There is a small group of women who have unusual risk factors for breast cancer who should ignore the new guidelines and get yearly mammograms beginning at the age their doctor recommends.
The new guidelines override the long-established recommendations and their goal is to decrease damage from over treatment. It also suggest that women age 50 to 74 should get mammograms every two years, instead of the previously recommendation of every year. Plus it even said that doctors need to discontinue telling women to examine their breasts on a regular basis.

It was just seven years ago that the same group, containing different members, recommended that women get mammograms every one to two years beginning at age 40. Not enough verification was found to take a firm stand on breast self-examination.

The federal Department of Health and Human Services is the group that appoints the independent panel of experts that make up the task force.

The new guidelines, which will probably cause plenty of controversy over the benefits of breast cancer screening, are published online in The Annals of Internal Medicine.

A screening test can be harmful according to medical experts who say the risks are real. A test can spark more tests, such as biopsies, that can create overwhelming anxiety. I myself have experienced this firsthand. In my mid-40s I had a routine mammogram in which some small calcium deposits were detected. From there I went through a biopsy, along with extensive radiation from what I felt like was a ridiculous amount of x-ray pictures taken of various angles of my left breast. After all that, I had to wait an excruciating 14 days of anxiety to find out that everything was O.K.

The report says that the limited benefit of mammograms, reducing the breast cancer rate by 15 percent, needs to be measured against the harms. Those harms are more immense for women in their 40s, because they are 60 percent more likely to experience them than women 50 and older, but less likely to develop breast cancer, distorting the risk-benefit equation. The task force surmised that one cancer death is prevented for every 1,904 women age 40 to 49 who are screened for 10 years, in contrast with one death for every 1,339 women age 50 to 59, and one death for every 377 women age 60 to 69.

Of course the guidelines do not apply to women who are at increased risk for breast cancer due to a gene mutation making cancer more likely or because they have had substantial amounts of chest radiation. Experts also said that women with close relatives who have had breast cancer were also at higher risk.

The National Cancer Institute said that it was re-evaluating its previous guidelines because of the task force’s new report. This said, the American Cancer Society and the American College of Radiology both said that they are standing by their guidelines that advise women to begin annual mammograms at age 40.

Dr. Diana Petitti, vice chairwoman of the task force and a professor of biomedical informatics at Arizona State University, said she knew the guidelines would be shocking for many women, but “we have to say what we see based on the science and the data.”

The researchers at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston discovered that disturbed sleep patterns increased blood sugar levels and   slowed  down the body’s metabolic rate, which is the rate at which the body burns calories while at rest.

By imitating jet lag and normal shift work sleep hours over a course of time, this study was the first to observe sleep behaviors in an totally controlled laboratory environment.

Earlier studies revealed that shift workers were at increased risk for obesity and diabetes due to their disrupted sleep patterns and unhealthy eating habits.

The CDC claims that around 40 percent of people in the U.S. do not get adequate sleep during any given month.

Some V.S.D.s will close as the child grows, usually when the hole is significantly smaller. Larger V.S.D.s, on the other hand, tend to call for surgical repair, as stated by Dr. Sean Levchuck, who is chairman of pediatric cardiology at St. Francis Hospital, The Heart Center, in Roslyn, N.Y. He said that “in the past, open-heart surgery was used to close these holes, but today a new, less-invasive catheter-based technique has been developed.”

V.S.D. sometimes can be diagnosed before birth using a fetal echocardiogram, but most of the time it is discovered after birth. Some of the symptoms are sweating, fatigue or rapid and heavy breathing.

The new technique no longer requires open-heart surgery. During the procedure, a catheter is inserted into a blood vessel in the groin area and then guided to the region of the heart defect. Using the catheter, the interventional cardiologist closes the opening with a patch and then removes the catheter. It takes about two hours, and patients are usually able to go home the next day. Since they have a small bandage over a small area of the groin, instead of a large chest area, they can now recover much faster and with less pain.

Dr. Levchuck says that he believes the new catheter-based procedure will also be used to treat adults in the future. Levchuck claims, “This is the frontier of treatment for structural heart disease and managing V.S.D. with catheter-based technology.”

The Heart Center at St. Francis Hospital, founded in 1922, is New York State’s only specialized designated cardiac center. It provides one of the leading cardiac care programs in the U.S. and specializes in heart surgery, cardiac catheterization and angioplasty, along with the detection and treatment of abnormal heart rhythms.

A recent study has found that the number of diabetes cases has soared to around 347 million, more than doubling over the past thirty years.

Since diabetes usually hits around middle age, most of the rise is due to the aging population and population growth, but some of the increase is due to mounting obesity rates.

Experts have reported that the disease is no longer just a problem in richer countries but is now a world-wide concern, since it is a growing obstacle just about everywhere.

Majid Ezzati, chair of global environmental health at Imperial College London and one of the study authors, said “diabetes may well become the defining issue of global health for the next decade.” He also brought up the fact that the numbers don’t take into account all the overweight children and young adults who haven’t reached middle age. This could later cause an immense burden on our health care systems. He claimed, “we are not at the peak of this wave yet and unlike high blood pressure and cholesterol, we still don’t have great treatments for diabetes.”

