Public sector workers have hit back at Chancellor of the Exchequer George Osborne after he insisted that today’s strikes will damage the economy and inconvenience millions by reminding him that’s what he’s been doing for the last 18 months.
Cabinet Minister Francis Maude was also highly critical of the strikes and what they would achieve.
“Striking while negotiations are still going on will achieve about as much as the negotiations have up until now – nothing,” he blasted.
Despite the government’s insistence that the strikes are ‘indefensible’, polls suggest that the majority of the public support the action, with one poll revealing that 100% of schoolchildren think it’s ‘the best idea ever!’.
Strikes
Private sector opposition to the strikes has softened after workers enjoyed a congestion free journey into work this morning.
“I had convinced myself that all public sector workers were greedy, selfish bastards,” said 38 year-old Sandra McGovern.
“I’ve got to say though, that this morning I was in the office in plenty of time to have a bacon roll, a cup of tea and read TV Quick.”
“I wish they could strike everyday. Except every other Thursday because that’s when my rubbish is collected.”
“Oh, and next Tuesday would be a bad day too because I’ve got an appointment at the hospital to have an elastic band wrapped around my hemorrhoids,” she added.
2011年11月29日星期二
Complaining of hemorrhoids, mall employee moons fellow workers
A 36-year-old Chicago man who allegedly showed his naked posterior to employees at an Orland Square Mall department store was cited for disorderly conduct Nov. 19 during a 9:10 p.m. police contact. He is scheduled to appear at a Dec. 13 administrative hearing. The man allegedly approached several employees individually complaining he had hemorrhoids, and would then pull down his pants, asking them to look.
A 38-year-old Calumet City woman who allegedly identified herself as a Harvey Police Department employee was arrested Nov. 17 for driving under the influence of alcohol, driving the wrong way, failure to reduce speed to avoid a collision, illegal transportation of alcohol and operating an uninsured motor vehicle during a 6:25 p.m. crash investigation on the 10200 block of 151st Street. She is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 5. Harvey Police reportedly said the woman previously worked as a community service officer.
A 25-year-old Crestwood man was arrested for possession of cannabis Nov. 19 during an 8:45 p.m. traffic stop on the 15800 block of LaGrange Road for not wearing a seat belt. He is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 20. He allegedly had four grams of cannabis.
A 24-year-old Tinley Park man was cited Nov. 18 for possession of drug paraphernalia during a 12:35 a.m. traffic stop on the 15900 block of Harlem Avenue for not wearing a seat belt. He is scheduled to appear at a Dec. 13 administrative hearing.
A 21-year-old Orland Park man from the 11900 block of 139th Street was cited Nov. 15 for possession of cannabis and possession of drug equipment during a 9:25 p.m. traffic stop on the 10600 block of 153rd Street for speeding. He is scheduled to appear at a Dec. 13 administrative hearing.
A 20-year-old Orland Park man from the 14600 block of Birch Street was arrested around 7:40 p.m. Nov. 15 at his home on a Will County warrant alleging he violated the terms of his probation on a conviction for possession of drug paraphernalia. Court hearing information was unavailable.
A 19-year-old Homer Glen male was cited Nov. 22 for possession of drug paraphernalia during a 3 a.m. traffic stop on the 12200 block of 159th Street. He is scheduled to appear at a Dec. 13 administrative hearing.
A 19-year-old Westmont male and a 19-year-old Saint Germain, Wisc. female were cited for possession of cannabis and possession of drug paraphernalia Nov. 16 during an 11:25 p.m. traffic stop at 153rd Street and 108th Avenue for a malfunctioning rear registration plate light. They are scheduled to appear at a Dec. 13 administrative hearing.
An 18-year-old Orland Park male from the 13900 block of Charleston Drive was cited Nov. 17 for possession of cannabis during a 1:05 a.m. police contact at the intersection of Somer Lane and Glenlake Drive. He is scheduled to appear at a Dec. 13 administrative hearing
A 38-year-old Calumet City woman who allegedly identified herself as a Harvey Police Department employee was arrested Nov. 17 for driving under the influence of alcohol, driving the wrong way, failure to reduce speed to avoid a collision, illegal transportation of alcohol and operating an uninsured motor vehicle during a 6:25 p.m. crash investigation on the 10200 block of 151st Street. She is scheduled to appear in court Jan. 5. Harvey Police reportedly said the woman previously worked as a community service officer.
A 25-year-old Crestwood man was arrested for possession of cannabis Nov. 19 during an 8:45 p.m. traffic stop on the 15800 block of LaGrange Road for not wearing a seat belt. He is scheduled to appear in court Dec. 20. He allegedly had four grams of cannabis.
A 24-year-old Tinley Park man was cited Nov. 18 for possession of drug paraphernalia during a 12:35 a.m. traffic stop on the 15900 block of Harlem Avenue for not wearing a seat belt. He is scheduled to appear at a Dec. 13 administrative hearing.
A 21-year-old Orland Park man from the 11900 block of 139th Street was cited Nov. 15 for possession of cannabis and possession of drug equipment during a 9:25 p.m. traffic stop on the 10600 block of 153rd Street for speeding. He is scheduled to appear at a Dec. 13 administrative hearing.
A 20-year-old Orland Park man from the 14600 block of Birch Street was arrested around 7:40 p.m. Nov. 15 at his home on a Will County warrant alleging he violated the terms of his probation on a conviction for possession of drug paraphernalia. Court hearing information was unavailable.
A 19-year-old Homer Glen male was cited Nov. 22 for possession of drug paraphernalia during a 3 a.m. traffic stop on the 12200 block of 159th Street. He is scheduled to appear at a Dec. 13 administrative hearing.
A 19-year-old Westmont male and a 19-year-old Saint Germain, Wisc. female were cited for possession of cannabis and possession of drug paraphernalia Nov. 16 during an 11:25 p.m. traffic stop at 153rd Street and 108th Avenue for a malfunctioning rear registration plate light. They are scheduled to appear at a Dec. 13 administrative hearing.
An 18-year-old Orland Park male from the 13900 block of Charleston Drive was cited Nov. 17 for possession of cannabis during a 1:05 a.m. police contact at the intersection of Somer Lane and Glenlake Drive. He is scheduled to appear at a Dec. 13 administrative hearing
2011年11月28日星期一
Feds won't sign new climate deal without major emitters
The federal government says it won't sign on to a new international climate change deal if the world's major emitters are not involved, while continuing to avoid questions on whether it will formally withdraw from the ten-year-old Kyoto Protocol.
Environment Minister Peter Kent played coy Monday when asked during a press conference whether the government will indeed pull the plug on Kyoto, as CTV News reported Sunday night.
During question period in the House of Commons, NDP MP Peter Julian called the government's decision "environmental vandalism," and accused the Conservatives of both harming the environment and killing future "green" jobs.
"Canada's obligations under this agreement are legally binding. Canada's obligations to fight climate change are morally binding. Canada's obligations to future generations should be clear to all," Julian said.
"So how can the Conservatives justify abandoning Canada's legal and moral obligations to fight climate change, and how can they betray future generations so irresponsibly?"
Industry Minister Christian Paradis said the government is sticking to its commitment of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent below 2005 levels by the year 2020. However, he said the Kyoto agreement won't work because it excludes some of the world's top emitters.
"Our government is balancing the need for a cleaner and healthier environment with protecting jobs and economic growth," Paradis told question period.
"We need an effective agreement. Effective means it must include large emitters. The Kyoto Protocol doesn't include major emitters like China and the United States, and therefore it will not work. Canada will not sign on to a new agreement that does not include all major emitters."
Earlier Monday, Kent called a news conference to announce the government's intention to renew the clean air regulatory agenda, which puts $600 million over five years towards research, monitoring and enforcement of regulations governing greenhouse gases and other pollutants.
Kent told the earlier news conference that he was "neither confirming nor denying" that Ottawa will pull out of its Kyoto commitments.
When Kent was asked about Kyoto on Monday, the environment minister would only say that Canada would not make a second commitment to the accord.
"Kyoto is the past," said Kent.
Talks now underway Monday in Durban, South Africa, are the future, Kent said.
Negotiators have gathered in Durban in hopes of hashing out an international agreement on cutting greenhouse gases around the globe. Ministers, including Kent, will join the talks in about a week's time.
In Durban, Canada counts itself among countries that want to step back from Kyoto, in favour of a new approach.
Under Kyoto, developing countries and emerging countries like China are not held to account in the same way that developed countries are.
Kent has indicated that Japan, Russia and the United States agree with Canada on the need for a new way forward.
Critics have suggested that the Canadian government will be making the wrong move, if it chooses to back away from Kyoto.
Gillian McEachern of Environmental Defence said that if Canada does renege on its Kyoto commitments, it will be setting an undesirable precedent among the countries that signed on.
"We signed and ratified Kyoto and if the decision is made to formally pull us out of it, we will be the only country in the world to have ratified it and then absolutely walked away," McEachern told CTV News Channel from Ottawa.
On the weekend, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said Canada will "be a pariah globally if it goes through with this."
NDP environment critic Megan Leslie called the government's reported plan to pull out of the Kyoto accord both "cynical" and "cowardly."
CTV's Mercedes Stephenson said the Canadian government is likely prepared for the fact it will also face criticism from abroad.
But taking a hard line on Kyoto could resonate with some domestic voters.
"I spoke with Conservative sources this morning who also told me that their base will be very happy about this announcement that it's in line with their beliefs that something new needs to be negotiated, something that includes the world's biggest polluters," she told CTV News Channel on Monday.
Environment Minister Peter Kent played coy Monday when asked during a press conference whether the government will indeed pull the plug on Kyoto, as CTV News reported Sunday night.
During question period in the House of Commons, NDP MP Peter Julian called the government's decision "environmental vandalism," and accused the Conservatives of both harming the environment and killing future "green" jobs.
"Canada's obligations under this agreement are legally binding. Canada's obligations to fight climate change are morally binding. Canada's obligations to future generations should be clear to all," Julian said.
"So how can the Conservatives justify abandoning Canada's legal and moral obligations to fight climate change, and how can they betray future generations so irresponsibly?"
Industry Minister Christian Paradis said the government is sticking to its commitment of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 17 per cent below 2005 levels by the year 2020. However, he said the Kyoto agreement won't work because it excludes some of the world's top emitters.
"Our government is balancing the need for a cleaner and healthier environment with protecting jobs and economic growth," Paradis told question period.
"We need an effective agreement. Effective means it must include large emitters. The Kyoto Protocol doesn't include major emitters like China and the United States, and therefore it will not work. Canada will not sign on to a new agreement that does not include all major emitters."
Earlier Monday, Kent called a news conference to announce the government's intention to renew the clean air regulatory agenda, which puts $600 million over five years towards research, monitoring and enforcement of regulations governing greenhouse gases and other pollutants.
Kent told the earlier news conference that he was "neither confirming nor denying" that Ottawa will pull out of its Kyoto commitments.
When Kent was asked about Kyoto on Monday, the environment minister would only say that Canada would not make a second commitment to the accord.
"Kyoto is the past," said Kent.
Talks now underway Monday in Durban, South Africa, are the future, Kent said.
Negotiators have gathered in Durban in hopes of hashing out an international agreement on cutting greenhouse gases around the globe. Ministers, including Kent, will join the talks in about a week's time.
In Durban, Canada counts itself among countries that want to step back from Kyoto, in favour of a new approach.
Under Kyoto, developing countries and emerging countries like China are not held to account in the same way that developed countries are.
Kent has indicated that Japan, Russia and the United States agree with Canada on the need for a new way forward.
Critics have suggested that the Canadian government will be making the wrong move, if it chooses to back away from Kyoto.
Gillian McEachern of Environmental Defence said that if Canada does renege on its Kyoto commitments, it will be setting an undesirable precedent among the countries that signed on.
"We signed and ratified Kyoto and if the decision is made to formally pull us out of it, we will be the only country in the world to have ratified it and then absolutely walked away," McEachern told CTV News Channel from Ottawa.
On the weekend, Green Party Leader Elizabeth May said Canada will "be a pariah globally if it goes through with this."
NDP environment critic Megan Leslie called the government's reported plan to pull out of the Kyoto accord both "cynical" and "cowardly."
CTV's Mercedes Stephenson said the Canadian government is likely prepared for the fact it will also face criticism from abroad.
But taking a hard line on Kyoto could resonate with some domestic voters.
"I spoke with Conservative sources this morning who also told me that their base will be very happy about this announcement that it's in line with their beliefs that something new needs to be negotiated, something that includes the world's biggest polluters," she told CTV News Channel on Monday.
2011年11月27日星期日
Happening Tonight - Immersion II: [The Cube] [Show Preview]
Church of the Friendly Ghost is going through a reformation of sorts - it seems that the organization has reached an impasse. Thoroughly exhausting the possibilities of serving as a platform for every knob twiddler and noise noodler this side of the Mississippi, the new director has seemed to have nailed their own artistic 95 theses to the door of the Salvage Vanguard. According to the 87th thesis, the Church will focus on more engaged multimedia events—think Waco Girls playing during an execution in Huntsville or Henna Chou playing a stringed instrument constructed out of Rick Perry’s hair.
Nevertheless, while the programming this season might just re-define the word adventurous, COTFG is taking us on a quadraphonic journey into ourselves tonight.
Titled Immersion II: [The Cube], the show will push sound-wizard Matt Burnett’s multi-channel, spatial sonic environment into bold new territories. Burnett’s will rig SVT’s gallery with some of the most consciousness shattering audio equipment available to homo sapiens. Testing the limits of the sound system, and the listener’s patience is a slew of different local sonic alchemists and agitators. According to the press release, dronelord Thomas Fang will employ a broad ”palette of glitches, noise, and feedback, Christopher Petkus will debut his piece entitled “Mantra” that will focus on “repetition and volume”, while, harsh noise purveyor, Jonathon Cash’s performance will surely induce hemorrhages, hemorrhoids, and hernias. In addition to other sound artists, local video artists, and shamans, Katie Rose Pipkin and Laurel Barickman will serve as midwives to the sensory overload.
Whether you’re a faithful parishioner or a neophyte, Sunday’s Quadrophenia will surely be a night at the opera.
Nevertheless, while the programming this season might just re-define the word adventurous, COTFG is taking us on a quadraphonic journey into ourselves tonight.
Titled Immersion II: [The Cube], the show will push sound-wizard Matt Burnett’s multi-channel, spatial sonic environment into bold new territories. Burnett’s will rig SVT’s gallery with some of the most consciousness shattering audio equipment available to homo sapiens. Testing the limits of the sound system, and the listener’s patience is a slew of different local sonic alchemists and agitators. According to the press release, dronelord Thomas Fang will employ a broad ”palette of glitches, noise, and feedback, Christopher Petkus will debut his piece entitled “Mantra” that will focus on “repetition and volume”, while, harsh noise purveyor, Jonathon Cash’s performance will surely induce hemorrhages, hemorrhoids, and hernias. In addition to other sound artists, local video artists, and shamans, Katie Rose Pipkin and Laurel Barickman will serve as midwives to the sensory overload.
Whether you’re a faithful parishioner or a neophyte, Sunday’s Quadrophenia will surely be a night at the opera.
