50Plus.com - The REIT stuff

50Plus.com - The REIT stuff: "The REIT stuff
Article By: Gordon Pape

Real estate investment trusts (REITs) have been exempted from the proposed new income trust tax. Gordon Pape has found a mutual fund that specializes in them.
When Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced his new income trust tax, he allowed for one exception: real estate investment trusts, better known as REITs. He did not offer any rationale for giving REITs a pass, but it appears he was following the U.S. precedent where the sector was also given an exemption when that country cracked down on the trust phenomenon in the 1980s.
Assuming Mr. Flaherty doesn't change his mind later (which is unlikely) this means that income-seeking investors should seriously consider adding a REIT fund to their portfolio. The problem is that the choice is extremely limited, at least right now. That could change in the future, of course."

Macleans.ca | Top Stories | Health | A nasty battle at the old age home

Elder Institutionalism at its worst. Loving care sounds good but how do you deliver it? QJ
Macleans.ca Top Stories Health A nasty battle at the old age home: "A nasty battle at the old age home
How did a small dispute at a respectable seniors' home escalate into this?
JONATHON GATEHOUSE
If pictures tell the story, Gerald Bargman's had a horrible ending. Photos from his final weeks show him propped up in a hospital bed, his arms covered with painful-looking sores, and body so shockingly wizened that you can see each rib, tendon and bone. By the time he died at the age of 63 on July 23, 2005, Bargman's six-foot-two frame had shrunk from 170 to well under 90 lb. He was essentially a skeleton with skin.
The list of ailments that landed him in intensive care at a Toronto hospital is long -- pneumonia, respiratory failure, Crohn's disease, sepsis, an antibiotic-resistant infection -- although it catalogues only a fraction of his medical problems. But it is diagnosis number seven on his final medical report -- malnutrition -- that his loved ones have seized upon. Proof, they say, of their allegation that one of Canada's most respected centres for geriatric care, Baycrest, let a patient starve to death in order to get back at a family that complained too loud, and too often. 'It was due to negligence. It was due to neglect. It was cruel,' says Carol Bargman, Gerald's sister. Depressed and isolated because administrators had restricted his son Allen's visiting privileges following a series of altercations with staff, Gerald Bargman wasted away. And Baycrest, the family alleges, did little to stop it. 'At the end, he looked like he'd just come out of the concentration camps,' says Carol. 'He was like a poster boy for Auschwitz.' "

The End of Medicine: How Silicon Valley (and Naked Mice) Will Reboot Your Doctor by Andy Kessler

Ecellent preview of the future of medicine
The End of Medicine: How Silicon Valley (and Naked Mice) Will Reboot Your Doctor by Andy Kessler: "

The End of Medicine
How Silicon Valley (and Naked Mice) Will Reboot Your Doctor By Andy Kessler

You get sick; you go to your doctor. Too bad. Because medicine isn't an industry, it's practically witchcraft. Despite the growth of big pharma, HMOs, and hospital chains, medicine remains the isolated work of individual doctors—and the system is going broke fast.
So why is Andy Kessler—the man who told you outrageous stories of Wall Street analysts gone bad in Wall Street Meat and tales from inside a hedge fund in Running Money—poking around medicine for the next big wave of technology?
It's because he smells change coming. Heart attacks, strokes, and cancer are a huge chunk of medical spending, yet there's surprisingly little effort to detect disease before it's life threatening. How lame is that—especially since the technology exists today to create computer-generated maps of your heart and colon?
Because it's too expensive—for now. But Silicon Valley has turned computing, telecom, finance, music, and media upside down by taking expensive new technologies and making them ridiculously cheap. So why not the $1.8 trillion health care business, where the easiest way to save money is to stop folks from getting sick in the first place?
Join Kessler's bizarre search for the next big breakthrough as he tries to keep from passing out while following cardiologists around, cracks jokes while reading mammograms, and watches twitching mice get injected with radioactive probes. Looking for a breakthrough, Kessler even selflessly "

winnipegsun.com - Manitoba - NDP stifles choice

The "If you can't beat them in service -buy them out strategy" is bad for freedom of choice. Sad -and with unlimited public funds -a double negative .

winnipegsun.com - Manitoba - NDP stifles choice: "Just when Manitobans were beginning to gain some choice in health care, along comes government's health-care monopoly to gobble up the competition.
The Maples Surgical Centre, a private clinic that had been providing MRIs and pediatric dental surgery to the public for a fee, inked a deal with the Doer government yesterday that will end private access to those services.
Under the $2.3-million deal, Manitobans will no longer be able to purchase MRI scans or pediatric dental surgeries from the clinic. That choice has been bought out by government.
Maples was charging patients $695 per MRI scan but they were delivering the service within 48 hours.
By contrast, hospitals -- under the government monopoly system -- force patients to wait as long as 10 weeks for elective MRIs"

ProActive Rants: Health waste-really discusting

ProActive Rants: Health waste-really discusting

A useful site for thinking people and adults

Adult Message: Communicate and speak to an audience of educated experienced individuals who want to make the most of their lives.

Eons features a fabulous interactive community of members (think MySpace for Grown-ups), plus they have a number of unique and fun features, including the most detailed Longevity Calculator (http://www.eons.com/body) I've ever seen. Designed by Dr. Tom Perls of the Centenarian Study, the Eons calculator is medically sound and personalized, offering the most relevant changes you can make to improve your quality of life. There is always a great deal of focus on exercising our bodies yet we often neglect to sharpen our minds. Eons also offers unique Brain Builder Games (http://fun.eons.com) to help keep your most important muscle in shape and reduce risk of memory loss. You can actually have fun while keeping your mind sharp!

A useful site for thinking people

Adult Message: Communicate and speak to an audience of educated experienced individuals who want to make the most of their lives.

Eons features a fabulous interactive community of members (think MySpace for Grown-ups), plus they have a number of unique and fun features, including the most detailed Longevity Calculator (http://www.eons.com/body) I've ever seen. Designed by Dr. Tom Perls of the Centenarian Study, the Eons calculator is medically sound and personalized, offering the most relevant changes you can make to improve your quality of life. There is always a great deal of focus on exercising our bodies yet we often neglect to sharpen our minds. Eons also offers unique Brain Builder Games (http://fun.eons.com) to help keep your most important muscle in shape and reduce risk of memory loss. You can actually have fun while keeping your mind sharp!

TOO MUCH SALT -BE PROACTIVE

So what can we do to take more control of our own sodium intake? First, read the labels. Total intake per day of sodium should not exceed 2.3 grams, except for African Americans and the elderly, who should only consume 1.5 grams a day. Any food with a half a gram or more in a portion is probably worth avoiding. Second, watch the restaurants. A single meal often contains 4 grams of sodium. And think twice about that free bread on the table – it’s one of the worst offenders.2 Third, remove the salt shaker from your table at home. Why add insult to injury? Fourth, accept a little pain. Studies show we like the taste of salt and weaning ourselves off it will be noticeable at first. But studies also show that adjusting to the change happens quickly and cravings disappear rapidly. Making the small sacrifice is well worth it. Cutting your sodium intake in half can drop your blood pressure 5 points, and that decreases your risk of death from heart disease by 9% and from stroke by 14%.2

Mathmatical Surgery Model?

Study turning surgery into math model
BALTIMORE (UPI) -- Mathematics is being adapted into the "language of surgery" as U.S. researchers develop models to improve operating room skills.

Johns Hopkins University computer scientists are building mathematical models to represent the safe, effective ways to perform surgery, including suturing, dissecting and joining tissue. The project's goal is to develop a way of objectively evaluating surgeons' work to help improve their skills, researchers said in a release.

The project has already showed promise in modeling suture work. Researchers performed suturing aided by a robotic device that recorded the movements and made them available for computer analysis.

Complex surgical tasks occur in a series of steps resembling the way words, sentences and paragraphs are used to convey language, said Gregory Hager, a computer science professor and principal investigator. The procedures were broken down into simple gestures that could correspond mathematically with computer software.

"Surgery is a skilled activity, and it has a structure that can be taught and acquired," Hager said. "We can think of that structure as 'the language of surgery.' To develop mathematical models for this language, we're borrowing techniques from speech recognition technology and applying them to motion recognition and skills assessment."

Health care to cost $148B in 2006: report : National : News : Sympatico / MSN

so are we getting any valie for the money spent? QC

Health care to cost $148B in 2006: report : National : News : Sympatico / MSN: "Health care to cost $148B in 2006: report
05/12/2006 12:27:47 PM



Canadians will spend an estimated $148 billion for health care by the end of 2006, new projections from the Canadian Institute for Health Information show - an increase of $8 billion over last year.


CBC News
But while health-care spending continues to grow in Canada, the pace of that growth appears to be slowing, according to CIHI's annual report on health care spending trends released Tuesday.
The increase this year over 2005 is about 5.8 per cent. Spending grew about 6.4 per cent from 2004 to 2005, and averaged a 7.8 per cent yearly increase from 2000 to 2004.
'For the 10th consecutive year, health care spending continues to outpace inflation and population growth,' said Graham Scott, CIHI chairman, in a release.
Scott suggested the period of growth could be attributed in part to new public money flowing into heath care from agreements between the federal and provincial governments, but noted spending 'now appears to be growing at a slightly slower rate.'
However, spending in the private sector is growing faster in 2006 than it has for three years, the report suggests, increasing by 6.1 per cent to $44 billion. The $104 billion being spent in the public sphere is an increase of 5.3 per cent.
Per capita health care spending is expected to reach $4,548 - a 4.9 per cent increase over 2005.
Health care spending was highest for infants and seniors, consistent with a trend in which 'the beginning and final years of life are the times when people use health care the most"

elder eating disorders

EATING DISORDER COMMON AMONG ELDERLY

When most people hear the word "anorexia" they picture a young, previously healthy woman who has starved herself into a skeletal state. Seldom, if ever, do people think about an eating disorder among the elderly population. But as new research is coming to light, it shows a definite and growing problem in this group.

