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Wednesday, February 17, 2016

5 Keys to Choosing the Right Individual Health Insurance Plan

The internet has made it easier to compare different health insurance policies and shortlist health insurance plans. With the right health insurance policy, one can make substantial savings if a family member gets sick. Although there is no golden rule to choose the right individual plan, yet, some common tips help in the decision making process. Five keys to choosing the right individual insurance plan have been listed below:

 Determine your need and your affordability:
Even before you start your online search for insurance plans, one needs to be sure about the details of the plan. You need to make sure that the benefits offered by the plan covers what you need for yourself and your family. However, the perfect plan will also come at a considerable cost. As an informed customer, you need to do a proper cost benefit analysis to make sure your trade-off between price and benefit is in the appropriate proportion. If we take into account, frequent trips to the doctors, medications and dental coverage - such scenarios eliminate unsuitable plans and makes the comparison process much easier.
 Don't overbuy:
The scenario is similar to buying a luxury car where the monthly EMI equals your home loan payment. There is no point in purchasing a health insurance policy with benefits which are unlikely to be used at a high and unviable cost. For relatively young and healthy individuals, a policy with a high deductible is more suitable. Deductibles are the amount paid by insurers before certain benefits kick in. A plan with a decent deductible will cost considerably less per month and could save money in the long run.
 Walk through several plans:
It is always advisable to go through several plans. In the process, benefits associated with different health insurance plans can be reviewed and analyzed for better decision making. At first glance, some plans may look appealing. Later, the same plan turns out to be a costly affair due to cost sharing arrangement. The burden of medical cost in the future will be a big headache. Hence, going through and analyzing several plans is the best way forward.
 Co-insurance and co-payments:
Several health insurance plans require the holder to contribute to the coverage payments. The contribution is called co-insurance and is the portion the customer has to pay after deductible. A co-pay is a flat fee one has to pay while paying a visit to a doctor or specialist. While choosing a personal health insurance policy, consumers should look into co-insurance and co-payments factors.
 Reputation matters:
After identifying the price and need of the plan, reputation of the company should also be in the reckoning. Ideally, a company with a long haul in the market should be trusted and relied upon. There are many ways to assess the standing of insurance companies and their health insurance policies.


Monday, February 15, 2016

Symptoms and Signs of Leukemia

A sign can be defined as something that can be recognized and observed by a healthcare professional or a doctor. A symptom on the other hand is something that can be recognized by the person who is experiencing it. These symptoms and signs of leukemia can also be caused by various other chronic health conditions. Thus it is extremely important to always have an unusual check for symptoms from a good doctor. Acute leukemia has symptoms and signs that may be similar to the flu and can come on suddenly within a few weeks or days. On the other hand chronic leukemia has symptoms that can gradually develop and people will then complain that they do not feel very well. This disease is discovered when a routine blood test is done.

Rare symptoms and signs
The rare symptoms and signs of leukemia are as follows.
•    Choroma
This is a tumor like collection that consists of leukemia cells and it is present under the skin and or other parts of the body.
•    Skin changes
Leukemia cutis can occur when the cells of leukemia cell enter the skin. The patches and sores can be of any particular size and are usually tan or pink in color.
Leukocytoclastic vasculitis can resemble a very allergic reaction on the skin of the person suffering. The sores can usually appear on the hands and also feet.
The sweet's syndrome includes painful sores and fever that can appear anywhere on the patient's body.

Blood count
A complete blood count must be done in order to measure the quality and number of the white blood cells, platelets and red blood cells. The leukemia is mostly suspected when the cell counts of the blood are abnormal and the blood cells are not looking very normal. The abnormal blood cell counts may be due to various other conditions and can be extremely abnormal. These abnormal blood counts may be due to various other conditions and leukemia. The blasts may not exactly occur normally in the blood so the leukemia is suspected if the blasts are present. It is one of the important things to remember.

