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Thursday, September 15, 2016
Monday, September 12, 2016
Report: Hungry Teens Often Feel Responsibility To Help Feed The Family | California Healthline
A report today from the California Healthline reveals a disturbing fact. Many adolescents are required to help feed their families. Many are not aware of public assistance programs such as Cal or Medicaid programs.
At the same time it is heartening that young people are devoted to their family and attempt to remain independent from government programs. What would be good would be a public employment (part time) for youth who could be active in rebuilding community, such as improvements in housing, or neighborhood cleanup programs. Rather than having a rather meaningless job at a fast food restaurant, or worse, dealing in controlled substances they would contribute a real need for their community, and gain self esteem. By using unemployed needy youth it could offset increasing public budgets for community services. The effort should be coordinated with official agencies for public service as to optimize the program(s) without unduly effecting the job market.
Report: Hungry Teens Often Feel Responsibility To Help Feed The Family | California Healthline
At the same time it is heartening that young people are devoted to their family and attempt to remain independent from government programs. What would be good would be a public employment (part time) for youth who could be active in rebuilding community, such as improvements in housing, or neighborhood cleanup programs. Rather than having a rather meaningless job at a fast food restaurant, or worse, dealing in controlled substances they would contribute a real need for their community, and gain self esteem. By using unemployed needy youth it could offset increasing public budgets for community services. The effort should be coordinated with official agencies for public service as to optimize the program(s) without unduly effecting the job market.
Teenagers as young as 13 often play an active role in feeding their families, taking jobs when they can or selling their possessions to help raise money for food, researchers found in a detailed look at hunger among adolescents.
In extreme cases, teens resorted to crime and sexual favors in exchange for nourishment.
Yet, according to the research, many cringed at the thought of using a local food bank.
“I will go without a meal if that’s the case,” said one girl in Chicago. “As long as my two young siblings is good, that’s all that really matters to me.”
The report, published Monday, is from the Urban Institute, an economic and social policy research group, and Feeding America, a national network of food banks. It is based on interviews of 193 teenagers in 20 focus groups across the country.
Researchers asked teens how they coped with hunger in their communities and what barriers prevented them from accessing food assistance programs. They discovered many teens shrink from seeking help for fear of being stigmatized.
Susan Popkin, senior fellow at the Urban Institute and co-author of the report, said teens engaging in risky behavior are often treated with disdain instead of being recognized as victims of sexual exploitation and the cycle of hunger.
“We need to be thinking about getting assistance to families with teens,” she said. We need to stop thinking about teens as the problem and start helping them.”
The federal Department of Agriculture last week released the latest government estimate of household hunger, finding 13 million children and 29 million adults did not have sufficient food at some point in 2015. That is nearly 13 percent of the U.S. population.
In 13 of the 20 focus groups, participants in the Urban Institute study mentioned “selling their body” or “sex for money” as a viable strategy. While participants in nearly every focus group preferred finding a job to make ends meet, many had trouble finding work and school commitments made working more difficult, the teens noted.
Others simply went hungry so their siblings could eat.
The report also found teens didn’t know many of the resources available to them. In addition to feeling stigma, some participants perceived local food pantries as inaccessible and believed summer programs targeted small children, not adolescents.
Despite that progress, teens reported that Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program SNAP benefits — federal food assistance —do not provide enough food for the month
Teachers and other program directors for adolescent programs should learn to evaluate adolescent behavior stemming from hunger....irritability, lethargy, depression, stealing food, or money, selling personal possessions or other family items.
Publc schools should display articles about adolescent and child hunger on their bulletin boards. PTAs should discuss these needs with parents.
