A Natural Environmental Health Facts Ezine

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"A NATURAL ENVIRONMENTAL HEALTH FACTS Ezine" Here to Inform and Help You Become Healthier and Happier while Achieving Quality Longevity!

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Friday October 20, 2006
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=> IN THIS ISSUE!
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==> Editors' Ranting & or Warnings
==> Something To Think About
==> Health Thought for the day!
==> Showcase Health Spotlight
==> Monthly Spotlight Ads
==> Today's Health Tip
==> Health Today
==> Environmental Report
==> Life Changing Information

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Convoluted Health Mysteries! Why is it that *People eat peculiar additives/chemicals and call them "food." Those who eat real whole foods are said to be on a special diet? *Doctors are taught to "first do no harm" then are punished for recommending a risk-free diet before drugs? *Students cannot get permission to conduct a science fair experiment giving additive-laden foods to mice - it's considered inhumane - but are served this food in their school cafeteria? *The same amphetamines that were banned from adult use as diet drugs in the 1970s are being given to young children? *Stimulants not recommended for children under age 6 have been prescribed for 1 year-olds? Could these mysteries be the cause of so many children being ill with neurological/brain problems? I would say YES!

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Something To Think About
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Drug Reactions Send 700,000 Yearly to ER
Oct 17, 2006
By LINDSEY TANNER

CHICAGO (AP) - Harmful reactions to some of the most widely used medicines - from insulin to a common antibiotic - sent more than 700,000 Americans to emergency rooms each year, landmark government research shows.

Accidental overdoses and allergic reactions to prescription drugs were the most frequent cause of serious illnesses, according to the study, the first to reveal the nationwide scope of the problem. People over 65 faced the greatest risks.

"This is an important study because it reinforces the really substantial risks that there are in everyday use of drugs," said patient safety specialist Bruce Lambert, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago's college of pharmacy.

Even so, the study authors and other experts agreed that the 700,000 estimate was conservative because bad drug reactions are likely often misdiagnosed.

The study found that a small group of pharmaceutical warhorses were most commonly implicated, including insulin for diabetes; warfarin for clotting problems; and amoxicillin, a penicillin-like antibiotic used for all kinds of infections.

"These are old drugs which are known to be extremely effective. We could not and would not want to live without them. But you've got to get the dose exactly right. Variations, especially on the high side, are really dangerous," Lambert said. He was not involved in the research.

Those aged 65 and older faced more than double the risk of requiring emergency room treatment and were nearly seven times more likely to be admitted to the hospital than younger patients.

The results, from 2004-05, represent the first two years of data from a national surveillance project on outpatient drug safety. The project was developed by the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Food and Drug Administration and the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission. The study was published in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

The database included 63 nationally representative hospitals that reported 21,298 bad drug reactions among U.S. adults and children treated in emergency rooms during the two-year period. The tally is based on what emergency room doctors said were complications from using prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, dietary supplements or herbal treatments.

The researchers said it translates to 701,547 complications nationwide each year.

"Experts had thought that severe outpatient drug events were common, but no one really had good numbers" until now, said lead author Dr. Daniel Budnitz, a CDC researcher.

Complications included diabetics on insulin passing out from low-blood sugar, excessive bleeding in patients on warfarin, and severe skin rashes in patients taking amoxicillin. Drug reactions were severe enough to require hospitalization in about 17 percent of patients. The study did not include information on whether any of the reactions were fatal.

"The numbers are quite troubling," said Jim Conway, senior vice president at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. The tally underscores that "there is a tremendous number of consumers in the United States taking medication."

The CDC has estimated that about 130 million Americans use prescribed medication every month. U.S. consumers buy far more medicine per person than anywhere else in the world.

Yet a recent study found that doctors' conversations with patients when prescribing new drugs aren't very thorough and that side effects often aren't mentioned. Many of the drugs implicated in the new study require frequent physician monitoring to make sure the dose is correct.

The new findings highlight the need for better doctor-patient communication about use of medicines, Conway said.

The number likely underestimates the number of people who have bad drug reactions outside a hospital setting because many don't get ER treatment, while others who do may have symptoms that are mistakenly attributed to something else, said patient safety expert Dr. David Bates, a professor at Harvard Medical School.

Still, Bates called the effort a significant contribution since previous reports on the problem have not been national in scope.

JAMA

CDC

LENA'S COMMENT: This really isn't new news just latest figures to keep you informed!

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THOUGHT FOR THE DAY!
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The University of Gottingen studied 185 patients to see if they expected to get a prescription, and whether they felt upset if their doctors didn't order a drug.

Of the 185 studied, 48 patients expected to have a drug prescribed. And, of these patients, 45 actually got a prescription.

Of the 137 patients who didn't think they needed drugs, 80 got prescriptions anyway. The results were reported in the Scandinavian Journal of Primary Health Care.

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Teen's Tongue Piercing Linked to Pain
Oct 17, 2006
By CARLA K. JOHNSON

CHICAGO (AP) - The teenager said the stabbing pains in her face felt like electrical shocks that lasted 10 to 30 seconds and struck 20 to 30 times a day. Her doctors diagnosed trigeminal neuralgia, a nerve disorder sometimes called "suicide disease" because of the excruciating and dispiriting pain it causes.

Doctors tried painkillers, then stronger medication, but in the end, a cure proved more simple: The young woman removed the metal stud from her pierced tongue.

Two days later her pain vanished.

The account in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association is the latest documentation of complications, some life-threatening, linked to tongue piercing.

Other problems include tetanus, heart infections, brain abscess, chipped teeth and receding gums. One woman developed so much scar tissue that it resembled what she called a "second tongue."