Acute leukemia
The white blood cells will be low, high or normal. The blast cells can also be present in the blood of people who have acute leukemia.

Chronic leukemia

In a chronic condition the white blood cell count is extremely high. The platelet count can also be low and anemia.

Thursday, February 11, 2016

Breast Cancer, The Most Frequently Diagnosed Cancer In Women

breast cancerThe latest data from National Cancer Institute revealed that about 232,340 female and about 2,240 male are diagnosed with breast cancer in the USA annually and death counts reaches up to 40,000 each year. The numbers are stunning, but the good news is that this cancer will be fading away soon as researchers work hard to find their way through. In fact, breast cancer incidence is still higher in developed countries like the USA in contrast to developing countries in Asia and Africa. This is attributed to the difference in lifestyle and life expectancy between different regions. 
Breast cancer develops as a consequence of exposure to different risk factors. Age and gender is already an established risk factor for this cancer. Females that are 40 years old or older have higher risk of developing it compared to males. Family history is also a key risk factor. Studies have shown that females have 4 times higher risk of developing breast cancer in the presence of first degree relatives with the disease, and five times higher if there are at least three members of the family who have this disease. Moreover, a history of ovarian cancer in the family is also associated to increase risk of acquiring breast cancer. Lifestyle related factors such as obesity, alcohol consumption and cigarette smoking are also risk factors. Other risk factors that are important to mention are getting pregnant at a later age, not being able to bear a child, and an early onset of menses and late age of menopause. These are all hormone-related risk factors proven to contribute to increased risk of exposing to this disease.

Tuesday, February 9, 2016

MDR and XDR Tuberculosis - Ayurvedic Herbal Treatment

Multi-drug resistant tuberculosis (MDR-TB) is defined as tuberculosis infection that is resistant to Isoniazid and Rifampicin, the two most powerful first-line anti-TB drugs. MDR-TB usually results from missed doses, inappropriate therapy or incomplete TB treatment. Such patients need to be treated with at least five anti-TB drugs for at least 18-24 months. This second-line treatment is much costlier and has more side-effects. Extremely drug-resistant tuberculosis (XDR-TB) is defined as tuberculosis infection that is resistant to the two main first-line anti-TB drugs and also to a few second-line drugs. This condition also arises due to inappropriate management of tuberculosis, and is treated on the same lines as MDR-TB.

Since the treatment of MDR and XDR - TB is very costly and toxic, the treatment options for such patients narrow down drastically and increase the mortality rate. This is especially true for patients residing in poor and developing countries. Ayurvedic medicines can be used as an additional therapy both to improve the therapeutic effect as well as to reduce the potential toxicity of modern medicines. In addition, Ayurvedic medicines can also boost the immune status in such patients so that the body is in a better position to fight and control the infection. 

Wednesday, February 3, 2016

Herpes and Its Viral Consequences to Anyone

Herpes simplex can be described as a viral disease. It is caused by the popular simplex virus. There are many infections that cause this and these infections are categorized based on the part of the body that gets infected. There is also oral herpes that affects the face and the mouth. It can result in small blisters in groups that is often called as the cold sores and fever blister. It can also just cause a simple sore throat and have you down for a few days. Genital herpes is also often simply known as herpes and can have a few and minimal symptoms that can form various types of blisters. These blisters can break open and result in small ulcers.

The Stages Of Herpes And The Various Symptoms

The stages of herpes that develop physically for those who have the condition are, for the most part, the same for all people. The HSV-1 virus and the HSV-2 virus vary slightly in their manifestation areas, but for the most part, even the two different strains of the virus develop identically. This results in the physical characteristics of both oral and genital herpes outbreaks being essentially the same.

The early stages of herpes are characterized by redness in the area that first came in contact with the virus. As the redness begins to settle in the area, a pain or itch may develop. In some cases, the area will begin to swell. The swelling can range from being practically unnoticeable, to very severe.