Other sources of information can be found:
Report: Hungry Teens Often Feel Responsibility To Help Feed The Family | California Healthline
Tuesday, September 6, 2016
Under Obamacare, Health Care Costs Unlikely to Ever Drop - Opportunity Lives
As reported extensively at Opportunity Lives, the cost of health care is skyrocketing nationwide, with insurance companies raising premiums or even pulling out of the Obamacare exchanges due to enormous profit losses over the past few years. Liberals have long argued this was merely a temporary hiccup as insurers adjusted to the new regulations and mandates of President Obama’s signature law. But experts are now warning that the problems associated with Obamacare are only compounding and show no hope for improvement.
In an ideal world, President Obama would recognize the pain American families are feeling under the rule of his law and collaborate with Republicans, several of whom are physicians, to put together a plan that works for the country. But that seems unlikely in a hyper-politicized environment.
Ellen Carmichael is a senior writer for Opportunity Lives. Follow her on Twitter @ellencarmichael.
According to Megan McArdle of Bloomberg, the Obama administration has found itself in a difficult position. Regulators, who place significant controls on premium prices, have an interest in keeping costs low for policyholders. But with insurers posting record losses, these bureaucrats don’t want to drive them out of the exchange program, either, and thus, must permit rates that allow them to yield a modest profit.
“They are not going to approve rates they believe will cause insurers to lose large sums of money,” McArdle explained.
“A BIG PART OF IT IS SIMPLY THAT THE INSURERS CANNOT MAKE A PROFIT AT CURRENT PRICES”
Insurers are hemorrhaging money because Obamacare requires the guaranteed issue of policies, even when patients pose extreme financial risks to the provider. Further, Obamacare mandates that insurers cover a bevy of new procedures and treatments, tacking on additional costs to doing business for these companies.
These goals are all well and good, but intentions often go astray when market forces are not understood.
Obamacare attempts to camouflage an insurance company by calling it a health plan. The obvious point about insurers using risk to appraise premiums has been totally ignored.
“THEY ARE NOT GOING TO APPROVE RATES THEY BELIEVE WILL CAUSE INSURERS TO LOSE LARGE SUMS OF MONEY”
To compensate for the financial strain imposed by Obamacare, insurers have raised rates. For millions of Americans, this means premiums and out-of-pocket expenses doubling, tripling or even quadrupling. As a result, healthier patients, many of whom are young and pose virtually no risk to insurers, have opted to drop their coverage, pay out of pocket for medical costs they incur and endure a tax penalty for their failure to maintain insurance. The plans based their income on the number of young and healthy patients who have little medical expenses. Most of these people did not carry health insurance in the first place. The sudden impact of paying $200 dollars a month did not compute, especially when their out of pocket and deductible expenses would also add to their monthly costs. Why pay a premium when the $ 200 premium could go directly to direct payment expense? Well, the HSA or MSA was invented. Patients could place money in a tax deductible savings account, before taxes. It is all about cash flow. Most of these young people do not have discretionary income to save $ 200.00 each month
This is because of the aforementioned healthy-sick ratio of patients, nicknamed the adverse-selection death spiral. As prices go up to compensate for the rising number of sick Americans covered, healthy consumers are forced out of the market, exacerbating the risk insurers already face in covering those who cost more to insure.
As typical of most government programs it does not happen. It was an illusion foisted upon all of us. Perhaps for older adults and those with substantial income it might be work.
Obamacare advocates insist that this is a temporary problem, but as McArdle points out, the problems are far more systemic than the law’s defenders like to admit.
The worse news, McArdle writes, is that, “unbeknownst to most people, the subsidies are actually capped at a little over 0.5 percent of gross domestic product. We’re nowhere near that level yet — the Congressional Budget Office expects us to spend about $43 billion in 2017 on premium tax credits, while 0.5 percent of GDP would be a hair over $90 billion — but it doesn’t take too many years of 10 percent increases to get there.”
Perhaps the most realistic view, cynical though it may be, is that the impending death spiral was always the point of Obamacare. Conservatives are accused of engaging in hyperbole for even bringing up the accusation, but all evidence points to this being the actual motivation.
