Healthy choices that may lower blood pressure and cholesterol
With so many people having high blood pressure as well as high cholesterol, some in Charlotte are looking for easy ways to lower cholesterol and blood pressure without taking medications.While studies sometime differ in answers offered for those…
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Eggs: Edible, incredible and healthy
May is National Egg Month and rightfully so. Eggs have long been associated with high cholesterol and people avoided this much-maligned protein. However, a 2010 study by the USDA shows that eggs contain less cholesterol than previously…
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Simple Ways to Get Healthy
Contrary to popular belief, getting healthy or, conversely, remaining healthy, is really not all that difficult. Even if you’re overweight, have high cholesterol, high blood pressure, etc, reversing these potentially damaging health hazards does not have to be a monumentally life changing event, and can in fact happen with only a modicum of effort. This article will highlight some tips on how to get healthier without making huge life-changing decisions.
First and foremost, the best way to get healthier is to gradually change your diet. This does not mean that you have to give up all the foods you love you just have to practice moderation. A diet rich in fruits, vegetables, protein and whole grains is essential, and while the bulk of your diet should include these items daily, occasionally having a piece of cake or some pizza will certainly not kill you. The key is moderation. Yes, you should avoid certain things, such as sugary, empty calorie-filled sodas and most processed food, but one Coca-Cola every once in awhile is definitely ok. If making such a drastic change is difficult, gradually weaning yourself off these items will make it a much easier process.
Supplementing your diet with moderate exercise is essential. Now, this does not necessarily mean you have to devote one to two hours a day at the gym. Adequate exercise can be obtained through something as simple as a walk around the block after dinner. If you lead a busy life and don’t have time to exercise, taking the stairs on a daily basis instead of the elevator, or utilizing your lunch break to go for a walk or even go to the gym for a half hour can be just as effective. Not only will it help keep you healthy, but it will help keep you energized throughout the day.
In some cases medication may be required to reverse damage that has been caused by years of unhealthy eating habits and little to no exercise, such as high blood pressure or high cholesterol. Beyond this, little changes made daily will eventually lead to new habits that can lead to an overall healthier, happier you.
Medicaid To Offer Rewards For Healthy Behavior
Washington, D.C., United States (KaiserHealth) – A federal grant program authorized in the health overhaul law is offering states $100 million to reward Medicaid recipients who make an effort to quit smoking or keep their weight, blood pressure or cholesterol levels in check.
The grant program is meant to encourage states, many of which are under pressure to cut Medicaid costs, to experiment with an uncertain approach to wellness: offering incentives for healthy behavior.
“Medicaid is almost the sweet spot for financial rewards,” said George Loewenstein, a behavioral economist at Carnegie Mellon University who has studied the effect of financial incentives on behavior. Medicaid recipients, he explains, are economically disadvantaged and have more to gain from incentives.
Loewenstein, however, is dubious about whether incentives, especially those tied to weight loss, could really work. He’s not alone.
Behavioral incentive programs have shown some promise in specific settings, but they are largely untested in the Medicaid population.
The federal dollars for Medicaid incentives reflect a sharpening emphasis on the role of preventive health in targeting the underlying causes of chronic disease, a central pillar of the Obama administration’s health care agenda. States have until May 2 to submit their final proposals to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services for funding, and a number have indicated an interest.
And while states have some flexibility about how they design their incentives, federal guidelines provide a basic profile. Medicaid enrollees who demonstrate a commitment to improving their health will be eligible to receive financial rewards such as coupons or gift certificates. For those who are overweight or trying to quit smoking, that commitment might take the form of weight management classes or tobacco cessation counseling. States are encouraged to provide rewards “on a tiered basis” for attempts at participation, “actual behavior change,” and “achievement of health goals.”
Chronic conditions such as diabetes, bad cholesterol and high blood pressure account for more than 75 percent of the $2.5 trillion the U.S. spends annually on health care, according to data from the Department of Health and Human Services. Cigarette smoking, 10 percent more prevalent among Medicaid enrollees than the population at large, cost Medicaid programs an average of $607 million in 2004, according to the National Center for Health Statistics, and is also the leading preventable cause of death in the U.S.
States Have Mixed Results
To date, a few states have tried transplanting the corporate wellness model to Medicaid, with mixed results. State health officials seem to agree that participation from health care providers and other community organizations, often a challenge, was critical in making their programs work.
West Virginia’s approach, which provides an enhanced coverage plan with added benefits to Medicaid enrollees who agree to adhere to healthy behaviors, has been widely criticized by health advocates.
