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Breast Cancer Treatment Must Be Tailored to the Patient’s Needs

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A cancer diagnosis can be a frightening thing for the over 200,000 women who are diagnosed each year. As of right now, there is no breast cancer cure. However, there are numerous breast cancer treatment options for women. These range from methods that have been around for decades, such as surgery and radiation, to new and upcoming proton radiation therapy. Below is a brief breakdown of the many options available.

Cancer treatment is separated into local treatments or systemic treatment. The difference is simply that local treatment focuses on the exact location of the tumor. Systemic treatments treat the whole system. Your doctor will recommend which to try first.

As local treatment focuses solely on the tumor, a direct approach is attempted first. Surgery to remove the tumor is attempted, and followed up with radiation. This may take the form of external or internal beams, both of which use high energy rays similar to an X-ray.

The actual radiation is reported to not be painful, nor does the actual radiation period take very long. What may actually be time consuming is when the specialist carefully marks the skin to ensure the beams hit the exact area where the tumor was. One new option for treatment at this stage is proton beam radiation.

While not a breast cancer cure, proton cancer treatment has some promising statistics in clinical studies. Radiation, whether external or internal, has the undesirable tendency to be directed into the tissue until it reaches the tumor, travels through it, and continues on a path to the other side as well. This presents the challenge of administering radiation to shrink the cancerous cells, while also administering that radiation to healthy tissues.

Proton therapy is exciting to some oncologists because while it does target the tumor with its beams, the beams stop when they reach the tumor and go no further. Studies have shown that using proton therapy instead of traditional radiation on average results in a 50% reduction in beams hitting the lungs, and none touching the patient’s heart. For those patients with prostate cancer receiving treatment, the results have also been promising, with about 94% of male patients able to avoid impotency while on a treatment schedule.

The length of time for the treatment is not greatly reduced however. The average patient will still have a set-up time of between 15 to 45 minutes. Actually time under the proton beams is only a few minutes. The real difference is said to be in the reduced risk of damaging healthy tissues in the pursuit to be rid of the cancer.

There are many treatments, but no breast cancer cure as of yet. With promising new treatment options such as proton therapy, the diagnosis of breast cancer does not need to be as frightening as it once was. Each patient has their own unique requirements for treatment. Make sure you discuss your options with your doctor to see what will work best for you.

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Three Benefits to Using an Urgent Care Clinic Rather Than Waiting for an Appointment

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Many people turn to their doctor when they start having issues related to back pain, a sudden sprain, or feel as though they are coming down with the flu. When seeking medical care, it might be better for individuals to make a trip to their local urgent care clinic instead of waiting until morning to be seen by their regular doctor. After hours urgent care can offer a shorter visit than the emergency room, along with longer hours than a traditional doctors office. Here are three benefits of going to visit a clinic instead of one?s regular doctor.

There is a Shorter Waiting Time With Urgent Care and the Hours Are Usually Longer

Over 80% of urgent care centers are open at least six days a week, with some being open every day. Compare this with a doctor?s office, which may only be open Monday-Friday. Since urgent care clinics are used to see patients as quickly as possible and treating them in an efficient manner, they are able to get them out sooner compared to an emergency room, where people are known to wait for hours before being seen by a doctor sometimes.

Urgent Care Centers Provide Just as Much Help as a Normal Doctor?s Office

Doctors who work in urgent care provide much of the same assistance as a regular doctor?s office would. This includes treating everything from the flu, to even more serious issues, such as sprains and fractures. Over half of all urgent care clinics offer assistance to individuals who have received fractures, making them just as helpful as an emergency room. An urgent care facility is designed to take care of patients in an efficient manner, no matter what type of problem they are experiencing.

Urgent Care Clinics Are Popping Up All Over the Country

Urgent care clinics were once not as common, and thus not everyone could enjoy their help and benefits. Today, over 2 million people visit the urgent care each week, showing how much this type of healthcare has grown, and why it is so desirable for many individuals. Everyone from babies and small children to older adults can visit, and although insurance plans do vary, they generally cover the cost of a person visiting the urgent care clinic. This provides many people with the benefits they need to protect their health no matter what.

