HealthyConcerns.com

Healthy Concerns still somewhat unusual

Or at least, I think it must be, because how else can I explain being honored with inclusion in this 100 Best Health Care Policy Blogs list from the Radiology Technician Schools site?

It used to be unusual that I was a layperson blogging about health at all. But now there are lots of "PatientBloggers".  However, most of them blog about a particular condition from which they suffer...whether chronic or acute.

I blog randomly about my random thoughts about health care, coverage, politics etc.

And in that, I think, I am still unusual :)

Thanks RT folks!

Where my MedBloggers at when it comes to Steve Jobs?

So Steve Jobs, reluctantly and begrudgingly, posted an open letter about his health today.

In it he states:

As many of you know, I have been losing weight throughout 2008. The reason has been a mystery to me and my doctors. A few weeks ago, I decided that getting to the root cause of this and reversing it needed to become my #1 priority.
Fortunately, after further testing, my doctors think they have found the cause—a hormone imbalance that has been “robbing” me of the proteins my body needs to be healthy. Sophisticated blood tests have confirmed this diagnosis.
The remedy for this nutritional problem is relatively simple and straightforward, and I’ve already begun treatment. But, just like I didn’t lose this much weight and body mass in a week or a month, my doctors expect it will take me until late this Spring to regain it. I will continue as Apple’s CEO during my recovery.

So, I have been scanning my MedBlogger folder in my RSS reader, waitig for the speculation and commentary on what he may be suffering from, and what the referred to treatment might be.

Nothing. Nada. Zip. 

OK, I only follow about a dozen these days, but still...some of the top ones there are.

Where my MedBloggers at?

Bucking the trend and praising the U.S. health care system?

Recently the Obama transition team asked Americans to get together, talk about health care in America and report back the thoughts, ideas and suggestions from such meetings. You can read more about the questions the Obama campaign suggested as discussion points here, but they range from defining the biggest current problem in our system to questions about how each group thinks public policy can actually help to questions delving into what kind of care people had gotten, and how they had health insurance to begin with.

Dr. Val Jones from Better Health held one such group, and her report on it is interesting, mostly because she seems to feel that most of us take a glass half empty approach to looking at our health care system, while she definitely sees the glass half full

She says: "Although we had been instructed to compile a list of compelling stories about system failures – instead we decided to be rebellious and discuss “what’s right with the healthcare system” and compile a list of best practices" 

But reading the suggestion question list (again, excerpted here) sounds like they weren't exactly the crazy rebels they wanted to paint themselves as. Yes, there were questions asking to illustrate a system gone wrong, but mostly the question guide seems to want to delve into finding out what people want and what they would consider best practices to be. As an employer I found it particularly interesting that the Obama team wanted to know if people in the room knew how much their employers paid for the health care benefits they, as employees, received. I'm betting most have no idea whatsoever. 

Anyway, Val goes on to list 10 good things. She mentions Kaiser Permanente a few times, which interested me, since they're my provider. I'm actually quite satisfied with the care and coverage I've received as a long-time Kaiser customer, but let's be clear that I (knock on wood) haven't taxed them too hard.

A couple of the items on the list have nothing to do with the American health care system per se. I wouldn't consider #4-Social Media, for example, an American health care system feature or innovation, those same apps (and people participating on them) are available worldwide. 

And one other big blind spot about the list is that some of the positives listed are only available if you already have insurance. Which is awesome, but I think it's a given that most of us consider the number of Americans who do not have insurance to be one of the biggest problems and burdens on the system. I find it unintentionally ironic (or maybe I mean oxymoronic) to refer to "democratic" accessibility, which just happens to be limited to those already with coverage.

I think most of us who are looking at our system as glass half empty are doing so because it seems un-American to be satisfied with being able to make a list such as Val's, knowing it doesn't even apply to so many people. 

Here's my analogy: Would you go to a Club Med resort in the middle of an impoverished region (as many of them are) and tout the availability of fresh, potable water within the resort's confines as one of the things that country's government was doing really well...while people died every day outside its walls from the lack of clean drinking water? I don't think so...the pride about providing for resort-goers might be mitigated just a bit by shame over being unable to take care of the rest of your countrymen and women.

So, what I would have liked to see close out Val's list was at least one idea, from what sounds like an esteemed group gathered at her house, about how to truly democratize those great things happening in our health care system. And how to improve accessibility for those uncovered and level of coverage to those under-covered.

Isn't THAT the biggest challenge the Obama administration faces?

Val: How about a sequel? :)

Non-stick cookware a threat to your health? Or just for the birds?

Sigh. The list never ends. Whether it's hidden animal ingredients or testing, unfair business practices or environmental policies, or just plain safety: The list of products to eschew grows longer the more attention you pay.

This time the culprit is non-stick cookware. Hat tip to Green LA Girl on BlogHer for pointing me to this study from the Environmental Working Group on how Teflon releases toxic fumes within minutes of being heated up...and that it's known and acknowledged to kill birds.

I think it's safe to say these are modern canaries in the coal mines of our kitchens. And while their lungs may be much, MUCH tinier than ours, so we can all debate how long it would take to kill us...I'm really not comfortable with using something that would kill a bird if I had one. Are you?

Unfortunate that we just received a bunch of Calphalon cookware as wedding gifts. Guess I unknowingly registered to be slowly poisoned.

