funding government operations for the rest of the fiscal year as well as a new law that withholds lawmakers’ pay unless they vote by April 15 on budget outlines. Even if Congress allows across-the-board spending cuts to kick in, sunsetting tax provisions to actually expire and Medicare doctor fees to be cut, the deficit is projected to begin increasing gradually from 2016 onward as more of the baby boom generation qualifies for Social Security and Medicare (Paletta, 2/5).

The Associated Press/Washington Post: Congressional Budget Office: Budget Deficit Estimated At $845 Billion For 2013
But as more and more baby boomers retire and claim Medicare and Social Security and as Obama’s health care law takes effect, deficits would move higher and again reach near $1 trillion in the latter portion of the 10-year window — despite the recently enacted tax increase on family income exceeding $450,000 and automatic spending cuts of about $100 billion a year. The package of spending cuts and tax increases are punishment for Washington’s failure to strike a long-term budget pact (2/5).

Reuters: Social Security, Health Spending To Hit $3.2 Trillion A Year
Spending on Social Security and healthcare will double to $3.2 trillion a year over the next decade, threatening a sharp rise in national debt unless Congress acts to avoid the danger, congressional researchers warned on Tuesday. A report from the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office did not put forth a plan to resolve the long-term imbalance between revenues and spending on retirement and healthcare benefits (Morgan, 2/5).

The Associated Press/Washington Post: Analysis: Obama And GOP Want To Replace Across-The-Board Cuts, But With What?
As a result, they seem likely to spend the spring and perhaps a good part of the summer struggling to escape a bind of their own making. And this time, Medicare and the rest of the government’s benefit programs are likely to face changes. Already, the two sides are laying down markers (2/6).

USA Today: Obama Seeks Short-Term Budget Plan To Avoid Sequester
The president said he is still looking for a major debt reduction deal for the long term of more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years, saying that earlier ideas are “still on the table.” Obama said he still supports proposed changes to the tax code and to the ever-rising entitlement programs like Social Security and Medicare, but he did not provide many specifics. White House spokesman Jay Carney said Obama would work with Congress on the composition of a short-term budget plan that would require tens of billions of dollars in debt reduction to avoid the scheduled budget cuts. Carney noted that Obama and congressional Republicans have struck previous deals that add up to some $2.5 trillion in debt reduction over the next decade (Jackson, 2/6).

Meanwhile, CQ Healthbeat looks at how CBO’s predictions could boost efforts to overhaul Medicare’s formula for reimbursing doctors -
See Full ArticleKaiser Health News

As many people approach retirement age, they begin to realize that they are likely to live much longer than their parents or grandparents every dreamed of living. This is wonderful news! However, it also brings with it challenges.

After watching this short video, maybe it would be worthwhile to take a few minutes and consider what you are going to do with your “bonus” years. Perhaps one worthwhile activity would be to review your health insurance and consider how it will work with Medicare and Medicaid in your Golden Years.

As always, share any ideas you have about what you’re making plans for – maybe someone else will be inspired by the idea…