2011年11月24日星期四
White Christmas: Back to Berlin
White Christmas is just too good a musical to be limited to holiday-time productions. Especially when you have Larry Blank's ultra-snazzy swing orchestrations vibrantly delivering a gold-plated assortment of Irving Berlin classics and Randy Skinner's dancers heating up the floor with some sensational tapping.
Based on the classic 1954 film, the stage version of White Christmas, originally directed by Walter Bobbie, has been making seasonal regional appearances since 2004, with stints on Broadway in '08 and '09. The new mounting at Paper Mill, directed by Bobbie's associate director, Marc Bruni, appears to be a slightly scaled down version of the Broadway production, retaining Skinner's choreography and the festive mid-50s designs by Anna Louizos (sets), Carrie Robbins (costumes) and Ken Billington (lights).
The book by David Ives and Paul Blake streamlines the plot and adds some extra Berlin gems ("Happy Holidays," "Let Yourself Go," "I Love A Piano," "How Deep Is The Ocean?") while keeping most of the film's score, including "Sisters," "Count Your Blessings," "Blue Skies," "Let Me Sing And I'm Happy" and "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me."
Repeating their roles from the Broadway '09 cast, James Clow and Tony Yazbeck play Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, a pair of World War II vets who become big time Broadway song and dance stars, back in the days when being a Broadway star meant you were famous throughout the country. On the evening before they're to leave for Florida to begin rehearsing their next production, the boys catch Judy and Betty Haynes (Meredith Patterson, encoring her performance from Broadway '08, and Jill Paice), performing "Sisters" at a nightclub and, with both professional and romantic possibilities brewing, follow them to their next gig; a holiday engagement at a Vermont inn. But an unexpected heat wave has forced the financially struggling place to forego its entertainment plans after every reservation cancels, until it turns out the owner is Bob and Phil's beloved General Henry Waverly (Edward James Hyland) from their army days, so they offer to move their Broadway show to the general's barn. In the meantime a few wrenches and misunderstandings get in the way of true love, but that's all straightened out by the time the chorus is dancing through the eventual snowfall.
The four leads all deliver top-shelf musical comedy performances, with Clow's sweetly mellow baritone matched by Paice's earthier tones, including her knockout torching of "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me." Yazbeck's street-wise charisma and Patterson's showgirl sass set off major sparks when romancing to "The Best Things Happen When Your Dancing" and rat-a-tatting atop a very baby grand in "I Love A Piano."
A major factor in getting to the heart of White Christmas is that you have to believe the old general is the kind of man who would inspire the boys to gladly do anything for him, and Hyland plays the role with a heartwarming combination of protective tough love, sincere patriotism and a healthy dose of human decency. Young Andie Mechanic has realistic kid charm as his supportive granddaughter, but the "ringer" in the company is Lorna Luft as the wise-cracking hotel manager. Ives and Blake re-imagined the role played in the film by Mary Wickes as a vehicle for a beloved old pro musical comedy performer, and Luft brings down the house strutting and belting a super-charged rendition of "Let Me Sing And I'm Happy." After her number, the character says that talent like hers can't be learned, "You're born with it." The opening night audience, no doubt in recognition of Luft's lineage, responded to the line with enthusiastic agreement.
Based on the classic 1954 film, the stage version of White Christmas, originally directed by Walter Bobbie, has been making seasonal regional appearances since 2004, with stints on Broadway in '08 and '09. The new mounting at Paper Mill, directed by Bobbie's associate director, Marc Bruni, appears to be a slightly scaled down version of the Broadway production, retaining Skinner's choreography and the festive mid-50s designs by Anna Louizos (sets), Carrie Robbins (costumes) and Ken Billington (lights).
The book by David Ives and Paul Blake streamlines the plot and adds some extra Berlin gems ("Happy Holidays," "Let Yourself Go," "I Love A Piano," "How Deep Is The Ocean?") while keeping most of the film's score, including "Sisters," "Count Your Blessings," "Blue Skies," "Let Me Sing And I'm Happy" and "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me."
Repeating their roles from the Broadway '09 cast, James Clow and Tony Yazbeck play Bob Wallace and Phil Davis, a pair of World War II vets who become big time Broadway song and dance stars, back in the days when being a Broadway star meant you were famous throughout the country. On the evening before they're to leave for Florida to begin rehearsing their next production, the boys catch Judy and Betty Haynes (Meredith Patterson, encoring her performance from Broadway '08, and Jill Paice), performing "Sisters" at a nightclub and, with both professional and romantic possibilities brewing, follow them to their next gig; a holiday engagement at a Vermont inn. But an unexpected heat wave has forced the financially struggling place to forego its entertainment plans after every reservation cancels, until it turns out the owner is Bob and Phil's beloved General Henry Waverly (Edward James Hyland) from their army days, so they offer to move their Broadway show to the general's barn. In the meantime a few wrenches and misunderstandings get in the way of true love, but that's all straightened out by the time the chorus is dancing through the eventual snowfall.
The four leads all deliver top-shelf musical comedy performances, with Clow's sweetly mellow baritone matched by Paice's earthier tones, including her knockout torching of "Love, You Didn't Do Right By Me." Yazbeck's street-wise charisma and Patterson's showgirl sass set off major sparks when romancing to "The Best Things Happen When Your Dancing" and rat-a-tatting atop a very baby grand in "I Love A Piano."
A major factor in getting to the heart of White Christmas is that you have to believe the old general is the kind of man who would inspire the boys to gladly do anything for him, and Hyland plays the role with a heartwarming combination of protective tough love, sincere patriotism and a healthy dose of human decency. Young Andie Mechanic has realistic kid charm as his supportive granddaughter, but the "ringer" in the company is Lorna Luft as the wise-cracking hotel manager. Ives and Blake re-imagined the role played in the film by Mary Wickes as a vehicle for a beloved old pro musical comedy performer, and Luft brings down the house strutting and belting a super-charged rendition of "Let Me Sing And I'm Happy." After her number, the character says that talent like hers can't be learned, "You're born with it." The opening night audience, no doubt in recognition of Luft's lineage, responded to the line with enthusiastic agreement.
2011年11月23日星期三
Man charged in connection with death of Jazzy-O
HOMICIDE detectives last night charged a 48-year-old Port Melbourne man with the murder of sex industry veteran ‘‘Jazzy O’’ Martin.
Steve Constantinou faced an out-of-session hearing at the St Kilda Road police complex late last night and was remanded to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates Court today.
The hearing was told that Constantinou had been arrested at Port Melbourne earlier in the night.
It was also revealed that an autopsy had shown that Jazzy O, real name Johanna Martin, had been strangled.
Constantinou, who had two-tone hair and was wearing a black tee-shirt and jeans, told the hearing that he was suffering from hemorrhoids and asthma when asked if he had any medical conditions.
The body of the 65-year-old grandmother was found wrapped in a blanket under bushes in Lorimer Street, Port Melbourne on October 11.
She had been strangled and beaten.
Ms Martin was well known in the adult entertainment industry for her "extreme" acts, which made her a millionaire; she also owned several properties.
She did not drink or do drugs, invested her money wisely and owned a late model Mercedes.
Ms Martin, who has grown-up children and whose husband died a few years ago, worked as an independent in the sex industry.
She was the oldest worker in the game and industry workers started taking extra security precautions when they heard of her death.
Steve Constantinou faced an out-of-session hearing at the St Kilda Road police complex late last night and was remanded to appear at the Melbourne Magistrates Court today.
The hearing was told that Constantinou had been arrested at Port Melbourne earlier in the night.
It was also revealed that an autopsy had shown that Jazzy O, real name Johanna Martin, had been strangled.
Constantinou, who had two-tone hair and was wearing a black tee-shirt and jeans, told the hearing that he was suffering from hemorrhoids and asthma when asked if he had any medical conditions.
The body of the 65-year-old grandmother was found wrapped in a blanket under bushes in Lorimer Street, Port Melbourne on October 11.
She had been strangled and beaten.
Ms Martin was well known in the adult entertainment industry for her "extreme" acts, which made her a millionaire; she also owned several properties.
She did not drink or do drugs, invested her money wisely and owned a late model Mercedes.
Ms Martin, who has grown-up children and whose husband died a few years ago, worked as an independent in the sex industry.
She was the oldest worker in the game and industry workers started taking extra security precautions when they heard of her death.
2011年11月22日星期二
Acquire A Property Cure For Hemorrhoids And Get Instantaneous Relief
Do you think you’re embarrassed to confess that you have hemorrhoids? Are you currently so embarrassed because of the condition you never even wish to focus on it together with your medical doctor? Properly, you are not alone. First off, a wonderful amount of persons undergo from your itching, bleeding and soreness of hemorroids. As countless as 50% of people have experienced hemoroids because of the time they flip fifty. Some studies advise that as much as 80% of individuals may have hemroids at some time in their lives. The really good news is the fact that when you are seeking a home get rid of for hemorrhoids, there are lots of extremely powerful methods you’ll be able to consider in your own home with out talking about your condition with virtually anyone else.
A household remedy for hemeroids can normally be incredibly productive simply mainly because hemroids are frequently virility ex caused by existing routines and way of living selections. Most hemorrhoid home cures entail applying new routines and creating changes inside your lifestyle. Indeed, it’s accurate, modifying your habits and life-style could be painful, but at a minimum it isn’t going to itch and burn off like hemorrhoids.
Hemorrhoids (your grandparents perhaps described as them piles) are swollen or inflamed veins during the location of one’s anus and rectum. hemorroids will be internal or exterior. You seldom experience inner hemoroids given that nerve endings inside your rectum never transmit ache signals. Perhaps you may never comprehend you have got internal hemroids until you observe small quantities of blood to the toilet tissue or while in the bathroom drinking water. External hemorrhoids are a second story entirely. They usually lead to burning and itching sensations and may be distressing sufficient to distract you throughout the day. You can expect to without doubt value the moment relief offered by an effective enlast dwelling treatment for hemorrhoids.
The number 1 contribute to of hemorrhoids is straining through a bowel motion. The best household cure for hemroids is anything it is easy to do to promote comfortable, painless bowel actions. For many folks, this may be accomplished with plenty of fluids and fiber. Drink loads of fluids during the day, preferable drinking water. Enhance your fiber intake by consuming loads of recent fruits, veggies and entire grains. Bowel movements aren’t meant to be prolonged and tough. In case you shorten time you spend sitting within the toilet and lessen the hassle it will require to finish your bowel movement, then your hemorroids will heal immediately and foreseeable future hemorrhoid pain will probably be unlikely.
One other useful dwelling overcome for hemorrhoids is definitely the software of petroleum jelly. Use a cotton swab or even the suggestion within your finger to apply petroleum jelly roughly your rectum and about a 50 % inch into your anus. This therapy may help make your bowel movements simplier and easier as you’re adjusting your fiber and fluid consumption. 1 home get rid of that routinely gets great marks would be the software of witch hazel on the affected parts. Witch hazel leads to the blood vessels to shrink and contract. It can be specially helpful iced.
There are many over-the-counter medicines that you simply can use like a family home treatment for hemoroids, but most are actually nothing at all in excess of neighborhood discomfort killers. If you ever opt to strive them out, stick to the lotions. Suppositories are healing the incorrect vicinity for exterior hemorrhoids. And none of these topical solutions are definitely handling the root induce of hemorroids.
If you’re seeking an natural your home remedy for hemeroids, many have documented accomplishment with stoneroot. Stoneroot can generally be observed in capsule sort. The software of aloe vera gel is another natural treatment solution that some have noticed soothing.
Conventional warm baths certainly are a highly-recommended your home overcome for hemroids. The heat water decreases the soreness of your hemorrhoids and then the increased circulation of blood delivers increased healing and curative powers. It might audio backwards, but the grow blood movement from the heat bath also aids shrink the affected veins.
Ensure which you cleanse by yourself gently after a bowel motion. Despite the fact that this is not technically a property get rid of for hemorroids, it will eventually assistance ease the soreness and irritation. Use bathroom paper with out perfumes or dyes, and moisten it with some water in advance of by using. If you ever can find bathroom paper that comprises supplemental moisturizers and lotions, then acquire it and utilize it.
Hemorrhoids certainly are a popular, but embarrassing ailment. You could be reluctant to provestra discuss hemorroids along with your doctor. A your home get rid of for hemeroids can show you how to uncover relief with no will need to endure an embarrassing consultation and examination.
A household remedy for hemeroids can normally be incredibly productive simply mainly because hemroids are frequently virility ex caused by existing routines and way of living selections. Most hemorrhoid home cures entail applying new routines and creating changes inside your lifestyle. Indeed, it’s accurate, modifying your habits and life-style could be painful, but at a minimum it isn’t going to itch and burn off like hemorrhoids.
Hemorrhoids (your grandparents perhaps described as them piles) are swollen or inflamed veins during the location of one’s anus and rectum. hemorroids will be internal or exterior. You seldom experience inner hemoroids given that nerve endings inside your rectum never transmit ache signals. Perhaps you may never comprehend you have got internal hemroids until you observe small quantities of blood to the toilet tissue or while in the bathroom drinking water. External hemorrhoids are a second story entirely. They usually lead to burning and itching sensations and may be distressing sufficient to distract you throughout the day. You can expect to without doubt value the moment relief offered by an effective enlast dwelling treatment for hemorrhoids.
The number 1 contribute to of hemorrhoids is straining through a bowel motion. The best household cure for hemroids is anything it is easy to do to promote comfortable, painless bowel actions. For many folks, this may be accomplished with plenty of fluids and fiber. Drink loads of fluids during the day, preferable drinking water. Enhance your fiber intake by consuming loads of recent fruits, veggies and entire grains. Bowel movements aren’t meant to be prolonged and tough. In case you shorten time you spend sitting within the toilet and lessen the hassle it will require to finish your bowel movement, then your hemorroids will heal immediately and foreseeable future hemorrhoid pain will probably be unlikely.
One other useful dwelling overcome for hemorrhoids is definitely the software of petroleum jelly. Use a cotton swab or even the suggestion within your finger to apply petroleum jelly roughly your rectum and about a 50 % inch into your anus. This therapy may help make your bowel movements simplier and easier as you’re adjusting your fiber and fluid consumption. 1 home get rid of that routinely gets great marks would be the software of witch hazel on the affected parts. Witch hazel leads to the blood vessels to shrink and contract. It can be specially helpful iced.
There are many over-the-counter medicines that you simply can use like a family home treatment for hemoroids, but most are actually nothing at all in excess of neighborhood discomfort killers. If you ever opt to strive them out, stick to the lotions. Suppositories are healing the incorrect vicinity for exterior hemorrhoids. And none of these topical solutions are definitely handling the root induce of hemorroids.
If you’re seeking an natural your home remedy for hemeroids, many have documented accomplishment with stoneroot. Stoneroot can generally be observed in capsule sort. The software of aloe vera gel is another natural treatment solution that some have noticed soothing.
Conventional warm baths certainly are a highly-recommended your home overcome for hemroids. The heat water decreases the soreness of your hemorrhoids and then the increased circulation of blood delivers increased healing and curative powers. It might audio backwards, but the grow blood movement from the heat bath also aids shrink the affected veins.