There are three suggestions:

-Cast Iron

-Stainless Steel

plus

-A new non-stick alternative called GreenPan

The question is whether you'll trust that GreenPan is truly safe...or if we just haven't figured out yet how it's dangerous.

I'm torn. I really can't imagine throwing out all of this very new and very expensive cookware. I don't cook a lot or for extended periods. I don't own birds. The EWG mostly wants warnings affixed to warn bird owners, not humans.

What would you do?

Cross posted at Elisa's Green Scene

Eyes are scary

I read with interest today Dr. Val's post about her 85-year old eye.

I read it with interest because recently my right eye lost a full point on the vision scale in about 9 months, going from 20-475 to 20-575.

This was unusual because I have been nearsighted since childhood, and as an adult my eyes have only degraded at a fairly regular, slow pace. Moreover, my right eye has always been a little worse than the left, but has stayed the same amount worse throughout adulthood...now it is significantly worse, because my left eye did not change during these last nine months.

The eye doctor didn't seem overly concerned, although he conceded it was a bit of an unusual drop. He asked me if I was under stress. Ha! Sounds like he might have been thinking of the same temporary issue Dr. Val's doctor mentioned.

Then, sticking with the eyes for a moment, my S.O. got me a lovely lavender and buckwheat eye pillow, which he gave me on Christmas Eve.

Handy tip for you all: Those pillows are not meant to be slept in, as though they were eye shades. I woke up and my vision was blurred...for hours. I'm guessing that the pillow was too heavy and pushed down on my eyes, with the result being blurred vision.

All to say: Eyes are scary. Vision-related issues are scary. And, like Dr. Val, my eye doctor didn't have a lot of answers or suggestions. It's a very wait-and-see-what-happens-next-year kind of thing, from what I can tell.

Meanwhile, I keep checking my vision with one eye, and then the next, closed. I think this eye-pochondria may last a few more days.

A good reason to do post-mortem plastic surgery

OK, last week I mini-ranted about something I read about: people electing to have post-mortem plastic surgery, so they'd look good for their funerals.

I was not pleased with the phenomenon, saying: "Donate that damn money, you vain, creepy people who would do this."

Well, damn if someone hasn't made me realize there is actually one justifiable reason for post-mortem plastic surgery. Read the post at Suture for a Living...it's poignant, and totally understandable.

Watch out for "Wrap Rage" this holiday season

Now that I have nieces and nephews I have observed the hassle their parents, grandparents and the rest of us go through trying to extract the kids' gifts from their frustrating packaging. And quickly too (as the kids stand by anxiously ...and not too quietly...waiting).

Turns out that we're not the only family experiencing that...it's a phenomenon known as "wrap rage", and it sends people to the emergency room every year.

Not only do people have mishaps with the sharp implements they use to try to cut through the packaging...but the cut or torn hard plastic itself can cause lacerations!

Some vendors are trying to come up with "frustration-free" packaging, but it can't come soon enough. Not only for the children, but for their frazzled parents.

Hat tip: Kevin MD

Now I've heard everything...twice!

Two stories this week made my jaw drop:

1. The UK televised an assisted suicide

Hey, I'm actually for assisted suicide, but I think it's incredibly morbid and exploitive to televise it, sorry. 

2. Dead people are getting a little nip and tuck, post-mortem, to look better for their funerals

For. God's. Sake.

Donate that damn money, you vain, creepy people who would do this. How about donate it to organizations that fix cleft palates for children in developing nations, like Operation Smile.

My only question: Did the person televising his suicide get a little work done pre-appearance?

Bah!

If you've got Diabetes, I have the contest for you!

My BlogBuddy Amy from Diabetes Mine is hosting:

The 2008 DiabetesMine™ Holiday Survival Sweepstakes – Prizes, Prizes, Prizes!

It's all about sharing survival tactics for getting through the simple-carb-laden holiday season without doing yourself in. There are fun prizes, and even better: You can share your wisdom and knowledge with other folks in the same boat as you. (We all know that's what bloggers actually like best, even better than prizes!)

To give you an example of the kind of fun to be had, Week 2's question was:

What is your best comeback for any "diabetes" police who bug you during a holiday meal?

You can find the winning responses here. Fun.

So, I'm sure if you have diabetes you may already know about Amy's site, the number one blog about diabetes that there is.

But just in case: Happy to point you to:

Health Care vs. Health Insurance...words matter

InsureBlog has a short but to-the-point post on why "health care" is not synonymous with "health insurance" and why it matters.

Their basic point is that trying to fix the rising cost of health insurance without dealing with the underlying problem of the rising cost of health care will lead to moving the problem around, but not solving it. I'm sure they're right.

But I more often hear people actually confuse "health coverage" with "health insurance". And I'd love to see a post addressing how those two terms differ and why it's important.

I recently watched Michael Moore's documentary Sicko, and he focused primarily on people who did indeed have health insurance...but discovered that they weren't really covered for very much or very well.

I think a big takeaway from that movie is that yes, it's terrible that 1 in 6 Americans doesn't have health insurance at all, but our health care system is a real clusterf$%^ because the 5 in 6 who do have health insurance often don't have sufficient coverage. At least that was my takeaway.

And for all those naysayers who say the problem with that lies with irresponsible people and foolish government mandates I would simply ask why health insurers are ever more profitable? not ever more revenue-generating...ever more profitable.

They certainly seem to be doing OK in this era of rising health care costs.