Idaho, which launched an incentive program in 2007, offers $200 in vouchers to Medicaid enrollees who consult with a doctor about losing weight or quitting smoking. Recipients can use the vouchers for gym memberships, weight management programs, nutrition counseling and tobacco cessation products. Tobacco counseling courses are offered free of charge through public health districts in the state. Idaho is now enrolling about 1,500 new Medicaid participants each year.
According to Tom Kearns, who manages Idaho’s Preventive Health Assistance initiative, participants have written in with positive feedback – but the state doesn’t have data to show whether the incentives are cost-effective or have a large-scale impact on participants’ behavior.
“There’s a lot of challenges in tracking the outcomes of this long-term,” Kearns said. “Ultimately we’d like to have a large enough population to track.”
The state has worked hard to find partners who are willing to accept its vouchers and so far has more luck with community groups, such as the YMCA, than private companies.
Florida has also tried using incentives in its Medicaid managed care pilot program.
The program allows Medicaid enrollees living in five counties to earn up to $125 worth of credits each fiscal year in exchange for their compliance with certain “healthy behaviors,” like getting a flu shot or adhering to a prescribed drug regimen. Participants can redeem the credits at participating pharmacies for over-the-counter products such as bandages and diapers.
But logistical setbacks have dampened the impact of the incentives. At first, few were aware that the program even existed, and some pharmacies refused to accept the Medicaid credits. Several hundred people have received credits for participating in a diabetes or hypertension disease management program since 2006, but as of February, only two individuals were on the record for having attended a smoking cessation course, and six individuals have been credited for entering a weight management or exercise program.
“There’s a question about whether this is really incentivizing anything … that link is very dubious,” said Greg Mellowe, policy director at the consumer advocacy group Florida CHAIN. Most of the credits distributed through Florida’s rewards program in the past five years, Mellowe contends, were awarded for routine visits and immunizations that Medicaid recipients would have sought anyway – and not for significant behavioral changes.
Research On Incentives Is Inconclusive
Research is scant on the effects of incentive programs on mitigating chronic diseases. A smattering of studies have shown that complex behavioral programs with built-in incentives can sometimes produce short-term results-if the incentives are large enough. A 2009 study published in the New England Journal of Medicine found that a program offering people $750 to quit smoking: 15 percent of participants eligible for a reward managed to quit, compared with 5 percent of participants who enrolled in a traditional tobacco cessation program.
A similar study about incentive-based weight loss programs, published by some of the same researchers in the Journal of the American Medical Association, was less optimistic. That study found that financial rewards did help participants lose more weight temporarily, but the losses weren’t fully sustained in the end.
Few behavioral studies have attempted to determine whether people who receive the incentives are able to maintain their short-term success long term – the ultimate goal of incentive-based prevention program. Fewer attempts have been made to address how the design of an incentive program should be adjusted according to the demographics of the target population, such as insuring that low-income participants have transportation to get to appointments and classes.
“In and of itself, without health education and other forms of engagement, it seems to fall short,” said Judith Solomon, vice president for health policy at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “The incentives are never going to be enormous because it’s never going to be affordable.”
– Provided by Kaiser Health News.
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Egg is healthy for you, says study
For anyone who loves eggs but avoids them because of the cholesterol, the good news: it may be healthy after all. The conclusion comes after a study by the Research Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture.
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What Does a Healthy Body Look Like?
You probably know many people who have tried to lose weight, are currently dieting, or at least say that they would like to drop a few pounds … one of these statements might even describe you right now. If someone wants to lose weight, we don’t normally ask them why, we usually ask ‘how much’. But the question that most people don’t consider is why. Why do you want to lose weight? What do you think will happen when you get to your goal size? For some people it might be a recommendation by their doctor and a matter of serious health problems. Any body image and aesthetic improvement would be secondary to the immediate health improvements. But for most of the rest of us the health issues are not what drives us to want to lose weight. It is in fact the look of our body that we’re interested in changing and the health benefits are secondary to the look. At first glance this seems a bit superficial and even vain. But if you dig a little deeper you’ll see that the look of your body is probably your best indicator of your health as well. After all we really only have two ways of telling if something is wrong with our bodies: a) It feels wrong – something hurts or we feel ‘sick’ b) It looks wrong – a rash, bump, scratch, swelling, a joint or bone out of place, or too much fat! The point is that we only have these two pieces of information to go on to tell if there is something wrong with our bodies.