A full quarter of nursing home residents refuse to eat and are malnourished. The figure is expected to rise in the near future as the homes become more crowded and staffing becomes even more inadequate. Of course there are a number of psychological reasons why nursing home residents refuse to eat, such as difficulty swallowing or various diseases including dementia that render patients disinterested in food and sometimes unable to eat, or they forget to eat.

But there are also a number of people, previously healthy, who for no apparent reason refuse to eat and so they die. Having watched my own grandmother place herself into a state of dementia due to lack of eating when she was unhappily living far from her children and grandchildren, these statistics took on special meaning for me. David Rissmiller, DO, is the chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford, New Jersey. He has been working with this population of older adults who give up food to help them overcome their resistance in order to regain their health. When I spoke with him, he told me that these are rational people who had been previously enjoying a good life. Then suddenly something happens and they need to go into a nursing home. For sometimes unexplained reasons, they refuse to eat and this starts a horrible downward cycle. Dr. Rissmiller explained that "passive self-harm from not eating is one of the major risk factors for death in nursing home patients."

When a person rapidly loses 5% of his/her body weight, it begins to affect protein stores... a rapid loss of 10% of body weight can make a person lose the ability to fight infections or heal wounds. One reason the problem of starvation in the elderly has remained hidden is because death certificates do not list the cause as starvation but rather the event that was actually a result of malnutrition. Also malnourished individuals lack the ability to utilize, react appropriately to, and successfully metabolize medications, which makes treatment with conventional means even more difficult. WHO BECOMES ANOREXIC? While many elderly people stop eating because of depression, there is traumatic event that has to do with food. This generally has three aspects to it, he says. It happens in people who tend toward anxiety problems... who are fastidious about their personal habits... and who had a bad reaction to something they ate. Sometimes it is that they choked on a piece of food... other times it was the humiliation they experienced by having an episode of unexpected, uncontrolled vomiting or a sudden onset of fecal incontinence and the resultant mess. At other times they fear a reoccurrence of severe constipation or impaction. Their fear of a repeat event grows and turns into a food phobia, known as sitophobia, that is stronger than their natural impetus to feed their body. If this happens to a person in a nursing home or living on his own, his physical and mental health can deteriorate quickly. Of course this downward failure to thrive frightens family members, but most are frustrated by the fact that there is nothing they can do about it. Sometimes a psychiatrist will misdiagnose depression when the elderly person is really phobic of eating. In such cases, he urges family members to meet with the psychiatrist. He says that often the family can give the history of events that will bring the situation to light because the patient now is either too frightened to remember the incident or too embarrassed to talk about it. Inevitably, he says, once the catalyst event has been identified, the family will recognize that the anorexia started immediately afterward.

OVERCOMING THE FEARS Food phobia is a difficult challenge, says Dr. Rissmiller. It requires reversing patients' nutritional patterns as well as their anxiety about what they perceived as a catastrophic event. In these patients, even the approach of food will be repugnant or cause panic, he adds. It is key at this point for family and staff to take a completely non-judgmental attitude, no tsk-tsking about how the patient "should" be eating. Instead, the patient and his/her doctors should explore the details of the event, including what the patient was eating at the time, where it took place, etc. Doctors should give reassurance that this kind of thing isn't uncommon and there is no need to feel humiliated so they can begin to build positive experiences with food. Working with a nutritionist, they begin to introduce foods that are safe -- the last thing a patient needs at this point is another bad experience -- and so they have him start with ice chips or perhaps a little yogurt (as well as nutritional supplements). Many patients also take low-dose medications that enhance appetite while decreasing anxiety. Dr. Rissmiller has found that about one-third of the sitophobic elderly patients he has worked with resumed eating and recovered their health. Others are more recalcitrant and require further work, but he says that he and his staff continue to explore ways to resolve this problem. The first step, though, remains: to recognize anorexia in a formerly healthy person for what it is.

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - Weak supports for the mentally ill

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - Weak supports for the mentally ill: "Nice theory. It failed.
A report released last week by the Canadian Institute for Health Information produced stats showing not all that much has changed from the old days.
Disturbingly, patients diagnosed with mental illness today account for 30% of all stays in general hospitals.
While only 15% of all patients admitted to hospitals are diagnosed with a mental illness as the primary or secondary problem, their hospitals stays are, on average, more than twice as long as those with other conditions.
Almost four in 10 of these patients (37%) will, after being treated and discharged, be re-admitted to hospital within a year -- well above the 27% rate for other patients.
The cost to society are huge. Eighty-five per cent of people with a mental illness are unemployed. Twenty per cent are addicted to alcohol and/or drugs. And perhaps the greatest tragedy, two-thirds of all people in need of psychiatric treatment never seek it for fear of being stigmatized.
Two things need to change if this revolving-door syndrome is ever to end.
First, we must accept that mental illness is a disease that can strike anyone, not just piously say it.
Second, if we want to end this vicious cycle, politicians must admit that while caring for people in their communities will eventually cost less when they have the proper supports in place, getting there will cost more money not less.
That's because we need to maintain the current hospital system while getting these needed supports in place.
Any competent health minister knows this.
Far too many aren't even talking about it. "

Osprey Media. - Brantford Expositor

Osprey Media. - Brantford Expositor: "Health network hits milestone

Susan Gamble
Local News - Saturday, December 02, 2006 Updated @ 11:41:50 PM

The local health network hit its first milestone this week with the release of a health service plan that outlines strategies for the next three years.

The extensive document sets out the priorities and activities for the network based on hundreds of interviews and meetings with health-care providers and users in this area.

Set up in the spring, the 14 Local Health Integration Networks in Ontario are designed to oversee the lion’s share of the province’s health-care budget.

The network doesn’t provide services but plans and funds services based on the needs of people and providers in each community.

This area is part of the Hamilton Niagara Haldimand Brant LHIN, which has set up offices in Grimsby. The network takes in the entire Niagara peninsula and stretches into Halton, west past Burford, south from St. Williams to Fort Erie and includes all of Hamilton.

The most important part of the plan so far, says the chair of the LHIN board, has been getting out and meeting the public through a series of open houses across the region."

winnipegsun.com - Manitoba - Unhealthy trend

winnipegsun.com - Manitoba - Unhealthy trend: "One of the problems is some provinces still don't keep accurate data on certain wait times. As a result, some provinces -- including Saskatchewan and Nova Scotia -- were not graded in two or three of the five priority areas.
Nevertheless, the report did manage to give out 37 of 50 possible grades. Manitoba was graded in all five areas and overall, we didn't do well.
B.C. scores three A's
By contrast, British Columbia got three A's, one C and an incomplete.
Newfoundland got four A's and an incomplete.
Ontario got an A, one B and three Cs.
Alberta got an A, B, C, D and an incomplete.
And Quebec got two A's, one B and two incompletes.
Only Manitoba, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan got Fs in any category.
Meanwhile, the alliance report wasn't the only recent bad news for wait times in Manitoba.
The Fraser Institute's latest report on health care wait times shows the median wait time between seeing a specialist and receiving treatment in Manitoba has grown for the second year in a row to 10.3 weeks.
The median wait time from referral to a specialist and treatment now stands at 18 weeks in Manitoba, slightly above the national average of 17.8 weeks.
It doesn't bode well.
Measuring health-care wait times can be a dodgy game.
Wait times among surgeons in the same city can vary significantly for all kinds of reasons. Hospitals in the same jurisdiction routinely have varying wait times for procedures like MRIs and ultrasounds.
And governments sometimes just don't have good data to accurately measure certain wait times.
However, with the billions we've put into health care over the past few years, you'd think we'd see some signs of significant progress on hospital wait times. But we don"

Getting Organized - Estate Planning

Getting Organized - Estate Planning: "Getting Organized - Estate Planning

What will become of the things you own -- your assets -- when you eventually pass-on? The following list of documents, materials, and instructions will help organize your own thinking and will provide essential information to your survivor(s) or to those who will care for you if you are disabled and unable to act for yourself. There are six broad categories of materials to organize.
Personal Contacts List
This should include, for example, the name, address, and phone number of your spouse, any prior spouse(s), children, relatives, close friends, etc. If you store contact lists electronically, a readily available paper copy should also include your e-mail and other accounts with their passwords.
Professional Contacts
This should include, for example, the name, address, and phone of your lawyer, employer, accountant, insurance agent, broker, etc.
Funeral, Cremation and Burial Arrangements
This should include a clear statement of your wishes for your funeral and burial or cremation. If you have made prior arrangements, have burial insurance, etc. this should also be noted. It is important that your family or other loved ones know what your intentions are with regard to your funeral, burial, or cremation. You should either discuss your wishes with them or tell them where they may find a statement of your wishes at your death. It is not advisable to put the statement of your wishes in your will or safe deposit box because the statement or will may be found too late for your wishes to be honored.
Lists of Assets and Liabilities
This should include, for example, a precise list of all your bank accounts, stock brokerage accounts, insurance policies, "

Health Records of the Future: Why ‘lifespan planning’ may be the best approach

Health Records of the Future: Why ‘lifespan planning’ may be the best approach: "better health care system -- one that permits us to feel connected, supported, and in control of our own health destiny -- two words come to mind: information and planning.
The more information we have about our own health history and genetic profile, the smarter we can be about making health decisions and planning our health future.
This requires a constantly available “record” of our changing health status.
But if you switch doctors or go to a hospital for surgery, you’ll find that our nation’s health records are not even close to this ideal. They are splintered and poorly organized at best.
To their credit, doctors and hospitals have been trying to create a coordinated system of electronic records – but it falls far short of what we need.
The real key to our health information future, one I will describe in just a moment, is a concept called a “Lifespan Planning Record.” This computer-based and integrated model would provide a holistic view of your health – stretching all the way back to your ancestors and projecting far forward into your future – so you will know what you can anticipate as your body ages."

