Folks taking the antidepressant Effexor will be happy to hear that a generic form of Effexor XR was approved by the Food and Drug Administration this week. Teva Pharmaceuticals announced that they will begin shipping the drug on July 1, 2010.

Teva is the world’s largest generic drugmaker and hopefully the generic form of Effexor XR will be a big relief for its users pocket books. bjmdjd

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Food and Drug Administration · generic form of Effextor XR · health · Teva Pharmaceuticals · venlafaxine hydrochloride · wellness

Experts from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) say in a June 25th report that 90% of Americans consume more salt in their diet than is currently recommended. As most everyone knows increased salt (sodium) consumption is related to heart disease and stroke.

One of the most interesting findings is that most of the salt comes from processed foods that don’t even taste salty rather than from adding or cooking with salt at home. In school I was always taught that the easier the food was to prepare (i.e. the more processed it was) the more salt it contained.

The recommended salt consumption is 2,300 mg/day for healthy folks and 1,500 mg/day for those with high blood pressure. Many food companies have pledged to lower the salt content of their processed foods but admit that it will only be in some selected foods and it will be a very slow process.

The best way to lower food intake is to cook at home but in our rushed lifestyles that is unlikely to happen. Slowing down might have health benefits in areas we haven’t even thought about. bjmdjd

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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention · heart disease · processed foods · salt consumption · stroke

A Canadian study published last week online in the Lancet listed the ten risk factors associated with 90% of the risk of stroke. They are:

1. hypertension (high blood pressure)
2. current smoking
3. waist to hip ratio (an indicator of health that compares the size of the waist to the size of the hips)
4. diet
5. alcohol intake
6. regular exercise
7. diabetes
8. stress and depression
9. heart problems
10. lipids (elevated cholesterol or other fat problems in the blood)

All ten risk factors applied to ischemic stroke (the most common kind of stroke which is caused by  the interruption of blood flow like from a clot) while the first five applied to intracerebral hemorrhagic stroke (the kind where there is bleeding in the brain).

The study suggested that specifically treating these ten risk factors could greatly decrease the number of strokes that occur. Something to think about when planning on what you need to do to overall improve your health.  bjmdjd

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ischemic stroke. hemorrhagic stroke · risks of stroke · The Lancet

I apologize for taking so much time between posts but I’m working on a couple of related projects that I think you might find interesting in the next few months. I’m back with a guest entry from a massage expert named Elise Degrass. I always love posts from folks that know a lot more about a subject than I do. You may enjoy taking a look at her web site which is listed at the bottom of her post.  bjmdjd

According to patrons and practitioners as well as scientific studies, massage therapy has many beneficial effects on patients suffering from all manner of disease or affliction. This lends authority and legitimacy to the widespread and growing addition of massage therapists to the staff of many hospitals and clinics. Massage has been practiced for centuries as a stress reducer but massage therapy is specifically meant to provide medical or health benefits to patients suffering from illnesses.

Massage therapy uses touch to manipulate the soft tissue of muscles in order to achieve a beneficial physical effect. For example, massage therapy is often used to help heal sprained muscles and torn ligaments. There are multiple beneficial applications of massage therapy for patients, and this article will examine five of them.

1) Massage therapy can significantly reduce anxiety, which is a great relief for people suffering from worry or anxiety that is physiologically-based. Massage therapy stimulates and relaxes the muscles of a certain area of the body, but due to the nature of the muscular system, the entire body benefits from the massage of only one place. In fact, massage therapy also improves the immune system; after being massaged before an exam, students from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey showed a noticeable increase in white blood cell count as well as increased presence and activity of natural killer cells.

2) Due to the relaxing effects of the massage, endorphins are released by the brain in response to the stimulation provided to the muscular system. Endorphins are natural pain killers as well as biochemically-based analgesics that promote a general sense of well-being as well as reduce sensations of pain. All muscles in the body benefit from massage therapy; for example, massage therapy is noted to reduce muscle spasms, which may reveal this form of therapy as an alternative to drugs such as methocarbamol.

3) After severe accidents or debilitating injuries, massage therapy can help rebuild atrophied muscles and stimulate healing of the affected areas and systems. As noted above, the muscular system is restored under the influence of a massage therapist. Injured areas are healed faster by utilizing the techniques to relieve the body of the stress from pain or an overtaxed immune or nervous system.

4) Massage therapy also benefits the body as a form of exercise, however mild. It can help free up stiff joints and also rebuilds weakened muscles. Using massage therapy for this kind of purpose is different from using it for medicinal purposes, although this certainly counts as a very effective kind of physical therapy.

5) Massage therapy provides many miscellaneous benefits to patients of all sorts. Even autistic children showed markedly decreased erratic behavior after being treated with massage therapy. Obviously this form of treatment offers many benefits to all people and not just patients, but it also demonstrates significant medical benefits, as well.

Massage therapy can help patients achieve a new level of health in their lives beyond simply giving them some freedom from stress.

Elise Degrass is a freelance writer who writes about Massage Therapy for Massage Therapy

The autor of this website is not affiliated with any other websites that are linked to within this post and do not endorse nor guarantee any of their information.

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anxiety reduction · beneficial effects of massage therapy · helps achieve a new level of health · massage therapy · pain relief · restors muscular system

I’ve heard all of my life that it was harmful to hold in your anger and that it was just better to let it out. There may be some proof for certain people that this is true.

Research published in the latest issue of the American Journal of Cardiology says that for people with coronary artery disease holding in anger is associated with a higher risk of heart attack and cardiac death.

It was noted by the authors of the study that there may be a great deal of anger in patients who outwardly appear to be well adjusted and without anger. With the increased likelihood of cardiac events these patients require recognizing and possibly treating from a mental health standpoint. bjmdjd

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American Journal of Cardiology · anger · cardiac death · heart attack

A recent survey released by the American Medical Association found that it is getting harder for Medicare patients to get an appointment with a doctor. According to the physicians surveyed it’s because Congress failed to pass a permanent fix for the Medicare reimbursement crisis.

The crisis is due to calculating physician pay rates by using what is called the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. This calculation causes each scheduled pay cut to be greater than the last and recent pay cuts which were postponed were scheduled to be 21.3%.

17% of the physicians surveyed, 31% of primary care physicians, have cut back on the number of Medicare patients that they treat. Even though the scheduled physician pay cuts have been postponed by Congress every year since 2003 (4 times already in 2010) they have yet to pass a permanent solution to the problem.

Physicians feel that Medicare is an “unreliable payer” due to the fact that their rates are too low and that there are still threats of future pay cuts. The AMA is launching an advertising campaign urging Americans to contact their representatives and asking them to consider a permanent solution to the problem.

Until something is done to reassure physicians concerning their Medicare reimbursements seniors may find it challenging to get a doctor’s appointment especially if they don’t already have a regular physician.  bjmdjd

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American Medical Association · Medicare patients · Medicare reimbursement · sustainable growth rate formula