Liberals have always desired a government-run health care system. They knew the public would never accept it. So they concocted a scheme they knew would succeed by failing. With the collapse of Obamacare, they figured, most Americans would have no choice but to embrace some amped-up iteration of Medicaid or a single-payer system that puts most private insurers out of business. Private coverage would remain only for the affluent who could purchase it to supplement their state-sponsored care, just as it’s done in many European countries — the same countries whose “universal” health care systems have been lauded by Democrats but left patients with long lines and little hope.
At the worst it looks like a conspiracy. At the least it was a stupid bungling. Our government is so disorganized it would be hard pressed to conjure up this plan. Nevertheless, it may happen. I have always suspected as much. Make the system so chaotic and unworkable that we all give up and sue for a single payer system. "Just go away"
In an ideal world, President Obama would recognize the pain American families are feeling under the rule of his law and collaborate with Republicans, several of whom are physicians, to put together a plan that works for the country. But that seems unlikely in a hyper-politicized environment.
Under Obamacare, Health Care Costs Unlikely to Ever Drop - Opportunity Lives
Sunday, September 4, 2016
You Break it, You fix it. Ownership
The rhetoric is stuck. If you are a Democrat you are pleased that Obamacare is now law. If you are a Republican you are devoted to major amendments and even complete repeal.
There does not seem to be any middle ground. No DMZ.
The Democrats must own up to the failures of the ACA. It is not a total failure however the intricacies and secondary effects are huge, some which providers hospitals and insurers predicted. And then some that were a surprise.
Health providers not only want it corrected, it must be corrected and soon. It is time to tweak the law. Some changes are not tweaks. The past two years have exposed the weaknesses. When you build a program and it does not work well it is time to study the negative aspects and make corrections.
Over the next three years more cracks will appear in the ACA. Expect it and also fix it. The cement has not yet hardened and there is still time to mold the ACA.
Health reform is such a huge undertaking that no one should expect immediately gratifying effect, except those who measure sucess by how many millions of people now carry an insurance ID. In some cases the ticket is not worth very much due to high deductibles, limited provider access, and prremium still beyond affordability except in the government's table of allowable expenses for medicaid. The figures based upon the FPL are obsolete and do not account for geographic location. It costs much more to live in Los Angeles than Topeka Kansas.
The amplitude of the argument is increasing without any serious introspection on the part of the democratic party.
There does not seem to be any middle ground. No DMZ.
The Democrats must own up to the failures of the ACA. It is not a total failure however the intricacies and secondary effects are huge, some which providers hospitals and insurers predicted. And then some that were a surprise.
Health providers not only want it corrected, it must be corrected and soon. It is time to tweak the law. Some changes are not tweaks. The past two years have exposed the weaknesses. When you build a program and it does not work well it is time to study the negative aspects and make corrections.
Over the next three years more cracks will appear in the ACA. Expect it and also fix it. The cement has not yet hardened and there is still time to mold the ACA.
Health reform is such a huge undertaking that no one should expect immediately gratifying effect, except those who measure sucess by how many millions of people now carry an insurance ID. In some cases the ticket is not worth very much due to high deductibles, limited provider access, and prremium still beyond affordability except in the government's table of allowable expenses for medicaid. The figures based upon the FPL are obsolete and do not account for geographic location. It costs much more to live in Los Angeles than Topeka Kansas.
The amplitude of the argument is increasing without any serious introspection on the part of the democratic party.
DFLers say they're ready to get loud about federal health law,
Democrats in Minnesota are ramping up their arguments, on the defensive and with little positive conter-argument, other than the number count.
Republicans have been criticizing the federal health care law for years, and Democrats have been on the defensive. But as the 2014 election approaches, Democrats are starting to push back.
They now say the Affordable Care Act is making a positive difference in people's lives and that Republican efforts to repeal it will take health insurance away from thousands of Minnesotans.
Views on the law are likely to get lots of airtime up to Election Day. On Thursday, the Minnesota Jobs Coalition, a group working to help Republicans defeat DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, announced it will air a TV ad linking Dayton to MNsure, Minnesota's online health care exchange.