Naturopathic physician

"Naturopathic Physicians Defined
A question I'm often asked by readers is why I interview naturopathic physicians (NDs) for articles instead of 'real doctors.' The short answer is because they have the specialized training to know about things like herbal remedies and nutritional supplementation. But the issue is more complicated. What is clear to me is that there is much confusion about exactly what a naturopathic physician is... what his/her education is... and what role he/she could or should play in the individual's health-care team. To get clarification on the ND's role and practice, I spoke with Jane Guiltinan, ND, president of the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians.
A NATUROPATH'S EDUCATION
In North America, there are five naturopathic medicine programs currently accredited by The Council on Naturopathic Medical Education (CNME), and one naturopathic program that is a candidate for accreditation by the CNME. Candidates for admission must earn a baccalaureate degree (or equivalent) prior to admission, including standard pre-med training. The ND degree is a doctoral degree and typically takes four years to complete, just like an MD.
There are many similarities between the naturopathic and conventional medical school curriculum. The first two years of both curriculums involve basic science courses -- anatomy, pathology, physiology, biochemistry, and other Western medical sciences. In addition, naturopathic philosophy courses expose students to:

The first two years of both curriculums involve basic science courses -- anatomy, pathology, physiology, biochemistry, and other Western medical sciences. In addition, naturopathic philosophy courses expose students to the concepts and principles and practices of natural medicine, said Dr. Guiltinan. These include nutrition, homeopathy, botanical medicine, acupuncture and a variety of mind-body approaches.
During the third and fourth years, there's a mix of classroom courses such as gynecology, pediatrics and rheumatology, plus approximately 1,200 hours of clinical training under the supervision of licensed naturopathic physicians. In this phase of training, naturopathy students observe and help manage patients in an outpatient setting.

THE NATUROPATH'S ROLE
Think of the ND as the equivalent of a family practice physician, said Dr. Guiltinan. Naturopaths provide excellent primary health care for individuals and families. Like the conventional general practitioner with an MD, an ND will assess your health and direct your treatment, either by treating you directly or by referral to other mainstream or natural care specialists such as chiropractors, acupuncturists, nutritionists or specialists in homeopathy, to name a few.
In Dr. Guiltinan's view, conventional physicians and naturopaths are most effective at different points in the spectrum of the health-care system. "At one end of the spectrum is crisis medicine," she says "and it's here where I think conventional medicine is excellent. Emergency care intervention, trauma care, serious infections -- this is where conventional medicine excels."
"Where I think conventional medicine has not done its most effective work is in chronic disease management and in conditions that don't really fit into a clear medical box -- chronic fatigue syndrome, for example, fibromyalgia or depression. With these types of conditions, the conventional, technological or pharmaceutical approach is not always effective as it focuses on symptom suppression, rather than the naturopathic process of finding the underlying causes and addressing these to support healing and the creation of health and wellness. This is where naturopathic physicians can play an important role."
THE ND OFFICE VISIT: WHAT TO EXPECT
What is different about a visit to an ND? At your initial visit you'll be asked about your health history and receive a physical exam that is similar to the physical at a conventional medical office. And like a conventional MD, an ND may order lab tests or diagnostic imaging tests. So, what's different?
"You'll find much more in-depth questioning about your current lifestyle," said Dr. Guiltinan. Naturopaths ask about your diet -- at minimum they will ask you to describe it but more likely you'll be asked to complete a diet diary, detailing your food intake for a week or so. We're also very interested in finding out if you exercise or not, and what your mental and emotional state is.
PHILOSOPHY AND TREATMENT
Dr. Guiltinan said that extensive questioning is necessary to get to the underlying issues around a health problem and address them, rather than just addressing the presenting symptoms of a problem.
Because naturopaths believe that the human body has an incredibly powerful ability to heal itself if given the chance, she said, one principle is to take a look at what the "obstacles to cure" are in an individual patients' life. What are obstacles to cure?
Well, sometimes its genetics, which we can do little about, she said, but some obstacles can be removed (for example, eating poorly, being too stressed out with work, exposure to environmental toxins, lack of exercise). If you can add support in the form of a good diet, proper exercise and stress reduction to promote the healing responses of the body, then you can further capitalize on the body's ability to heal.
In naturopathic medicine, most treatment plans, regardless of the condition, begin with diet modifications. The famous quote from Hippocrates, "Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food" is a basic tenet of naturopathic treatment. In addition, supplements (vitamins and minerals) may be prescribed. In some cases, NDs will do the nutritional counseling themselves... in other instances that require more sophisticated or specialized care, patients may be referred on to a nutrition specialist.
Other common treatment modalities are homeopathy, botanical medicine, physical medicine and acupuncture and mind/body therapies. Again, depending on the patient's needs, the ND may provide treatment himself or refer the patient on to a specialist. NDs also offer psychological counseling. In this area, Dr. Guiltinan said a big part of her naturopathic practice is preparing patients to make the little and big lifestyle changes that will impact their health. In naturopathic medicine, the patient's participation in his/her own health care is crucial.
HOW CAN I FIND A NATUROPATH IN MY AREA?
To find a qualified, licensed ND in your area, visit the American Association of Naturopathic Physicians Web site, naturopathic.org and click "Find a doctor."
So, to all my readers who wonder "why don't I interview 'real doctors'" ... I do. As always"

Retirement Gordon Powers - Sympatico / MSN Finance - Flaherty gives a little back to pensioners

Retirement Gordon Powers - Sympatico / MSN Finance - Flaherty gives a little back to pensioners: "Flaherty gives a little back to pensioners
advertisement

By Gordon Powers
November 14, 2006
While many older Canadians were devastated when Finance Minister Jim Flaherty effectively killed income trusts, they can draw a bit of solace from his decision to introduce income splitting for seniors earning pension income. And, for some seniors at least, this is actually quite a bonus.
Starting in 2007, more than two million pensioners will be able to split income from corporate pension plans, just as they do now with payments from the Canada Pension Plan. Flaherty also promised a $1,000 increase in the age credit to $5,066, starting in 2007.
All this is long overdue, of course. Allowing splitting of CPP payments between spouses in 1978 and spousal RRSPs in 1985 were half measures that unfairly left private pensioners out in the cold. Now he’s created a more level playing field between defined benefit plan members and those who save through RRSPs, as well eliminating some inequity between married couples and those who divorce. "

elderly eating disorders

"Eating Disorder Common Among Elderly
When most people hear the word 'anorexia' they picture a young, previously healthy woman who has starved herself into a skeletal state. Seldom, if ever, do people think about an eating disorder among the elderly population. But as new research is coming to light, it shows a definite and growing problem in this group.
A full quarter of nursing home residents refuse to eat and are malnourished. The figure is expected to rise in the near future as the homes become more crowded and staffing becomes even more inadequate. Of course there are a number of psychological reasons why nursing home residents refuse to eat, such as difficulty swallowing or various diseases including dementia that render patients disinterested in food and sometimes unable to eat, or they forget to eat. But there are also a number of people, previously healthy, who for no apparent reason refuse to eat and so they die. Having watched my own grandmother place herself into a state of dementia due to lack of eating when she was unhappily living far from her children and grandchildren, these statistics took on special meaning for me.

David Rissmiller, DO, is the chair of the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey-School of Osteopathic Medicine in Stratford, New Jersey. He has been working with this population of older adults who give up food to help them overcome their resistance in order to regain their health. When I spoke with him, he told me that these are rational people who had been previously enjoying a good life. Then suddenly something happens and they need to go into a nursing home. For sometimes unexplained reasons, they refuse to eat and this starts a horrible downward cycle. Dr. Rissmiller explained that "passive self-harm from not eating is one of the major risk factors for death in nursing home patients."

When a person rapidly loses 5% of his/her body weight, it begins to affect protein stores... a rapid loss of 10% of body weight can make a person lose the ability to fight infections or heal wounds. One reason the problem of starvation in the elderly has remained hidden is because death certificates do not list the cause as starvation but rather the event that was actually a result of malnutrition. Also malnourished individuals lack the ability to utilize, react appropriately to, and successfully metabolize medications, which makes treatment with conventional means even more difficult.

