martes, 16 de octubre de 2012

MEDICARE TRAP--BEING OBSERVED status can cost you thousands of $.

MEDICARE TRAP--BEING OBSERVED status can cost you thousands of $. 

Tarun Mullick,MD, Therapeutic-Interventional Gastroenterologist
 http://batavia.patch.com/blog_posts/medicare-trap-being-observed-status-can-cost-you-thousands-of-f7d905fb
Posted on October 7, 2012 at 12:06 pm
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lunes, 8 de octubre de 2012

Are we cruel to our food?

Are we cruel to our food?

http://health.yahoo.net/articles/nutrition/photos/8-cruelest-foods-you-eat#0

 

By the time that cheeseburger arrives on your plate, it's hard to think about anything but how tasty it'll be. But when you trace the origins of each ingredient--the beef, the fried egg, the splurge-worthy bacon--some uncomfortable truths emerge.
That we're uneasy about the origins of our food is no surprise. After all, in our shrink-wrapped, pre-cooked, fast-food world, it's easy to ignore. Fortunately, though, awareness is growing where it matters: Big Food. In just this year alone, shocking cases of documented animal abuse have persuaded many of the biggest meat purchasers--McDonald's, Burger King, and Subway--to make their chains more humane.
Still, we're a long way off from feeling good about what's for dinner, whether it's beef, chicken, or even eggs. Join us as we check in with the 8 Cruelest Foods You Eat--plus, what's being done about them, and what to eat in the meantime.

1. Lobster
2 of 10
These spiny guys can live as old as we do, but thanks to our appetite for lobster rolls, they usually don't. A recent study in the journal Animal Behavior showed that, contrary to previous thinking, lobsters and crab can feel pain and exhibit signs of stress. Lobsters also have a central nervous system, according to other research. But that hasn't persuaded many to stop eating them. Some high-end restaurants even offer live lobster sashimi, where you choose your lobster from a tank and it appears on your plate in seconds, slit down the middle and squirming.
What's being done: Not much, although boiling lobster is illegal in the Italian town Reggio Emilia. Domestically, Whole Foods no longer sells live lobsters. In 2005, the chain conducted an internal study on the crustacean and how it gets to stores. They were persuaded by numerous studies that show lobsters can get stressed, are able to learn, and are aware of their surroundings. Many are held in storage facilities for several months, and because there's no way to minimize that distress, Whole Foods decided to stop carrying them live.
What to eat instead: Nosh sustainable, ethically caught shellfish, though it sounds simpler to find than it is. (Origins can be fishy, so check out our feature on how to choose the best shrimp.) If you're worried about the ethics of eating seafood at all but want to get your omega-3s, choose a plant-based source, like ground flaxseed.

2. Shark-fin soup
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The name hides nothing: This soup is made with fins that are sliced off sharks in open waters. The fish are then tossed back into the water, where they can drown or bleed to death. Many of the fins served in the United States come from endangered shark species, according to a recent study by Stony Brook University and the Field Museum in Chicago. More status symbol than tasty (or nutritious), shark-fin soup is a popular gourmet treat in Asia and is abundant in restaurants across the United States, too.
What's being done: Shark finning was banned in Hawaii in 2010, and it's since been made illegal in Washington, Oregon, California, and Illinois. Last July, China's Government Offices Administration of the State Council announced that the Chinese government would no longer serve shark-fin dishes at official events, according to conservation organization WildAid.
What to eat instead: Pretty much anything under the sun, but you might want to start with a seafood bisque. Just steer clear of these 12 fish that are bad for both you and the environment.

3. Veal
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Many male calves are destined to become veal, since they can't produce milk. Just days after one of these calves is born, he can be moved to a crate so small that he can't turn around. There, he's typically fed milk or formula and is not allowed to exercise, which results in the pale fatty flesh for which veal is famous. Veal are usually slaughtered when they're just 5 months old.
What's being done: In 2009, the Humane Society recorded undercover abuse of calves at a Vermont slaughter plant. The USDA and Vermont Agency of Agriculture suspended operations there for an investigation, and a year later, the plant's owner pleaded no contest to animal cruelty charges. But there's some good news: Veal crates are illegal in Arizona, California, Maine, Michigan, and Ohio.
What to eat instead: If you're craving the tenderness of veal, grab a meaty Portobello mushroom burger instead. Ours is topped with pesto and roasted red peppers and slapped on a whole-wheat bun for a cruelty-free 277 calories.