But after taking some early lumps on MNsure — the rollout of the state website led to botched applications and the resignation of MNsure's executive director in December — Democrats are becoming more aggressive about promoting what they say are the program's benefits. What are they ?
Knowing how controversial the law has been, most democrats have kept their head down not responding to the many criticisms, and not just from Republicans. Now the pendulum has swung and democrats are ready to swing. Republicans have been criticizing the federal health care law for years, and Democrats have been on the defensive. But as the 2014 election approaches, Democrats are starting to push back.
They now say the Affordable Care Act is making a positive difference in people's lives and that Republican efforts to repeal it will take health insurance away from thousands of Minnesotans.
Views on the law are likely to get lots of airtime up to Election Day. On Thursday, the Minnesota Jobs Coalition, a group working to help Republicans defeat DFL Gov. Mark Dayton, announced it will air a TV ad linking Dayton to MNsure, Minnesota's online health care exchange.
But after taking some early lumps on MNsure — the rollout of the state website led to botched applications and the resignation of MNsure's executive director in December — Democrats are becoming more aggressive about promoting what they say are the program's benefits.
What is apparent is that the ACA is a misfire, creating so much chaos that many are now crying for a 'single payer' solution, as stated succinctly on Care2's web site:
What is apparent is that the ACA is a misfire, creating so much chaos that many are now crying for a 'single payer' solution, as stated succinctly on Care2's web site:
"Then what should be done?
The solution has been staring us in the face for a long time now: A single-payer healthcare option for all Americans. Why? Because before the Affordable Care Act, it was clear that it is not acceptable to leave the basic human right to healthcare access to profit-driven corporations.
The Affordable Care Act should be seen as an attempt at something of a compromise between the public and private health sectors; unfortunately, this is showing itself to be wishful thinking, at best.
At least one state, Colorado, will be voting on the creation of single-payer healthcare this fall; however, for such a program to truly work, it would need to be instituted on a national level. Regardless, if Colorado does pass the ballot measure, it would certainly be a major step in the right direction."
Saturday, September 3, 2016
Is it Time to Occupy Health Care ?
The occupy movement has become embedded in many protests. It culminated with Occupy Wall Street, followed by many others.
While the roster of patients who carry an insurance card has grown by millions since 2012 many cannot access care due to high deductibles for outpatient services, high premiums, a lack of providers and overcrowded emergency rooms. The ACA which was supposed to make health care affordable and accessible has caused many patients to go to emergency rooms where they cannot be refused examination. The quality of care has decreased due to overcrowding, exhausted health care personell and has increase professional burnout and exits from the health system.
The insurance card patients carry may not be worth the ink and paper upon which it is printed. l The addition of EHR created enormous expense for providers. The incentives came out of your pockets.
Occupy Health is a nationwide movement scheduled the last week of October 2016 just prior to the Election. The goals are to bring attention about the sad state of health care in the U.S. The situation was made much worse by the Affordable Care Act. Well intentioned or not, it has evolved into a disaster. The outcome has resulted in millions of Americans who now have a mostly meaningless card...doctors are not accessble, deductibles are very high, as well as premiums for many people. The people were promised health care. This was a vacuous statement. The bottom effect was to decrease losses for hospitals to ensure they were paid. The result is more crowded emergency rooms, dangerously overworked health personell and a lowering of quality for the insured. Please comment on the Occupy Health facebook page. Share widely in your social network. And most important plan or join a movement in your city. This will be a national demonstration including Alaska, Hawaii, and the U.S. territories.
Occupy groups are no longer splinter groups. It has become mainstream, because our system has not worked and our leaders are lame. Every increase in federal regulation has not decreased costs. The bureaucracy, inefficiency and mandates have the opposite effects.
Our goal is to have several million demonstrators across the country. Having a march on the national mall is meaningless. It is a useless protest for television and the media.
