Click on any fact below to see the source page.
Donald G. McNeil Jr., Science Reporter for the New York Times has the following facts about the American Health system:
-
It is likely that more than 56,000 Americans will die of the flu this year
-
To compare, about 4,500 Americans died in Iraq, and about 2,400 in Afghanistan
-
Smoking killed 480,000 Americans last year. Drug overdoses killed 64,000. Car crashes killed 37,000. And Gunshots killed 33,000.
Please click HERE to read the full article.
An article published online gives the following facts about Medical Research:
-
More than 2.3 million people participate in approximately 80,000 total clinical trials every year throughout the U.S.
-
In order to meet expected demand, the number of respondents to clinical study promotions will have to increase sevenfold
-
In a poll, 94% of people recognize the importance of participating in clinical research in order to assist in the advancement of medical science. Yet 75% of the general public state that they have little to no knowledge about the clinical research enterprise and the participation process.
-
An overwhelming majority of people (77%), say that they would consider getting involved in an appropriate clinical research study if asked; however, only 10% of those eligible to participate in clinical trials do so in the U.S.
-
It takes approximately 10 years of study in test tubes and laboratory mice to reach the point where a treatment might be tested for its safety and effectiveness in humans.
-
Approximately 1 in 50 drugs that enter pre-clinical testing prove safe enough and effective enough to be tested in people.
-
Drug companies have been increasing their R&D spending by about 6% a year since 1995.
-
87% of physicians are not involved in clinical trials – 38% attribute lack of opportunity as the main reason for not serving as a Principle or Sub Investigator in a clinical trial and 32% feel that the time commitment is too much
-
Federal agencies, who along with drug companies rely on doctors for about 80% of patients participating in studies.
-
African-American, Hispanic, and Asian trial participants represent over 1/3 of our population, yet only 6% African-Americans, 1% Asians and 1% Hispanics, for a total of 8% participated in trial. This situation is a great concern because the information we get from clinical trials is of great value when trial participants more closely represent our population
-
There is a strong relationship between age and enrollment fraction, with trial participation for people 30 to 64 years of age representing 3.0% of incident cancer patients in that age group, in comparison to 1.3% of 65-74 year olds and 0.5% of patients 75 years and older. This inverse relationship between age and trial enrollment fraction was consistent across racial and ethnic groups.
-
Finding a cure to cancer would be worth about $47 Trillion to the U.S. economy alone.
Please click HERE to read the full article and see the many more facts about medical research.
Unity Magazine gives us the following techniques and suggestions to obtain Optimal Health from Integrative Medical expert, Andrew Weil:
-
Avoid refined, processed, and manufactured food as much as possible
-
Be physically active
-
Get good sleep
-
Learn how to breath properly; breathing exercises can also be done as a separate practice. Dr. Weil recommends the “4-7-8 Breath,” a natural tranquilizer that costs nothing.
> 4-7-8 Breath: Place the tip of your tongue on the roof of your mouth and exhale completely through your mouth, making a whoosh sound. Then close your mouth and inhale quietly through your nose as you count to four. Hold your breath for a count of seven. And then exhale completely through your mouth, making another whoosh sound, for a count of eight. Go through that cycle four times, and do it at least twice a day. It’s a powerful technique that gets more powerful over time. It calms stress or anger, controls cravings, and helps you get to sleep.
-
Make intelligent and selective use of preventive medical care with immunizations, screening tests, appropriate medical exams, etc.
Please click Here for an online pdf version of the article as well as the rest of the magazine.
The Nytimes.com article Giving Stress More Respect offers the following facts and ways to relieve stress that affects us all.
-
Stress is linked to an increased risk for heart attacks, depression, cancer, and the progression of H.I.V and AIDS.
-
Research has shown that workplace stress may be as bad for your heart as smoking and high cholesterol.
-
Stress triggers bad habits like overeating, lack of sleep, smoking and drinking.
-
Stress also has a more insidious effect, releasing stress hormones such as cortisol that can weaken the body’s immune defenses
-
Exercise is an obvious way to shed stress, but for some people daily stress relief come in simple steps like making time to place with your kids, watching a favorite TV show, or taking a hot bath
-
Since the worst kind of stress is chronic, the key is to focus on stress relief every day, and not just on the weekend.
Please click Here to read the full article and get more suggestions on how you can relieve your own stress.
Amputees are often tortured by phantom pain from missing limbs. While scientists puzzle over the condition, Stephen Sumner delivers a simple treatment that works.– Reader’s Digest, September 2015
Click Here to read the article and learn his technique at http://www.meanmymirror.org
Could it be that Alzheimer’s disease stems from the toxic remnants of the brain’s attempt to fight off infection? – NYTIMES.COM
Nytimes.com brings to light a startling reality about pain killers:
-
While Americans are confronting an epidemic of prescription drug abuse, particularly for addictive painkillers, the reverse problem prevails in much of the world.
-
A report published in February from the International Narcotics Control Board, a United Nations agency, showed that most growth in the use of opioid analgesics has been in North America, Central and Western Europe, and Oceania. It remains low in Africa, Asia, Central America, the Caribbean, South America, and Eastern and Southern Europe.
Please click Here to read the full article on the NY Times Website.
Time.com gives the following facts about Heart attacks.
-
Silent heart attacks, which have no symptoms but still involve a loss of blood flow to the heart, make up 45% of all heart attacks and triple the chances of dying from heart disease.
-
Silent heart attacks make up nearly half of all heart attacks and increase the chance of death by all causes by 34%.
Please click Here to read the full article.
The National Institute on Aging gives us the following research and data on Alzheimer’s Disease:
- Researchers hope to develop therapies targeting specific genetic, molecular, and cellular mechanisms so that the actual underlying cause of the disease can be stopped or prevented.
Please click Here to read the full fact sheet and where scientist are focusing their research to find a cure for this terrible disease.