4. Foie gras
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Foie gras, which means "fatty liver" in French, is a silky-smooth delicacy from goose or duck that's often served in elegant, high-end restaurants--the kind of thing you might splurge on as a treat. How it gets to your plate isn't quite so elegant, though. The short version is this: Workers restrain the birds and insert a long metal tube down its throat, through which they pump pounds of corn several times a day. After about a month of force-feeding, they're slaughtered, and their livers become your dinner.
What's being done: It's illegal to force-feed ducks in several countries, including the UK, Austria, Israel, Denmark, and Poland, but it's not necessarily illegal to sell the stuff. Stateside, the production and sale of foie gras is banned in California, but some restaurants have gotten around the ban by giving it away, reports Los Angeles Magazine. In 2006, it was banned in Chicago, but then-mayor Richard M. Daley called the ban "the silliest law" ever passed by City Council, and it was repealed in 2008.
What to eat instead: Get your rich pate fix sans guilt with vegan walnut pate. The animal-free version is made with herbs and meaty nuts, and it's cholesterol free.
Harness your hormones to lose unhealthy belly fat for good!

5. Eggs
6 of 10
So you don't eat foie gras, shark-fin soup, or even meat? You still might not be eating cruelty-free. The innocent little egg sometimes comes from hens who live in cages so small they can't even spread their wings. It's not surprising that the eggs from these hens, claustrophobic and living in their own waste, are up to 21 times more likely to harbor salmonella, according to a 2008 study from Belgium.
What's being done: Thankfully, things might be looking up for chickens. Congress is considering a new bill--H.R. 3798, or the Egg Products Inspection Act Amendments of 2012--that would give hens twice the amount of living space, prohibit excessive ammonia in the henhouses, and require labeling on egg cartons to list how the egg-layers lived. More than 8 million chickens are slaughtered each year in the U.S., according to the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service, so this could be big for the little cluckers. (Check out more on happier hens here.)
What to eat instead: Organic is a must for anything chicken-related, since poultry feed can have all kinds of bad stuff in it, from antidepressants to arsenic. Cage-free is nice, too, since those eggs don't come from chickens that are trapped in battery cages all the time. But the best option? Seek out eggs with the "certified humane raised and handled label," which means that your eggs underwent a voluntary, thorough inspection by an independent animal-welfare group. Or buy from a farmer you trust. Check out LocalHarvest to find truly sustainable farmers near you.
10 Healthy Kids' Snacks You'll Love

6. Balut
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Speaking of eggs, balut is a soft-boiled duck egg, where the embryo is almost fully formed--feathers, bones, and all. The egg is cracked open, the soupy liquid drunk, and the fetus dug out to eat. It's popular in the Philippines, Laos, and other Southeast Asian countries.
What's being done: Thanks to domestic foodie demand, this "snack" is available in the U.S. too. Dekalb Market in Brooklyn hosted its first ever balut-eating contest this summer--and the winner downed 18 embryos in 5 minutes.
What to eat instead: Regular eggs (organic, cage-free, preferably my-farmer-sold-them-to-me eggs, that is) will give you a protein fix without the feathered fetus.

7. Beef
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How well is your cow treated before it turns into your burger patty? Not great, you think, since you know how lax the laws are regarding factory farms. But how bad can it get, really? Very, according to the animal-rights group Compassion Over Killing, which recently released an undercover video taken at Central Valley Meat Co., a California slaughterhouse that supplies beef to the USDA National School Lunch Program, In-N-Out Burger, Costco, and McDonald's. Workers there illegally shocked the cows repeatedly with electric prods, sometimes as many as 40 times. Many of the cows there died slow, agonizing deaths, and some captured on video weren't even dead when they got to the slaughtering stage.
What's being done: Since the video came out, the aforementioned companies severed their ties with Central Valley Meat Co. The USDA closed the plant down for a few days to address mishandlings, but then continued their lunch program contract with the company, reported Food Safety News.
What to eat instead: If you're set on meat, go local and humane. Get your beef at a farmer's market, where you can ask the farmer about their breeding--and slaughtering--practices.