Occupy your city, town, village, or intersection. Take it to city hall, town center, hospital, pharmacies, and medical clinics.
Participants will include patients, providers, health insurance companies, hospitals, and congressional representatives as well as administrators of CMS, and HHS.
We are recruitng leaders in all 50 states, and many cities throughout our nation. The ACA has brought attention to the plight of our system. It is not yet completed and must be amended or repealed. It won't happen unless the people demand it with overwhelming demonstrations.
This effects every American and our Health Care Matters.
Friday, September 2, 2016
FDA Orders Antibacterials Removed From Consumer Soaps - NBC News
A well overdue move by the FDA. The industry rolled over pretty quicklly...Another marketing hype !
The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agree that soap doesn't need added antiseptics to make it work any better.
FDA Orders Antibacterials Removed From Consumer Soaps - NBC News
The FDA and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention agree that soap doesn't need added antiseptics to make it work any better.
"Washing with plain soap and running water remains one of the most important steps consumers can take to avoid getting sick and to prevent spreading germs to others," the FDA said.
"If soap and water are not available and a consumer uses hand sanitizer instead, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommends that it be an alcohol-based hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol."
Triclosan breaks open the cell walls of bacteria, killing them. But it takes several hours to do this, so it does little good in the time it takes to wash and dry hands.
FDA Orders Antibacterials Removed From Consumer Soaps - NBC News
Thursday, August 18, 2016
Most View the CDC Favorably; VA’s Image Slips | Pew Research Center
High Favorable Ratings for CDC, NASA, DOD; Mixed Ratings for IRS
Unlike most government agencies the CDC (Communicable Diseases Center) enjoy some trust by the nation. The department of health and human services and CMS have shot themselves in the foot so many times, that few trust the overlying political exigencies affecting their day to day operation. Ultimately congress is responsible, however the messenger is always HHS. HHS does not make the rules....it carries out the congressional mandate and the people's will.
The public continues to express positive views of many agencies of the federal government, even though overall trust in government is near historic lows. In fact, favorable opinions surpass unfavorable views for seven of eight government agencies tested – the IRS is the lone exception. In a survey last February, however, just 24% said they could trust the government in Washington always or most of time. (See this interactive for more on trust in government.)
The latest national survey by the Pew Research Center, conducted Jan. 7-11 among 1,504 adults, finds that 70% have a favorable view of the CDC, which came under criticism last fall for its handling of the outbreak of the Ebola virus. Nearly as many (68%) have a favorable view of NASA, and 65% hold a favorable view of the Department of Defense.
While overall favorable ratings for most of the agencies tested have changed little over time, there has been a sharp decline in positive views of the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). Currently, 52% have a favorable view of the VA, down 16 points since October 2013. The agency has been widely faulted for delays in health care for veterans; the scandal led to the ouster last year of VA Secretary Eric Shinseki.
More Partisan Opinions of the EPA, CIARead the details from the link above
Most View the CDC Favorably; VA’s Image Slips | Pew Research Center
Wednesday, August 17, 2016
A Question found on Quora
Do some doctors regret becoming doctors? Why? How common is this?
I think the hard times were speaking, but what really amazed me was what the doctor did next at the lunch table. As the waiter placed one more plate of the Indian Naan on the table, the doctor quickly covered it in the paper napkin and swiftly / secretly pushed it in his suitcase.
It is not about being lucrative, it is about sustainability and stability. The business model is changing from FFS to QUALY, using unproven metrics to measure performance and outcomes. Population management does not always translate to the individual patient sitting in front of the provider. It is all about regulating doctors, decreasing utilization and taking the health care dollars for Defense, Education,
Furthermore, our societies, such the AMA have abandoned us. I do not want those organizations speaking for me or you.
They 'negotiate' to maintain some bizarre mindset that patients and providers are in control. Ask a patient if they are in control ?
(10/1) Home - Quora
I once went out for a lunch buffet with an Indian doctor in Tennessee. I went to discuss some business related to practice management software. As we began to have our lunch, an young intern of his joined us. It was a big buffet. So, we had time to talk.
