For your healthy solution

Any drug that changes the way in which body chemistry works can cause harm. Even the humble aspirin becomes poisonous if you take too many tablets. Indeed, the degree of danger decides whether a prescription is needed to get the drug. The more dangerous it can be, the more likely the FDA will designate it prescription-only. So, when you see a drug requiring a prescription, you should assume there’s a real risk of side effects unless you use the drug with care. In the days before the internet, this system worked well. Everyone dutifully saw their regular physician and listened to an explanation of how to manage the risks. Today, we can bypass doctors and buy from an online pharmacy. This gives you the drugs without the oral warnings. Research shows few people actually read the literature that comes with the packaging.

In theory, corticosteroids should be less dangerous because they mimic the hormones your body produces naturally. Except, the volume of production is far higher than you could ever produce naturally. This disturbs your body’s production of hormones. When it finds there’s already too much, it stops production. Once this happens, you are completely dependent on continuing the drug. You cannot just stop taking it. You must slowly reduce the dosage to restart your body’s own production.  Read more...

We all like to think we live in a world where nothing bad ever happens. Up until 9/11, there had been occasional events the government called home-grown terrorist attacks. You may remember Ted Kaczynski who achieved notoriety as the Unabomber, sending out bombs through the mail for some twenty years, and Timothy McVeigh who was responsible for the greatest loss of life through the Oklahoma City Bombing. These are rare individuals who become unhappy with the way things are and resort to extreme measures. This was a containable risk until Al-Qaeda highjacked four airplanes and crashed three of them into high-visibility targets. We might have considered this outrage a unique event but, for a variety of political reasons, America has continued military actions abroad. All informed sources have confirmed that these actions only act as a tool to recruit terrorist groups no matter what opinion you have on the overseas actions. For now, their retaliation has been against troops or targets based abroad. But we would be foolish if we ignore the risk of direct action on our soil.

Following the 9/11 attack, President Bush pushed through the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act. This puts federal money on the line until 2014. By this time, the private insurance industry is supposed to come up with a proper framework to support the risk of loss and damage caused by terrorists anywhere within our borders. Until then, the Treasury acts as a reinsurer and, if the Secretary of the Treasury certifies losses caused by terrorism, it pays 90c in the dollar of every claim approved by private insurers. And, just so you understand the value of this back-up, no commercial insurance company can refuse to insure a business against terrorist risks. It’s your right to be covered at an affordable rate. A formal complaint can be made and a fine issued to the insurance company should the company refuse.  Read more...

One of the more exciting marketing strategies of the last ten years has been the growth in the use of coupons. The idea is simple. A central marketing agency promotes the named businesses by offering discount vouchers. Go to this restaurant, eat a magnificent meal, and enjoy a discount of 50%. This is a great promotion for the restaurant and the statistics show the majority of people who come to try out the meals return and pay the full price later on. Now let the pharmaceutical industry play with this idea. Suppose the drug manufacturers were to offer coupons to their loyal customers, how would the marketing plan work? Well, for a moment, consider the problem of the generic market. When the patent runs out on a brand, others may copy the chemistry and sell a generic version of the drug for a significantly lower price. From the customer’s point of view, this is wonderful news. The same drug is available. It has been approved by the FDA as an exact match for the original branded drug. And it comes at a heavily discounted price. Not surprisingly, this knocks a big hole in the profits of the branded manufacturer, so this manufacturer will search for a way to keep the generic manufacturer out of the market.  Read more...

A common side effect with many medications is unwanted weight gain. However, men who suffer from hair loss and treat the condition with oral medication should not experience weight gain during their treatment. If you do gain weight, it is possible there are underlying causes since weight gain is not a documented side effect of their hair loss treatment. There are several things men can do to manage their weight while taking this drug.

Identifying Cause of Weight Gain

Weight gained by men when they are using this medication is rarely due directly to the medication itself so they are most likely gaining weight for another reason. The drug can result in mild depression. And since men taking the drug may be anxious to begin with because of their hair loss, they are probably less interested in exercising. If their exercise routine is changed in any way this can often lead to a few additional pound being put on.

Addressing Weight Problem

Let your doctor know you are gaining weight. He will check to make sure there is not an underlying cause to your weight gain. Sometimes drug interactions can have unexpected consequences in people so make sure your doctor know about all the medications you take. If there is not another reason for your weight gain, he will work with you so you can make lifestyle changes that stop the weight gain and promote weight loss. Expect exercise and diet to be at the top of the list.  Read more...

We have now finished the oral arguments on health insurance before the Supreme Court. So where are we now? What are the prospects for health insurance?

Well, history was made as the Supreme Court took oral arguments over three days on the fate of the Affordable Care Act. Now all we have to do is wait for the decision in June. As we do so, it’s worth quickly reviewing what’s at stake and how everyone might react following the Court’s decision. Let’s start with a statement of the obvious. This Act is a complicated set of provisions, but one has been singled out for particular “hate”. Even though the original source of the proposed mandate was right-wing, the Republican party now suggests any requirement an individual buys an insurance plan is unconstitutional. It then goes further and argues that if the mandate is struck down by the Court, the whole Act must fail.

There’s no doubt the form of the Act is unfortunate. It’s a patchwork for what has become an incoherent healthcare system. But it’s an important step towards making health care available to all Americans – something that ought to be uncontroversial. If the mandate was held unconstitutional, it should not affect the other important reforms. The Act would just cover fewer people at a higher cost. One important hint given by the Justices was that a single-payer approach would probably be constitutional, i.e. using tax revenue to treat everyone. That’s why Medicare is constitutional. So let’s say the Supreme Court hold the Act valid and President Obama wins the November election. Now we just sit back and wait for 2014 when all the provisions are to come into force. But if the Court holds some or all of the Act invalid, we come to the vote in November with a political hot potato.  Read more...

As you are almost certainly aware, a number of GOP-controlled states have been introducing pro-life bills to deter women from going through abortions. As federal law stands, states cannot simply ban abortions. That would require the repeal of Roe v Wade, a decision of the Supreme Court in 1973. So ingenious law-makers have been coming up with ever more barriers to put in the path of women who want to terminate a pregnancy. The latest proposals require an ultrasound test. In the early stages of pregnancy, this can be external. But, as the pregnancy advances, the probe must be inserted into the vagina to take precise readings. Thus, not only are the law-makers requiring doctors to carry out a procedure that’s medically unnecessary, but they are also insisting the procedure be the most invasive possible. Not only women but a significant number of men think this is an abuse of law-making powers.

In Pennsylvania, State Senator Larry Farnese is proposing a bill to change the procedure men will have to go through to get a prescription for one of the erectile dysfunction drugs. The first step will be a full cardiac stress test to ensure you are fit enough to attempt sexual activity. This will be followed by a physical examination to see whether there are any signs of prostate cancer. The man will also have to produce an affidavit from his partner confirming the reality of sexual difficulties and, if there are no obvious physical causes, psychological counseling will be required.  Read more...