WHO BECOMES ANOREXIC?
While many elderly people stop eating because of depression, there is a sub-group of older anorexics that stop eating because of a traumatic event that has to do with food. This generally has three aspects to it, he says. It happens in people who tend toward anxiety problems... who are fastidious about their personal habits... and who had a bad reaction to something they ate. Sometimes it is that they choked on a piece of food... other times it was the humiliation they experienced by having an episode of unexpected, uncontrolled vomiting or a sudden onset of fecal incontinence and the resultant mess. At other times they fear a reoccurrence of severe constipation or impaction. Their fear of a repeat event grows and turns into a food phobia, known as sitophobia, that is stronger than their natural impetus to feed their body.
If this happens to a person in a nursing home or living on his own, his physical and mental health can deteriorate quickly. Of course this downward failure to thrive frightens family members, but most are frustrated by the fact that there is nothing they can do about it. Sometimes a psychiatrist will misdiagnose depression when the elderly person is really phobic of eating. In such cases, he urges family members to meet with the psychiatrist. He says that often the family can give the history of events that will bring the situation to light because the patient now is either too frightened to remember the incident or too embarrassed to talk about it. Inevitably, he says, once the catalyst event has been identified, the family will recognize that the anorexia started immediately afterward.

OVERCOMING THE FEARS
Food phobia is a difficult challenge, says Dr. Rissmiller. It requires reversing patients' nutritional patterns as well as their anxiety about what they perceived as a catastrophic event. In these patients, even the approach of food will be repugnant or cause panic, he adds. It is key at this point for family and staff to take a completely non-judgmental attitude, no tsk-tsking about how the patient "should" be eating. Instead, the patient and his/her doctors should explore the details of the event, including what the patient was eating at the time, where it took place, etc. Doctors should give reassurance that this kind of thing isn't uncommon and there is no need to feel humiliated so they can begin to build positive experiences with food. Working with a nutritionist, they begin to introduce foods that are safe -- the last thing a patient needs at this point is another bad experience -- and so they have him start with ice chips or perhaps a little yogurt (as well as nutritional supplements). Many patients also take low-dose medications that enhance appetite while decreasing anxiety.

Dr. Rissmiller has found that about one-third of the sitophobic elderly patients he has worked with resumed eating and recovered their health. Others are more recalcitrant and require further work, but he says that he and his staff continue to explore ways to resolve this problem. The first step, though, remains: to recognize anorexia in a formerly healthy person for what it is and treat it accordingly. This is true whether the patient is 25 or 75.

50Plus.com - Scientists test anti-aging drugs

50Plus.com - Scientists test anti-aging drugs: "Scientists test anti-aging drugs
Article By: Cynthia Ross Cravit

Beam me aboard Scottie. A pill that can significantly extend your lifespan? Researchers in Massachusetts are testing this very thing, specifically drugs that mimic a substance in red wine called resveratrol that is believed to retard aging.
Red wine has been in the news recently for reducing the risk of heart attack, stroke, cancer and even obesity. Now some scientists are saying the wine extract known as resveratrol just might turn out to be the Holy Grail of anti-aging."

Private health company seeking 'sponsors' for lawsuit over two-tier care - Yahoo! Canada News

and the war for freedom of choice goes on

Private health company seeking 'sponsors' for lawsuit over two-tier care - Yahoo! Canada News: "Private health company seeking 'sponsors' for lawsuit over two-tier care
Wed Nov 15, 5:09 PM


By Chinta Puxley
PUBLICITÉ

TORONTO (CP) - A company that refers patients to private health-care clinics in Canada and the U.S. is trying to raise money from private hospitals to 'sponsor' a threatened lawsuit against the Ontario government that it hopes could open the door to two-tier health care in Canada.
Richard Baker, president of the Vancouver-based Timely Medical Alternatives Inc., said his company wants to sue the province on behalf of a 66-year-old Ontario man who went to Buffalo, N.Y., for an MRI and surgery to remove a cancerous brain tumour.
But Baker said he doesn't have the $25,000 needed to file the suit, so he's publicizing the case in the hopes of raising the cash from private health-care providers who want to see an expansion of two-tier care.
'People who are proposing to operate a private hospital in Ontario and have been shut down because of the Canada Health Act, they may well wish to sponsor this lawsuit,' Baker said.
The suit would 'smooth the way for them to introduce private medical care into Ontario,' he added. "

Searching for the Fountain of Youth?

Searching for the Fountain of Youth?: "Searching for the Fountain of Youth?
Download PDF Version
Transcript
America's obsessive quest to defy aging has spawned countless products designed to help you look and feel younger. But if you are thinking about purchasing one of those products -- a commonly advertised substance called HGH, short for human growth hormone – you better think twice. Not only are you likely to be disappointed, you may be putting your health at risk.
The HGH fad is a typical story of naive consumers and shady marketers -- but what makes it stand out is the way the fad grew: All it took was one highly misinterpreted 1990 article in a reputable medical journal to launch a multi-million dollar industry -- still thriving on unproven claims.
HGH is a large, complex protein molecule made up of 191 amino-acid building blocks. It’s produced in the pituitary gland, a peanut-sized organ in the base of the brain.1 Scientists first began to focus on the growth hormone in the early 1940s as they struggled to understand and help a group of children of abnormally short stature who were unable to grow. They learned that injecting the children with ground-up pituitary glands, harvested from cadavers, could stimulate new growth in the children.1,2 "

OspreyBlogs » Blog Archive » The Mess We’re In

OspreyBlogs » Blog Archive » The Mess We’re In: "The Mess We’re In
The Fraser Institute has just released a report that concludes “provincial government spending on health care will consume more than half of total revenue from all sources by the year 2020 and all revenue by 2050 in six out of 10 provinces.” The report, at http://www.fraserinstitute.ca, crunches StatsCan data and is the latest in a growing string of warnings that there soon won’t be enough money to pay for medicare.
Of course, being a think tank that leans to the right, the report offers a right-leaning prescriptive response to the problem – co-payments and allowing patients to pay for private (read better) health care as a couple of examples.
Were it that simple.
We are at the proverbial fork in the road. One way appears littered with unsustainable cost and crushing taxation. The other littered with the bodies of those who can’t afford the best care. Meanwhile, we clearly can’t afford to continue along the path we have been traveling. Over the next 15 years, there will be tremendous demand to spend more on education, seniors’ homes, nuclear and green power, drinking water systems and other services and there is a cumulative $100 billion backlog in this province of work to repair and replace roads, sewer and water lines, school buildings, hospitals and other infrastructure.
These figures should send a chill up your spine.
Some, in response to the report, are already calling for the feds to spend more money – effectively to dig us out of a hole by digging a deeper hole. Instead, hard questions need to be asked.
Are hospitals and doctors extorting money out of the province during negotiations? Are unions – for nurses, hospitals and other health care workers – "

Immune cells crush deadly cancer

Immune cells crush deadly cancer: "TORONTO -- U.S. researchers have genetically engineered immune cells in the blood, transforming them into tumour fighters that eliminated melanoma in two men with an advanced stage of the often deadly disease.
While 15 other patients with melanoma were not helped by the modified T-cell treatment, its success in the two who responded was hailed Thursday as a significant step forward in the field of gene therapy for cancer."

Waiting (still) for wait-time guarantees - Health - Browse All Health Articles.

Waiting (still) for wait-time guarantees - Health - Browse All Health Articles.: "Long wait times are the biggest impediment to health care, according to a new report by Statistics Canada.
In 2005, the median waiting time for specialized services came in at three to four weeks, remaining the same since 2003. People usually received medical care within three months.
The Stats Can study surveyed about 33,500 people, age 15 and over. Specialized services included receiving a diagnostic test, seeing a specialist or undergoing non-emergency surgery.
'There's good news and bad news in those numbers,' said Sharon Sholzberg-Gray, president and CEO of the Canadian Healthcare Association. 'In some ways it's reassuring to hear that 80 per cent of people are getting access to services within three months but the bad news is that anywhere up to 20 per cent are not.'
The report indicated that finding a doctor was not necessarily the largest barrier to health care so much as waiting to see one. While the majority of respondents receiving a specialized service did not report having difficulties, 68 per cent of those who did said waiting was the problem. Thirty two per cent said they had trouble making an appointment. "

Watch out for those pot-bellies

Watch out for those pot-bellies: "Belly fat is sometimes called central fat. It's not the soft adipose on the outside of your abdominal wall (the fat that you can grab with your hand), but the hard, visceral fat that envelopes your internal organs.
Visceral fat is scary. Here's why.
While the rest of your body goes about its daily business, your visceral fat is enacting its own agenda. At the top of that agenda is what should be one of the most sinister words in any language: inflammation.
Inflammation is the link between fat and coronary heart disease and diabetes (and possibly cancer, Alzheimer's and other diseases)."