We discussed his practice, about ICD-9 to ICD-10 transition and his general state of affairs. He had been in business for more than a decade. So, he was quite well set. Coming from India, he talked about how he came to pursue this line of occupation rather than the Engineering line. It was not surprising considering that most of the Indians growing in the 80s and 90s mostly had the doctor (MBBS) or engineer (BTech) educations to choose from.
However, as we began to talk about the money part of his business, I sensed that things were not going that well as he would have wanted or as much as he had expected when he chose this profession. It was not because he was losing customers or that there was competition. He talked about how the government was making it hard for him to get paid. You see in the US, the health care insurance companies get into the act once a patient visits a doctor. They go through the due diligence procedures (Coding, billing, claims and whole9 yards) before the doctors and hospitals would get paid. The doctor talked about how delayed payments were upsetting his small practice. He grumbled about how it was no longer lucrative to be in this line of occupation. What’s more, he wouldn’t encourage his own children to purse it. I was surprised that he was that frank about it in front of his intern.
I think the hard times were speaking, but what really amazed me was what the doctor did next at the lunch table. As the waiter placed one more plate of the Indian Naan on the table, the doctor quickly covered it in the paper napkin and swiftly / secretly pushed it in his suitcase.
It is not about being lucrative, it is about sustainability and stability. The business model is changing from FFS to QUALY, using unproven metrics to measure performance and outcomes. Population management does not always translate to the individual patient sitting in front of the provider. It is all about regulating doctors, decreasing utilization and taking the health care dollars for Defense, Education,
Profits In Health Insurance Under Obamacare
Furthermore, our societies, such the AMA have abandoned us. I do not want those organizations speaking for me or you.
They 'negotiate' to maintain some bizarre mindset that patients and providers are in control. Ask a patient if they are in control ?
(10/1) Home - Quora
A Question found on Quora
Do some doctors regret becoming doctors? Why? How common is this?
I think the hard times were speaking, but what really amazed me was what the doctor did next at the lunch table. As the waiter placed one more plate of the Indian Naan on the table, the doctor quickly covered it in the paper napkin and swiftly / secretly pushed it in his suitcase.
It is not about being lucrative, it is about sustainability and stability. The business model is changing from FFS to QUALY, using unproven metrics to measure performance and outcomes. Population management does not always translate to the individual patient sitting in front of the provider. It is all about regulating doctors, decreasing utilization and taking the health care dollars for Defense, Education,
Furthermore, our societies, such the AMA have abandoned us. I do not want those organizations speaking for me or you.
They 'negotiate' to maintain some bizarre mindset that patients and providers are in control. Ask a patient if they are in control ?
(10/1) Home - Quora
I once went out for a lunch buffet with an Indian doctor in Tennessee. I went to discuss some business related to practice management software. As we began to have our lunch, an young intern of his joined us. It was a big buffet. So, we had time to talk.
We discussed his practice, about ICD-9 to ICD-10 transition and his general state of affairs. He had been in business for more than a decade. So, he was quite well set. Coming from India, he talked about how he came to pursue this line of occupation rather than the Engineering line. It was not surprising considering that most of the Indians growing in the 80s and 90s mostly had the doctor (MBBS) or engineer (BTech) educations to choose from.
However, as we began to talk about the money part of his business, I sensed that things were not going that well as he would have wanted or as much as he had expected when he chose this profession. It was not because he was losing customers or that there was competition. He talked about how the government was making it hard for him to get paid. You see in the US, the health care insurance companies get into the act once a patient visits a doctor. They go through the due diligence procedures (Coding, billing, claims and whole9 yards) before the doctors and hospitals would get paid. The doctor talked about how delayed payments were upsetting his small practice. He grumbled about how it was no longer lucrative to be in this line of occupation. What’s more, he wouldn’t encourage his own children to purse it. I was surprised that he was that frank about it in front of his intern.
