New Era of an excellent healthcare system in USA is not far away.

Thanks to the strides made by Obama administration to do something about the exponentially rising healthcare cost that we finally have started moving. The government released data of what hospitals are charging Medicare for common procedures and what is the final amount Medicare is paying( surprised that Medicare is effectively able to negotiate and majority of times pay approx. 30% of the bill which tells me how overinflated rates the hospitals are charging)
I was shocked to see the difference in price of a total knee replacement which can vary from approx. 5-6K in a hospital in Oklahoma to approx. 220K in Monterey, CA...... Same procedure, similar outcomes and such a HUGE  difference in bill??
I am so Happy that Medicare is making things transparent for general public, now we can go to the CMS website and compare hospitals and possibly in future shop around to determine which is more affordable,

Affordable care act will kick in soon... can't wait to see what it will have to offer..

http://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/Medicare-Provider-Charge-Data/index.html

For detail information see the following article:
http://dnews.com/news_ap/article_4c0b4baf-c4f2-5945-925d-45e2b1dc0deb.html

 

Watched Lincoln. A very well made movie. Time and again we need to watch a movie where we can appreciate how we easily take things for granted. He fought for FREEDOM for others and achieved it. A True man of conviction and who knew how to get things done in spite of road blocks on the way. Go watch it!!!

Surrogacy and Abortion

 

Laws for surrogacy and abortion need to change. Refusal to accept a fetus half way through pregnancy and aborting doesn't sound fair or ethical. They were just looking for a perfect healthy baby and not just a baby who will bring love and j...

oy to their life. It's an unfortunate incident but that doesn't mean you kill a fetus. Just because a fetus/ baby can't talk doesn't mean that they do not have any right to survival. People with heart, love and conscience will NEED TO PROTECT these precious souls.... SAY NO TO ABORTION.
I salute the mom who made the decision to go ahead and gave birth to her. Baby is now alive and have good odds of survival... even better, another couple adopted her and they are a happy family now.

State of prisons worldwide
Heard a discussion on condition of inmates in American prison versus prison elsewhere in the world. People are talking about getting TV set with cable for inmates stating that that will help them know world better, will assist in social interaction , blah… blah… blah….. As if it is not enough that prisoners have beds, AC, good food al...l paid by tax dollars. If the condition in the jail is so luxurious wouldn’t criminals get motivated instead of being scared of going back to prison??
A prisoner from Africa described about his condition in his prison and how that molded his future and forced him to turn into a better human being. Inmates had to sleep on floor, eat tasteless, dry and horrible food. No AC in cell. Conditions are so harsh that once out of jail criminals dread going back in and committing any crime again.. Isn’t this what it is supposed to be? He was questioning about how soft people in western world have become under the name of human right. His experience and opinion raises real questions for sure. Are we headed in a direction where crime rate will increase and prisoners will not be scared of committing crime as they may get same basic luxuries in the prison as well.

So true... Food stamps are to provide nutritional food to poor people. Allowing them to purchase sweetened soda (Pepsi/ Coke) doesn't do any good to their health. Good to know that Florida and New York are taking steps to prevent beverages ...in the list of allowed items. So what if Pepsi/ Coke are opposing it strongly? I am glad that somebody is stepping forward to do the right thing.

Lovely morning

 hubby forgot his valet at park yesterday. A gentleman showed up this morning to return it. Needless to say that everything was untouched. As a gesture to thank him we wanted to take him out for dinner. He said replied,' than...k you but please help somebody else who needs it more than me, Pay it forward". May god bless him ... reminded me of one of my favorite movie' Pay if forward". Kids were present and learnt a nice lesson. What better way than to teach them than through real life lessons!!

Global warming and what we can do.

Global warming is here. It's real and and it's affecting our mother nature adversely. Researchers have started seeing migration of fishes which are moving from equator to more cooler waters. Fishing industry around warmer waters will dwindle, fishing industry around cool water is growing however time will tell if the migrated fishes can survive longer or adapt themselves to the changing environment. The least we can do to save this planet in our small ways whenever possible is as follows:

1) REDUCE, REUSE and RECYCLE.