8. Pork
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Want to know the secret to beating bacon cravings at brunch? Consider where your pig came from. Even though they're some of the most intelligent animals alive, most breeding pigs are kept in gestation creates: tiny spaces about 2 feet wide in which pigs can't even turn around, according to the Humane Society. They stay pent up most of their lives to endure constant impregnation.
What's being done: Gestation crates are banned in Sweden and the U.K. Stateside, they're banned in Florida, Oregon, Maine, and Rhode Island, with phase-out plans in several other states. The three largest fast food chains in America--McDonald's, Burger King, and Wendy's--recently announced they'd be phasing out the practice for pigs. Most recently, Qdoba, Jack in the Box, and Subway pledged to eliminate gestation crates by 2022.
What to eat instead: This little piggie went to market--the farmer's market. It's the very best way to learn what happens to your meat, from pig's pen to pork chop.
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viernes, 5 de octubre de 2012

Coffee Linked to Vision Loss

Coffee Linked to Vision Loss

By Lisa Collier Cool
Oct 05, 2012
A new Harvard study has discovered a high incidence of vision problems among men and women who drank three or more cups of coffee a day. The research, published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, linked heavy consumption of caffeinated coffee with increased likelihood of developing exfoliation glaucoma, an eye disorder that affects about 10 percent of adults over age 50 and can lead to vision loss or blindness.
Specifically, the researchers reported that adults who drank three or more cups of coffee daily were 34 percent more likely to develop exfoliation glaucoma, compared to those who abstained from coffee. Women with a family history of glaucoma were at the highest risk, with their threat of exfoliation glaucoma soaring by 66 percent if they quaffed three or more cups of java per day.
Here’s a closer look at the study and what it means for coffee-lovers.
Coffee: The Original Wonder Drug?

What is exfoliation glaucoma?

Glaucoma, the second leading cause of blindness in the world, affects 60 million people. It is a group of painless diseases that can damage the optic nerve, if untreated. Typically, this damage results from increased pressure within the eye, usually due to fluid buildup.
Think of the eye as a sink in which the faucet is always running and the drain is always open. A tiny gland behind the iris produces fluid to nourish the cornea and lens, then the fluid flows out of the eye through spongy tissue called the trabecular network, explains the Glaucoma Foundation.
Exfoliation glaucoma, sometimes called “exfoliation syndrome,” is marked by tiny, dandruff-like flakes building up on the lens of the eye. The flakes are rubbed off as the lens of the iris (colored part of the eye) moves, causing the spongy tissue that normally serves as the eye’s drain to get clogged. The result is increased pressure, sometimes very high pressure, inside the eye. The cause of exfoliation glaucoma is unknown, but genetics appear to play a role.
5 Secrets to Preserving Your Eyesight

How was the study conducted?

The Harvard study was the first to link heavy coffee consumption and glaucoma risk in Americans by analyzing data from nearly 79,000 women in the well-known Nurses’ Health Study (NHS) and more than 42,000 men in the Health Professionals Followup Study (HPFS).
The researchers looked at men and women ages 40 or older who did not have glaucoma at the start of the study, and had received eye exams from 1980 (for women in the NHS) or 1986 (for men in the HPFS) to 2008. The study looked at health questionnaires the participants filled out about consumption of caffeinated drinks, including coffee, and their medical records (to identify cases of exfoliation glaucoma).
The analysis showed a significant rise in incidences of exfoliation glaucoma among people who drank three or more cups of coffee, but no link between drinking other caffeinated beverages, such as soda or tea.

The Scandinavian Link

"Scandinavian populations have the highest frequencies of exfoliation syndrome and glaucoma," author Jae Hee Kang, ScD, of Channing Division of Network Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston, told Science Daily.
"Because Scandinavian populations also have the highest consumption of caffeinated coffee in the world and our research group has previously found that greater caffeinated coffee intake was associated with increased risk of primary open-angle glaucoma [another form of the disease], we conducted this study to evaluate whether the risk of exfoliation glaucoma…may be different by coffee consumption,” Kang added.
Watch Out For These 8 Dangerous Ingredients

Should you cut down on coffee?