I think the hard times were speaking, but what really amazed me was what the doctor did next at the lunch table. As the waiter placed one more plate of the Indian Naan on the table, the doctor quickly covered it in the paper napkin and swiftly / secretly pushed it in his suitcase.
It is not about being lucrative, it is about sustainability and stability. The business model is changing from FFS to QUALY, using unproven metrics to measure performance and outcomes. Population management does not always translate to the individual patient sitting in front of the provider. It is all about regulating doctors, decreasing utilization and taking the health care dollars for Defense, Education,
Profits In Health Insurance Under Obamacare
Furthermore, our societies, such the AMA have abandoned us. I do not want those organizations speaking for me or you.
They 'negotiate' to maintain some bizarre mindset that patients and providers are in control. Ask a patient if they are in control ?
(10/1) Home - Quora
Tuesday, August 16, 2016
Zika Virus is not the only serious disease carried by Mosquitos
Health Train Express has been away for part of the summer, and there is much news to report.
It is that time of the year for insect repellent. And not just for ridding the pesky evening bugs and annoying bites that ruin summer picnics, baseball games and outdoor sporting events
During the summer an airborne force in the sky (the mosquito) carries multiple threat weapons, guided by heat seeking, carbon dioxide homing missiles. The onslaught is continuous and each season begins again as reported by the World Health Organization. With modern prevention measures large epidemics are not prevalent. Our air defense system of mosquito control, repellents and treatment for the diseases is vastly improved.
Mosquitoes cause millions of deaths every year
These tiny predators go after targets much larger than themselves. Many years ago scientists revealed the deadly tropical diseases spread by these vectors. Controlling these diseases depended upon destroying the vector mosquitos.
Here are some of the villains:
WHO | World Health Organization
It is that time of the year for insect repellent. And not just for ridding the pesky evening bugs and annoying bites that ruin summer picnics, baseball games and outdoor sporting events
During the summer an airborne force in the sky (the mosquito) carries multiple threat weapons, guided by heat seeking, carbon dioxide homing missiles. The onslaught is continuous and each season begins again as reported by the World Health Organization. With modern prevention measures large epidemics are not prevalent. Our air defense system of mosquito control, repellents and treatment for the diseases is vastly improved.
Mosquito-borne diseases
These tiny predators go after targets much larger than themselves. Many years ago scientists revealed the deadly tropical diseases spread by these vectors. Controlling these diseases depended upon destroying the vector mosquitos.
Here are some of the villains:
Chikungunya
The virus is transmitted from human to human by the bites of infected female mosquitoes. Most commonly, the mosquitoes involved are Aedes aegypti and Aedes albopictus, two species which can also transmit other mosquito-borne viruses, including dengue.
Dengue virus is transmitted by female mosquitoes mainly of the species Aedes aegypti and, to a lesser extent, Ae. albopictus. This mosquito also transmits chikungunya, yellow fever and Zika infection.
Human infection is most often the result of bites from infected mosquitoes. Mosquitoes become infected when they feed on infected birds, which circulate the virus in their blood for a few days. The virus may also be transmitted through contact with other infected animals, their blood, or other tissues.
A very small proportion of human infections have occurred through organ transplant, blood transfusions and breast milk. There is one reported case of trans placental (mother-to-child) WNV transmission.
To date, no human-to-human transmission of WNV through casual contact has been documented,
In most cases, malaria is transmitted through the bites of female Anophelesmosquitoes. There are more than 400 different species of Anopheles mosquito; around 30 are malaria vectors of major importance. Unlike Yellow Fever, Dengue, Chikungunya and West Nile Virus the pathogen is not a virus, but a parasite, P. falciparum .
Red Blood Cell with falciparum
Treatment
Good and early supportive treatment in hospitals improves survival rates. There is currently no specific anti-viral drug for yellow fever but specific care to treat dehydration, liver and kidney failure, and fever improves outcomes. Associated bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics.