Ensure which you cleanse by yourself gently after a bowel motion. Despite the fact that this is not technically a property get rid of for hemorroids, it will eventually assistance ease the soreness and irritation. Use bathroom paper with out perfumes or dyes, and moisten it with some water in advance of by using. If you ever can find bathroom paper that comprises supplemental moisturizers and lotions, then acquire it and utilize it.
Hemorrhoids certainly are a popular, but embarrassing ailment. You could be reluctant to provestra discuss hemorroids along with your doctor. A your home get rid of for hemeroids can show you how to uncover relief with no will need to endure an embarrassing consultation and examination.
2011年11月21日星期一
The Way I See It
It's that time of year where we forget everything we've ever learned about winter driving in the past. You'd think the lessons learned from years gone by would stick with us, but as soon as there's bare highway in the spring, all things taught in the previous six months just fly out the window.
Even when you have kids, you remember how the first was raised and after the second, those observations and lessons stick to set a pattern for raising No. 2. So, with a skiff of snow or ice on the roads, we tend to forget that unless we want to wear the car in front of us as our hood ornament, we'd best keep a sensible distance from that target. This is also a good time to telegraph your driving intention in advance by signaling your turning decisions, braking inclinations and reduction in speed with the use of all those electric gizmos in the car such as turning signals, brakes which activate brake lights and a speedometer which gives you a pretty accurate sense of how fast you're going. Winter time is not a good time to fly blind. Geese can do it but drivers can't. We're in lack of homing instincts on how to get from point A to point B without having our senses about us.
Now along with using your head for something other than a hat rack, you have to be knowledgeable about some basic principles in science. In early winter, air turns cold but ground is still warm, (debatable if you sit down on the ground and wind up with a good case of hemorrhoids). Basically this means that when a snowflake, which has fallen unmolested to survive its descent through the heavens, will melt when it reaches the ground. In heavy accumulations, this results in a layer of ice or water between your tire and the driving surface. So it isn't just enough that you forgot your common sense in November, you have to contend with some basic laws of physics as well. The said layer of water or ice will have much the same effect on your vehicle as hydroplaning in a rainstorm. Once pavement and air reach the same temperature, this ceases to be an issue.
So, you can't take your corners as fast as you did in the summer or you'll wind up in somebody's living room. You can't stop as fast as normal either and it would behoove you to remember that when pedestrians, (who don't realize they have winter shortcomings as well) bounce out in front of you, they're setting themselves up like pins in a bowling alley. You either have to drive your car and hope you can make it act like a gutter ball to miss the pins or pray that the pedestrian has a guardian angel. Unlike a game of bowling, high score doesn't win; in fact the constabulary takes serious offense in you racking up a high pedestrian count. You need to use your common sense and if you don't have any, well then as comedian Ron White says, "you can't fix stupid".
The way I see it, it's an adjustment to change the use of your vehicle from skate board to ice skate - to go from riding to gliding but we have to and we always manage to despite ourselves. And if we don't? Well then we're probably going to be that hood ornament on someone else's car.
Even when you have kids, you remember how the first was raised and after the second, those observations and lessons stick to set a pattern for raising No. 2. So, with a skiff of snow or ice on the roads, we tend to forget that unless we want to wear the car in front of us as our hood ornament, we'd best keep a sensible distance from that target. This is also a good time to telegraph your driving intention in advance by signaling your turning decisions, braking inclinations and reduction in speed with the use of all those electric gizmos in the car such as turning signals, brakes which activate brake lights and a speedometer which gives you a pretty accurate sense of how fast you're going. Winter time is not a good time to fly blind. Geese can do it but drivers can't. We're in lack of homing instincts on how to get from point A to point B without having our senses about us.
Now along with using your head for something other than a hat rack, you have to be knowledgeable about some basic principles in science. In early winter, air turns cold but ground is still warm, (debatable if you sit down on the ground and wind up with a good case of hemorrhoids). Basically this means that when a snowflake, which has fallen unmolested to survive its descent through the heavens, will melt when it reaches the ground. In heavy accumulations, this results in a layer of ice or water between your tire and the driving surface. So it isn't just enough that you forgot your common sense in November, you have to contend with some basic laws of physics as well. The said layer of water or ice will have much the same effect on your vehicle as hydroplaning in a rainstorm. Once pavement and air reach the same temperature, this ceases to be an issue.
So, you can't take your corners as fast as you did in the summer or you'll wind up in somebody's living room. You can't stop as fast as normal either and it would behoove you to remember that when pedestrians, (who don't realize they have winter shortcomings as well) bounce out in front of you, they're setting themselves up like pins in a bowling alley. You either have to drive your car and hope you can make it act like a gutter ball to miss the pins or pray that the pedestrian has a guardian angel. Unlike a game of bowling, high score doesn't win; in fact the constabulary takes serious offense in you racking up a high pedestrian count. You need to use your common sense and if you don't have any, well then as comedian Ron White says, "you can't fix stupid".
The way I see it, it's an adjustment to change the use of your vehicle from skate board to ice skate - to go from riding to gliding but we have to and we always manage to despite ourselves. And if we don't? Well then we're probably going to be that hood ornament on someone else's car.
2011年11月20日星期日
What Cures Hemorrhoids The Most Effective?
People who have hemorrhoids are easily uncomfortable by their situation that theyd rather find right answers on what cures hemorrhoids on their own. Quite often, this will make them nonchalant about their undesirable situation. As a consequence, their hemorrhoids become worse simply because they dont even try to look for treatments.
Pain inside the anal area is tough to tolerate as it is very not comfortable. When you have got such pain, even simple tasks such as going to the bath room and sitting on a seat would be a challenge. If youre experiencing pain and burning sensations and even itching within your rectal area, they can be a result of hemorrhoids.Unlike some peoples notion, hemorrhoids are very common, specifically for individuals who are often constipated.
In many cases, frequent episodes of constipation put a strain over the rectal and anal area, causing hemorrhoids. On other cases, picking up hefty things can also cause them.
If you’re experiencing hemorrhoids, dont fear. This is just not a life-threatening or long lasting health condition. Though it might cause serious pain and itching, its some thing science has an answer. However, it is most advisable to cure your hemorrhoids right away just before they get more painful.
A lot of people believe that herbs cure hemorrhoids; and that’s why they consider these natural home remedies first before considering surgery. Listed here are the most popular herbal medication that will cure hemorrhoids:
Butchers broom – contains benefits that dilate veins and control blood circulation in the impacted areas
Horse chestnut – extracts work well in remedying internal and external hemorrhoids. It has anti-inflammatory properties. That hold hemorrhoids away from inflammation and bleeding.
Neem – Ayurvedic experts depend on neem for dealing with hemorrhoids due to its anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Its also a highly effective pain reliever.
Psyllium – serves as a natural laxative that aids in proper bowel movement. Its great for people suffering from constipation and diarrhea.
White oak bark – helps cure hemorrhoids by detoxifying the entire body naturally. It also prevents incident or recurrence of hemorrhoids by maintaining the tissues and veins tough and firm.
Witch hazel – extracts could be applied externally to cure hemorrhoids. It can help stop bleeding and swelling and also offer instant relief from itch.
Herbal medicines are 100% all-natural. They dont contain harmful chemicals like other over-the-counter medicinal drugs. However, theyre only ideal for curing hemorrhoids at their earlier phases.
Other than herbal cures, theres always the option of surgical removal of hemorrhoids. With todays modern technology, its faster and easier to get rid of hemorrhoids. First of all, theres laser surgery which is a painless procedure. Hemorrhoidectomy , sclerotherapy, and ligation are usually among the major cures for hemorrhoids.
Though surgery turns out to be the most effective and fastest cure for hemorrhoids, they have got uncomfortable side effects. Some methods like laser can harm many other tissues while those whove undergone hemorrhoidectomies experience discomfort and pain after the operation.
Both herbal drugs and surgical procedures work well in curing hemorrhoids. Its up to you though the one that youll prioritize. Ask your medical professional that best cures hemorrhoids based on your condition and keep your options open for other possible remedies.
If you’d like to learn more about how to treat hemorrhoids at home, then please read below:
Pain inside the anal area is tough to tolerate as it is very not comfortable. When you have got such pain, even simple tasks such as going to the bath room and sitting on a seat would be a challenge. If youre experiencing pain and burning sensations and even itching within your rectal area, they can be a result of hemorrhoids.Unlike some peoples notion, hemorrhoids are very common, specifically for individuals who are often constipated.
In many cases, frequent episodes of constipation put a strain over the rectal and anal area, causing hemorrhoids. On other cases, picking up hefty things can also cause them.
If you’re experiencing hemorrhoids, dont fear. This is just not a life-threatening or long lasting health condition. Though it might cause serious pain and itching, its some thing science has an answer. However, it is most advisable to cure your hemorrhoids right away just before they get more painful.
A lot of people believe that herbs cure hemorrhoids; and that’s why they consider these natural home remedies first before considering surgery. Listed here are the most popular herbal medication that will cure hemorrhoids:
Butchers broom – contains benefits that dilate veins and control blood circulation in the impacted areas
Horse chestnut – extracts work well in remedying internal and external hemorrhoids. It has anti-inflammatory properties. That hold hemorrhoids away from inflammation and bleeding.
Neem – Ayurvedic experts depend on neem for dealing with hemorrhoids due to its anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Its also a highly effective pain reliever.
Psyllium – serves as a natural laxative that aids in proper bowel movement. Its great for people suffering from constipation and diarrhea.
White oak bark – helps cure hemorrhoids by detoxifying the entire body naturally. It also prevents incident or recurrence of hemorrhoids by maintaining the tissues and veins tough and firm.
Witch hazel – extracts could be applied externally to cure hemorrhoids. It can help stop bleeding and swelling and also offer instant relief from itch.
Herbal medicines are 100% all-natural. They dont contain harmful chemicals like other over-the-counter medicinal drugs. However, theyre only ideal for curing hemorrhoids at their earlier phases.
Other than herbal cures, theres always the option of surgical removal of hemorrhoids. With todays modern technology, its faster and easier to get rid of hemorrhoids. First of all, theres laser surgery which is a painless procedure. Hemorrhoidectomy , sclerotherapy, and ligation are usually among the major cures for hemorrhoids.
Though surgery turns out to be the most effective and fastest cure for hemorrhoids, they have got uncomfortable side effects. Some methods like laser can harm many other tissues while those whove undergone hemorrhoidectomies experience discomfort and pain after the operation.
Both herbal drugs and surgical procedures work well in curing hemorrhoids. Its up to you though the one that youll prioritize. Ask your medical professional that best cures hemorrhoids based on your condition and keep your options open for other possible remedies.
If you’d like to learn more about how to treat hemorrhoids at home, then please read below:
2011年11月17日星期四
Too Many Toxins, Too Few Nutrients
Think back – when was the last time you had a headache? Stomach ache? Skin or rash outbreak? Felt depressed or anxious? How about itchy, watery eyes from all the seasonal allergies? Oftentimes it's easy to pinpoint patients with life-threatening or debilitating diseases such as cancer, Parkinson's or Alzheimer's and offer them additional help.
However, it's important to remember those who are just showing signs of suboptimal health. The largest part of my practice is made up of patients who suffer from the symptoms listed above. They come in seeking help for depression, chronic fatigue and allergies. And it's important to advertise that you can help!
The body is made up of essentials and non-essentials. Your heart, lungs and brain – these are all essential to life and the body will send every available nutrient and protective means to these items first. Everything else – skin, fingernails, hair, eyes, etc., you can survive without, so the body will not bother protecting and sending nutrients to these areas if either something else is going on in your body that is more urgent or you are simply taking in too few nutrients to allow the body to function optimally.
What this means is that the seemingly bothersome symptoms most of the population just "deals with" could actually be indicators of a greater problem. What's worse is that medical doctors are readily available to prescribe medication for each of these "nuisance" symptoms.
A 2005 survey found that nearly 60 percent of U.S. adults took a medication in the previous week for symptoms ranging from pain to high cholesterol to cancer.1 Anti-depressants are particularly popular with women. In 1994, 2.3 percent of women in the U.S. were on an antidepressant; by 2008 that number had jumped to nearly 13 percent. Sadly, for women between the ages of 45-64, almost one in four were on antidepressants as of 2008.2
What these individuals might not realize is that there may be a more natural option. Prescriptions are not necessarily the only answer. One of my patients came to the office for a consultation with a plethora of "nuisance" symptoms. When I entered the room, the patient looked like she was in good health – she acted very pleasant, her hair and make-up had been done and she appeared to be very well-balanced mentally. It was only after she asked for help that I discovered the following: At just 33 years old, she suffered from almost-daily mood swings, depression, hot and cold flashes, excessive hunger and weight gain, acne, low energy, frequent headaches, chronic infections and constipation. She said she felt "somewhat crazy" and "not like herself." At night she woke 3-4 times in a panic with severe night sweats. At the time of the initial visit, she weighed 144 lbs at 5'3" and her blood pressure was 100/70.
You could not tell that this patient suffered from all of the above-mentioned symptoms just by looking at her. How many of your patients appear to be in good health? Next time they enter your office, ask – you may be surprised by how many pre-existing patients could use your help for something other than a chiropractic adjustment.
Before seeking my help, the patient had been to her medical doctor, who diagnosed her with general anxiety disorder (GAD) and prescribed five different medications to control her anxiety, depression, headaches and constipation. After three months of no relief, she was ready for a second opinion. While the medical community will quickly offer drugs to mask each symptom, I chose a more inquisitive approach and ran a series of comprehensive tests to try and find what underlying causes or deficiencies were causing these symptoms. Her quality of life had been seriously altered by these issues and perhaps signalled more serious developing problems.
Her bloodwork showed an interesting trend. Tests of her kidneys, liver, metabolic panel, glucose, vitamin D, lipids, etc., were all just slightly too high or low for optimal health. While very few were outside the clinical reference ranges used by medical doctors, they were outside what I call the "healthy range," which is a stricter guideline for each test used to detect progression toward disease What this means is that she was on the verge of developing some serious medical problems.
However, it's important to remember those who are just showing signs of suboptimal health. The largest part of my practice is made up of patients who suffer from the symptoms listed above. They come in seeking help for depression, chronic fatigue and allergies. And it's important to advertise that you can help!
The body is made up of essentials and non-essentials. Your heart, lungs and brain – these are all essential to life and the body will send every available nutrient and protective means to these items first. Everything else – skin, fingernails, hair, eyes, etc., you can survive without, so the body will not bother protecting and sending nutrients to these areas if either something else is going on in your body that is more urgent or you are simply taking in too few nutrients to allow the body to function optimally.
What this means is that the seemingly bothersome symptoms most of the population just "deals with" could actually be indicators of a greater problem. What's worse is that medical doctors are readily available to prescribe medication for each of these "nuisance" symptoms.
A 2005 survey found that nearly 60 percent of U.S. adults took a medication in the previous week for symptoms ranging from pain to high cholesterol to cancer.1 Anti-depressants are particularly popular with women. In 1994, 2.3 percent of women in the U.S. were on an antidepressant; by 2008 that number had jumped to nearly 13 percent. Sadly, for women between the ages of 45-64, almost one in four were on antidepressants as of 2008.2
What these individuals might not realize is that there may be a more natural option. Prescriptions are not necessarily the only answer. One of my patients came to the office for a consultation with a plethora of "nuisance" symptoms. When I entered the room, the patient looked like she was in good health – she acted very pleasant, her hair and make-up had been done and she appeared to be very well-balanced mentally. It was only after she asked for help that I discovered the following: At just 33 years old, she suffered from almost-daily mood swings, depression, hot and cold flashes, excessive hunger and weight gain, acne, low energy, frequent headaches, chronic infections and constipation. She said she felt "somewhat crazy" and "not like herself." At night she woke 3-4 times in a panic with severe night sweats. At the time of the initial visit, she weighed 144 lbs at 5'3" and her blood pressure was 100/70.