As I’ve reported previously, coffee has a number of health perks, including reducing risk for superbug infections, diabetes, strokes, and breast and prostate cancer. Kang emphasizes that further study is necessary to find direct evidence that heavy consumption of caffeinated coffee is indeed a risk factor for exfoliation glaucoma.
“If [the findings are] confirmed,” she told HealthDay News, “those at risk of exfoliation glaucoma—particularly those with a family history of glaucoma—would be recommended to limit their intake [of coffee] to less than three cups per day.”
Several eye experts say that they’re not cutting down on java—at least not yet, because this type of study is not designed to prove a cause-and-effect relationship. Therefore, variables other than drinking large amounts of caffeinated coffee may explain the apparent association with glaucoma.
10 Ways to Beat Fatigue That Are Safer than Caffeine

Who is at risk for glaucoma?

Because glaucoma is painless, many people don’t know they have it until irreversible vision impairment occurs. To detect it in the early, treatable stages, the Mayo Clinic recommends getting a comprehensive eye exam every three to five years starting at 40 and annually starting at 60.
Screening is particularly crucial if you have any of these risk factors, says the Glaucoma Foundation:
  • Being over 60. You are six times more likely to develop glaucoma if you’re older than 60.
  • Family history. Having close relatives with glaucoma multiples your risk by four to nine times.
  • Steroid medication use. One study found that heavy use of inhaled steroids for asthma boosted glaucoma risk by 40 percent.
  • Ethnicity. African-Americans are six to eight times more likely to develop glaucoma than Caucasians. People of Hispanic ancestry are also at higher risk.
  • Eye injury. Blunt injuries that “bruise” the eye can lead to glaucoma, either soon after the injury or years later. Use protective eyewear for activities that may cause eye injury, such as sports like boxing or baseball, or using power tools.
Video: When it's Important to Avoid Caffeine
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lunes, 1 de octubre de 2012

Eat This and You'll Never Get Arthritis?

Eat This and You'll Never Get Arthritis?

A diet rich in vitamin C when you're young could
protect you from the ravages of arthritis when you're
old.

Foods that are high in vitamin C appear to protect
people against inflammatory polyarthritis, a form of
rheumatoid arthritis that involves two or more joints,
Reuters reports of new research from the University of
Manchester in the United Kingdom.

The opposite also holds true. Those whose diets have
the least amount of vitamin C are three times more
likely to develop the condition than their peers who
consumed the highest amounts.

The study: More than 20,000 participants, all of whom
were free from arthritis when the study began, kept
detailed diaries of the foods and drinks they
consumed. The analysis focused on 73 subjects who
developed inflammatory polyarthritis during the
follow-up period between 1993 and 2001, as well as 146
similar subjects who remained arthritis-free, reports
Reuters.

The results: People who had a low intake of fruits,
vegetables, and vitamin C also had a higher risk of
inflammatory polyarthritis, specifically three times
the risk compared with those who consumed the highest
amounts of foods with vitamin C, reports lead study
author Dr. Dorothy J. Pattison. Low intake of vitamin
E and beta-carotene were only weakly linked with an
increased risk of inflammatory polyarthritis, notes
Reuters.

The contradiction: Previous studies have shown that
high doses of vitamin C worsens osteoarthritis in
guinea pigs who already have the disease.
Osteoarthritis, which is more common than rheumatoid
arthritis, is seen more frequently in older people.
Pattison explained the seeming contradiction by noting
that the two types of arthritis are caused by
different physiologic problems. Rheumatoid arthritis
is an autoimmune disease in which the body attacks
itself, while osteoarthritis is a degenerative process
that worsens over time.

The top 10 foods richest in vitamin C are:
Papaya
Broccoli
Orange juice from frozen concentrate
Strawberries
Oranges
Kiwi
Cantaloupe
Grapefruit juice
Raw mango
Raw peppers

The study findings were reported in the Annals of the
Rheumatic Dise

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