Urgent clinic care is one of the preferred ways for individuals to heal themselves. It allows them to wait for shorter periods of time than they would with an emergency room, and they can often be seen quickly. These centers can handle all the same problems a normal doctor?s office would, from back problems to colds. Finally, urgent care clinics are growing all across the country, which is allowing people to take advantage of much needed healthcare, and be healed sooner than they would other normal circumstances.

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Let Vitamins Improve Your Life

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In the early 1940s, products like multivitamin/mineral (MVM) first became available to the American public. Since then, Americans have created and continued the trend of taking these daily vitamins to improve their lives. However, not all Americans are completely aware of how much vitamins can benefit them, and they are also quite unaware to the different types of vitamins and how they can benefit your body. For instance, there are different types of vitamins such as: antioxidant supplements, supplements for digestion, supplements to speed up metabolism, and also hormonal balance supplements. These key terms and vitamins are confusing in nature unless you are a nutrients of sorts or someone who just so happens to already love and utilize vitamins. Here’s some of the things you should know about some of the more complex vitamins and multivitamins, such as hormonal balance supplements.

An estimated two-thirds of American adults will take at the very least one dietary supplement, most often that supplement is a multivitamin or a mineral pill. There are so many benefits to taking vitamins outside the boundaries of hormonal balance supplements. Even if you do not need specifically need to take hormonal balance supplements, you may want to look into other vitamins. For instance, metabolic health products have been proven to help the average American citizen stay healthy. They do so by speeding up the metabolism of the person that takes them so that they burn fat in a much more efficient way but using energy. If you are older and find yourself holding onto body fat even when you exercise and eat as healthy as possible, there is absolutely no shame in getting help and using supplements to increase metabolism and lose weight. Some people take other vitamins besides hormonal balance supplements, to help them in the process of removing toxins from the body. This can help to flush out their system of crud and waste that may be building up inside of them. While most of the time, eating right and treating your body well can help keep your digestive system healthy and flowing, there are times where you can have a build up of waste in your color and it can back up your digestive system making it much more difficult to process food. Hormonal balance supplements can help those who need to balance out hormones for instance, a woman who is going through pregnancy or someone who obviously has an unbalance in hormones.

If you are someone who wonders if they need to use hormonal balance supplements, schedule an appointment with a doctor or a nutritionist first just to make sure that is the case. If that is so, then you should move forward with taking these hormonal balance supplements. If you are someone who needs them, there is no question that they can greatly benefit you.

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5 Tips for Dealing With Sleep Apnea Symptoms

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Sleep apnea is a common medical condition. Some even believe that it is more common than many believe to be the case. This is likely contributed to the fact that there are many undiagnosed cases of sleep apnea. Two to four percent of all Americans have an undiagnosed case of sleep apnea. This accounts for approximately one in 50 individuals being undiagnosed. How can sleep apnea become more of a widely recognized medical condition? How can you protect yourself from the negative consequences of a potential undiagnosed case of sleep apnea?

Raise awareness

Raising awareness is important in increasing knowledge and understanding of a medical condition. Because many people are unaware of what sleep apnea is, many people do not realize that they could be suffering from it. Not only does this prevent a good night of sleep, but it also prevents the person from getting the CPAP machine and supplies they require, which could potentially be life saving. People that have an untreated case of sleep apnea face a risk of stroke that is four times as likely as those who are not afflicted.

Keep regular physician appointments

The majority of Americans never see their physician, unless they feel ill or they are injured. Although extensive medical care is not needed regularly, regular visits are important for monitoring purposes. Your physician cannot recommend a used CPAP machine for sale if they are not aware of your sleep apnea symptoms. They cannot fit you for a minimal contact full face mask without knowing that a used CPAP machine for sale will benefit you. Additionally, sleep apnea, when left untreated, affects many other parts of the body. Regular physician checkups are important in monitoring these.