You could not tell that this patient suffered from all of the above-mentioned symptoms just by looking at her. How many of your patients appear to be in good health? Next time they enter your office, ask – you may be surprised by how many pre-existing patients could use your help for something other than a chiropractic adjustment.
Before seeking my help, the patient had been to her medical doctor, who diagnosed her with general anxiety disorder (GAD) and prescribed five different medications to control her anxiety, depression, headaches and constipation. After three months of no relief, she was ready for a second opinion. While the medical community will quickly offer drugs to mask each symptom, I chose a more inquisitive approach and ran a series of comprehensive tests to try and find what underlying causes or deficiencies were causing these symptoms. Her quality of life had been seriously altered by these issues and perhaps signalled more serious developing problems.
Her bloodwork showed an interesting trend. Tests of her kidneys, liver, metabolic panel, glucose, vitamin D, lipids, etc., were all just slightly too high or low for optimal health. While very few were outside the clinical reference ranges used by medical doctors, they were outside what I call the "healthy range," which is a stricter guideline for each test used to detect progression toward disease What this means is that she was on the verge of developing some serious medical problems.
2011年11月16日星期三
Elephant in the room hidden behind nervous ticks
During 20 minutes of contrived theatrics where the think tanks of the US and International teams faced each other over a small wooden divide, nebulous nonsense took a physical presence. Fred Couples, Jay Haas and John Cook sat on one side with printed pieces of paper that contained some handwritten notes or adjustments, Greg Norman, Frank Nobilo and Tim Clark huddled on the other.
The pairing for today's six matches of foursomes was the order of business. When it came to the fifth match and neither Adam Scott nor Tiger Woods's names had popped up, the most talked about match-up since Shane Warne and Liz Hurley had become unavoidable. Scott, with Steve Williams on his bag, would play with KJ Choi against Steve Stricker and Woods, with Williams on his mind.
Captains Norman and Couples both denied the Woods-Scott pairing was planned but said nonetheless that it was for the best. The two men were good mates, it would engage the story of the past week head-on and as an issue it would therefore be dead come Sunday when the singles were to be played and Presidents Cup decided.
Typically, the reason why the Woods-Scott pairing was so sensitive was not mentioned by the captains. Organisers are doing their best to vaporise any evidence that Williams, once on Tiger's bag, called the golfer a "black arsehole" two weeks ago in a grubby night of caddie celebrations. No action was taken by tour officials then and they obviously hope today's match can be the full stop to a saga that they did not - or were incapable of - taking with the appropriate gravitas. They could not find enough reason to sanction Williams but neither could they find their spines.
In fairness, some things had been settled before yesterday's draw. Everybody thinks the course is fantastic (tick), the wind and heat will make gibbering idiots of them all come tomorrow (tick), everybody has bonded to the point they are biologically fused (tick), they all feel they ascended and went to heaven when they drove through the Royal Melbourne gates (tick), they are all so excited to be here representing their, er, team that they wet their pants when picked (messy) and the hometown crowds could well determine the fate of the cup, especially if they kick Tiger's ball deep into the rough (please).
All of that compulsory drooling will be done with by 1.05pm today when Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa take on Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson. The format today is foursomes where players take alternate shots. The pairings announcement yesterday was manufactured and barely caused anyone to shift in their seat except for the veteran journalist who subsequently owned up to a case of churlish hemorrhoids.
The opening gambit from Norman, when asked to name his first coupling, was: "I put in Nobilo and Clark." Well, talk about laugh. The only hesitation during the protocol came when Norman announced his exciting pairing of Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day. The Americans paused: "Give us a second here, Sharkie," Couples said. After conferring with his assistants, Couples came up with Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar to complete what should be an enthralling third match.
Throughout the build-up to yesterday's draw, much had been made of the most appropriate pairings. Variables such as putting together a big and short hitter; which players prefer what balls; strength of individual relationships and good putter with so-so putter were all said to be considerations to lose sleep over.
Yet there is no doubt a modicum of show business as well as golfing nous was involved with yesterday's draw. Els with the baby of the team Ishikawa, who arrived late and must remain unfamiliar still with the course, makes sense tactically. Els reduced a form of this composite course to 60 shots in the 2004 Heineken Classic. Woods against Scott must have made broadcaster Channel Nine tingle. It makes sense to pair Koreans KT Kim with YE Yang for ease of communication in a team event is self-evident.
For all the trumped-up promotion of this event, some players have gone about their business anonymously. It only became apparent David Toms and Jim Furyk were on the US team when transcripts of their news conferences appeared in the media centre. They were not rambling documents. They must hope their golf talks for them.
For the public, the day ended with an opening ceremony that was necessary but nonetheless long and unremarkable except that Norman was still in denial that Woods had been racially vilified by his former caddie. He referred to it as some other matter.
Much like Tim Finchem, the commissioner of the PGA Tour. In a media interview in the evening he failed to understand the phrase "racial vilification". He needed it explained to him. This is rather surprising after the world's greatest golfer was called a "black arsehole" but does explain why the PGA Tour shied away from taking any action.
The pairing for today's six matches of foursomes was the order of business. When it came to the fifth match and neither Adam Scott nor Tiger Woods's names had popped up, the most talked about match-up since Shane Warne and Liz Hurley had become unavoidable. Scott, with Steve Williams on his bag, would play with KJ Choi against Steve Stricker and Woods, with Williams on his mind.
Captains Norman and Couples both denied the Woods-Scott pairing was planned but said nonetheless that it was for the best. The two men were good mates, it would engage the story of the past week head-on and as an issue it would therefore be dead come Sunday when the singles were to be played and Presidents Cup decided.
Typically, the reason why the Woods-Scott pairing was so sensitive was not mentioned by the captains. Organisers are doing their best to vaporise any evidence that Williams, once on Tiger's bag, called the golfer a "black arsehole" two weeks ago in a grubby night of caddie celebrations. No action was taken by tour officials then and they obviously hope today's match can be the full stop to a saga that they did not - or were incapable of - taking with the appropriate gravitas. They could not find enough reason to sanction Williams but neither could they find their spines.
In fairness, some things had been settled before yesterday's draw. Everybody thinks the course is fantastic (tick), the wind and heat will make gibbering idiots of them all come tomorrow (tick), everybody has bonded to the point they are biologically fused (tick), they all feel they ascended and went to heaven when they drove through the Royal Melbourne gates (tick), they are all so excited to be here representing their, er, team that they wet their pants when picked (messy) and the hometown crowds could well determine the fate of the cup, especially if they kick Tiger's ball deep into the rough (please).
All of that compulsory drooling will be done with by 1.05pm today when Ernie Els and Ryo Ishikawa take on Bubba Watson and Webb Simpson. The format today is foursomes where players take alternate shots. The pairings announcement yesterday was manufactured and barely caused anyone to shift in their seat except for the veteran journalist who subsequently owned up to a case of churlish hemorrhoids.
The opening gambit from Norman, when asked to name his first coupling, was: "I put in Nobilo and Clark." Well, talk about laugh. The only hesitation during the protocol came when Norman announced his exciting pairing of Aaron Baddeley and Jason Day. The Americans paused: "Give us a second here, Sharkie," Couples said. After conferring with his assistants, Couples came up with Dustin Johnson and Matt Kuchar to complete what should be an enthralling third match.
Throughout the build-up to yesterday's draw, much had been made of the most appropriate pairings. Variables such as putting together a big and short hitter; which players prefer what balls; strength of individual relationships and good putter with so-so putter were all said to be considerations to lose sleep over.
Yet there is no doubt a modicum of show business as well as golfing nous was involved with yesterday's draw. Els with the baby of the team Ishikawa, who arrived late and must remain unfamiliar still with the course, makes sense tactically. Els reduced a form of this composite course to 60 shots in the 2004 Heineken Classic. Woods against Scott must have made broadcaster Channel Nine tingle. It makes sense to pair Koreans KT Kim with YE Yang for ease of communication in a team event is self-evident.
For all the trumped-up promotion of this event, some players have gone about their business anonymously. It only became apparent David Toms and Jim Furyk were on the US team when transcripts of their news conferences appeared in the media centre. They were not rambling documents. They must hope their golf talks for them.
For the public, the day ended with an opening ceremony that was necessary but nonetheless long and unremarkable except that Norman was still in denial that Woods had been racially vilified by his former caddie. He referred to it as some other matter.
Much like Tim Finchem, the commissioner of the PGA Tour. In a media interview in the evening he failed to understand the phrase "racial vilification". He needed it explained to him. This is rather surprising after the world's greatest golfer was called a "black arsehole" but does explain why the PGA Tour shied away from taking any action.
2011年11月15日星期二
How Can You Treat Hemorrhoids?
Hemorrhoids can be very painful and also irritating. At some point in life, folks generally suffer from hemorrhoids. In the event you too are suffering from the identical, you surely understand why one wants to obtain eliminate it at the earliest. Once the veins in the lower rectum as well as the anus get enlarged, piles occur. Difficult bowel movements are one of the reasons for its occurrence. Pregnancy is yet an additional cause, though there are lots of other reasons for it to develop. In the event you are struggling with being overweight or from frequent constipation, you may suffer from hemorrhoids as well.
There can be both external and internal hemorrhoids. The internal ones aren’t generally painful and unless they obtain irritated, you may not even detect them. The external piles are mainly agonizing and can be very itchy. In the event you want to cure yourself, a possible solution comes in the shape of Venapro. It is self care product and will ease your scratching and pain. In the event you go through the Venapro reviews you’ll obtain to know, this cure can help you in two methods. The interior method requires you to put some drops of the liquid inside your mouth. The liquid that you’ll take in is made of natural shrubs as well as herbs. This is very advantageous for internal healing.
Internal health issues generally emerge because of improper dietary habits. The Venapro solution helps to help make your immune system stronger and thus conditions your body to deal with diseases. The second method employs a supplement that enhances the wellness of the intestinal tract. In the event you have a proper colon, this will assist prevent the occurrence of ailments. Venapro is better than other medicines since it treats the core of the issue instead of just the symptoms. Other medicines may give temporary respite from the symptoms, but the cause remains unaffected. So if you want to lead a proper life and, you should buy Venapro, and begin along with your cure immediately.
There can be both external and internal hemorrhoids. The internal ones aren’t generally painful and unless they obtain irritated, you may not even detect them. The external piles are mainly agonizing and can be very itchy. In the event you want to cure yourself, a possible solution comes in the shape of Venapro. It is self care product and will ease your scratching and pain. In the event you go through the Venapro reviews you’ll obtain to know, this cure can help you in two methods. The interior method requires you to put some drops of the liquid inside your mouth. The liquid that you’ll take in is made of natural shrubs as well as herbs. This is very advantageous for internal healing.
Internal health issues generally emerge because of improper dietary habits. The Venapro solution helps to help make your immune system stronger and thus conditions your body to deal with diseases. The second method employs a supplement that enhances the wellness of the intestinal tract. In the event you have a proper colon, this will assist prevent the occurrence of ailments. Venapro is better than other medicines since it treats the core of the issue instead of just the symptoms. Other medicines may give temporary respite from the symptoms, but the cause remains unaffected. So if you want to lead a proper life and, you should buy Venapro, and begin along with your cure immediately.
2011年11月14日星期一
Retired couple billed $50,000 despite travel insurance
A B.C. couple on a fixed income is facing a $50,000 US hospital bill, despite buying travel health insurance for their last trip.
"What are we supposed to do?" said Artur Friesen, from Abbotsford, B.C. "We don't have anything. How am I supposed to pay that?"
Artur and Anna Friesen say they live modestly on government pensions. Every year for the last 20 years, they've driven their motor home to California to escape the winter.
"We buy insurance to be covered and be safe," said Artur.
Last year, they bought full medical coverage as usual, through their broker, from Prime Link Travel Medical Insurance. While in California, Anna had to go to hospital with a blood clot in her leg.
Records show the U.S. hospital checked with Prime Link, which is underwritten by Manulife, to see if she had insurance, and was told she did. Her bill for treatment was $10,000 a day, for five days.
The couple said they were shocked when the insurance company later refused to pay the bill, because of how Anna answered one question on her initial application form.
"I never would have gone into the hospital if I knew that would happen. Never. I would have went home," she says.
Answer not quite right
The Friesens struggle to understand English, so said they relied on broker Barrie Cartmell to fill out their application. He read them several questions from the form, including: "In the last 36 months, have you received treatment for kidney disorder (including stones)?"
Anna answered no. She's had weak kidneys for several years, but has not actively been treated.
"I had no treatment and I just had weak kidneys, and that is what we talked about [with the broker]," said Anna. "I am not reading [the form] or anything, because I don't know how to read English.
"[The broker] was satisfied with the answer that we gave him, that she had no treatment and no [kidney] stones," said Artur.
Despite letters submitted since from doctors, insisting she is not receiving any treatment for her kidney condition, the insurance claim denial letter reads, "You do have a chronic kidney disease for which you have undergone investigations which is considered treatment."
Prime Link returned the $694 premium the couple paid for the policy, with a letter saying it's null and void because of "misstatements during the application period."
The Friesens are now getting calls from a U.S. collection agency and are afraid to go south for their usual trip. They check the mail every day, hoping the insurance company has considered their appeal and changed its position.
"I don't even lift up the phone anymore. I see it's a number from outside, I don't even lift up the phone anymore," said Anna. "Because [the collection agent] told me last time I am supposed to pay him $5,000 a month."
"We are stressed out. Really stressed," said Artur.
Afraid to go south
"We are not the same people [as we were] last year when we came home. Our friends they are leaving on Friday for California for four months again, and we have to stay home."
The broker, Barrie Cartmell, said he doesn't remember Anna mentioning her weak kidneys. Nevertheless, he said he believes she answered the question honestly and the insurance company is wrong.
"I don't think it is the client's fault. They just didn't understand," said Cartmell. "I think [the insurance company] has got to clean up their definitions and make them a lot clearer."
He insisted if Anna did tell him about her kidney condition, he would have advised her to consider a different answer.
"I can't remember the exact conversation because I've got thousands of clients," said Cartmell. "When I go through the application, I ask the questions as they are."
He said he tried to go to bat for her with the claims department, but got nowhere.
"They do not discuss this. They will not discuss it," said Cartmell.
"Certainly if I was asked that question I would think that the word treat means exactly what it says, treatment, and I would say no," said Jim Bullock, an independent broker who helps lawyers who are going after insurance companies.
"The fact I was being monitored, in my mind, wouldn't mean I was being treated."
Deliberate tactic, says critic
Bullock says the forms are ambiguous, and he thinks that is intentional.
"I've come to the conclusion that it's a deliberate tactic," he said, citing several examples of what he calls "trivial" denials.
