Medicine Corp and Healthy Green Living Guide – Medcorpgreen.com

Archive for March, 2010

Alzheimer’s disease is a form of dementia that causes gradual loss of a person’s mental abilities. It initially affects the cerebral cortex and often starts off as simple forgetfulness.

As the disease progresses, the person’s personality may undergo a complete transformation for the worse. The ability to think and function normally may be almost fully lost.

Is there a way to reduce one’s chances of getting the disease? There are no definite answers, partly because the disease itself is not fully understood yet.

It is thought that maintaining a healthy lifestyle with lots of mental activity may help prevent Alzheimer’s. There are no absolute safeguards against it, though.

Here are some steps you can take to minimize your chances of falling prey to this disease.

* Remain mentally active.
Mental activity stimulates the brain neurons. The more you use your brain, the more it creates new neurological pathways and connections. In this respect, the brain is quite like the rest of the body, because if you use it, it tends to remain healthy. And if you don’t, the brain deteriorates.

Do crossword puzzles and word games. Take up public speaking or debating. Learn to play a musical instrument. Learn about art forms you were not familiar with before and attend cultural and other functions.

Anything that engages your brain and keeps you alert and active may help.

* Get regular physical exercise.
The benefits of moderate physical exercise are well documented. Exercise results in increased oxygen flow to the brain and releases chemicals that make you feel good.

Plus, of course, exercise boosts your physical stamina and fitness levels. It helps reduce your weight, lowers your blood pressure and many other positive effects.

Go with any exercise that suits you, after taking your doctor’s advice. Choices include aerobics, gym workouts, tai chi, stretch exercises, yoga and more.

* Eat healthy food.
Your chances of getting Alzheimer’s disease are lower if you cut down on cholesterol and fat in your diet. That means, avoid junk food and eat lots of fruits and vegetables. The latter helps build up your brain cells. Besides, fruits and vegetables are rich in antioxidants which are supposed to be good for the whole body.

Foods like leafy vegetables, fish and nuts may be excellent. Consult a doctor or nutritionist and come up with a diet that suits you.

* Cultivate excellent family and social relationships
Having great relationships dramatically improves your experience of life. And there are many studies that show that longevity is linked to having good social relationships.

Involve yourself in hobby groups. Join a neighborhood walking club or canasta group. Go to block parties. Get active in community organizations. Go on weekend trips with friends. There are many ways to stay involved socially.

In the end, leading a well-balanced, healthy lifestyle will contribute immensely to your quality of life. And it can help slow or perhaps even halt the progress of Alzheimer’s disease in people who are predisposed to it.

For people with insulin-dependent diabetes, trying to control their blood glucose, or blood sugar, can be a stressful juggling act. Managing the disease often requires several daily insulin injections, taking up to 10 blood samples a day, coordinating the use of multiple medical devices and being mindful of how diet, exercise and medication can affect blood-sugar levels.

Medtronic’s Paradigm REAL-Time System incorporates a glucose sensor, a transmitter, a “smart” insulin pump and a glucose meter to provide patients with better control, flexibility and health.

Chris Jarvis, a member of the 2004 Canadian Olympic Rowing Team and a marathon runner, knows firsthand about the challenges associated with diabetes. He has type 1 diabetes, which means his body doesn’t produce insulin on its own. Some days, during races, Jarvis used to take up to 15 fingerstick measurements to check his blood sugar. For many years, he used two separate devices to control his diabetes, one to monitor his glucose and another to administer insulin into his body.

Most recently, however, Jarvis has been using a new federally approved device-the only one of its kind in the world-that has given him much more control over his diabetes.

Developed by Minneapolis-based medical technology company Medtronic, Inc., the MiniMed Paradigm® REAL-Time Insulin Pump and Continuous Glucose Monitoring System integrates an insulin pump and continuous glucose monitoring system to deliver insulin to the body day and night while at the same time continuously checking glucose levels, and sounding an alarm (or vibrating) if levels get dangerously high or low. This new device provides Jarvis with the confidence he needs to continue leading a healthy life.