Consider co occurring medical conditions

Because many patients see multiple physicians for different medical conditions, they are never thought of as a whole. In many cases, medical conditions that produce entirely different symptoms are related. One can cause another one. Always consider your co occurring medical conditions. Even if you see a specialist for your asthma, for example, consider the relationship between asthma and sleep apnea with your regular physician. The relationship between asthma and sleep apnea are actually quite common. In a study, asthma patients faced an almost 40% greater risk for sleep apnea than asthma free participants. Asthma patients are more likely to benefit from CPAP supplies, like a used CPAP machine for sale.

Evaluate life saving equipment

The two most common types of sleep apnea treatment include CPAP and BIPAP machines. BIPAP vs CPAP carry different advantages and disadvantages and should be carefully researched. You can work with your physician on the right type of equipment for your specific sleep apnea symptoms. You will also want to fact in comfort and your ability to use the CPAP machine supplies on a nightly basis. A used CPAP machine for sale is a great way to save a couple of dollars while you figure out which one works best for you.

Remain consistent

Whichever type of sleep apnea machine you choose, it is important to remain consistent with usage. While many patients with sleep apnea initially try out either a BIPAP or CPAP machine, most do not continue. They find them to be uncomfortable. Not using the machine on a daily basis, however, can be very dangerous and can lead to further medical conditions. If your insurance provider covered the cost of the machine, you may even be required to use it every night.

There are many Americans who suffer with sleep apnea. There are many more Americans who showcase the symptoms of sleep apnea, but are unaware of the medical condition. Raising awareness is important in increasing the knowledge and information available about sleep apnea. If you have sleep apnea symptoms, you will want to visit with your physician regularly for routine checkups, test out different BIPAP and CPAP machines, and consistently use one during sleep. Protection is a priority when it comes to dealing with sleep apnea symptoms.

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Do You Need a Detox Doctor?

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We live in complicated times. From morning bars in Washington, D.C., opening early for this morning’s testimony of fired FBI director James Comey to this week’s news that drug overdoses are now the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50, it is difficult to deny that the need for drug and alcohol detox centers are more necessary now than ever before. If you have a loved one who is need of either a drug or alcohol detox center, however, you are likely laser focused on your personal situation far more than the drinking games of political insiders or the nation’s latest statistics about deaths in this country. And while you might be dealing with a personal opioid crisis in your home, you are far more focused on saving the singular life of your son, daughter, spouse, or other loved one, than the loss of lives of those you do not know.
In a nation where access to legalized marijuana continues to grow with every election cycle, there are plenty of indicators that the need for successful drug and alcohol detox centers is becoming increasingly important.

  • Family practice doctors can serve as the first step in finding local drug and alcoholism treatment options.
  • In all cases, drug detox must be completed before drug rehabilitation can begin.
  • Numbers indicate that more than 5,000 visits to emergency rooms every day are attributed to drug abuse.
  • Deciding on a detox doctor or deciding on a detox center can be the first step on the road to recovery.
  • In the case of four in five new heroin users, their drug history started with stared misusing prescription painkillers.
  • Notably, only about 10% to 20% of alcoholics have alcohol withdrawal that is severe enough to require medication and monitoring.
  • Given that the most vulnerable to problem drinking are young adults between the ages of 18 and 29, it often requires the assistance of parents for these patients to find the most hopeful treatment options.



  • Having delirium tremens (DTs) can be a life-threatening condition involving sudden and severe mental or nervous system changes. The DTs usually develop within 48 to 96 hours after the last drink, but it is also possible to experience DTs as many as 10 days after drinking.
  • Estimates indicate that 10% of U.S. children live with a parent with alcohol problems.
  • Life with an addict can be stressful, expensive, and harmful.
  • Patients dealing with alcohol addiction, on average, receive treatment eight years after the age at when they first develop the condition.