"A lady didn't disclose that she had an ear infection four years ago. Another lady didn't disclose that she had hemorrhoids during her pregnancy two years ago. A fellow didn't disclose that his brother had a heart attack. He didn't know his brother had a heart attack. That didn't matter. He didn't disclose it," said Bullock.
He would like to see provincial authorities hold insurance companies more accountable.
"For whatever reason, they have steadfastly refused to get involved with the issue of claims-paying practices. They won't even ask the companies in their annual reports how many claims were not paid," said Bullock.
"Frankly, I think governments are afraid of insurance companies. It appears that way."
David Hartman, of the Travel Health Insurance Industry Association of Canada, confirmed the industry doesn't release statistics on how many claims are denied, although he estimated it's less than five per cent.
"Not disclosing medical information is one of the top five reasons claims are denied," he said.
He also said the industry is working on making travel insurance questionnaires simpler.
"It is a concern," Hartman said, "Some companies are looking at plain language policies."
He said seniors should realize insurers can and will look at all medical records, so it's best to disclose everything, even if it costs more for coverage. He said some medical conditions trigger premium increases of 300%.
New decision coming
David Rivelis of Prime Link, the Friesens' insurance agent, said even when a customer's doctor states they are not being treated for a condition, the adjuster's interpretation can supersede that.
"The insurance company ultimately determines the term of the contract," said Rivelis. "How the doctor defines something may be different from how it's defined by an insurance company."
He advises every senior to read their whole policy, even when they are using a broker.
"Policy definitions are what governs the payment of claims," he says.
However, after CBC's Go Public got involved, Manulife, the underwriter, said another decision is forthcoming on the Friesens' claim.
"I understand a decision on the appeal of this case will be made shortly and should be communicated to the individual in the next couple of days," wrote Manulife spokesperson Michael May.
"What are we supposed to do?" said Artur Friesen, from Abbotsford, B.C. "We don't have anything. How am I supposed to pay that?"
Artur and Anna Friesen say they live modestly on government pensions. Every year for the last 20 years, they've driven their motor home to California to escape the winter.
"We buy insurance to be covered and be safe," said Artur.
Last year, they bought full medical coverage as usual, through their broker, from Prime Link Travel Medical Insurance. While in California, Anna had to go to hospital with a blood clot in her leg.
Records show the U.S. hospital checked with Prime Link, which is underwritten by Manulife, to see if she had insurance, and was told she did. Her bill for treatment was $10,000 a day, for five days.
The couple said they were shocked when the insurance company later refused to pay the bill, because of how Anna answered one question on her initial application form.
"I never would have gone into the hospital if I knew that would happen. Never. I would have went home," she says.
Answer not quite right
The Friesens struggle to understand English, so said they relied on broker Barrie Cartmell to fill out their application. He read them several questions from the form, including: "In the last 36 months, have you received treatment for kidney disorder (including stones)?"
Anna answered no. She's had weak kidneys for several years, but has not actively been treated.
"I had no treatment and I just had weak kidneys, and that is what we talked about [with the broker]," said Anna. "I am not reading [the form] or anything, because I don't know how to read English.
"[The broker] was satisfied with the answer that we gave him, that she had no treatment and no [kidney] stones," said Artur.
Despite letters submitted since from doctors, insisting she is not receiving any treatment for her kidney condition, the insurance claim denial letter reads, "You do have a chronic kidney disease for which you have undergone investigations which is considered treatment."
Prime Link returned the $694 premium the couple paid for the policy, with a letter saying it's null and void because of "misstatements during the application period."
The Friesens are now getting calls from a U.S. collection agency and are afraid to go south for their usual trip. They check the mail every day, hoping the insurance company has considered their appeal and changed its position.
"I don't even lift up the phone anymore. I see it's a number from outside, I don't even lift up the phone anymore," said Anna. "Because [the collection agent] told me last time I am supposed to pay him $5,000 a month."
"We are stressed out. Really stressed," said Artur.
Afraid to go south
"We are not the same people [as we were] last year when we came home. Our friends they are leaving on Friday for California for four months again, and we have to stay home."
The broker, Barrie Cartmell, said he doesn't remember Anna mentioning her weak kidneys. Nevertheless, he said he believes she answered the question honestly and the insurance company is wrong.
"I don't think it is the client's fault. They just didn't understand," said Cartmell. "I think [the insurance company] has got to clean up their definitions and make them a lot clearer."
He insisted if Anna did tell him about her kidney condition, he would have advised her to consider a different answer.
"I can't remember the exact conversation because I've got thousands of clients," said Cartmell. "When I go through the application, I ask the questions as they are."
He said he tried to go to bat for her with the claims department, but got nowhere.
"They do not discuss this. They will not discuss it," said Cartmell.
"Certainly if I was asked that question I would think that the word treat means exactly what it says, treatment, and I would say no," said Jim Bullock, an independent broker who helps lawyers who are going after insurance companies.
"The fact I was being monitored, in my mind, wouldn't mean I was being treated."
Deliberate tactic, says critic
Bullock says the forms are ambiguous, and he thinks that is intentional.
"I've come to the conclusion that it's a deliberate tactic," he said, citing several examples of what he calls "trivial" denials.
"A lady didn't disclose that she had an ear infection four years ago. Another lady didn't disclose that she had hemorrhoids during her pregnancy two years ago. A fellow didn't disclose that his brother had a heart attack. He didn't know his brother had a heart attack. That didn't matter. He didn't disclose it," said Bullock.
He would like to see provincial authorities hold insurance companies more accountable.
"For whatever reason, they have steadfastly refused to get involved with the issue of claims-paying practices. They won't even ask the companies in their annual reports how many claims were not paid," said Bullock.
"Frankly, I think governments are afraid of insurance companies. It appears that way."
David Hartman, of the Travel Health Insurance Industry Association of Canada, confirmed the industry doesn't release statistics on how many claims are denied, although he estimated it's less than five per cent.
"Not disclosing medical information is one of the top five reasons claims are denied," he said.
He also said the industry is working on making travel insurance questionnaires simpler.
"It is a concern," Hartman said, "Some companies are looking at plain language policies."
He said seniors should realize insurers can and will look at all medical records, so it's best to disclose everything, even if it costs more for coverage. He said some medical conditions trigger premium increases of 300%.
New decision coming
David Rivelis of Prime Link, the Friesens' insurance agent, said even when a customer's doctor states they are not being treated for a condition, the adjuster's interpretation can supersede that.
"The insurance company ultimately determines the term of the contract," said Rivelis. "How the doctor defines something may be different from how it's defined by an insurance company."
He advises every senior to read their whole policy, even when they are using a broker.
"Policy definitions are what governs the payment of claims," he says.
However, after CBC's Go Public got involved, Manulife, the underwriter, said another decision is forthcoming on the Friesens' claim.
"I understand a decision on the appeal of this case will be made shortly and should be communicated to the individual in the next couple of days," wrote Manulife spokesperson Michael May.
2011年11月13日星期日
Dabigatran's First A Fib Year Starts Warfarin's Decline
For decades, physicians and patients bemoaned the problems and inconveniences of warfarin to prevent strokes caused by atrial fibrillation. Finding the right dosage was hard and often a moving target, patients needed regular coagulation monitoring, their anticoagulated state often fell out of the ideal range thereby putting them at an increased risk for either a stroke or bleeding complications, and care was needed with diet and other medications to avoid interactions that would throw off the whole delicate balance. A simpler, easier oral anticoagulant was what people wanted and what drove drug companies to try to find alternatives.
The first alternative, dabigatran (Pradaxa), received Food and Drug Administration approval for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients about a year ago, in October 2010. Just this month, on Nov. 4, rivaroxaban (Xarelto) joined dabigatran on the U.S. market with its FDA approval for the same indication, and two more agents may follow in the next couple of years.
The initial 12-month experience with AF management in a world with a warfarin alternative showed the eagerness of some physicians and patients to embrace a not-warfarin, but also prompted the grudging recognition that warfarin has attractive features despite its flaws.
Simple numbers show that dabigatran had a good first year. In late August, Boehringer Ingelheim, the company that markets dabigatran (Pradaxa), reported that to that time U.S. physicians had prescribed dabigatran to about 350,000 AF patients, roughly 10% of the total number of U.S. patients with AF. That level of market penetration beat expectations, said Matthew Killeen, Ph.D., an analyst with Decision Resources in Burlington, Mass.
The penetration during the first year "is greater than what we previously forecast," Dr. Killeen said in an interview. Dabigatran "has done remarkably well, considering that it represents a completely new treatment strategy. It’s a completely new mindset in how physicians treat AF patients." Boehringer Ingelheim "had to lay the groundwork with physician education so that they were comfortable prescribing a pill that doesn’t need monitoring or dose adjustment."
But while dabigatran’s first year of attempting to eclipse warfarin may have exceeded expectations, it has not been a totally smooth launch, said several cardiologists recently asked about their experiences. Dabigatran succeeded despite some widely acknowledged limitations, some of which have underscored warfarin’s strengths, starting with the issue of cost.
Like any new, proprietary drug, dabigatran is expensive, with an average wholesale price in excess of $7 a day (although some pharmacies sell it for as low as about $4.50 per day), compared with an average wholesale price for warfarin of about $0.22 per day. That can put dabigatran out of the picture for patients with no drug coverage, and even for those with a drug plan, the copay often makes dabigatran a financially tough pill to swallow.
"Cost is an issue with dabigatran. I’ve had patients tell me that they’ll stay with warfarin for another couple of years until the new drugs get less expensive," said Dr. Gordon F. Tomaselli, professor of medicine and chief of cardiology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
"I think there has been limited uptake of dabigatran primarily because of cost. The out-of-pocket cost to patients can be substantial," said Dr. Deepak L. Bhatt, chef of cardiology at the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare system and a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. "It can be hard to get patients to agree to the out-of-pocket copay."
But large copays for new, more effective anticoagulants may fade as insurers realize that they can save more money in the long run by having beneficiaries treated with drugs that better prevent ischemic strokes and intracranial hemorrhages. The potential cost saving from cerebrovascular events avoided "will offset the increased drug cost," Dr. Killeen noted.
Another issue that has made physicians think twice about prescribing dabigatran has been the gastrointestinal bleeds it triggers, a 6% rate of major gastrointestinal hemorrhages during each year of treatment, said Dr. Michael D. Ezekowitz, a professor of medicine at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and one of the researchers who led the clinical trials during dabigatran’s development. Increased gastrointestinal bleeds, and an accompanying gastritis, are "the price to pay" for using dabigatran, he said in an interview, though the risk can be reduced through more careful coadministration of antiplatelet drugs, avoiding the drug in patients with gastritis or hemorrhoids, or by cauterizing telangiectasias.
Other critiques of dabigatran include on the lack of an antidote, which has made some physicians wary of prescribing it, an issue that currently limits all of the new oral anticoagulants. A physician can reverse the effect of warfarin with a simple dose of vitamin K, and some find the lack of a similar maneuver for the new drugs disconcerting, but it may not be a significant problem in actual practice, noted Dr. Lars Wallentin, professor of cardiology at Uppsala (Sweden) University and another leader of the dabigatran trials.
"In the trials [of both dabigatran and apixaban] not having an antidote was not an issue. We’ve seen no concerns" by not having an antidote. "I don’t think it’s a large problem. I think we have overestimated the bleeding risk produced by anticoagulants," he said in an interview.
For dabigatran there are also convenience issues for patients. It’s a b.i.d. drug, compared with warfarin’s once-daily dosing, and dabigatran also has the unusual problem of a very short half-life once removed from its special, desiccant-containing packaging. Once out of the package, "the efficacy of the drug goes away literally within days," noted Dr. Tomaselli. That means that patients can’t set up their dabigatran pills in advance in a Monday-Sunday pill box, something many of them like to do.
The first alternative, dabigatran (Pradaxa), received Food and Drug Administration approval for stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation (AF) patients about a year ago, in October 2010. Just this month, on Nov. 4, rivaroxaban (Xarelto) joined dabigatran on the U.S. market with its FDA approval for the same indication, and two more agents may follow in the next couple of years.
The initial 12-month experience with AF management in a world with a warfarin alternative showed the eagerness of some physicians and patients to embrace a not-warfarin, but also prompted the grudging recognition that warfarin has attractive features despite its flaws.
Simple numbers show that dabigatran had a good first year. In late August, Boehringer Ingelheim, the company that markets dabigatran (Pradaxa), reported that to that time U.S. physicians had prescribed dabigatran to about 350,000 AF patients, roughly 10% of the total number of U.S. patients with AF. That level of market penetration beat expectations, said Matthew Killeen, Ph.D., an analyst with Decision Resources in Burlington, Mass.
The penetration during the first year "is greater than what we previously forecast," Dr. Killeen said in an interview. Dabigatran "has done remarkably well, considering that it represents a completely new treatment strategy. It’s a completely new mindset in how physicians treat AF patients." Boehringer Ingelheim "had to lay the groundwork with physician education so that they were comfortable prescribing a pill that doesn’t need monitoring or dose adjustment."
But while dabigatran’s first year of attempting to eclipse warfarin may have exceeded expectations, it has not been a totally smooth launch, said several cardiologists recently asked about their experiences. Dabigatran succeeded despite some widely acknowledged limitations, some of which have underscored warfarin’s strengths, starting with the issue of cost.
Like any new, proprietary drug, dabigatran is expensive, with an average wholesale price in excess of $7 a day (although some pharmacies sell it for as low as about $4.50 per day), compared with an average wholesale price for warfarin of about $0.22 per day. That can put dabigatran out of the picture for patients with no drug coverage, and even for those with a drug plan, the copay often makes dabigatran a financially tough pill to swallow.
"Cost is an issue with dabigatran. I’ve had patients tell me that they’ll stay with warfarin for another couple of years until the new drugs get less expensive," said Dr. Gordon F. Tomaselli, professor of medicine and chief of cardiology at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore.
"I think there has been limited uptake of dabigatran primarily because of cost. The out-of-pocket cost to patients can be substantial," said Dr. Deepak L. Bhatt, chef of cardiology at the Veterans Affairs Boston Healthcare system and a cardiologist at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston. "It can be hard to get patients to agree to the out-of-pocket copay."
But large copays for new, more effective anticoagulants may fade as insurers realize that they can save more money in the long run by having beneficiaries treated with drugs that better prevent ischemic strokes and intracranial hemorrhages. The potential cost saving from cerebrovascular events avoided "will offset the increased drug cost," Dr. Killeen noted.
Another issue that has made physicians think twice about prescribing dabigatran has been the gastrointestinal bleeds it triggers, a 6% rate of major gastrointestinal hemorrhages during each year of treatment, said Dr. Michael D. Ezekowitz, a professor of medicine at Jefferson Medical College, Philadelphia, and one of the researchers who led the clinical trials during dabigatran’s development. Increased gastrointestinal bleeds, and an accompanying gastritis, are "the price to pay" for using dabigatran, he said in an interview, though the risk can be reduced through more careful coadministration of antiplatelet drugs, avoiding the drug in patients with gastritis or hemorrhoids, or by cauterizing telangiectasias.