Once we’ve seen or felt that there is a problem we can go to a doctor and get even more information that is not possible to see or feel. For example a doctor can tell you that you’re at a high risk for a heart attack even though this is not readily apparent in a mirror (although being overweight is a good indicator) and you cannot feel how close you are to having a heart attack … you only feel it once you finally have the heart attack…at which point it is too late to do anything about it. The reason we have BMI charts and recommendations of a ‘healthy’ weight is so medical care providers can give you a visual cue that matches what their internal measurements like blood cholesterol and blood pressure are telling them about your relative risk of disease. In other words, there is a specific body shape and look that also predicts healthiness. Someone who is 100 pounds overweight almost assuredly has poor blood lipid profiles, high cholesterol, high blood pressure and many other problems associated with the extra weight and the high calorie intake required to get to that size. Conversely someone who is at or close to their ideal bodyweight for their height most likely has much more favorable blood measurements and risk profile of many lifestyle related disorders. In other words, they look healthy, and all measurements indicate that they are healthy. But there is a second level of health that cannot be measured, and that is emotional health and self image. For many of us this is linked to the look of our body. It makes sense that wanting to ‘look’ good or look like you’re in shape is actually no different than saying that you want to look healthy. I may be in the minority here, but I do not agree with the new found rhetoric of ‘being happy with your natural size’ (it’s ironic that this is only ever trumpeted by people who are overweight). This is a load of baloney and is just a sympathetic appeal to overweight people who cannot find the drive to eat less.
No matter how much you try to tell yourself you’re happy with your current size, you will always know you are lying to yourself and this is not good for both your physiological health or your emotional health. Living in denial isn’t any more healthy than living overweight. Doing both just compounds the problems caused by each. I think the most healthy way to approach weight loss is to admit to yourself that you want to lose weight for the purpose of improving the look of your body. And that this new thinner look will not only improve your physical health but also your emotional and psychological health. It is in fact a wholistic view of taking care of yourself. There isn’t much disputing the fact that a healthy looking body, is almost always a healthy body.
Moderate alcohol consumption linked to healthy hearts
Calgary, Canada (AHN) – Two reports came out this week linking moderate alcohol consumption with significantly lower risks of developing heart disease.
The two reports from the University of Calgary, both published in the British Medical Journal, concluded that people who drink in moderation are 14 to 25 percent less likely to develop heart disease than those who don’t drink at all.
One of the studies says the reason is likely because alcohol raises a person’s high density lipoprotein cholesterol, or so-called “good cholesterol.” This has a protective effect on the heart.
The researchers acknowledged that previous research linked moderate drinking with reduced heart disease risk, but they said in a statement that those studies were out-of-date and needed updating.
The researchers also stressed moderation. This means about one glass of wine, beer or other alcoholic beverage a day for women and about two for men.
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Better Ways to Lose Weight And Stay Healthy
We all have read that health is wealth. Staying healthy is one of the most important factors if we wish to keep diseases at bay. One of the important prerequisites of staying healthy is that we keep our weight under control. Keeping weight under control or reducing it requires that the calorie intake is lesser while there is sufficient physical activity. If there is enough physical activity, it will burn extra calories that your body does not require to produce energy. If there is a lack of physical activity, access calories will become fat that gets accumulated and makes you overweight.
There are some tips that you can follow to lose your weight and stay healthy. To lose your weight, the first and foremost thing that you need to do is to set realistic goals. You may consult body mass index, BMI, to find ideal weight for your body structure. Once you know the ideal weight, set target that is achievable. A healthy way to lose your weight is to reduce it gradually. It may take longer but this way you will stay healthy and achieve your target. Setting unrealistic goals and not being able to achieve them depresses a person and at times becomes a source of many ailments.
Next, you need to change your lifestyle. Changing lifestyle implies reducing the number of calories that you take on daily basis. You can do so by reducing the quantity of food or including food items that have lesser calories in your daily diet. It also implies inclusion of physical activity to burn extra calories so that you can stay healthy while you are on a weight reduction spree.
Another thing that you can adopt to lose your weight is changing your eating habits. You must limit the quantity of food that are high in calories such as French fries, cakes, cookies, sweets, fats, oils, and spreads. Instead, you must include foods that are naturally high in fiber content. Foods rich in calories will not only increase your weight, they are also potential sources of many diseases such as blood pressure, high cholesterol levels, diabetes, and so on. On the other hand, foods rich in natural fiber will keep your weight under control and also help you stay healthy.
How to Stay Heart Healthy
(istockphoto) (CBS) Remember a time when good was good and bad was bad? Things may no longer be so simple when it comes to cholesterol.Cardiologists focus their attention on two kinds of cholesterol
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Healthy Habits in Youth Tied to Better Adult Cholesterol Levels
MONDAY, Jan. 3 (HealthDay News) — A new study links cholesterol levels in young adults to changes in lifestyle between childhood and adulthood.
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