Discrimination against fat people

MSN Hotmail - Message: "Forms of Acceptance
Discrimination against fat people is the last socially acceptable form of prejudice. They're the brunt of jokes, cruel remarks and unsolicited 'helpful' remarks from complete strangers who have been known to offer comments on everything from the selections in their grocery baskets to their entr�e choices in restaurants. Recently, in separate 'investigations,' both supermodel Tyra Banks and Entertainment Tonight correspondent Vanessa Minnillo donned 350-pound 'fat suits' and reported back the astonishing news that fat girls have it rough! Both of these genetic lottery winners tearfully complained to their respective audiences that they were 'invisible' to many while being ridiculed outright by others. ('Three people turned and laughed right in my face!' exclaimed Banks.)
The good news -- from a humanitarian point of view, anyway -- is that these times may be a-changing. According to new market research by major opinion polling firm NPD, America's attitudes toward overweight people are shifting from rejection toward acceptance. Over a 20-year period, the percentage of Americans who said they find overweight people less attractive steadily dropped from 55% to 24%.
Many argue that these figures may not reflect what people actually feel. Kelly Brownell, PhD, director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, has been quoted as saying that these studies don't necessarily pick up on implicit, unconscious bias. 'It's like if you asked people around the country if they had racial bias.

Looking After Your Parents - Sympatico / MSN Finance

A g66d art5ca3

Looking After Your Parents - Sympatico / MSN Finance: "Looking After Your Parents
Posted 7/7/2006

By Gordon Powers
According to a recent Statistics Canada report on home health care, nearly 3 million Canadians provide home care for a family member or friend with a long-term health concern. Perhaps, like an increasing number of Canadians, you�re even one of them. If not, what will you do when your aging parent can no longer live alone?
If you�re thinking of bringing mom to live with you, be sure that�s really what she needs. While geographic proximity is good for widowed parents, living in the same household with their children can be a detriment to their social integration, a recent University of Michigan study suggests. Living with an adult child significantly decreases the amount of interaction a bereaved older adult has with friends, neighbours and relatives.
One factor could be that older adults living with their children have more household responsibilities, such as caring for grandchildren, and may not have much free time to interact with people outside the immediate family.
What about your own lifestyle? Baby boomers have characteristics that are, in some cases, markedly different from their parents. These include a redefined family structure and parenting, women who have invested much more time in education and careers; dual incomes and increased financial resources; redefined sexual behavior and partnering, and a greater emphasis on health and fitness. So, how is all that going to fit in with your father�s World War II approach to life? And then there are the practical considerations."

Advisor.ca - Daily News

Advisor.ca - Daily News: "Retirement boom fuels new investment strategies
June 08, 2006 Deanne Gage



As baby boomers begin to retire, look for more product innovations that combine investments with insurance and offer similar benefits to a defined benefit pension plan.
While that may describe the standard annuity or segregated fund, York University associate professor of finance Moshe Milevsky says those products are only the beginning.


Advertisement








'These are products that are attempting to create systematic withdrawal plans that last for the rest of your life,' Milevesky told attendees of a Morningstar conference on retirement income planning on Wednesday.
Long-term care insurance merged with an annuity is an example of a product coming down the pipeline. So, if a policyholder has to go into a nursing home prematurely, the expense is covered. However, if the policyholder doesn't have to go to a nursing home and is healthy for the rest of her life, the policy will still pay out. Milevsky notes this product has already made headways in the U.S. 'It basically combines two risks that independently would be much expensive than when combined together.'
Another product development is what Milevsky calls advanced life longevity insurance, which only pays out if you exceed life expectancy. So if you purchase this policy in your forties, it won't pay out until you reach age 85. 'If you don't make it to age 85, you get nothing,' he says.
More Conference Collection:
It's the stories that sell CI


Retirement boom fuels new investment strategies


Insurance advisors want more from their MGAs


MGAs put tech on the front burner


Ottawa sends 'clear signal' on "

winnipegsun.com - Winnipeg News - Health cash cows

The problem is the same right accross Canada. Ask the same questions in your area and get surprized. Start with your self serving Ministry of Health and then your hospital - find out what the administration to front line service providors ratio is!

Legalized self serving incompetence is endemic and not suistainable -QJ


winnipegsun.com - Winnipeg News - Health cash cows: "They have trouble staffing the front lines of health care but the bureaucrats running the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority never seem short of cash when it comes to padding their own wallets.
According to the WRHA's 2005 compensation disclosure report, WRHA CEO Brian Postl continued to haul in one of the biggest salaries of any government bureaucrat in Manitoba last year, taking in a cool $358,923. "

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - No way to run an ER

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - No way to run an ER: "Despite that, WRHA spokeswoman Heidi Graham says patient care will not be compromised and that public notification of when an ER is diverting patients is unnecessary.
'What is there to warn them about?' Graham told a Sun reporter over the weekend. 'There is nothing to warn the public about.'
The reason people should be warned is so they can seek alternative care. If they know there's no ER doctor at a particular hospital that day, they can go to a different hospital. "

Age is a feeling, not a number...you'll love feeling ageless! - Home & Family - Browse All Home & Family Articles.

Age is a feeling, not a number...you'll love feeling ageless! - Home & Family - Browse All Home & Family Articles.: "It may seem like too big a challenge to regain youthful characteristics. But, surprise, there is really one major reason for that lack of vitality, nervousness and tension, poor blood circulation, excess weight, loss of muscle tone and weakening of the faculties of mind. It�s improper care of the body � and no one else can make those lifestyle changes for us. Within each of us are vital forces that need awakening and stimulating.
Sadly, most people spend more time caring for their automobile or other possessions than they do for their own body. Parents are often likely to take care of others first and mistakenly think their needs can wait until another day. Unfortunately, something more serious may not wait and the unprepared family is left to cope as best they can"

New drug would postpone old age

New drug would postpone old age: "New drug would postpone old age
Goal to help people live better, if not longer"

This sounds great and is worth checking out on the proactive medicine front QJ

globeandmail.com : Drug heightens suicide risk in seniors, study shows

globeandmail.com : Drug heightens suicide risk in seniors, study shows: "Drug heightens suicide risk in seniors, study shows
ANDR PICARD
From Monday's Globe and Mail
There is more damning evidence that a popular class of antidepressants that includes Prozac, Paxil and Zoloft may trigger intense suicidal thoughts in some patients.
New Canadian research shows that the suicide rate among seniors taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors was nearly five times higher than among those who were treated with other forms of antidepressants. That heightened risk lasts for about a month.
The study noted that suicides of a violent nature -- such as using a firearm or jumping from a building -- were especially common during the first month of treatment."

Drugs companies 'inventing diseases to boost their profits' - World - Times Online

Drugs companies 'inventing diseases to boost their profits' - World - Times Online: "Drugs companies 'inventing diseases to boost their profits'
By Mark Henderson, Science Correspondent



PHARMACEUTICAL companies are systematically creating diseases in order to sell more of their products, turning healthy people into patients and placing many at risk of harm, a special edition of a leading medical journal claims today.


The practice of �diseasemongering� by the drug industry is promoting non-existent illnesses or exaggerating minor ones for the sake of profits, according to a set of essays published by the open-access journal Public Library of Science Medicine.
The special issue, edited by David Henry, of Newcastle University in Australia, and Ray Moynihan, an Australian journalist, reports that conditions such as female sexual dysfunction, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and �restless legs syndrome� have been promoted by companies hoping to sell more of their drugs.
Other minor problems that are a normal part of life, such as symptoms of the menopause, are also becoming increasingly �medicalised�, while risk factors such as high cholesterol levels or osteoporosis are being presented as diseases in their own right, according to the editors.
�Disease-mongering turns healthy people into "

Are you really sick ? Who do you believe?

A lot of this blogs has been focused on government non delivery issues and choices to be made. This article shows that you must also be vigilant of the private sector who are driven by profit.

Drugs companies 'inventing diseases to boost their profits'
By Mark Henderson, Science Correspondent Times



PHARMACEUTICAL companies are systematically creating diseases in order to sell more of their products, turning healthy people into patients and placing many at risk of harm, a special edition of a leading medical journal claims today.



The practice of “diseasemongering” by the drug industry is promoting non-existent illnesses or exaggerating minor ones for the sake of profits, according to a set of essays published by the open-access journal Public Library of Science Medicine.

The special issue, edited by David Henry, of Newcastle University in Australia, and Ray Moynihan, an Australian journalist, reports that conditions such as female sexual dysfunction, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and “restless legs syndrome” have been promoted by companies hoping to sell more of their drugs.

Other minor problems that are a normal part of life, such as symptoms of the menopause, are also becoming increasingly “medicalised”, while risk factors such as high cholesterol levels or osteoporosis are being presented as diseases in their own right, according to the editors.

“Disease-mongering turns healthy people into patients, wastes precious resources and causes iatrogenic (medically induced) harm,” they say. “Like the marketing strategies that drive it, disease-mongering poses a global challenge to those interested in public health, demanding in turn a global response.”

Macleans.ca | Top Stories | Health | The rise of private care in Canada

Macleans.ca | Top Stories | Health | The rise of private care in Canada: "The rise of private care in Canada
All the health services money can buy
ALEXANDRA SHIMO

>> The rise of private care in Canada
>> Quick studies: From personal doctors to better drugs
>> Medical services directory: What you can buy, where



Private medical providers are rapidly expanding their services across the country, but even the industry's own advocacy group lacks definitive numbers on the size and scope of the private health care sector. The new world of for-profit medical service has been crying out for a consumer guide to what's available, what it costs, who's offering it, and how to pay for it. Here it is: a Canadian first.
If all goes according to plan, this summer will see another watershed moment in the relentless march of private health care across the nation. The Copeman Healthcare Centre, which already operates a private clinic in Vancouver, is planning to open three more -- in Ottawa, Toronto and London, Ont. -- as part of its push to have centres open in every major Canadian city by next year. These are not facilities offering specialty surgeries, or red-carpet care for the jet-setting elite. Instead, they will let Canadians pay for quicker, better access to the central players in the health care system -- family doctors. For an initial annual fee of $3,500 per person (their children 22 years and younger are free), and $2,300 per annum for subsequent years, patients will be able to buy a health care package including unlimited visits with a family doctor, and counselling from a range of health professionals. Patients can phone up in the middle of the night and talk to a nurse, and if necessary, they'll be transferred to a doctor. In Ontario, Don"

enshrine a proactive commitment to safety" in the Canada Health Act.

