Exercise tied to prostate cancer survival

Among men with prostate cancer, those who lead active lifestyles have better survival rates than those who don’t, a new study suggests.

There are many benefits to being physically active, but the new results suggest there are “specific effects also on the survival among prostate cancer patients,” said the study's lead author Stephanie Bonn of the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm.

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“There is great potential for men diagnosed with prostate cancer to improve their own survival by being physically active,” she wrote in an email to Reuters Health.

In the U.S. alone, about 210,000 men are diagnosed with prostate cancer every year and about 28,000 die of it, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

http://www.samaa.tv/health/23-Dec-2014/exercise-tied-to-prostate-cancer-survival

العلامات التحذيرية لالتهاب المفاصل

وتشتمل العلامات التحذيرية لالتهاب المفاصل على ما يلي ( اعراض التهاب المفاصل ):-

- تورم في مفصل أو اكثر .

- تيبس صباحي متواصل .

- الم متكرر في احد المفاصل .

- عجز عن تحريك المفصل بشكل طبيعي .

- احمرار واضح و دفء في المفصل .

- ترافق ألم المفصل بحالات غير مبررة من ارتفاع درجة الحرارة أو انخفاض الوزن أو الضعف .

علاج التهاب المفاصل

8 علاجات طبيعية فعّالة لتتخلص من آلام المفاصل:

1. الزنجبيل علاج رائع لـ التهاب المفاصل :

أحد أهم العلاجات الفعالة لمرض التهاب المفاصل، فهو ذو خواص مضادة للالتهاب. يمكن استخدام زيت الزنجبيل بدهنه على المفصل المتضرر، فاستخدامه بانتظام كفيل بتقليل الألم والتورم والخشونة إلى حدٍّ كبير. كذلك فإن تناول الزنجبيل الطازج يومياً مع كل وجبة يحسن كثيراً من حالة الالتهاب، وذلك لكونه يحسن الدروة الدموية.

2. الكركم:

الكركم من التوابل المعروفة، والتي يمكن أيضاً أن تستخدم كعلاج لالتهاب المفاصل. فالاستخدام المنتظم للكركم ضمن نظامك الغذائي يسمح بتخفيف الالتهاب إلى حدٍّ كبير وكذلك الحال عند تناوله على هيئة كبسولات (يفضل تناول جرعات قدرها 500-1000 ملجم ثلاث مرات يومياً). يمكنك أيضاً تناول مسحوق الكركم ممزوجاً بالحليب، وذلك بمزج مقدار ملعقة كبيرة من الكركم مع كوب من الحليب الدافيء وشربه قبل النوم مباشرة.

3. بذور الكتان:

مصدر غني بأحماض أوميغا-3 الدهنية والتي تحفز انتاج الهرمونات المضادة للالتهابات، ولذا فهي مثالية كعلاج لالتهاب المفاصل. لهذا الغرض يمكنك تناول ملعقة كبيرة من بذور الكتان 2-3 مرات يومياً. يمكنك أيضاً أن تدخل بذور الكتان إلى نظامك الغذائي وذلك بمزجها مع السلطات، والزبادي، والمعجنات، وحتى مع العصير. كذلك فإن زيت الكتان له نفس المفعول، ولذا يمكنك تناول ملعقة صغيرة من الزيت 3 مرات يومياً.

4. الملح الإنجليزي (Epsom Salt)، أو الملح الخشن:

أحد أهم مصادر الماغنيسيوم، والتي تفيد كثيراً في تعديل مستوى الحامضية في الجسم، ولذا فهو فعال في علاج أعراض التهاب المفاصل. قم بإضافة الملح الخشن (أو الملح الإنجليزي) مع كمية مساوية من عصير الليمون في نصف كوب من الماء الساخن، ثم تناول مقدار ملعقة صغيرة من هذا المزيج مرتين يومياً (صباحاً ومساء). يمكنك أيضاً أن تضيف 3-4 أكواب من هذا الملح إلى ماء الحمام الدافيء وحاول أن تنقع جسدك لأطول فترة ممكنة. ستشعر حتماً بالراحة من آلام المفاصل، كما ستساعدك هذه الطريقة على الاسترخاء.

5. القرفة:

القرفة عنصر آخر يمكن أن يفيد في تخفيف آلام التهاب المفاصل. لعلاج آلام المفاصل يمكنك إضافة 1/2 ملعقة صغيرة من القرفة المطحونة مع ملعقة كبيرة من العسل إلى كوب من الماء الدافيء وشرب هذا المزيج كل يوم على الريق. في حال التزمت بهذا العلاج لعدة ايام ستشعر بالفرق وستتحسن حالتك كثيراً إن شاء الله. يمكنك كذلك صنع معجون من القرفة المطحونة مع العسل وتدليك منطقة الألم به.