Other critiques of dabigatran include on the lack of an antidote, which has made some physicians wary of prescribing it, an issue that currently limits all of the new oral anticoagulants. A physician can reverse the effect of warfarin with a simple dose of vitamin K, and some find the lack of a similar maneuver for the new drugs disconcerting, but it may not be a significant problem in actual practice, noted Dr. Lars Wallentin, professor of cardiology at Uppsala (Sweden) University and another leader of the dabigatran trials.
"In the trials [of both dabigatran and apixaban] not having an antidote was not an issue. We’ve seen no concerns" by not having an antidote. "I don’t think it’s a large problem. I think we have overestimated the bleeding risk produced by anticoagulants," he said in an interview.
For dabigatran there are also convenience issues for patients. It’s a b.i.d. drug, compared with warfarin’s once-daily dosing, and dabigatran also has the unusual problem of a very short half-life once removed from its special, desiccant-containing packaging. Once out of the package, "the efficacy of the drug goes away literally within days," noted Dr. Tomaselli. That means that patients can’t set up their dabigatran pills in advance in a Monday-Sunday pill box, something many of them like to do.
2011年11月10日星期四
Wipe That Smile
What’s funny to one person isn’t funny another. You can tell this by studying the audience in a comedy club. There’s always that one guy out there who looks like his hemorrhoids are acting up. He won’t crack a smile, never mind utter an appreciative snort.
Luckily, comedians are tough; they don’t seem to mind catching sight of that one sourpuss out there. They’re used to it maybe.
I did a little standup in my primary school years when I would say or do just about anything to get the laugh at the supper table and I can tell you I would never get used to it if someone out front had the poker face. If I had stuck with it and done standup after I turned nine – if I had done standup into my adult years – I bet I’d be wading right out into the audience to slap the guy who wouldn’t smile.
Of course you can’t do stuff like that anymore in this New Jerusalem of an era when where we’re all so careful about letting people have their reactions.
It’s a good thing, really. It’s a big improvement over the old days when kids especially were told they couldn’t react in accordance with their feelings.
How many times did grownups tell us we weren’t feeling what we said we were feeling? And remember “Wipe that smile off your face?”
My eighth grade principal kept a whip in his office that he would hit us with if he didn’t like the looks on our faces. A whip! And he hit us as hard as he could on our little outstretched hands. Even the boys cried, trying to smile as the tears ran down their faces. Which reminds me of other things they used to say:
Remember “Stop crying or I’ll give you something to cry about”?
Remember “You’re not scared! You go right back into that room and go to sleep!” My man was scarred for life the time a gorilla showed up in his closet and none of the grownups believed him. This happened almost 60 years ago and he still swears the beast was in there. Those WERE the bad old days.
So as much as I wish people would get with the program and laugh when everyone else laughs I guess it’s their right.
Like I said, some stuff is funny to you and other stuff is funny to me. What do you think of this little cat singing ‘Lean on Me’? It made me smile but then my standards aren’t what you’d call high.
Luckily, comedians are tough; they don’t seem to mind catching sight of that one sourpuss out there. They’re used to it maybe.
I did a little standup in my primary school years when I would say or do just about anything to get the laugh at the supper table and I can tell you I would never get used to it if someone out front had the poker face. If I had stuck with it and done standup after I turned nine – if I had done standup into my adult years – I bet I’d be wading right out into the audience to slap the guy who wouldn’t smile.
Of course you can’t do stuff like that anymore in this New Jerusalem of an era when where we’re all so careful about letting people have their reactions.
It’s a good thing, really. It’s a big improvement over the old days when kids especially were told they couldn’t react in accordance with their feelings.
How many times did grownups tell us we weren’t feeling what we said we were feeling? And remember “Wipe that smile off your face?”
My eighth grade principal kept a whip in his office that he would hit us with if he didn’t like the looks on our faces. A whip! And he hit us as hard as he could on our little outstretched hands. Even the boys cried, trying to smile as the tears ran down their faces. Which reminds me of other things they used to say:
Remember “Stop crying or I’ll give you something to cry about”?
Remember “You’re not scared! You go right back into that room and go to sleep!” My man was scarred for life the time a gorilla showed up in his closet and none of the grownups believed him. This happened almost 60 years ago and he still swears the beast was in there. Those WERE the bad old days.
So as much as I wish people would get with the program and laugh when everyone else laughs I guess it’s their right.
Like I said, some stuff is funny to you and other stuff is funny to me. What do you think of this little cat singing ‘Lean on Me’? It made me smile but then my standards aren’t what you’d call high.
2011年11月9日星期三
Dr. John analyzes some home remedies that actually work
When it comes to home remedies we all have one or two that seem to work. Most of us have also tried ones recommended to us that didn't do anything.
To sort out which ones will help you, the AARP just came out with a list of 10 home remedies that have some scientific proof that they actually work as advertised.
The first one is honey. It's not just a sweetener, but can also help keep a cough under control.
Recent studies have found that honey can suppress coughs in children at the same rate or maybe even slightly better than over the counter cough preparations containing dextromethorphan.
Other studies have shown that honey might work the same in adults, but probably not as well as it does in children. The next time a cough hits, try a teaspoon or two of honey to get it under control. Do not give honey to children less than 1 year old.
Next is liquid dish soap. This type of soap is formulated to get rid of grease and oil. Poison ivy and poison oak act on your skin by depositing an oily chemical which can be hard to clean off. Liquid dish soap can help get that itchy, rash causing oil off, preventing it from spreading.
Then the AARP looked at tart cherry juice. We are not talking about Bing or black cherry juice, but their less-sweet cousin. This juice has anti-inflammatory properties which can help with muscle soreness after exercise, arthritis and gout.
One study found that taking a tablespoon of tart cherry juice concentrate twice a day for four months cut the frequency of gout attacks in half, and one third of those of those taking the juice remained gout attack free.
Baby shampoo can also help in more ways than most think. It can be used to treat eyelids that have become red, itchy and crusty. This condition, known as blepharitis, comes about because of bacteria that gets into the edge of the eyelid. Baby shampoo, diluted with an equal amount of water and gently rubbed along closed eyelid and eyelashes for one minute twice a day, can help get the eyelid back to feeling better.
Witch hazel is a natural anti-inflammatory and has also been used to tighten the skin. It's also one of the main ingredients in hemorrhoid pads. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, it can relieve mild itching and irritation from hemorrhoids. You can use it by moistening a pad and applying that to inflamed hemorrhoidal tissue.
Most of us have ginger in our houses to use as a spice. Ginger can also be used to get nausea or motion sickness under control. Studies have shown that 1 gram of ginger just before surgery can reduce nausea and vomiting afterwards. Just make sure your surgeon knows you are doing this. Small amounts of fresh or powdered ginger works better than taking a larger dose.
For motion sickness purposes, one to two pieces of crystallized ginger should help get that under control. Too much can cause an upset stomach, so don't take more than 2 grams at a time.
Water, something most of us take for granted, might help keep you from getting a cold this winter. A 2005 study found that participants who gargled with tap water had fewer respiratory infections than those that didn't gargle during a cold and flu season.
If you've ever gotten a canker sore, you know just how miserable they can make you feel. Milk of magnesia dabbed on the mouth sore can give you some temporary relief. It won't heal the sore, but it will allow you to eat and drink without as much pain. One expert recommends you dab the canker sore first with a mixture of half water, half hydrogen peroxide, then apply the milk of magnesia.
Most women also realize that cranberry juice seems to help keep bladder infections at bay. This juice won't treat infections that are already present, but does seem to keep them from coming on in the first place. Experts recommend a 500mg dose twice a day, with the precaution that if you are already on a blood thinner, like warfarin (Coumadin), Plavix or aspirin, you need to be careful. Cranberry juice and pills can also thin your blood and combining that with these medicines can lead to bleeding.
Perhaps the strangest home remedy is the "off label" use for Vicks VapoRub. Menthol rubs are frequently used to help someone who's sick with a cold or upper respiratory infection breathe easier. But it can also help get rid of toenail fungus. A small study found that 15 of 18 participants that applied Vicks VapoRub once a day to the affected toenails either had a partial or complete elimination of the fungus. Cleaning the nail with a white vinegar soaked cotton ball before applying the menthol rub might help.
The next time you're looking around your pantry, take a look at some of the things you already have on hand that could help keep you and your family healthy.
To sort out which ones will help you, the AARP just came out with a list of 10 home remedies that have some scientific proof that they actually work as advertised.
The first one is honey. It's not just a sweetener, but can also help keep a cough under control.
Recent studies have found that honey can suppress coughs in children at the same rate or maybe even slightly better than over the counter cough preparations containing dextromethorphan.
Other studies have shown that honey might work the same in adults, but probably not as well as it does in children. The next time a cough hits, try a teaspoon or two of honey to get it under control. Do not give honey to children less than 1 year old.
Next is liquid dish soap. This type of soap is formulated to get rid of grease and oil. Poison ivy and poison oak act on your skin by depositing an oily chemical which can be hard to clean off. Liquid dish soap can help get that itchy, rash causing oil off, preventing it from spreading.
Then the AARP looked at tart cherry juice. We are not talking about Bing or black cherry juice, but their less-sweet cousin. This juice has anti-inflammatory properties which can help with muscle soreness after exercise, arthritis and gout.
One study found that taking a tablespoon of tart cherry juice concentrate twice a day for four months cut the frequency of gout attacks in half, and one third of those of those taking the juice remained gout attack free.
Baby shampoo can also help in more ways than most think. It can be used to treat eyelids that have become red, itchy and crusty. This condition, known as blepharitis, comes about because of bacteria that gets into the edge of the eyelid. Baby shampoo, diluted with an equal amount of water and gently rubbed along closed eyelid and eyelashes for one minute twice a day, can help get the eyelid back to feeling better.
Witch hazel is a natural anti-inflammatory and has also been used to tighten the skin. It's also one of the main ingredients in hemorrhoid pads. Because of its anti-inflammatory properties, it can relieve mild itching and irritation from hemorrhoids. You can use it by moistening a pad and applying that to inflamed hemorrhoidal tissue.
Most of us have ginger in our houses to use as a spice. Ginger can also be used to get nausea or motion sickness under control. Studies have shown that 1 gram of ginger just before surgery can reduce nausea and vomiting afterwards. Just make sure your surgeon knows you are doing this. Small amounts of fresh or powdered ginger works better than taking a larger dose.
For motion sickness purposes, one to two pieces of crystallized ginger should help get that under control. Too much can cause an upset stomach, so don't take more than 2 grams at a time.
Water, something most of us take for granted, might help keep you from getting a cold this winter. A 2005 study found that participants who gargled with tap water had fewer respiratory infections than those that didn't gargle during a cold and flu season.
If you've ever gotten a canker sore, you know just how miserable they can make you feel. Milk of magnesia dabbed on the mouth sore can give you some temporary relief. It won't heal the sore, but it will allow you to eat and drink without as much pain. One expert recommends you dab the canker sore first with a mixture of half water, half hydrogen peroxide, then apply the milk of magnesia.
Most women also realize that cranberry juice seems to help keep bladder infections at bay. This juice won't treat infections that are already present, but does seem to keep them from coming on in the first place. Experts recommend a 500mg dose twice a day, with the precaution that if you are already on a blood thinner, like warfarin (Coumadin), Plavix or aspirin, you need to be careful. Cranberry juice and pills can also thin your blood and combining that with these medicines can lead to bleeding.
Perhaps the strangest home remedy is the "off label" use for Vicks VapoRub. Menthol rubs are frequently used to help someone who's sick with a cold or upper respiratory infection breathe easier. But it can also help get rid of toenail fungus. A small study found that 15 of 18 participants that applied Vicks VapoRub once a day to the affected toenails either had a partial or complete elimination of the fungus. Cleaning the nail with a white vinegar soaked cotton ball before applying the menthol rub might help.
The next time you're looking around your pantry, take a look at some of the things you already have on hand that could help keep you and your family healthy.
2011年11月8日星期二
Local woman, son survive cancer during pregnancy
Franklin County resident Amy Hanley found out she had colorectal cancer while pregnant with her fourth child.
Hanley and 14-month-old Joshua are happy and healthy these days, but Hanley has started talking about going through chemotherapy treatments while pregnant to give hope to women who might find themselves in a similar situation.
She’s also written a book called “Surrender: Pregnant with Cancer.”
“There is hope. Being pregnant and having cancer at the same time isn’t hopeless,” Hanley said.
In fall 2009, Hanley found out she was pregnant, and she started bleeding from her rectum, she said.
Pregnant women sometimes develop hemorrhoids, and Hanley thought the bleeding may have come from that condition, she said.
“I lost the baby in November, but the bleeding continued,” she said. “It was because of the pregnancy that I became symptomatic, but it was only after I lost the baby that I went to the doctor.”
She couldn’t immediately see a doctor, and by the time the appointment came around, Hanley was pregnant again, she said. Doctors found a mass inside Hanley’s colon that — once biopsied — they diagnosed as cancer.
Surgeons cut the cancerous tumor away, but later found the disease had moved to a lymph node, and she would need to go through chemotherapy, Hanley said.
Cancer during pregnancy is rare, with about one in 1,000 pregnant women getting the disease, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Breast cancer is the most common cancer during pregnancy.
Several doctors warned her that trying to keep the pregnancy going would put her life in danger and urged her to have an abortion, she said.
“I knew that God had the power to save me and the baby. I didn’t know that he would, but I knew that he could,” she said.
Hanley found a doctor who had seen pregnant women with breast cancer — and their unborn babies — survive chemotherapy, and he agreed to treat her, she said.
“He did say, ‘I will not make you any promises about the baby,’ ” she said.
Although cancer treatments are dangerous to developing fetuses in the first trimester, the placenta acts like a shield during the second and third trimesters — blocking much of the harmful chemotherapy drugs, said Bobby Hanley, Amy Hanley’s husband.
Pregnancy and chemotherapy took their toll, and Amy Hanley spent weeks curled up on the couch, trying to recover and worrying about her family.
“Everybody believed I was going to die,” Amy Hanley said.
But as the chemotherapy continued, and her pre-natal checkups showed a steadily-growing baby, Amy Hanley started becoming more active and playing with her children.
It was a matter of reorganizing her priorities, she said.
“The things that were really important, I had the energy to do it,” she said. “I just didn’t worry about the clutter.”
Amy Hanley had a C-section and gave birth to a healthy baby, Joshua, on Aug. 28.
She still had painful radiation treatments to endure, but she decided she could do anything for her children, she said.
“One of the biggest things I learned was to live without fear,” she said. “I learned how to find something good every single day.”
The family’s story has garnered a lot of attention, said Bobby Hanley.
“I’m just glad to have my wife alive, glad to have my baby boy healthy,” he said.
Bobby Hanley recently read an account of a pregnant woman with cancer who died three days after her child was born.
“That brought a lot of those feelings back that I had hidden away for sometime,” he said.
If the woman had access to the same information or doctors his wife knew, maybe she would have lived, he said.
“There’s a lot of information in the medical field that’s not as up-to-date as it should be,” he said.
The Hanley family is set on giving back and makes care packages for chemotherapy patients, Amy Hanley said.
Hanley and 14-month-old Joshua are happy and healthy these days, but Hanley has started talking about going through chemotherapy treatments while pregnant to give hope to women who might find themselves in a similar situation.
She’s also written a book called “Surrender: Pregnant with Cancer.”