  • Families with a member who has an alcohol or drug addict live a complicated life, with fear of the future, as well as fear of present day to day events.
  • One telling statistic is that of those emergency room patients admitted for injuries, 47% tested positive for alcohol, and 35% were intoxicated. Of those patients who were intoxicated, 75% showed signs of chronic alcoholism.
  • Roughly 20% of college students meet the criteria for an Alcohol Use Disorder.



  • Although people over the age of 65 are the least susceptible to alcohol addiction problems, even older Americans can find themselves in need of viable treatment options.
  • Drugs like heroin, which have shorter half-libes, have shorter-acting, withdrawal symptoms which can begin six to 12 hours after the last dose. Longer acting drugs such as methadone, LAAM, or buprenorphine, however, have symptoms that may take anywhere from one to two days to present.
  • Drugs like short acting opioids have withdrawal symptoms that typically peak within one to three days and normally taper off over the course of a week. Chronic symptoms such as insomnia, anxiety, and dysphoria may last for weeks or months following initial withdrawal.
  • In the year 2015, an estimated 21,000 adolescents had used heroin in the past year, and an estimated 5,000 were current heroin users. In addition, an estimated 6,000 adolescents had a heroin use disorder in 2014.
  • Chemical examinations indicate that there are three main types of active ingredients in FDA approved medications to treat opioid dependency: methadone, buprenorphine, and naltrexone.
  • The family that is looking at drug or alcohol detox centers for a loved one is desperate for both solutions and survival skills.
  • Statistics indicate that drug overdose was the leading cause of accidental death in the U.S. in the year 2015, and continues to be a threat to lives today.

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Dealing with Trachs and Other Difficult Scenarios Post Surgery with Skilled In Home Nursing Care

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One of the most important pursuits for most people is the pursuit of good health, and in this context, there can be a lot of important decisions that need to be made to ensure best results. Some of these decisions have to do with how to live your life in the best way possible, adopt the best habits and follow the best practices so as to lead a naturally healthy life in a holistic way. Other important things that might come into the picture from time to time are taking care of serious health conditions and diseases that can affect people when they are least expecting them in spite of their best efforts, and finding a solution regarding the kind of care and attention that people would need while they are recovering from these diseases, either after serious medical treatment or surgery. There are a lot of things that can go wrong during post-operative care, creating unnecessary complications. The period of restorative care after treatment should bring about rapid recovery and improve your quality of life and comfort, and for this reason, if you have recently undergone surgery or intense medical treatment of any kind, it might make sense to spend your time of recovery at a skilled nursing care facility, or opt for skilled nursing care at home.

One of the most important periods of time if you are trying to recover from a serious health condition is the period of post-hospitalization care, and this is also the time when things have the potential to go wrong. During hospitalization, it is likely that you could experience a serious loss of mobility and motor functions, have trachs and transfusion channels placed in your body for the long term, and also have other problems that need constant monitoring and professional help. For these reasons, skilled nursing in home care can be an extremely good option, something that allows you to go through your recovery process unhindered and unencumbered, with the aid of professional nurses and caregivers that can cater to your every requirement during this period. There can be no viable replacement for in home skilled nursing care, and the requirements of the job definitely warrant the presence of skilled, experienced professional nurses who would be adept at the job of dealing with things like stents, catheters and trachs and other impediments that you might have during recovery.

Another important reason why opting for a skilled nursing facility or nursing care at home might be the best productive option is that recovery times can receive a great boost with this arrangement. There are a lot of complications that can arise during recovery, especially if you have undergone surgery of some kind, and this is where the importance of skilled care can really be felt. For example, many surgical treatments involve the placing of trachs into the windpipe. While this may seem to be a relatively simple matter, dealing with trachs can be difficult. There can be a significant chance of infection while dealing with trachs, and the adequate measures need to be adopted to ensure that your trachs implant can function properly at all times, allowing you to breathe easily. This is not as simple as it looks, and the presence of high quality nursing personnel at home can really impact the way your recovery commences.