6. زيت السمك:

أحماض أوميغا-3 الدهنية الموجودة في زيت السمك لها تأثير مضاد للالتهاب ولذا فهي فعالة في تخفيف آلام المفاصل.ببساطة تناول ملعقة أو ملعقتين صغيرتين من زيت السمك يومياً، سواء بصورة مباشرة أو بإدخالها ضمن الوجبات. يفضل تناول زيت السمك على معدة خاوية لنتائج أفضل. حاول الإكثار من المنتجات الحاوية على أحماض أوميغا-3 الدهنية بشكلٍ عام، لا أن تقتصر على زيت السمك لوحده.

7. زيت الكافور (الأكالبتوس):

قم بتدفئة القليل من زيت الكافور ومن ثم ادهن به منطقة الألم. غلِّفها بكيس بلاستيكي ثم ضع حولها كمادات ساخنة أو دافئة لمزيد من الحرارة، وسرعان ما ستشعر بتحسن حالة مفاصلك. كرر هذه العملية يومياً قبل النوم لنتائج أفضل في تقليل أعراض التهاب المفاصل.

8. الكرز:

الكرز مصدر طبيعي غني بالماغنيسيوم والبوتاسيوم. الماغنيسيوم مسكن طبيعي للألم، والبوتاسيوم مضاد للالتهاب لذا فالكرز يعد علاجاً مثالياً في حالة الإصابة بالتهاب المفاصل. اجعل عادتك اليومية تناول 8-10 حبات من الكرز بأي صورة سواء كان طازجاً أو معلباً. يمكنك أيضاً ان تصنع شراب الكرز وذلك بغلي بضعة حبات من الكرز في الماء حتى تتكثف. يمكنك شرب هذا الشراب المحلى يومياً لعدة أشهر كعلاج لذيذ ومغذٍ للتخلص من التهاب المفاصل.

Arthritis Causes Symptoms News

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Medicare Open Enrollment Ends December 7.

Fall is picking season – pumpkins, apples, Halloween candy…and a Medicare health or drug plan. Today’s the start of Medicare Open Enrollment!
Picking a plan is an important and personal decision. Now’s the time to think about what matters to you, and to pick the Medicare plan that meets your needs. Here are some things to think about:
Does the plan cover the services you need?
Future health care needs can be hard to predict, but changes happen. Make sure you understand what services and benefits you’re likely to use in the coming year and find coverage that meets your needs. If you have other types of health or prescription drug coverage, make sure you understand how that coverage works with Medicare. And, if you travel a lot, does your plan cover you when you’re away from home?
No matter what plan you pick, you’ll have better choices and more benefits thanks to the Affordable Care Act like these:

• A discount of 55% on covered brand-name drugs if you hit the Part D prescription drug coverage gap (“donut hole”)
• A free yearly “wellness” visit, so you can sit down with your doctor and talk about your health concerns and the best ways to stay healthy
• A host of preventive tests and screenings — including cancer screenings — most at no cost to you

What’s the cost?
The lowest-cost health plan option might not be the best choice for you – consider things like the cost of premiums and deductibles, how much you pay for hospital stays and doctor visits, and whether it’s important for you to have expenses balanced throughout the year.
How about convenience?
Your time is valuable. Where are the doctors’ offices? What are their hours? Which pharmacies can you use? Can you get prescriptions by mail? Do the doctors use electronic health records or prescribe electronically?
Quality is important!
Not all health care is created equal, and the doctors, hospitals and facilities you choose can impact your health. Open Enrollment is also a good time to ask yourself whether you’re truly satisfied with your medical care. Look for plans with a 5‑star performance rating — the right expertise and care can make a difference.
Remember that even if you’re happy with your current plan, these answers might change from year to year – so it’s important to take the time to compare. The Medicare Plan Finder makes it easy to compare plans based on all of these factors, so you can pick a plan that meets your needs.

How are Medicare Supplement insurance plans priced?

Insurance companies price Medigap policies based on three main things: your plan choice, your personal factors, and their pricing systems. Because of these factors, the monthly cost of a Medicare Supplement insurance plan can vary widely.
One thing that will greatly affect the cost of your coverage is which plan you choose to buy. The 10 standardized plans vary greatly in their coverage and benefits, and so do their prices.
Your personal factors, such as age and tobacco use, will also affect your prices. Insurance companies will ask you several questions about your health history to help predict your future health care costs.
Finally, the price will be affected by the pricing system used by the insurer and how it treats age. Insurers have one of three pricing systems to use. The main difference between them is how they treat age, which will define how your premium will change in the future.