“There is hope. Being pregnant and having cancer at the same time isn’t hopeless,” Hanley said.
In fall 2009, Hanley found out she was pregnant, and she started bleeding from her rectum, she said.
Pregnant women sometimes develop hemorrhoids, and Hanley thought the bleeding may have come from that condition, she said.
“I lost the baby in November, but the bleeding continued,” she said. “It was because of the pregnancy that I became symptomatic, but it was only after I lost the baby that I went to the doctor.”
She couldn’t immediately see a doctor, and by the time the appointment came around, Hanley was pregnant again, she said. Doctors found a mass inside Hanley’s colon that — once biopsied — they diagnosed as cancer.
Surgeons cut the cancerous tumor away, but later found the disease had moved to a lymph node, and she would need to go through chemotherapy, Hanley said.
Cancer during pregnancy is rare, with about one in 1,000 pregnant women getting the disease, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology. Breast cancer is the most common cancer during pregnancy.
Several doctors warned her that trying to keep the pregnancy going would put her life in danger and urged her to have an abortion, she said.
“I knew that God had the power to save me and the baby. I didn’t know that he would, but I knew that he could,” she said.
Hanley found a doctor who had seen pregnant women with breast cancer — and their unborn babies — survive chemotherapy, and he agreed to treat her, she said.
“He did say, ‘I will not make you any promises about the baby,’ ” she said.
Although cancer treatments are dangerous to developing fetuses in the first trimester, the placenta acts like a shield during the second and third trimesters — blocking much of the harmful chemotherapy drugs, said Bobby Hanley, Amy Hanley’s husband.
Pregnancy and chemotherapy took their toll, and Amy Hanley spent weeks curled up on the couch, trying to recover and worrying about her family.
“Everybody believed I was going to die,” Amy Hanley said.
But as the chemotherapy continued, and her pre-natal checkups showed a steadily-growing baby, Amy Hanley started becoming more active and playing with her children.
It was a matter of reorganizing her priorities, she said.
“The things that were really important, I had the energy to do it,” she said. “I just didn’t worry about the clutter.”
Amy Hanley had a C-section and gave birth to a healthy baby, Joshua, on Aug. 28.
She still had painful radiation treatments to endure, but she decided she could do anything for her children, she said.
“One of the biggest things I learned was to live without fear,” she said. “I learned how to find something good every single day.”
The family’s story has garnered a lot of attention, said Bobby Hanley.
“I’m just glad to have my wife alive, glad to have my baby boy healthy,” he said.
Bobby Hanley recently read an account of a pregnant woman with cancer who died three days after her child was born.
“That brought a lot of those feelings back that I had hidden away for sometime,” he said.
If the woman had access to the same information or doctors his wife knew, maybe she would have lived, he said.
“There’s a lot of information in the medical field that’s not as up-to-date as it should be,” he said.
The Hanley family is set on giving back and makes care packages for chemotherapy patients, Amy Hanley said.
2011年11月7日星期一
Latest Treatments for Colorectal Diseases
Building on that commitment, patients can now take advantage of specialized treatments and procedures for diseases of the colon, rectum and anus, which were previously unavailable in the area, close to home.
Board-certified colon and rectal surgeon Peter M. Kaye, M.D., joined Ramapo Valley Surgical Associates one year ago. With his arrival came the availability of new, minimally invasive techniques that treat a wide range of colorectal disorders. Minimally invasive colorectal surgery offers many benefits to patients — compared to an open surgical approach — including less pain, minimal scarring, shorter hospital stays and faster return to normal activities. Dr. Kaye will work out of Good Samaritan Hospital, one of three facilities that are part of The Bon Secours Charity Health System.
Patients who require colon surgery often face a long and difficult recovery because the traditional, open method is highly invasive. In most cases, surgeons are required to make a long incision, and the average, required hospital stay generally lasts a week or more.
Dr. Kaye also brings unique expertise in performing laparoscopic colon resection, an alternative to an open operation that has revolutionized abdominal surgery. The technique is used to remove diseased sections of the colon that can result from colon cancer, polyps, diverticular disease, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal polyps, ulcerative colitis or large bowel obstruction.
“Laparoscopic colon resection requires a very steep learning curve. It’s technically a difficult surgery to perform,” notes Dr. Kaye.
According to the American College of Surgeons, fewer than 10% of all colon resections are done using this approach. During a laparoscopic colon resection, Dr. Kaye uses tiny incisions to introduce a camera and surgical instruments into the patient’s abdominal cavity. The high-powered camera lens transmits magnified images of the patient’s internal organs to a television monitor, which Dr. Kaye uses to help carefully guide him through the procedure as he removes the diseased section of the colon. Because the surgery is minimally invasive, patients have less pain and recover much faster than with traditional colon resection surgery. Laparoscopic colon resection takes more time to perform than an open method, but patients reap the benefits of less trauma to the body and minimal effects from surgery on their immune systems. They also require a shorter hospital stay, resume normal, daily activities sooner, and can often return to work earlier. Recent studies have found laparoscopic colon resection to be equivalent to the traditional open procedure in the treatment of colon cancer, while offering all the benefits of a laparoscopic approach.
In addition to his expertise as a colorectal surgeon, Dr. Kaye also diagnoses, treats and manages common disorders such as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and other related inflammatory conditions of the small and large intestine, diverticular diseases, functional intestinal diseases, and a variety of anorectal diseases — including hemorrhoids and anal fissures.
Board-certified colon and rectal surgeon Peter M. Kaye, M.D., joined Ramapo Valley Surgical Associates one year ago. With his arrival came the availability of new, minimally invasive techniques that treat a wide range of colorectal disorders. Minimally invasive colorectal surgery offers many benefits to patients — compared to an open surgical approach — including less pain, minimal scarring, shorter hospital stays and faster return to normal activities. Dr. Kaye will work out of Good Samaritan Hospital, one of three facilities that are part of The Bon Secours Charity Health System.
Patients who require colon surgery often face a long and difficult recovery because the traditional, open method is highly invasive. In most cases, surgeons are required to make a long incision, and the average, required hospital stay generally lasts a week or more.
Dr. Kaye also brings unique expertise in performing laparoscopic colon resection, an alternative to an open operation that has revolutionized abdominal surgery. The technique is used to remove diseased sections of the colon that can result from colon cancer, polyps, diverticular disease, inflammatory bowel disease, intestinal polyps, ulcerative colitis or large bowel obstruction.
“Laparoscopic colon resection requires a very steep learning curve. It’s technically a difficult surgery to perform,” notes Dr. Kaye.
According to the American College of Surgeons, fewer than 10% of all colon resections are done using this approach. During a laparoscopic colon resection, Dr. Kaye uses tiny incisions to introduce a camera and surgical instruments into the patient’s abdominal cavity. The high-powered camera lens transmits magnified images of the patient’s internal organs to a television monitor, which Dr. Kaye uses to help carefully guide him through the procedure as he removes the diseased section of the colon. Because the surgery is minimally invasive, patients have less pain and recover much faster than with traditional colon resection surgery. Laparoscopic colon resection takes more time to perform than an open method, but patients reap the benefits of less trauma to the body and minimal effects from surgery on their immune systems. They also require a shorter hospital stay, resume normal, daily activities sooner, and can often return to work earlier. Recent studies have found laparoscopic colon resection to be equivalent to the traditional open procedure in the treatment of colon cancer, while offering all the benefits of a laparoscopic approach.
In addition to his expertise as a colorectal surgeon, Dr. Kaye also diagnoses, treats and manages common disorders such as Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis and other related inflammatory conditions of the small and large intestine, diverticular diseases, functional intestinal diseases, and a variety of anorectal diseases — including hemorrhoids and anal fissures.
2011年11月6日星期日
Giant, inflatable colon does more than bring laughs
A 40-foot-long giant colon has converged on West Edmonton Mall, in an effort to let people know that colon health is sort of a laughing matter.
The inflatable colon, a free exhibit from the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada, is complete with designs of various colon-specific illnesses such as polyps, Crohn’s disease, hemorrhoids, ulcerative colitis and, most importantly, cancer. The CCAC wants to de-stigmatize the colon with creativity and humour. The colon will be on display until Sunday, Nov. 6.
“There’s this thing about anything below the belt,” said Ronald Basdeo, the exhibit manager. “So when you have this larger-than-life exhibit, you get through to people better. You walk in and there’s a hemorrhoid bigger than you.”
Uneasy laughter and apprehension are everywhere at the exhibit. Walking through a giant colon isn’t exactly the way any patron planned on spending his or her weekend, but on its first day, heavy foot traffic kept the exhibit busy, with some people taking the tour two or three times.
More than 250,000 Canadians have taken the Giant Colon Tour since 2009.
David Moores, 63, said the colon reminded him to schedule his next appointment, an appointment he keeps every five years following a scare in 2003.
“My brother had colon cancer,” said Moores. “His doctor in Calgary insisted that I go. It took him two to three years to talk me into it. He [the doctor] asked if he had any siblings, and my brother said, ‘I have one brother.’ ”
Moores’s experience isn’t an uncommon one. According to Basdeo, too many Canadians go without screening due to embarrassment.
Moores said the thought of a colonoscopy kept him from seeing his doctor, even in the face of cancer. When Moores finally was talked into going, he turned out to be OK, but he sees the error of his ways.
“For the sake of a half hour, the relief of knowing is worth it,” said Moores, noting the ease of the procedure. “I had it done in Fort McMurray. The doctor said, ‘Hello, Mr. Moores,’ put the intravenous in my hand, and the next thing I know, it’s over.”
Moores’s brother recovered from colon cancer, which has a cure rate of over 90 per cent when caught early.
Every year, about 22,500 Canadians are diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and 9,100 are dying from it, Basdeo said. Fewer would be in that position if the Fecal Immunochemical Test were more widely used, rather than the Fecal Occult Blood Test, he said.
“It’s giving a lot of false positives and negatives,” said Basdeo.
Both tests look at blood in stool samples, but the immunochemical test, which right now is used only in some B.C. cities, has a much higher sensitivity and specificity for abnormalities, the CCAC believes.
The giant colon is leased for $12,500 per day, $18,000 for two days and $24,000 for three days. The CCAC uses revenues for lobbying efforts and expanding the tour. With two giant colons already on tour, a third is in development, at a cost of $75,000.
Take a virtual tour of the exhibit.
The inflatable colon, a free exhibit from the Colorectal Cancer Association of Canada, is complete with designs of various colon-specific illnesses such as polyps, Crohn’s disease, hemorrhoids, ulcerative colitis and, most importantly, cancer. The CCAC wants to de-stigmatize the colon with creativity and humour. The colon will be on display until Sunday, Nov. 6.
“There’s this thing about anything below the belt,” said Ronald Basdeo, the exhibit manager. “So when you have this larger-than-life exhibit, you get through to people better. You walk in and there’s a hemorrhoid bigger than you.”
Uneasy laughter and apprehension are everywhere at the exhibit. Walking through a giant colon isn’t exactly the way any patron planned on spending his or her weekend, but on its first day, heavy foot traffic kept the exhibit busy, with some people taking the tour two or three times.
More than 250,000 Canadians have taken the Giant Colon Tour since 2009.
David Moores, 63, said the colon reminded him to schedule his next appointment, an appointment he keeps every five years following a scare in 2003.
“My brother had colon cancer,” said Moores. “His doctor in Calgary insisted that I go. It took him two to three years to talk me into it. He [the doctor] asked if he had any siblings, and my brother said, ‘I have one brother.’ ”
Moores’s experience isn’t an uncommon one. According to Basdeo, too many Canadians go without screening due to embarrassment.
Moores said the thought of a colonoscopy kept him from seeing his doctor, even in the face of cancer. When Moores finally was talked into going, he turned out to be OK, but he sees the error of his ways.
“For the sake of a half hour, the relief of knowing is worth it,” said Moores, noting the ease of the procedure. “I had it done in Fort McMurray. The doctor said, ‘Hello, Mr. Moores,’ put the intravenous in my hand, and the next thing I know, it’s over.”
Moores’s brother recovered from colon cancer, which has a cure rate of over 90 per cent when caught early.
Every year, about 22,500 Canadians are diagnosed with colorectal cancer, and 9,100 are dying from it, Basdeo said. Fewer would be in that position if the Fecal Immunochemical Test were more widely used, rather than the Fecal Occult Blood Test, he said.
“It’s giving a lot of false positives and negatives,” said Basdeo.
Both tests look at blood in stool samples, but the immunochemical test, which right now is used only in some B.C. cities, has a much higher sensitivity and specificity for abnormalities, the CCAC believes.
The giant colon is leased for $12,500 per day, $18,000 for two days and $24,000 for three days. The CCAC uses revenues for lobbying efforts and expanding the tour. With two giant colons already on tour, a third is in development, at a cost of $75,000.
Take a virtual tour of the exhibit.
2011年11月3日星期四
Nebraska gets new supply of lethal injection drug
Nebraska prison officials have obtained a new supply of one of the three drugs used in Nebraska's lethal-injection protocol, meaning the state can resume executions.
Immediately after the announcement was made Thursday, Attorney General Jon Bruning said his office had asked the Nebraska Supreme Court to set an execution date for death-row inmate Michael Ryan, convicted of killing James Thimm during a ritualistic torture at a farm near Rulo in 1985.
The Department of Correctional Services said it paid $5,411 for 485 grams of sodium thiopental Oct. 25 to NAARI, a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Switzerland.
The supply includes two batches (42 grams and 443 grams) with expiration dates of May 2013 and December 2013, respectively. Samples were tested and confirmed to be sodium thiopental by an independent U.S. laboratory.
"With the receipt of this chemical ... DCS stands ready to fulfill its statutory obligation with regard to capital punishment," director Robert Houston said.
The Department of Correctional Services had been without an approved supply of sodium thiopental since the Drug Enforcement Administration declared Nebraska illegally had imported the drug from an Indian company earlier this year.
Corrections officials said in December they had paid $2,056 to Kayem Pharmaceutical Pvt. Ltd. of India for 500 grams of sodium thiopental. The drug has been in short supply since last year, when the only U.S. manufacturer, Hospira Inc., said it was ending production because of death-penalty opposition overseas.
The Journal Star reported earlier that court documents show a lawyer with correctional services was told via an email message from the DEA that Nebraska's DEA registration did not allow it to import controlled substances.
The state then obtained an import license from the DEA on May 25.
A lawyer for death-row inmate Carey Dean Moore challenged the legality of a supply of a lethal injection drug the state bought from Kayem. Moore had been scheduled to be executed June 14, but the state Supreme Court issued a stay of execution while the lawyer, Jerry Soucie of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy, challenged the purchase in Douglas County District Court.
Aside from the now-moot challenge to the India drug purchase, Soucie is challenging Nebraska's lethal injection law, passed in 2009 after the state's high court ruled death in the electric chair amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.
He said lawmakers unconstitutionally allowed correctional services to set a lethal injection protocol and exceeded their authority by passing a law that changed Moore's sentence from death by electrocution to lethal injection.
Soucie also said Bruning's office continued to push for an execution date for Moore even though it knew -- but did not publicize -- that it could not use the drug it bought from Kayem.
Soucie since has amended his appeal, saying, among other things, that Moore was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment by being allowed to believe he might die on June 14. He also said Moore might have been denied his right of due process.