2) Use Less Heat and Air Conditioning

3) Change the light bulbs: replace regular light bulbs with compact fluorescent light (CFL) bulbs

4) Drive less, drive smart: walk or take public transit whenever possible, keep tires inflated well, buy fuel efficient cars.

5) Buy energy efficient appliances only

6) switch 'off ' and electrical device when not in use.

7) use less hot water for showers/Baths

8) Plant trees

9) Encourage others to conserve.

10) Choose vegetarian/ vegan meals: Livestock are responsible for more greenhouse gas emissions than transportation is. This is due to the large amounts of petroleum used in creating ammonium nitrate fertilizer (for the corn that they are fed) plus the cost of shipping that corn to the cattle and then shipping the cattle to slaughter and grocery. Choosing vegetarian foods also drastically reduces agricultural water consumption and land use, and favorably impacts biodiversity

11) Reduce use of paper products.

12) Buy locally made and locally grown products

13) Unplug unused electronics.

14) run dishwasher only when full,

15) Take responsibility for your office's energy use. Many offices leave air conditioners, computers and lights running all night. Work with responsible parties in your company to turn off these devices or use power-saving features when possible.

16) Try to use more tap water and less bottled water.Doing so will reduce the energy costs of bottling and transporting water.

BRCA1 and BRCA2 genetic testing and opting for double mastectomies

 

Heard about Angelina Jolie getting double mastectomy done. Media and public are admiring her for making such brave decision. After reading some information on BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene here is my analysis. As per the data available so far the estimates of lifetime risk, about 12.0 percent of women (120 out of 1,000) in the general population will develop breast cancer sometime during their lives compared with about 60 percent of women (600 out of 1,000) who have inherited a harmful mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2.

It is important to note, however, that most research related to BRCA1 and BRCA2 has been done on large families with many individuals affected by cancer. Estimates of breast and ovarian cancer risk associated with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations have been calculated from studies of these families. Because family members share a proportion of their genes and, often, their environment, it is possible that the large number of cancer cases seen in these families may be due in part to other genetic or environmental factors. Therefore, risk estimates that are based on families with many affected members may not accurately reflect the levels of risk for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers in the general population. In addition, no data are available from long-term studies of the general population comparing cancer risk in women who have harmful BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations with women who do not have such mutations. Therefore, the percentages given above are estimates that may change as more data become available.

The likelihood of a harmful mutation in BRCA1 or BRCA2 is increased with certain familial patterns of cancer. These patterns include the following:

• For women who are not of Ashkenazi Jewish descent:
  • two first-degree relatives (mother, daughter, or sister) diagnosed with breast cancer, one of whom was diagnosed at age 50 or younger;
  • three or more first-degree or second-degree (grandmother or aunt) relatives diagnosed with breast cancer regardless of their age at diagnosis;
  • a combination of first- and second-degree relatives diagnosed with breast cancer and ovarian cancer (one cancer type per person);
  • a first-degree relative with cancer diagnosed in both breasts (bilateral breast cancer);
  • a combination of two or more first- or second-degree relatives diagnosed with ovarian cancer regardless of age at diagnosis;
  • a first- or second-degree relative diagnosed with both breast and ovarian cancer regardless of age at diagnosis; and
  • breast cancer diagnosed in a male relative.

• For women of Ashkenazi Jewish descent:
  • any first-degree relative diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer; and
  • two second-degree relatives on the same side of the family diagnosed with breast or ovarian cancer.

 

My impression: Angelina Jolie decided to get double mastectomy done as a preventative measure. She is of a Jewish descend, and had mother who died of breast cancer at age of 56. That sure makes her fall in a high risk category, however not enough research is done regarding accurate percent estimate of people with that mutation who go and develop the cancer. Also there are side effects of mastectomy, Being a PT, I have seen several patients who struggle with post surgical lymphedema. I think following preventive care of MRI every 6 months for females found with mutated gene is a wiser choice than getting a preventive mastectomy done.

 

More info can be found on:

http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Risk/BRCA