Your Medigap plan choices

The first factor that affects your premium is the insurance plan you choose. There are 10 standardized insurance plans offered in most states. Each standardized insurance plan has a different amount of coverage. They range from the low-benefit Plan A to the full-benefit Plan F. In most cases, insurance plans with less coverage will cost less.
Since Medigap plans are standardized, one insurer’s Plan F will offer the same benefits as another insurer’s Plan F. But despite the standardization, the cost for each insurance plan can vary greatly from one insurer to the next. A 2013 study by Indiana University found that for a 65-year-old female Indiana resident, Medigap premiums for Plan F could vary by about $2,500 a year. Comparison shopping is important and can help reduce the monthly premium cost.

Personal factors

The second thing that impacts your monthly cost is your personal factors. Insurers use your personal factors in a process called “underwriting” to predict how much you’ll cost them to insure. If you apply during the open enrollment period, however, insurers can’t use underwriting, and your personal factors won’t affect your final price.
When insurers are allowed to use underwriting, they can look at, among other things:

• Tobacco use
• Gender
• Location
• Age

Tobacco use

Tobacco use can lead to serious health risks including cancer, heart disease, and strokes, which ultimately cost the insurance company more money. To balance this cost, insurance companies usually charge higher premiums for those who smoke.

Gender

Another piece of personal information required is your gender. Your gender can be factored into the premium cost, but this information weighs less today than it did in the past. A 2013 Indiana University study found that premium differences based solely on gender are “minimal.”

Location

The final personal factor is an applicant’s ZIP code. A ZIP code is required on a Medigap policy application because health care costs vary greatly based on where you live. This is mostly because different areas have different average health care costs. However, location doesn’t usually affect prices too much. The Indiana University study found that for 90% of Medigap policies, the insurer had up to only three different prices for the same plan throughout the state.

Age

When you apply for coverage, insurers will want to know your birthday. They ask because your age will probably affect how often you file claims. The average cost to insure a 65-year-old is significantly lower than the average cost for a 85-year-old, and that fact is reflected in your premiums.
How much of an effect age really has on your policy will also be determined by your insurer’s pricing system.

Your insurer’s pricing system

The final factor that will affect your Medigap premiums is the pricing system your insurer uses. These define if and how premiums will increase in future years. Medigap insurers can quote policies based on one of the following pricing structures:

• Attained-age pricing
• Community-rated pricing
• Issue-age pricing

Attained-age pricing bases the premium on your current age. The premium continues to increase as you age. This is the most common pricing structure for Medigap insurance companies.
Community-rated pricing doesn’t let your age affect your price. For this pricing structure, a 65-year-old applicant would be quoted the same rate as a 75-year-old. Younger and healthier enrollees would likely face higher premiums to balance out the cost of insuring unhealthy and older enrollees. Premiums do not increase based on age, but can increase based on inflation.
Issue-age pricing bases your price on how old you are when you first buy the policy. The premium rate is fixed and does not change as you age. For these policies, the initial premium cost might be more expensive than an attained-age policy, but it might cost less in the long term. This pricing method is less commonly used by insurers.

Medicare Supplement

A Medicare supplement (Medigap) insurance, sold by private companies, can help pay some of the health care costs that Original Medicare doesn't cover, like copayments, coinsurance, and deductibles.
Some Medigap policies also offer coverage for services that Original Medicare doesn't cover, like medical care when you travel outside the U.S. If you have Original Medicare and you buy a Medigap policy, Medicare will pay its share of the Medicare-approved amount for covered health care costs. Then your Medigap policy pays its share.
A Medigap policy is different from a Medicare Advantage Plan. Those plans are ways to get Medicare benefits, while a Medigap policy only supplements your Original Medicare benefits.

Medicare Advantage

 

A Medicare Advantage Plan is a type of Medicare health plan offered by a private company that contracts with Medicare to provide you with all your Part A and Part B benefits. Medicare Advantage Plans include Health Maintenance Organizations, Preferred Provider Organizations, Private Fee-for-Service Plans, Special Needs Plans, and Medicare Medical Savings Account Plans. If you're enrolled in a Medicare Advantage Plan, Medicare services are covered through the plan and aren't paid for under Original Medicare. Most Medicare Advantage Plans offer prescription drug coverage.

Health Insurance Medicare Part A, B, C and D

Medicare covers services (like lab tests, surgeries, and doctor visits) and supplies (like wheelchairs and walkers) considered medically necessary to treat a disease or condition.
If you're in a Medicare Advantage Plan or other Medicare plan, you may have different rules, but your plan must give you at least the same coverage as Original Medicare. Some services may only be covered in certain settings or for patients with certain conditions.