One death is a tragedy, a million deaths are a statistic," Soviet dictator Josef Stalin famously said. Despite the obvious falsehood of that dictum, it has a certain validity in the field of perception. Consider the 1994 death of Nicole Brown, which held a continent transfixed for more than half a year as her celebrity husband, O. J. Simpson, stood trial for murder.

Against that, a study published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal two years ago reported that up to 24,000 Canadians die every year due to medical errors made in hospitals and health clinics. Since that revelation, there's been scarcely a ripple of public discussion.

The deaths, as well as tens of thousands of injuries, are caused by bungled surgeries, mis-diagnoses, drug reactions and other preventable causes, the study said.

Now, a new report commissioned by Health Canada proposes setting up an arm's-length agency, along the lines of the Transportation Safety Board of Canada, to look into deaths and other incidents and seek ways to prevent future similar occurrences.

"It's pretty odd," says Dr. Sam Sheps, co-author of the study with Karen Cardiff. "They (hospitals) have whole departments of finance, but I don't see any big departments of safety."


After the CMAJ study was released, Health Canada created the Canadian Patient Safety Institute to come up with answers. The report calling for a national patient safety agency is a product of that endeavour.

What's urgently needed is a safety management culture in health care, Sheps and Cardiff said when their report came out last week.

Although they didn't address the question, physicians' fears of malpractice litigation could be one obstacle to setting up such an agency.

The report makes a compelling case. It points out that an average 60 people a year have died in airplane accidents in Canada every year since 2000, compared to as many as 24,000 from medical error. It appears that our priorities are determined more by our anxieties than by reality.
The report says the government should "enshrine a proactive commitment to safety" in the Canada Health Act.

Forever Healthy - Whai is the alternative

Forever Healthy - About us: "'Many people in search of wealth deplete their health and then in search of health deplete their wealth'. We feel that that health is wealth. Forever Healthy's commitment and passion is to bring forth awareness and help people prevent and overcome unnecessary suffering and to Live Forever Healthy!
Please Live Forever Healthy ! Wayne Gendel"

We are what we eat and drink

For example, the term "natural flavorings" can mean monosodium glutamate and/or propylene glycol.
Ascorbic Acid is made from sugar and acetone (nail polish remover!)

There are over 2,000 chemicals in skin care products and less than 100 have been approved for human use!

Hexane' is used in the processing of olive and other oils to get more yield, yet it is never listed on the label!

We believe that man-made, unnatural chemicals and synthetics cause imbalance which can eventually lead to illness. Synthetics are a stimulating energy, Natural is a life force! Synthetics are not in whole foods, they are NOT vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats or other nutrients and therefore not required by the body! Synthetics are harmful and that unfortunately includes 99% + of vitamin/mineral supplements on the market.

The result:
By the time most people in North America and most industrialized countries reach the age of 50, they will be on medication for the rest of their lives. One in 3 will get cancer, 55%+ are overweight and life expectancy is a low 75 years for men and 79 for women.

Other cultures live well into their 90's and beyond with little or no health problems!

Alberta backs off private medicare blueprint

DAWN WALTON AND BILL CURRY

From Friday's Globe and Mail

CALGARY and OTTAWA — Bowing to public pressure at home and opposition in Ottawa, Alberta has shelved its controversial health-care reforms that would have allowed doctors to collect paycheques in both the private and public systems and patients to buy private insurance.

An "aggressive" work-force policy to bring more health-care workers to Alberta cities and rural areas to alleviate waiting lists will be adopted rather than allowing patients to pay for certain services to speed access, the province announced yesterday.

"The most important thing is to build a stronger public health-care system where an Albertan's ability to pay will never influence the type of care or the design of care that they can receive," Health Minister Iris Evans told reporters in Calgary after an all day caucus meeting.

Both Prime Minister Stephen Harper and federal Health Minister Tony Clement had expressed concern in recent weeks that Alberta's proposed reforms, which Premier Ralph Klein had dubbed the Third Way, could violate the Canada Health Act -- something Ottawa could address by withholding transfer payments.

News from the workplace: Employed family caregivers at risk - Money - Browse All Money Articles.

Home care save the Taxpayer's 5 billion dollars with little or norecognition - QJ

News from the workplace: Employed family caregivers at risk - Money - Browse All Money Articles.: "Yet without the contribution of family caregivers, the public health care system would incur enormous additional costs, prompting the Romanow Commission on the Future of Health Care (2002) to acknowledge that the health care system simply could not function without the invaluable contribution of informal caregivers.
�In addition to the impact they make on the quality of a care recipient�s life, caregivers provide more than 2 billion hours of caregiving, saving the Canadian health care about $5 billion each year,� Dr. Judith Shamian, President & CEO, Von Canada, told Family Caregiver Newsmagazine.
Supporting the development of a robust home and community care program will further alleviate the pressure felt in institutional settings and help to reduce the wait times for medical care, says Shamian."

grow your own Natural heart By Pass

Dr. Norman J. Marcus, MD, explains a remarkable NEW way to...

"Grow" Your Own Natural Heart Bypass
Without Surgery!


If you or someone you love is considering heart surgery, you need to know about this breakthrough right NOW. It's a SAFE, nonsurgical way to grow your own bypass and dramatically improve circulation in every part of your body!

NEW YORK, NY: Thanks to a stunning new therapy, heart surgery may someday soon become extinct. The new therapy is called external counterpulsation (ECP) and it may be one of the greatest heart-healing breakthroughs of our time.

It's now FDA approved. And it's SO simple, yet so effective, it has the potential to save millions of lives in the years ahead. How does it work?

When you have ECP therapy, a doctor places inflatable pressure cuffs on your legs. These cuffs are gradually inflated and deflated -- to stimulate increased blood flow throughout your body. This increased blood flow "signals" your body to actually grow new blood vessels around blockages. These healthy new blood vessels then perform the same function as a surgical bypass -- but without the surgery!

Truth,fiction and reality

Medicare ads subliminal brainwashing
By TOM BRODBECK

The fantazty

Have you ever seen those TV commercials telling us how great Canada’s health-care system is, where teams of co-ordinated health-care providers work with patients to provide them with “the right care at the right time?”
They’re government commercials — Health Canada to be precise — paid for by taxpayers to tell us how lucky we are to have such a modern, cutting-edge health-care system.
Officially, it’s some kind of awareness campaign to educate us on the concept of “primary health care.”
But in reality, the commercials are meant to brainwash us through subliminal messaging, hoping to make us feel warm and fuzzy about Canada’s medicare system.
They show comforting images like a happy-looking woman clutching her baby while on the phone, presumably accessing some tele-health service or making a doctor’s appointment in the middle of the night. They tell us how the system provides the “right care at the right time” and claim there are integrated teams of health-care providers who are available when you need them.
It sounds like health-care Utopia. But it doesn’t resemble anything close to what we have in Canada.
“Governments across Canada are working to improve basic everyday health care for every Canadian,” the commercial says. “It’s called primary health care where a team of health-care providers works with you.”

A team of health-care providers? Where? I’d love to know where I can access this medical pit-stop, where I can walk in and have access to a team of nurses, doctors, specialists and other practitioners, all hovering around me, sharing their disciplinary talents to help make me well.
Where do I sign up?
“Information’s available to improve co-ordination services,” the ad says.
It is? Where do I get this information? I know we have tele-health services, if you can get a live body on the other end of the phone. But most Canadians can barely find a family doctor.
And then my favourite:
“You can access the right care at the right time,” the commercials crows.
Really? Tell that to the guy who’s half crippled waiting for hip surgery or the person with severe blockage in his arteries who’s told he has to wait a year for bypass surgery.
“And a focus on healthy living keeps you well rather than just treating you after you’re sick,” the commercial goes on. “These are the four pillars of primary health care.”
Sounds great. What country are they talking about? It certainly doesn’t describe Canada’s health-care system.
What we’ve got in Canada is this:
Your first line of defence in health care is a family doctor. If you’re lucky enough to find one, you call your doctor when you have a non-emergency problem. If you’re fortunate, your doctor can see you within a couple of days, maybe a week, maybe longer. If you have a problem requiring a specialist, the doctor refers you to a specialist.
For most people, once the family doctor refers you to a specialist, the doc usually washes his hands of your file. You’re on a wait list and when the specialist can see you, you get in. There’s no “team” of caregivers working with you to make sure you get the right care at the right time.
If you don’t have a family doctor, you go through the same exercise with a general practitioner at a walk-in clinic. There’s no team to help you there, either.
The only “team” out there is a team of caregivers that send you from one person to the next, without any co-ordination or integration.
Patients often don’t even know the status of their files when they’re on waiting lists for surgery or other procedures. If they’re lucky, they have a dedicated family doctor who goes to bat for them to some extent. But GPs, under our government-monopoly system, are not usually paid to spend time advocating for their patients. Most of them are paid strictly on a fee-for-service basis and they can only bill government when they see a patient.
If you have an emergency situation, you go to an ER and you wait. Depending on the severity of your condition — and it’s often hit and miss — you usually wait for hours. There’s not much of a team at this level, either. You have a triage nurse who gives you a number and an ER doc who sees you. You’re either admitted into hospital and another doc treats you on a different ward, or you’re sent home, often without any supports whatsoever. You may wait in the hallway for days.
That’s Canada’s government-monopoly health-care system in a nutshell. There are pockets of excellence here and there where there is better co-ordination and something resembling the “four pillars of primary health care.” But not much.
And to spend tens of millions of dollars running ads trying to brainwash us that we’ve got this cutting-edge system is insulting.
They should put the money into front-line health care instead.

