Category Archives: healthcare

Nuclear Disaster

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common dreams has this up.

I was reading about all the consequences of nuclear disaster in the ecology textbook yesterday…brought back a lot of that anxiety of the 60s and 70s…

The costs are enormous and not necessarily recoverable.  The book likened it to what happened in Hamburg during WWII– it was July, 1943, that Hamburg was just plastered with bombs.  There were fires that shot flames 1500 feet into the air.  People were incinerated by the heat.  They reported that bomb shelters were turned into infernos and rescue workers could not enter them for two weeks following the bombing.  The book likened this to nuclear disaster because of the chemical component that poisoned the land, rivers, killed the humans and wildlife in the area.  It was total devastation of life. And the soils would not recover from the chemical devastation that killed not only vegetation, but the beneficial soil bacteria that helped the rooted ones to survive.

I’ll have to write a more thorough report of how the book details the ripple effect of nuclear disaster–chilling.

DN, III

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Okay, the last story on DN, Gov. Rick Perry said he was going to refuse the Obama Healthcare, which would mean he would refuse all money for medicaid.

So…I’d like to see Gov. Perry look a young pregnant and poor woman in the eyes and tell her that she can’t go for prenatal checkups.  Is this what they mean by compassionate conservatives?  Why is it that when a woman wants to end the pregnancy with abortion that they say that she can’t do that because life is precious, but then deny her healthcare in order to have a healthy child?

On the flip side, she should be allowed to choose her provider— i.e., a midwife with a home birth is what she prefers, then that should be covered, as well.  I have to laugh when I hear stories of how shocked people are when women who birth on their own “before the medical profession can intervene”…as if women have only given birth in hospitals since time began…

Newsflash:  obstetricians, who make their $$ off of hospital births, are claiming that home births are much more dangerous than hospital births…

…meanwhile, bankers say that people who finance their homes through private lenders at lower interest rates are in danger of…of…of….well, they don’t know, but terrible, terrible things happen when people start making independent decisions…/snark

Back to the article–the shocking rate of 32% of births being made through Caesarean is outrageous.  Interference with the natural birth process so you won’t get sued means you’re in the wrong profession (if you’re that inept).  And you might note the reference that C-sections cost more $$…jaysus h, if they’re using it for making a profit, that is unconscionable!

The UK has this website up–gives women more information so they can make a decision.  Good God, what will they think of next? Allowing women to wear pants? /snark

I know that if I were better informed, I would have had my kids at home.  The hospital births were  a nightmare and the interference by the doctors and staff made it miserable instead of a joyous occasion.  And I’ve read that the position of the woman being on her back (which I was) is the most dangerous position for her to labor in…but it’s more convenient for doctors…perhaps someone should bring that up when they claim to be worried about the safety of home births.

DN, revisited

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Gah, I don’t believe this entire post was eaten in cyberspace! Arrgh!

Okay, since I don’t know which website caused the error, I’ll try adding one at a time…

You’ll have to go to the DN website to see what stories I’m commenting on…

President Obama is once again promising that he will let the Bush Tax Cuts for the rich to expire…yeah, well, we’ve heard that before…

…and we all know the rich don’t want to pay for anything…

Okay, if these two posts hold up, I might have time to put the other links up in the next post…

H.Pylori and Migraines

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I picked up a mag that one of the residents had left in the lobby the other day and was surprised by a blip on migraines being connected to H. Pylori, a bacteria that is linked to ulcers. Unfortunately, this article recommended antibiotics to rid the stomach of the bacteria.  Arrrrgh!!

I had just read in the GAPS diet book that H. Pylori was connected to low stomach acid, a condition that is, typically, undiagnosed.  We’ve discussed low stomach acid on the mercury support group, as well, but like this article states, I didn’t think I had a problem because of the acid reflux and other stuff.  Dr. Campbell-McBride recommends taking a bit of sauerkraut juice before meals and also recommends Betaine HCL with pepsin to help the stomach make enough acid.  She says that one wouldn’t have to continue with the Betaine HCL, only until the gut is healed enough that the stomach is able to make enough acid on its own.