In the newly reported case, the young Italian woman's mouth jewelry apparently irritated a nerve running along the jaw under her tongue. That nerve is connected to the trigeminal nerve, one of the largest in the head.

"There are people who have been dropped to their knees" by trigeminal neuralgia, said Alana Greca, a registered nurse and director of patient support for the Trigeminal Neuralgia Association. "That's how intense and how horrendous the pain can be."

Cuts in Medicare Hurt Wheelchair Users
Oct 19, 2006
By MARY CLARE JALONICK

WASHINGTON (AP) - Patricia Meier, a 63-year-old quadriplegic and Medicare recipient, needs to replace the wheelchair she has used for five years. Normally, Meier could simply use her Medicare benefits to replace the power wheelchair, which adjusts her position to prevent sores, with another one from WestMed Rehab Inc., a medical supplier near her home in Box Elder, S.D. But WestMed, along with several other suppliers across the country, says it will no longer provide power wheelchairs to most Medicare recipients after Nov. 15, when cuts in Medicare reimbursements go into effect.

WestMed planned an announcement on Thursday.

The Medicare changes are intended to eliminate widespread fraud identified by the Health and Human Services Department, which oversees the program.

WestMed, based in Rapid City, S.D., is the only major wheelchair supplier within 300 miles of Meier's home. Concerned about the prospect of wheelchair supplies ending in their state, South Dakota's congressional delegation pressed federal health officials for more information.

If Meier were to replace her chair without using Medicare, it could cost her between $17,000 and $20,000. With Medicare, she would pay only 20 percent of that.

"When I was able-bodied I bought cars cheaper than that," said Meier, who was injured in a car accident 20 years ago. "I don't know how I would be able to afford it."

With other suppliers saying they, too, won't be able to provide mobility equipment to many of their customers, those living with multiple sclerosis, spinal cord injuries and other conditions could be without the wheelchairs they need to get around.

Many wheelchair users "are going to have to pay out of pocket," said Tim Pederson, CEO of WestMed Rehab.

A 2004 study conducted by the HHS inspector general showed that Medicare reimbursements for certain power wheelchairs were far higher than the prices paid by consumers and suppliers. According to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which administers both health care programs, expenditures for power wheelchairs increased by 2,705 percent between 1995 and 2003 - from $43 million to $1.2 billion in just over just eight years.

Agency spokesman Jeff Nelligan said the increase is a "direct result of the excessive prices Medicare pays for these products."

Most suppliers have supported overhauling the system, as many companies have abused it. But they say the government has gone too far.

The changes "do eliminate the fraud and abuse, but it also eliminates the benefit," said Pederson of WestMed Rehab. "They are painting the entire industry in that broad brush, and they look at all of us as crooks."

Cara Bachenheimer, vice president of government relations for Invacare, the country's leading wheelchair manufacturer, said suppliers across the country have informed the company that they will be purchasing less equipment because of the reduced Medicare reimbursements.

Carol Gilligan, owner of Health Aid of Ohio Inc., said she will have to stop selling power wheelchairs altogether.

"There's just no way you can make a living," she said of the new reimbursements. "We have to change our business model."

Andrew Imparato, president of the American Association of People with Disabilities, said Medicare is not asking what is in the best interest of the patient.

"People are either going to have to figure out a way to finance them outside of Medicare, pay it out of pocket or just use their current chair until it breaks down," he said.

Several members of Congress have written to the agency in the weeks since the announcement. The entire South Dakota delegation sent a letter to the Health and Human Services Department on Wednesday asking for more information. Pennsylvania Sens. Arlen Specter and Rick Santorum, both Republicans, wrote the department last week asking for a delay in implementation of the new fees.

The Pennsylvania senators expressed concern about the payment formula used to calculate the reimbursements, noting that the formula does not always take current market prices into account.

LENA'S COMMENT: This article should be a reminder that when you vote on something that sounds good make sure it's not going to hurt those who can least afford it as with this Medicare action!

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Fewer Pollinators Mean Trouble for Crops
Oct 18, 2006
By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID

WASHINGTON (AP) - This is a story about the birds and the bees and reproduction. No, not that story. It's about plants. Most plants need to be pollinated by birds, bees, bats and other animals and insects to reproduce. And scientists say a decline in pollinators may spell trouble for crops.

Honeybees and bumblebees have been infected by the introduction of a parasite, while destruction of cave roosts has led to a decline in the bat population, according to a report released Wednesday by the National Research Council.

Other pollinator declines may also be associated with habitat loss but more research is needed to make sure, according to the council, an arm of the National Academy of Sciences.

More detailed research has been done in Europe, where declines and even extinctions of pollinators have been documented.

The report pointed out that in order to bear fruit, three-quarters of all flowering plants - including most food crops and some that provide fiber, drugs, and fuel - rely on pollinators for fertilization.

Farmers often lease colonies of bees to ensure pollination.

Yet honeybees, which pollinate more than 90 commercially grown crops, are one of the most affected pollinators. Indeed, honeybees had to be imported from outside North America last year for the first time since 1922, the report said.

The report urged the Agriculture Department to increase research into pest management and bee breeding practices.

In addition, long-term studies must be done on the populations of wild bee species and some butterflies, bats and hummingbirds, it said.

The United States should collaborate with Canada and Mexico to form a network of long-term monitoring projects, the council recommended.

Landowners, meanwhile, can take simple steps to make habitats more "pollinator friendly," for instance by growing native plants, the report suggested.

The research was funded by the Department of Agriculture, U.S. Geological Survey, National Academies and the Research Council's Division on Earth and Life Studies.

The study was requested by The North American Pollinator Protection Campaign, representing agencies and organizations in the United States, Canada and Mexico.

National Research Council

North American Pollinator Protection Campaign