Medicare - a time to reinvent itself

The great debate on Medicare

Article By: Cynthia Ross Cravit

Private medical clinics are opening across Canada on an average of one per week, although they are technically prohibited under the Canada Health Act.
It is a situation many considered unthinkable before last June’s now famous Supreme Court of Canada decision. The court ruled that a Quebec provincial ban on private health insurance was unconstitutional when patients were suffering, or even dying, on waiting lists.
While the decision applied directly to Quebec, it has generated calls for private clinics and private insurance in provinces across the country, as governments hope to forestall similar court decisions.
In February, Lieutenant governor of British Columbia, Iona Campagnolo said in a Throne speech, “Does it really matter to patients where or how they obtain their surgical treatment if it is paid for with public funds?”
Campagnolo said the BC government’s vision for a new provincial health care system would resemble those in Western Europe, where governments pay for essential treatment delivered in both public and private hospitals. To this end, Liberal Premier Gordon Campbell recently toured Sweden, Norway, France and the United Kingdom to explore new approaches to improve BC’s health care system.
And Conservative Premier Ralph Klein of Alberta has recently promised legislation to permit doctors to work simultaneously in private and public institutions and to allow the building of new private hospitals.
Ordered by the Supreme Court to produce a plan for healthcare reform within a year, Liberal Quebec Premier Jean Charest has proposed that private insurance could cover knee and hip replacements and cataract eye surgery. In addition, public hospitals could subcontract to private clinics for such procedures if the hospitals were unable to deliver the services within six months.
Not surprisingly, these proposed changes to public health care, long considered politically sacrosanct and central to Canada’s national identity, have spurred vigorous public debate. While advocates of private clinics say they will shorten waiting lists at public hospitals, critics warn they will drain the public system of doctors and other health care workers. Canada already has a national doctor shortage, with 1.4 million people in Ontario alone without the services of a family doctor.
An Ontario Medical Association study said the province could have a 2,800-doctor shortage by 2010 if action isn't taken immediately.
Meanwhile, Dr. Brian Day, president and director of the private The Cambie Surgery Centre in Vancouver, employs 120 doctors to treat the growing numbers of patients that public hospitals send them because they are too busy to treat. Dr. Day, incoming president of the Canadian Medical Association, is opening a clinic in Toronto, and plans to expand into Ottawa, Montreal, Calgary and Edmonton.
According to Dr. Day, nearly 30 per cent of health care is already private if you count dentistry and drugs. For the direct delivery of medically necessary services, “I think it needs no more than five per cent or 10 per cent,” Day told Macleans magazine.
The Canadian Medical Association (CMA) has offered a checklist of ten principles to guide the emerging debate and discussion on proposed changes to the health care system, including:
Timely access: Canadians should have timely access to medically necessary care and recourse should the wait time be too long.
Equality: access to medical care should be based on need, not ability to pay.
Choice: patients should have choice of physician, and physicians should be able to choose their practice environment.
Comprehensiveness: a full spectrum of medically necessary care should be available.
Clinical autonomy: the autonomous decision-making within the patient-physician relationship must be protected.
Quality: public and private health care sectors must be held to the same high-quality standards and should be independently monitored.
Professional responsibility: the medical profession has a responsibility to promote the strongest possible health care system.
Transparency: decisions affecting the mix of public-private funding and delivery must be made through an open and transparent process.
Accountability: public and private health sectors should be held to the same high accountability standards, including clinical outcomes, full cost accounting and value-for money for the use of public funds
Efficiency: the public and private sectors should be structured to optimize the use of human and other resources.
To date, Canada is the only industrialized country that forbids privately financed purchases of core medical services. Prime Minister Stephen Harper has not yet proposed sweeping changes to the health care system, although he has said he favors guaranteed waiting times for services. Health minister Tony Clement is reportedly looking for ways to reduce wait times, as well as to modernize equipment and increase the supply of doctors.
According to the Fraser Institute, a conservative think tank, the median wait time between a referral by a family doctor and an appointment with a specialist is now 8.3 weeks, compared to 3.7 weeks in 1993.
In a recent Ipsos Reid survey, 28 per cent of Canadians picked the establishment of patient wait time guarantees as their number one priority for the new Tory minority government.

globeandmail.com : Health care

globeandmail.com : Health care: "Health care
Take a trip Down Under to learn about health care
ALAN CASSELS
Special to Globe and Mail Update
There's been a wee bit of controversy out here on the Left Coast after B.C. Premier Gordon Campbell and a group of government officials left for Europe to scope out how various countries deal with public-private issues in health-care delivery.
I don't know what all the fuss is about. I mean, if the government is genuinely looking elsewhere for better ways to manage health care, who can argue against a pilgrimage to other jurisdictions? Travel can broaden the mind, so we should be encouraging politicians and decision-makers of all stripes to travel even more if there is a likelihood they'll be able to reimport good ideas about making health care sustainable."

They maximized health-care spending by shopping around for the best prices. They negotiated lower prices on almost all drugs and tendered contracts on major drug purchases to the lowest bidder, in essence forcing drug companies to do what every other industry has to do to survive: compete. If the Canadian government wants to buy services or goods, it issues a Request for Proposals and then buys based on value and price. New Zealand does this for prescription drugs. What a concept.
The drug-plan costs in New Zealand over the past 12 years have risen about 4 per cent per year; ours grew by 12 per cent to 14 per cent per year.

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - CFS move disturbing

winnipegsun.com - Editorial - CFS move disturbing: "Though it wasn't intentional, provincial officials may have exposed some glaring deficiencies this week in how they monitor the children in their care.
Child and Family Services authorities announced this week that staff have been instructed to check on all 6,100 children under their care over the next 30 days to ensure they are receiving appropriate services.
The move comes in the wake of the tragic death of five-year-old Phoenix Sinclair, who was allegedly killed by her mother and her mother's boyfriend three months after her file was closed by CFS.
It's unknown how this little girl could have fallen through the cracks the way she did. Manitobans now want answers.
To that end, the province has announced two reviews to look into this tragedy -- one internal and one external. And hopefully they will get to the bottom of it to ensure it doesn't happen again.

In the meantime, CFS officials have told their staff to rush out and check on the 6,100 children still under their care to see if they're all right. The union representing social workers has called the deadline impossible to meet.
It's a development we find terribly troubling.
Because it begs the question: are CFS officials not checking on these children already, on a regular basis?
Why the need for this sudden system-wide checkup?
CFS officials also announced this week that they have instructed staff to review files that have been closed in recent months.
We understand why CFS would want to take a second look at those files. It's unlikely that once a file is closed -- if it was closed for good reasons -- the child in question would be monitored by the state any further.
It seems prudent to have a second look at those in light of the Phoenix Sinclair tragedy.
But to ord"

Outbreak - Anatomy of a potential killer

winnipegsun.com - Outbreak - Anatomy of a potential killer: "Flu viruses undergo mild changes every year, which creates a need for annual flu shots to combat each new strain.
About three times each century, a dramatic shift in an influenza strain occurs, creating a new version the human immune system has no antibodies or immune cells to fight.
Pandemic influenza begins when that new strain causes significant illness and spreads efficiently from human to human around the world.
Whether it's a deadly strain of H5N1 avian influenza or begins from a different Influenza A flu strain, a pandemic may still be years away.
The incubation period would be about one to three days. "

More Ministry of Health BS

Why can we not ust let people do there jobs without unhelpful interfernce from overpaid Ministry of Health zealots- QJ More forms -more checklists -more useless work by the government idiots

Osprey Media. - Brantford Expositor: "Long-term concerns?
The numbers may not tell the whole story

By Susan Gamble
Local News - Saturday, April 01, 2006 @ 01:00

What happened?

Two years ago, Brantford and Brant County�s long-term care homes were right in line with the rest of the province in their numbers of unmet standards and verified concerns.