Keeping all this in mind, whenever you are faced with a situation where there has been significant medical or surgical treatment and you need to attain speedy recovery, some form of skilled nursing care, whether at home or in a nearby professional facility, can be one of the best solutions. This can lead to faster recovery times and a much more comfortable and relaxed time while you are trying to recuperate from a major surgery, and help you get the peace of mind from skilled care.

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CPR Training and Certification Ensure That Your Staff Is Prepared

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Heart attacks are, unfortunately, a common phenomenon. Every year, approximately 750,000 people in the United States alone will experience a heart attack, and for this will be fatal for 15% of these individuals.

When someone experiences sudden cardiac arrest, their chances of survival drop 10% for every minute they don’t receive defibrillation. However, their possibility of survival can double or triple when Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) is performed within the first few minutes.

According to heart experts, 522 lives could be saved every year in the United States and Canada if Automated External Defibrillators (AEDs) were placed in accessible public locations. Research shows that survival rates have more than doubled when AEDs have been used by witnesses when someone is having a heart attack or is experiencing an errant heart rhythm.

If someone experiences sudden cardiac arrest when they are outside of a hospital, their chances of survival are 1 in 5%. This underlines the importance of having strategically-placed AEDs in a variety of settings as well as for more individuals to have regular training to obtain their CPR license.

While many people outside the medical profession have undergone training and certification, it has been estimated that 70% of Americans have forgotten how to administer CPR or have not received any training.

A survey was conducted in 2005 that showed many individuals don’t know all the major symptoms associated with a heart attack. While 92% did know that chest pain can be a sign, just 27% were aware of the additional symptoms.


In order to ensure that more individuals are knowledgable of the major symptoms of a heart attack, and are able to respond accordingly, CPR classes are recommended. Once certified, recertification classes should be taken every 2 years.

Every year, the American Heart Association provides CPR training to 12 million people. This training is available for businesses, organizations, and private individuals so that they are able to provide assistance should someone experiences a heart attack outside of a medical setting. Since over 300,000 people of all ages die as a result of sudden cardiac arrest in the United States, it’s possible that many of these deaths could be prevented by having more individuals trained and certified to administer CPR.

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Seek an Insurance Review for In-Home Care Assistance

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The vast majority of elderly people who receive assistance (80%) live in private homes in the community, not in institutions. They prefer comfort care in their own homes. Most children agree that it is important in helping seniors remain independent. However, because of other responsibilities, in home care is not always possible.

In a study by Genworth Financial, more than half of all respondents (55%) reported that their greatest fear regarding a long-term care illness or other medical event was being a burden on their family. Senior home care specialists can help when family members are unable to. Certified caregivers can give quality care for your loved ones. They can help with more than medical needs. Home care assistance also includes shopping, cleaning, and in-home companionship. This all depends upon what the insurance covers.

Unfortunately, more than 90% surveyed have not talked about critical long-term care issues with their spouse/partner, aging parents or adult children. Long-term care insurance may not cover all the needs of your loved one. It is very important that these discussions take place in a timely manner. It is advantageous that you educate yourselves about what the senior care in home care options are.

Not all patients that require home care are seniors. Many families have one or more children that have disabilities, requiring home helpers. Research shows that 65.7 million family and informal caregivers provide care to someone who is disabled, ill, or aged in the United States. For most families, it is very beneficial to find out what their insurance covers in regards to in home care for them to be financially stable.


Most people vastly underestimate the likelihood they will require long-term care (According to Age Wave). While 37% of people age 50+ believe they may need long-term care in the future, but the reality is that twice as many eventually will (70%). It is beneficial to get the facts regarding in home care before the need arises. It is good to know that Those who received in-home care visited the doctor 25% fewer times than those that didn’t receive in-home care.