Just thought I’d pass this along in case anyone is having issues in that area…

No Justice for Bhopal

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Incredibly, the citizens of Bhopal, India, are still left holding the bag after Union Carbide’s tragic 1984 accident that killed 20,000 people and polluted unknown amounts of water, soil and air.

In the environmental book I’m reading, they recount the Love Canal disaster and all the complexities involved in resolving a toxic event.  The original company, Hooker Chemical, sold the land to the local school board, and incredibly, the school board took it with a contract that stipulated that Hooker Chemical was not responsible for any chemicals on the land.  They had been dumping chemicals there for years—and they built a school on top of the land. Parents began complaining about their children’s health issues within five years after the schools’ opening.

This is where it gets interesting–they were ignored, and when they were finally believed, at first the reaction is what you would expect by those in charge–they admitted there was a problem, and came up with solutions for it.  However, once the financial numbers were crunched, they decided there wasn’t a problem, after all.  Even the state’s health dept scientists were loathe to charge the state for the clean-up.

And the ones who did the toxic dumping–the chemical company–walked away.  This is the real problem–chemical companies, pharmaceutical companies, oil companies that screw up and just walk away because it’s more important to keep them in business than it is to hold them accountable.

Materials for tooth fillings

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A member of the support group I belong to posted this link for safe tooth filling materials.  I’ve had concerns about the plastic composites for the reasons listed on this website, but hadn’t come across something that wasn’t very expensive or had its own toxins.

I don’t know about this, because I haven’t tried it, but I thought I’d pass along the information.  Happy chewing. 🙂

Supreme Court passes Affordable care

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You know, I’m probably the only moderate progressive who disagrees with this Act.  Not for the same reasons the far right does, but because of the mandate for private insurance, instead of Medicare for All.  Unlike those in this article, I don’t see this as a step in the right direction–as a way to get single payer in the door.

However, I do agree with the right on the issue of gov’t control of healthcare.  They already are violating the Fourth Amendment, so what will hold them back in violating a person’s right to privacy with their health records?  If it were a separate agency, such as Medicare–a well run agency–I would trust it more.

And then we have the growing lack of privacy for employees for everything, including medical.

Here’s a site that answers questions on the rights of employers to ask for medical history:

The HIPPA privacy rule does not prevent your employer from asking you for information about your health if your employer needs the information to administer sick leave, workers’ compensation, wellness programs, or health insurance.

Read that again.  They have it couched as “necessary” for the employer to obtain your private information to buy health insurance or administer wellness programs…

And people won’t refuse this especially in this economy—they don’t want to make waves and will agree to it even if they disagree strongly in handing over private information.  This opens the door for an employer in dismissing someone because of a health reason. Actually, as the lawyer points out, they can fire you for any reason if you live in an “At Will” state.  There’s just no rights of the employees in this and that bothers me a great deal.

Again, if there was a Medicare for All, the employers would not have such monumental power over their employees’ lives.

For me, however, I’m less and less likely to seek out the medical profession for issues, and find the natural plants and organic food that will help me regain my health.  Thank God for doctors like Natasha Campbell-McBride who think outside the box and use that wonderful intuition to come up with solutions that aren’t a) making the pharmaceutical companies rich; and b) aren’t ignoring diet  and the environment as a major factors in health.

The medical profession is set up to try to rein in the horse after it’s left the barn, instead of fixing the gate (diet and healthy environment).  That makes no sense to me at all.

 

China Syndrome

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… they lied…as DN reported before.

I wonder how much of that radiation made its way to the U.S. via the ocean and the air currents?

Here’s a link on the subject…if they detected it as far as Massachusetts and North Carolina, you can bet there was much more radiation over the western half of the States than is being admitted.  I wonder how many folks have been diagnosed with thyroid cancer since the accident?  And if they are diagnosed, how many doctors are doing detective work to find the cause?  My bet is that they will blame the patient or will not even recognize thyroid issues and instead diagnose the patient with psychosomatic illness?  Nah, that can’t happen…/snark.