But the Ministry of Health�s current Web site shows an odd change: while statistics for unmet standards have dropped across the province, they more than doubled in Brantford and Brant."

globeandmail.com : Dying man denied free drug

globeandmail.com : Dying man denied free drug: "Toronto-based hematologist Donna Reece, who specializes in multiple myeloma, said the decision to stop releasing Thalomid and Ontario's refusal to fund Velcade has turned the treatment clock back a decade.
'We are back in the dark ages,' Dr. Reece said in a telephone interview. '. . . This is a patient-care crisis for cancer-care delivery in this province.'
Thalomid works by helping starve tumours. It also helps stimulate cells of the immune system to attack cancer cells.
'. . . This will be an absolute catastrophe for our patients because Velcade isn't funded,' Dr. Reece said. 'This is a crisis right now for multiple myeloma because we cannot deliver anything close to the standard of care for our patients.' "

Without a transplant, he'll die

Great - how do we help this man ? QJ
Without a transplant, he'll die: "Pamela Cowan, Leader-Post
Published: Monday, March 20, 2006
When Joshua MacPhee died, many people benefited from the teen's organs because he signed an organ donation card.
Now his 44-year-old father is running out of time as he waits for a liver donor.
About two years ago, Terry MacPhee was diagnosed with liver cancer.
He was assessed and he qualified for a liver transplant at Edmonton's University of Alberta Hospital in September 2004, but no liver was available so he was put on a transplant waiting list."

Advisor.ca - Daily News

Advisor.ca - Daily News: "New tax strategies for medical professionals
February 28, 2006 | Kate McCaffery



Doctors and dentists in Ontario have a relatively new option at their disposal for income splitting and other tax planning strategies.
At the end of 2005, the Government of Ontario expanded ownership rules for doctor and dentists' professional corporations that give those clients the right to issue non-voting shares of the corporation to family members. Although this kind of income splitting is one of the main benefits of incorporation, when the government first allowed Ontario professionals to incorporate back in 2002, they included rules that said shares of a professional corporation could only be owned by the professional.
Other professionals, including lawyers and accountants, are not covered by the changes. "

winnipegsun.com - Canada News - State child care first: YWCA

Will 80 opinions(20X4) by a self interest group take your parent's child care by right money away?QJ

winnipegsun.com - Canada News - State child care first: YWCA: "The YWCA commissioned four community task forces from fall 2004 to fall 2005 to address how local resources could be organized to strengthen child care and create a viable model for service delivery.
The task forces, in Halifax, Vancouver, Martensville, Sask., and Cambridge, Ont., were made up of between 20 and 30 local residents, including parents, service providers and business people. "

Big bellies lead to cardiovascular disease

Beware the new fat crusaders are on the prowl- QJ

Big bellies lead to cardiovascular disease: "According to the International Day for the Evaluation of Abdominal Obesity (IDEA) Study, abdominal obesity is now pandemic, with Canadians weighing in among the heaviest in the world. The results were released in Atlanta Tuesday.
More than 170,000 people in 63 countries including 135 family physicians and 3,000 patients in Canada participated in the study, the largest of its kind. Around the world, 6,000 family doctors tape-measured their patients' stomachs.
The study reported a worldwide prevalence of known cardiovascular disease as 16 per cent for men, ranging from 10 per cent in Latin America to 26 per cent in Eastern Europe. For women, the numbers were lower at 12.5 per cent, ranging from seven per cent in North America to 23 per cent in Eastern Europe.
Doctors found a clear relationship between waist size and heart disease"

Canada Health guide dangerous to your Health

This is not the first time Health Canada's conduct has been questioned from an ethical standpoint. Three Health Canada scientists, who described themselves as whistle-blowers, were fired on the same day in 2004, purportedly for insubordination. They said they were being pressured to approve drugs despite safety concerns. In the late 1990s, the three had opposed bovine growth hormone, which enhances milk production in cows.

Freedhoff calculated calorie intake recommended in the drafts of the Food Guide and concluded it would be fattening. He said the food guide should include recommendations on calorie intake.

"Canada's Food Guide is not meant to be a weight-loss program but, at the same time, it should not be obesogenic," Freedhoff wrote.

This comes at a time of increasing concern about the health and fitness of Canadians, and specifically a rise in obesity.

The possibility that a government agency charged with overseeing Canadians' health might be allowing itself to be infiltrated and influenced by organizations with a vested interest is a serious matter.

For the individual, indications are that one may be better off following a respected diet book than Canada's Food Guide.

Doctor dog - Health - Browse Health Articles.

Doctor dog - Health - Browse Health Articles.: "Doctor dog



Article By: Cynthia Ross Cravit


Man's best friend may turn out to be a first line of defense for cancer
Researchers at the relatively unknown non-profit Pine Street Foundation in Northern California claim they have trained dogs to identify patients with breast or lung cancer -- based on the smell of their breath � with near perfect accuracy. "

Alberta's health reform should respect Canada Health Act, says Harper

It is all about choice
Alberta's health reform should respect Canada Health Act, says Harper: "Although Alberta's proposal lacks detail it would appear to permit queue-jumping by patients willing to pay for faster treatment, and would allow doctors to work in the public and private systems simultaneously.
Michael Decter, chairman of the Health Council of Canada, said his early reading of the Alberta plan is that it would in fact contravene the federal health law.
'The Alberta paper, if I'm reading it correctly, seems to propose a private, parallel system . . . and it is difficult for me to see how you can do that without violating the Canada Health Act.
He noted that Alberta's plan goes farther than Quebec's recently announced health reforms.
Quebec would force doctors to choose between the private and public systems, while the Alberta plan would allow doctors to work on both sides simultaneously. Experts believe giving doctors access to medicare patients as well as those willing to pay for private care represents a threat to the public system.
Quebec would give patients access to private care only if the public system cannot deliver the care within a reasonable time, while the Alberta plan lacks any such restriction.
'It looks as though they may be preparing to allow people to simply buy insurance for medically necessary service and that, absent some waiting list test, strikes me as unlikely to pass muster,'' said Decter.
Tom McIntosh of the Health Policy Research Networks said Alberta's plan, if it does proceed, does have the potential to undermine Canada's medicare system. "

CANOE -- CNEWS - Politics: Tories: May be long wait to cap wait times

CANOE -- CNEWS - Politics: Tories: May be long wait to cap wait times: "OTTAWA (CP) - There could be a long wait time for the new Conservative plan to cap medical wait times. Health Minister Tony Clement acknowledges it will take a lot of work with provinces to implement the 'care guarantee' that his party promised during the election campaign.
The purpose of the guarantee is to ensure that patients get care within clinically acceptable time limits even if that means they must be sent to another province or country.
Details of the proposal have not been spelled out.
'It's not one of those ones where I can sort of waltz into the House of Commons and slap a bill down and say, 'OK, problem solved,' ' Clement said in an interview.
'This one takes a lot of collaboration with the provinces and territories. This is one where you're going to have to have people rowing in the same direction in order to make some progress.'
Manitoba Health Minister Tim Sale has already spoken against the notion of care guarantees, saying none of the provinces have extra capacity in the key areas where the most pain is.
David Spencer, a spokesman for Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman, said his province already has a wait times strategy, including a program for out-of-country treatment. "

Timely Medical Alternatives Inc.

Timely Medical Alternatives Inc.

Before you hit send...

Before you hit send...

The power of e-mail . beaware you might be on Candid camera worldwide . QJ

Laugh for Better Blood Vessels - RealAge Tip of the Day

Laugh for Better Blood Vessels - RealAge Tip of the Day: "Laugh for Better Blood Vessels



Laugh your way to better blood vessel function by watching a funny flick.
Laughter relaxes blood vessels and increases blood flow -- the exact opposite of what your blood vessels do when you are stressed. In a small study of healthy men and women with normal blood pressure, watching a funny movie increased blood flow by about 22 percent. If funny movies aren't your style, spend time with the people who tickle your funny bone.

RealAge Benefit: Laughing often can make your RealAge up to 8 years younger. "

A childless culture

A childless culture: "Canadian families do not make babies like they used to. A dramatic decline in fertility in recent decades, combined with an aging population, has the potential to transform every aspect of Canadian society, from schools and housing to social attitudes toward family. In this, the first of a four-part series, the National Post examines the far-reaching implications of the fertility crisis."

Ont. considers presumed consent for organ donations

What do you think ? An intrusion or a right for a good government cause? QJ

Ont. considers presumed consent for organ donations: "TORONTO -- The question of whether to make Ontario the first jurisdiction in Canada to allow hospitals to harvest organs from dying patients who don't register an objection is proving a weighty one for the province's elected officials.
New Democrat member Peter Kormos introduced a private member's bill Thursday that would presume consent for organ donations from any dying patient who hasn't already made their wishes clear. "

Man ready to go to U.S. to extend his life

It is all about Life and death choices - the man wants to live not more excuses from the health system which is supposed to be universal and free . What great value from his tax contribution . Discusting - this non delivery of universal care myth in Canada, QJ

Man ready to go to U.S. to extend his life: "Man ready to go to U.S. to extend his life
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Font: * * * * Pamela Cowan, Leader-Post
Published: Wednesday, February 15, 2006
Even as he underwent chemotherapy Tuesday afternoon, a desperate Swift Current man was planning to go to the United States to get a cancer drug that the Saskatchewan government has yet to approve.
'I don't think I can wait any longer,' said Bob Loeppky, 64. 'I have to look at other options so I'll either go to Minot, (N.D.) Great Falls (Mont.) or the Mayo Clinic in Rochester (Minn). It will depend on the travel connections.'"

B.C. eyes mixed health care

Finally choice and a step in the right direction QJ

B.C. eyes mixed health care: "VICTORIA - The British Columbia government signalled yesterday it will introduce major health care reforms -- including examining European models that offer a blend of publicly and privately delivered services -- to stem escalating costs that have made the existing system unsustainable.
In a Throne Speech with a heavy focus on health care, Premier Gordon Campbell's Liberals pledged to update the Canada Health Act on their own, if necessary."