“It gives you a real sense of comfort knowing exactly what’s happening inside of your body, rather than trying to guess with only a couple of fingersticks,” Jarvis says. “It’s just a quick touch of a button and you see where your blood sugar is.”

This new therapy option helps patients, like Jarvis, gain tighter control over their disease and understand how their diet, exercise, medication or lifestyle may affect their blood sugar. Armed with this knowledge, patients can take immediate corrective or preventive action to maintain healthy glucose levels.

Dr. Irl Hirsch, medical director, University of Washington Diabetes Care Center, Seattle, says that many patients with insulin-dependent diabetes still give themselves multiple daily injections of insulin and rely solely on blood draws-four to 10 per day-from fingersticks to measure their blood-sugar levels. The new system changes all this because it constantly delivers insulin to the body and continuously-almost 300 times a day-provides users information on what their glucose level is and whether it’s heading up or down.

“If you have insulin-dependent diabetes, you need to make sure you’re getting the right amount of insulin, and you need to keep a close eye on your glucose levels,” Hirsch says. “The insulin pump and continuous glucose monitor is a major breakthrough because it’s the only device in the world that helps you do both.”

Studies have shown that multiple daily insulin injections aren’t as effective as insulin pumps in controlling diabetes. Fingersticks alone miss more than 60 percent of low-glucose events, and that’s a real danger for people with diabetes. If blood sugar gets too high or low, patients can lapse into a coma and die within just a few hours. Over time, not maintaining normal blood-sugar levels can lead to blindness, stroke, amputations, heart disease and kidney disease.

“With the MiniMed Paradigm REAL-Time System, I control my diabetes; it doesn’t control me,” Jarvis says.

We start going to school at the age of 4 or 5. We graduate from secondary school at the age of 17 or 19. Those who want to pursue a career being a doctor will have to endure 4 years of undergraduate studies, 4 years of medical school, 3 to 7 years as an intern and resident then a couple of more years to move into a more specialized field. This means that you will have only established yourself as a doctor after you have reached the age of 30!

Do you really have to wait that long to undergo medical training and make a career for yourself? The answer is no. This is because aside from being a doctor, you can do something else that is in the medical field. To give you an idea, here are some of them.

For those who don’t want to work in a hospital, they can try to get a job as a pharmacist. This person is the one that dispenses drugs at the store. They can also recommend a drug similar to what was prescribed if this is not available or way beyond your budget. Sometimes, they also help doctors determine the proper dosage to be given to the patient as they are well aware of the side effects of giving too much to a patient.

Another job that you may apply for is that of a lab technician. These individuals depending on their training are the ones who test samples or man the X-ray or mammogram when a patient has to be examined.

One job that is high in demand right now in the US is that of a nurse. This is because a lot of those who are working right now are nearing retirement age and the youth these days are no excited about that which is why nurses are being hired from other countries.

Training for each of the jobs mentioned varies. For pharmacists, lab technicians and nurses, they don’t have to study for 8 years or more when they already qualify for their position after a couple of years in vocational school.

Here, they will learn subjects such as anatomy, biology, chemistry, infection control, medical terminology, physiology and several others before undergoing hands on training. There will be exams to test their knowledge with regards to each subject so there won’t be any problems when it is time to do the real thing.

You can also be successful working outside the hospital with a little medical training. You can get into medical transcription since all you have to do is transcribe what the doctor has said using a tape recorder. The work can be done at home and then the document is sent back to the doctor.

Another alternative will be to get into sales as pharmaceutical companies need sales agent to sell their drugs to doctors and hospitals.

Anyone can make a career once he or she has undergone medical training. You just have to decide what you want to specialize in and then go for it. For those that don’t have the money to study full time, look for a school that offers this part time or online.

Remember, this is only temporary because once you earn your degree, you can already make your career out of it.