That challenge is pending.
Dave Cookson, chief deputy attorney general, said earlier that his office contacted officials in the U.S. Department of Justice and both sides agreed the state would apply for the proper import license and seek a new supply of the drug.
He also said the state could have had a supply of the needed drug by June 14.
Moore, 53, has been on death row since 1980, sentenced to die for killing Omaha cab drivers Maynard D. Helgeland and Reuel Eugene Van Ness during botched robberies in 1979.
The state has not executed an inmate since Robert Williams died in the electric chair in 1997.
A federal lawsuit filed in Arizona challenged the use of the drugs from overseas suppliers, saying they may be substandard and could lead to problems during executions. Late last month, the U.S. Justice Department ordered Arizona not to use its supply of sodium thiopental because it had been obtained illegally from Great Britain.
Immediately after the announcement was made Thursday, Attorney General Jon Bruning said his office had asked the Nebraska Supreme Court to set an execution date for death-row inmate Michael Ryan, convicted of killing James Thimm during a ritualistic torture at a farm near Rulo in 1985.
The Department of Correctional Services said it paid $5,411 for 485 grams of sodium thiopental Oct. 25 to NAARI, a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Switzerland.
The supply includes two batches (42 grams and 443 grams) with expiration dates of May 2013 and December 2013, respectively. Samples were tested and confirmed to be sodium thiopental by an independent U.S. laboratory.
"With the receipt of this chemical ... DCS stands ready to fulfill its statutory obligation with regard to capital punishment," director Robert Houston said.
The Department of Correctional Services had been without an approved supply of sodium thiopental since the Drug Enforcement Administration declared Nebraska illegally had imported the drug from an Indian company earlier this year.
Corrections officials said in December they had paid $2,056 to Kayem Pharmaceutical Pvt. Ltd. of India for 500 grams of sodium thiopental. The drug has been in short supply since last year, when the only U.S. manufacturer, Hospira Inc., said it was ending production because of death-penalty opposition overseas.
The Journal Star reported earlier that court documents show a lawyer with correctional services was told via an email message from the DEA that Nebraska's DEA registration did not allow it to import controlled substances.
The state then obtained an import license from the DEA on May 25.
A lawyer for death-row inmate Carey Dean Moore challenged the legality of a supply of a lethal injection drug the state bought from Kayem. Moore had been scheduled to be executed June 14, but the state Supreme Court issued a stay of execution while the lawyer, Jerry Soucie of the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy, challenged the purchase in Douglas County District Court.
Aside from the now-moot challenge to the India drug purchase, Soucie is challenging Nebraska's lethal injection law, passed in 2009 after the state's high court ruled death in the electric chair amounted to cruel and unusual punishment.
He said lawmakers unconstitutionally allowed correctional services to set a lethal injection protocol and exceeded their authority by passing a law that changed Moore's sentence from death by electrocution to lethal injection.
Soucie also said Bruning's office continued to push for an execution date for Moore even though it knew -- but did not publicize -- that it could not use the drug it bought from Kayem.
Soucie since has amended his appeal, saying, among other things, that Moore was subjected to cruel and unusual punishment by being allowed to believe he might die on June 14. He also said Moore might have been denied his right of due process.
That challenge is pending.
Dave Cookson, chief deputy attorney general, said earlier that his office contacted officials in the U.S. Department of Justice and both sides agreed the state would apply for the proper import license and seek a new supply of the drug.
He also said the state could have had a supply of the needed drug by June 14.
Moore, 53, has been on death row since 1980, sentenced to die for killing Omaha cab drivers Maynard D. Helgeland and Reuel Eugene Van Ness during botched robberies in 1979.
The state has not executed an inmate since Robert Williams died in the electric chair in 1997.
A federal lawsuit filed in Arizona challenged the use of the drugs from overseas suppliers, saying they may be substandard and could lead to problems during executions. Late last month, the U.S. Justice Department ordered Arizona not to use its supply of sodium thiopental because it had been obtained illegally from Great Britain.
2011年11月2日星期三
Detroit firefighter honored for rescuing family
Like most heroes, Sgt. Dennis Dooley, 46, of the Detroit Fire Department doesn't like being called one.
It doesn't matter that he was recently awarded the department's Meritorious Medallion Award for saving the lives of six people who would have perished in their home had he not nearly broken their front door down.
It doesn't matter that he was not on duty when he came upon the fire and thus wasn't wearing any protective gear when he ran up the smoke-filled stairs to awaken the family, who were already unresponsive due to smoke inhalation.
It doesn't matter that upon meeting Sgt. Dooley at Ladder 8, Engine 27 on W. Fort Street, he does not acknowledge the 4-inch-long burn on the side of his face until you ask outright, because it's all in a day's work.
And it doesn't matter that everybody who works alongside him here at the firehouse — this band of brothers who run into burning buildings for a living — say he's a unsung hero, most notably his chief Mike Cleland, who grabs Dooley by the shoulder as he attempts to skirt by unnoticed to tell you "Good man, here. We're sure proud of him."
In his personal life, Dooley is the kind of guy who moved into his sister's house for a few weeks so that she could tend to her dying husband. Says a sister-in-law: "He's wonderful guy and very much hates the spotlight on him."
Of course, knowing this was all the more reason for his fellow firefighters to rib him during the interview.
Just as he was answering a question, a voice broadcast on the intercom: "Sgt. Dooley, your wife is on the phone. She wants know when you want her to bring the medication for your hemorrhoids."
In fact, he only did the interview because his childhood buddy, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge David Allen, goaded him into it. For his part, Allen, (who comes from a family of Detroit cops and firefighters and knows whereof he speaks) says: "I have had many accomplishments, accolades and awards in my own life and career, but I'm not quite sure I measure up to his quiet integrity and bravery. He is one of my great heroes, and I hope my kids measure up to his example."
While Dooley says saving six lives was "nothing more than a kick in the door," Joe Peacross, Mary Allen, Lakysha Allen, Ahmad Cooper, Kijuanna Richardson and Khalil Warr would beg to differ.
All of them were asleep on May 1, a Sunday morning in their two-family flat on 1551 Military St. on the city's southwest side. Dooley was on his way to work, sitting at the light at Vernor and Livernois, just looking at the sky.
Firefighters are "always looking," he says, because after you've carried a limp child in your arms out of a fire, you are always looking. It's ingrained."
When he discovered the back of the house was engulfed in flames, Dooley started pounding on the front door with both fists. No sooner had he gotten everybody out when the entire first floor of the dwelling was leveled.
Days after the fire, the survivors came to the fire house to thank Dooley. TV cameras were rolling. They were calling him "Angel Dooley."
Dooley rolls his eyes. "I'm no angel, trust me. The only reason they were saved is because of the grace of God. I just get to be part of that grace."
He's not the hero, he says. His wife Annabel is. Because while he's been fighting fires for the last 21 years, she's been raising their five kids: three boys and two girls ranging in age from 22 to 3 years old.
He's not the hero, he says.
"All of these guys are," he says, with a wave of the hand. "I know when I go into a fire, I know that if something bad were to happen, there's a whole crew of guys that will come in and get me. I can say that about guys all over the city."
Dooley would prefer us to settle on a hero among heroes. Sorry Dennis, but your buddy Judge Allen knows better: "In a world full of bad news and in need of a hero," he said, "here we have one right under our nose."
It doesn't matter that he was recently awarded the department's Meritorious Medallion Award for saving the lives of six people who would have perished in their home had he not nearly broken their front door down.
It doesn't matter that he was not on duty when he came upon the fire and thus wasn't wearing any protective gear when he ran up the smoke-filled stairs to awaken the family, who were already unresponsive due to smoke inhalation.
It doesn't matter that upon meeting Sgt. Dooley at Ladder 8, Engine 27 on W. Fort Street, he does not acknowledge the 4-inch-long burn on the side of his face until you ask outright, because it's all in a day's work.
And it doesn't matter that everybody who works alongside him here at the firehouse — this band of brothers who run into burning buildings for a living — say he's a unsung hero, most notably his chief Mike Cleland, who grabs Dooley by the shoulder as he attempts to skirt by unnoticed to tell you "Good man, here. We're sure proud of him."
In his personal life, Dooley is the kind of guy who moved into his sister's house for a few weeks so that she could tend to her dying husband. Says a sister-in-law: "He's wonderful guy and very much hates the spotlight on him."
Of course, knowing this was all the more reason for his fellow firefighters to rib him during the interview.
Just as he was answering a question, a voice broadcast on the intercom: "Sgt. Dooley, your wife is on the phone. She wants know when you want her to bring the medication for your hemorrhoids."
In fact, he only did the interview because his childhood buddy, Wayne County Circuit Court Judge David Allen, goaded him into it. For his part, Allen, (who comes from a family of Detroit cops and firefighters and knows whereof he speaks) says: "I have had many accomplishments, accolades and awards in my own life and career, but I'm not quite sure I measure up to his quiet integrity and bravery. He is one of my great heroes, and I hope my kids measure up to his example."
While Dooley says saving six lives was "nothing more than a kick in the door," Joe Peacross, Mary Allen, Lakysha Allen, Ahmad Cooper, Kijuanna Richardson and Khalil Warr would beg to differ.
All of them were asleep on May 1, a Sunday morning in their two-family flat on 1551 Military St. on the city's southwest side. Dooley was on his way to work, sitting at the light at Vernor and Livernois, just looking at the sky.
Firefighters are "always looking," he says, because after you've carried a limp child in your arms out of a fire, you are always looking. It's ingrained."
When he discovered the back of the house was engulfed in flames, Dooley started pounding on the front door with both fists. No sooner had he gotten everybody out when the entire first floor of the dwelling was leveled.
Days after the fire, the survivors came to the fire house to thank Dooley. TV cameras were rolling. They were calling him "Angel Dooley."
Dooley rolls his eyes. "I'm no angel, trust me. The only reason they were saved is because of the grace of God. I just get to be part of that grace."
He's not the hero, he says. His wife Annabel is. Because while he's been fighting fires for the last 21 years, she's been raising their five kids: three boys and two girls ranging in age from 22 to 3 years old.
He's not the hero, he says.
"All of these guys are," he says, with a wave of the hand. "I know when I go into a fire, I know that if something bad were to happen, there's a whole crew of guys that will come in and get me. I can say that about guys all over the city."
Dooley would prefer us to settle on a hero among heroes. Sorry Dennis, but your buddy Judge Allen knows better: "In a world full of bad news and in need of a hero," he said, "here we have one right under our nose."
2011年11月1日星期二
Blackstrap molasses can help give relief from hemorrhoids
I tried numerous OTC remedies to ease my inflamed hemorrhoids, to no avail. I had pretty much resigned myself to the fact that surgery was the only answer left.
I was in absolute misery until I found a testimonial about blackstrap molasses for hemorrhoids in “The People’s Pharmacy” column and decided to give it a try. As crazy as it sounds, I take 2 teaspoons a day, and the improvement has been amazing and immediate.
It has been three weeks, and the problem is 95 percent better. The bleeding has stopped, and the pain is gone. This is so astounding I had to encourage others to try it.
We have heard from many readers who have found taking a spoonful of blackstrap molasses helps hemorrhoid symptoms. Blackstrap molasses results from the third boiling of cane syrup to extract the sugar and contains residual minerals, such as manganese, copper, iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium. One of these, or perhaps the combination, might be responsible for the benefits you have observed.
Two teaspoons contain 32 calories from 8 grams of carbohydrates.
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a few years ago, and my doctor started me on metformin. At first it caused horrible diarrheTaking the drug with food lessened that problem a bit.
Now I find that the constant burning in my throat and chest is unbearable. Even the Nexium I take doesn’t help.
My short-term memory is deteriorating. Could metformin be responsible? Are there any natural approaches that might help with my blood sugar control and my heartburn?
Metformin is a very useful medication to control blood sugar in type 2 diabetes. Gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea, flatulence and indigestion are fairly common side effects. They usually fade after several months of use, so if your heartburn has just started, you should contact your doctor promptly.
Metformin and Nexium (esomeprazole) can interfere with the absorption of vitamin B-12. Over time, the level of this vitamin could become low enough to affect memory. Ask your doctor to check your B-12 level so that you will know if you should take a supplement.
You recently wrote that sea salt has no iodine, but there are brands on the market that are iodized. I use Hain Iodized Sea Salt, and I also have seen Morton Iodized Sea Salt. I trust this is a better choice than regular salt.
Thank you for alerting us to these brands of iodized sea salt. When you use one of them, you don’t have to worry about too little iodine in the diet causing goiter. Most commercial sea salt has very little iodine, raising the concern about thyroid health and goiter.
I had high triglycerides until I read about taking1/4 teaspoon a day of cinnamon. My triglycerides have been perfect ever since. Sugar is the culprit in high triglycerides.
Other readers also have found that cinnamon can help control triglycerides. Cinnamon blunts the rapid rise in blood sugar and insulin after a meal.
I was in absolute misery until I found a testimonial about blackstrap molasses for hemorrhoids in “The People’s Pharmacy” column and decided to give it a try. As crazy as it sounds, I take 2 teaspoons a day, and the improvement has been amazing and immediate.
It has been three weeks, and the problem is 95 percent better. The bleeding has stopped, and the pain is gone. This is so astounding I had to encourage others to try it.
We have heard from many readers who have found taking a spoonful of blackstrap molasses helps hemorrhoid symptoms. Blackstrap molasses results from the third boiling of cane syrup to extract the sugar and contains residual minerals, such as manganese, copper, iron, calcium, potassium and magnesium. One of these, or perhaps the combination, might be responsible for the benefits you have observed.
Two teaspoons contain 32 calories from 8 grams of carbohydrates.
I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes a few years ago, and my doctor started me on metformin. At first it caused horrible diarrheTaking the drug with food lessened that problem a bit.
Now I find that the constant burning in my throat and chest is unbearable. Even the Nexium I take doesn’t help.
My short-term memory is deteriorating. Could metformin be responsible? Are there any natural approaches that might help with my blood sugar control and my heartburn?
Metformin is a very useful medication to control blood sugar in type 2 diabetes. Gastrointestinal symptoms such as diarrhea, nausea, flatulence and indigestion are fairly common side effects. They usually fade after several months of use, so if your heartburn has just started, you should contact your doctor promptly.
Metformin and Nexium (esomeprazole) can interfere with the absorption of vitamin B-12. Over time, the level of this vitamin could become low enough to affect memory. Ask your doctor to check your B-12 level so that you will know if you should take a supplement.
You recently wrote that sea salt has no iodine, but there are brands on the market that are iodized. I use Hain Iodized Sea Salt, and I also have seen Morton Iodized Sea Salt. I trust this is a better choice than regular salt.
Thank you for alerting us to these brands of iodized sea salt. When you use one of them, you don’t have to worry about too little iodine in the diet causing goiter. Most commercial sea salt has very little iodine, raising the concern about thyroid health and goiter.
I had high triglycerides until I read about taking1/4 teaspoon a day of cinnamon. My triglycerides have been perfect ever since. Sugar is the culprit in high triglycerides.
Other readers also have found that cinnamon can help control triglycerides. Cinnamon blunts the rapid rise in blood sugar and insulin after a meal.
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