Americans may have won the Revolutionary War, but 230 years later they’re losing the battle for good health to the British. An extensive new study comparing the health of middle-aged, white residents of both countries finds that ‘we get sicker, sooner,’ according to American co-researcher James Smith, a senior economist at Rand Corp. The gap between the two countries is significant, despite the fact that people in the United States have a standard of living that is 25 percent higher than their counterparts across the Atlantic, and that they spend more than double on health care than the British — $5,274 per capita vs. $2,164, respectively. The health gap between the two nations ‘persists even after you take out things such as the large role of African-Americans with very poor health in the United States, or that people may be reporting health differences differently in the two countries,’ Smith said. ‘We also looked at biological markers of disease — you take away the fact that there may be risk-factor differences in obesity, smoking and drinking.’ Even with those factors taken into account, ‘you are basically back where you started,’ Smith said. ‘You find enormous differences in […]
As the first round of enrollment in the Medicare drug program nears its deadline on May 15, it appears just three of the insurance companies – out of 80 offering drug plans – are big winners, with over half of the business. Not surprisingly, the most successful has been UnitedHealth Group, which has a financial arrangement with AARP for their endorsement. AARP, which says it is a non-profit and advocate for citizens 50 and older, was a strong supporter of the bill establishing the drug program. KaiserNet.org also reports a significant Medicare battle in the Senate, where the Republican chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the ranking Democrat on the committee, are calling for two newly reappointed public trustees of Medicare and Social Security, to resign their positions. Click here to the Daily Health Policy Report – KaiserNetwork.orgEnrollment in Medicare Drug Benefit Concentrated Among Few Companies, According to CMS More than 80 companies are offering more than 1,400 Medicare prescription drug plans nationwide, though insurers UnitedHealth Group, Humana and WellPoint account for 52% of total drug benefit enrollment, according to data released on Friday by the Bush administration, the New York Times reports. […]
MADRID — Spain is ‘deeply worried’ by a decree signed by Bolivian President Evo Morales ordering total state control of the country’s natural gas fields, a government statement said on Monday. ‘The (Spanish) government hopes that during the time given to companies to regularize their current contracts, there will be a process of genuine negotiation and dialogue between the government and companies,’ said the statement released by the Foreign Ministry. It also called for respect for the interests of each party to ‘avoid sending a negative signal to the international investor community which is following the developments closely.’ Spain would continue to work with Bolivia and the two countries would maintain ‘intensely close’ relations, so that a solution satisfying all parties can be reached, said the statement. Spanish-Argentine energy company Repsol-YPF is one of the largest investors in Bolivia. According to a decree signed by Morales earlier in the day, Bolivia’s state oil company YPFB will control all natural gas fields and pay foreign companies for their services. Some operators will get about 50 percent of the value of gas they extract, but two largest gas fields insist on giving their operators only 18 […]
Research shows that about 43% of all women between the ages of 18 and 59 suffer from female sexual dysfunction. As many as two-thirds of those may have low androgen levels, according to André Guay MD, endocrinologist at Harvard Medical School. The research was presented Saturday at the 15th Annual Meeting and Clinical Congress of the American Association of Clinical Endocrinologists. Dr. Guay cited many factors involved in decreased libido, including depression, anxiety, chronic illness, medications, menopause, and androgen deficiency. Androgen deficiency itself can be caused by complications in the ovarian, adrenal, pituitary, and hypothalamic systems. At this time, there are no FDA-approved androgen replacements for women. Level 2 research has shown that all of the major types of androgen replacement approved for use in men, have demonstrated increased libido and arousal in women with female sexual dysfunction. Three methods, parenteral, testosterone patches, and testosterone gel all demonstrated increases in ability to orgasm, and frequency of sexual intercourse. Also discussed at the meeting on Saturday was the increasing prevalence of performance enhancing drugs in American sports. The session was moderated by Paul C. Carpenter, MD, endocrinologist at the Mayo Clinic, and consultant to the International Olympic Committee. […]
Earlier administrations have fired and prosecuted government officials who provided classified information to the press. They have also tried to force reporters to identify their sources. But the Bush administration is exploring a more radical measure to protect information it says is vital to national security: the criminal prosecution of reporters under the espionage laws. Such an approach would signal a thorough revision of the informal rules of engagement that have governed the relationship between the press and the government for many decades. Leaking in Washington is commonplace and typically entails tolerable risks for government officials and, at worst, the possibility of subpoenas to journalists seeking the identities of sources. But the Bush administration is putting pressure on the press as never before, and it is operating in a judicial climate that seems increasingly receptive to constraints on journalists. In the last year alone, a reporter for The New York Times was jailed for refusing to testify about a confidential source; her source, a White House aide, was prosecuted on charges that he lied about his contacts with reporters; a C.I.A. analyst was dismissed for unauthorized contacts with reporters; and a raft of subpoenas to reporters […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