Prevention
1. Vaccination
Vaccination is the most important means of preventing yellow fever. In high-risk areas where vaccination coverage is low, prompt recognition and control of outbreaks using mass immunization is critical for preventing epidemics. It is important to vaccinate most (80 % or more) of the population at risk to prevent transmission in a region with a yellow fever outbreak.
Finally, the latest viral threat
Zika virus is primarily transmitted to people through the bite of an infected mosquito from the Aedes genus, mainly Aedes aegypti in tropical regions. Aedes mosquitoes usually bite during the day, peaking during early morning and late afternoon/evening. This is the same mosquito that transmits dengue, chikungunya and yellow fever. Sexual transmission of Zika virus is also possible. Other modes of transmission such as blood transfusion are being investigated.
WHO | World Health Organization
Sunday, August 14, 2016
The Human Brain Library — The Institute for Brain and Society
Part of the Brain Initiative:
Dr. Annese, Institute for Brain and Society/The Brain Observatory and Dr. Allan Jones, CEO Allen Institute for Brain Science at the Washington IDEAS Forum.
Can human emotion, and/or cognitive thinking be distilled into a science? The past three decades have advanced our understanding of what emotions and thoughts are biochemically.
Our knowledge of how we think and how we feel is being distilled into basic science. New imaging techniques now allow scientists to see what is happening when and where in our brain in real-time. We have discovered the brain has certain regenerative capability by it's redundancy, much like a backup of your computer's hard drive. The brain's inherent 'intelligence' allows it to 'rewire' it's neuronal network, allowing for different regions of the brain to alter function. Neural plasticity allows for these amazing changes. In the near future a combinaton of behavioral training and neuropharmacology will be the future of treatment for neurolgic treatment. The 'black hole of the brain may be coming to an end.
When and where do sentience reside ? Is it a place in our brain? ( the capacity to feel, perceive, or experience subjectively.[1] Eighteenth-century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think (reason) from the ability to feel (sentience). In modern Western philosophy, sentience is the ability to experience sensations (known in philosophy of mind as "qualia") Does self awareness require sentience, or do they go hand-in-had?
The answers to these questions and others may come soon with tools such as fMRI new advances in high power microscopy, optogenetics and public involvement.
The Human Brain Library — The Institute for Brain and Society
Dr. Annese, Institute for Brain and Society/The Brain Observatory and Dr. Allan Jones, CEO Allen Institute for Brain Science at the Washington IDEAS Forum.
Brain Mapping
Three major initiatives:
1. Allan Institute for the Brain
2. Federal Iitiative
3. The Brain Initiatives (Euro China, French)
Optogenetics, high magnification microscopy, Real-time analysis of electrophysiology.
Can human emotion, and/or cognitive thinking be distilled into a science? The past three decades have advanced our understanding of what emotions and thoughts are biochemically.
Our knowledge of how we think and how we feel is being distilled into basic science. New imaging techniques now allow scientists to see what is happening when and where in our brain in real-time. We have discovered the brain has certain regenerative capability by it's redundancy, much like a backup of your computer's hard drive. The brain's inherent 'intelligence' allows it to 'rewire' it's neuronal network, allowing for different regions of the brain to alter function. Neural plasticity allows for these amazing changes. In the near future a combinaton of behavioral training and neuropharmacology will be the future of treatment for neurolgic treatment. The 'black hole of the brain may be coming to an end.
When and where do sentience reside ? Is it a place in our brain? ( the capacity to feel, perceive, or experience subjectively.[1] Eighteenth-century philosophers used the concept to distinguish the ability to think (reason) from the ability to feel (sentience). In modern Western philosophy, sentience is the ability to experience sensations (known in philosophy of mind as "qualia") Does self awareness require sentience, or do they go hand-in-had?
The answers to these questions and others may come soon with tools such as fMRI new advances in high power microscopy, optogenetics and public involvement.
The Human Brain Library — The Institute for Brain and Society
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