This said, in Britain and other places in Western Europe, in spite of increasing waistlines, there was just a small rise in diabetes. So far experts are not sure why this is and believe there could be many reasons such as inadequate detection of the disease, genetic differences or maybe that Europeans are better at helping overweight people decrease their chances of developing diabetes.

The most common type of diabetes is Type 2 and it is usually related to obesity. It emerges when the body isn’t able to make enough insulin to break down glucose, thus raising blood sugar levels. Diet, exercise and medication can help manage the disease, but dangerously high blood sugar damages nerves, which can result in kidney disease, amputation and even blindness.

To acquire their estimate, Ezzati and his colleagues examined over 150 national health surveys and studies tracking Type 2 diabetes in adults over 25 in 199 countries and territories. They figured that there were around 347 million people with diabetes around the globe. An earlier study in 2010, that used different methods, estimated there were 285 million with diabetes. There were 153 million found in 1980, but these figures came with a large margin of error, which ranged from 314 to 382 million.

Doctors are concerned that the higher inclinations of some groups such as Asians, black and Hispanics to diabetes, could substantially escalate rates in the future. Although this is very disheartening, some doctors and researchers are optimistic that the depressing trend could possibly be reversed. Michelle Obama’s fight against childhood obesity is one step in the right direction.

Since there has been an increase in elevated cholesterol levels in children, some doctors are concerned that children will be prescribed  cholesterol-lowering statins such as Lipitor. The worry is over the lack of extensive studies on the effects these statins have on the developing bodies of young children. However, Stephen R. Daniels, M.D., a University of Colorado pediatrician, is not concerned and believes that  the probability of children being prescribed these statins is very unlikely. He estimates that a mere 1 percent of children or less will have levels that are elevated enough to necessitate prescription drugs. An elevated number would be 190 mg/dL or more, or at least 160 mg/dL if there already exists a family history of heart disease or other risk factors like being obese. So what should the majority of children do? Simply eat right and exercise.

If your child’s cholesterol number happens to be high and his or her doctor recommends a prescription for a statin, it would probably be wise if you get a second opinion from a specialist such as a pediatric cardiologist. These types of specialists can determine whether a statin is absolutely necessary by looking at all the elements such as your family medical history and if your child has ever been diagnosed with any conditions that may effect cholesterol.

Researchers reported this month in The New England Journal of Medicine that the death rate from colorectal cancer was slashed by a vast 53 percent in patients who were observed for 20 years.  These patients had the colonoscopy test and also had precancerous growths, called adenomatous, removed.

During a colonoscopy, a narrow, flexible tube containing a microscopic camera is steered through the large intestine. As it travels through the intestine, growths found can be removed and later checked for cancer. Even though patients are sedated throughout the procedure, many are anxious about the test, because they have to eat a special diet and drink an unsavory solution the day before so that the bowels are cleared.

This new study finally gives independent researchers the greatest proof so fat that colonoscopy does prevent deaths. People have always assumed that this test surely saves lives because it comes so highly recommended, but there has not been enough evidence until now.

To perform the test, a group of researchers observed 2,602 patients who had adenomatous polyps removed during colonoscopies in a ten year period of time from 1980 to 1990. Even though 25.4 deaths from colon cancer was predicted in the group, only 12 deaths actually occurred. These figures reveal a 53 percent reduction.

This said, the new study on colonoscopy does have some shortcomings. All though it was not a randomized clinical trial, some experts believe it was performed proficiently and provides some answers to some uncertainties about the successfulness of  the procedure to reduce deaths due to colon cancer.

BCBSNC will allow you to purchase a single policy for your child only. If you are interested in acquiring a policy to cover your child or adopted or foster child without covering yourself, you may choose from Blue Advantage, Blue Advantage Saver or Blue Options HSA. Once your child’s policy becomes effective, your child will obtain full plan benefits, such as well-child, well-baby care and immunizations. Upon applying, be careful to type in your child as the primary applicant. A separate policy will need to be requested for any additional children that you want to cover, unless a parent is also covered on the same policy. If a parent is applying for a policy as well, then numerous children may be covered along with the parent on the same policy. Children up to age 26 may be covered on your policy if they are your legal dependents. Despite that, children who are under the age of 18 are not permitted to have their own health savings account. Specific tax guidelines pertain to children under age 18. Ask your tax accountant for details if you need more information about this.

If you are considering covering a child under your group health insurance plan, you may want to contemplate a less expensive solution. Healthcare insurance premiums are escalating at around 8% yearly, so coverage for dependents under a group plan has become very costly. An individual policy with Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina may be a better alternative. Hingeing on health conditions, a “child only” policy with Blue Advantage could be a much better choice for your family’s health care needs and budget.

You may contact NC Healthcare Coverage for a quick quote and more information.

This new website is yet another example of how BCBSNC is constantly searching for better solutions when it comes to lowering health care costs. Now their customers have the information they need so that they can save a substantial amount on their health care.

Key Points:

• On November 18, 2011, Omnitrope moved from Tier 4 to Tier 3.
• On January 1, 2012, all other growth hormones were moved to Tier 4.
• By March 1, 2012, any BCBSNC member who is not on Omnitrope will be required to have their physician submit documentation demonstrating a medical explanation on why they should be prescribed a different drug.