The Health Travel Guides blog has a new home!

Silicon Valley on Breast Cancer Awareness: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly - Wellsphere

Today is In 2011, an estimated 230,480 new cases of invasive breast cancer were diagnosed in women in the U.S.

My best friend Sue is one of them.  She’s Stage 3a, which, as anyone with even an iota of awareness of the disease knows, is not good at all.   

As if this weren't enough to worry about, after having a double radical mastectomy, she returned to work,  only to be told "You're disruptive" and handed a pink slip. 

Hello chemo and radiation, goodbye livelihood and health insurance....on the last day of Breast Cancer Awareness Month, which also happens to be Halloween.  Have a little irony, it's good for the blood! 

Read the rest of the story here, and who are the heroes and zeroes in the fight to support women with breast cancer from losing their livelihood as well as their breasts.

Silicon Valley on Breast Cancer Awareness: The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly - Wellsphere

The Health Travel Guides blog has moved!

Make Losing Weight a Family Affair

A study reported in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests that obesity is "socially contagious"  -  if  you have a friend who is obese, your chances of also becoming obese rise by 57 percent. 

Although there has been much talk of the 'fat virus' dubbed AD-36, the word 'contagion' here does not refer to a virus.  There has been no hard evidence that fat is not catching in the classic sense, i.e. through a bug or infection. 

Fat as social contagion refers to the the transmission not of a virus, but  of behaviors, e.g.  you join in on the weekly happy hours, pizza ordering etc, and evolving social norms e.g. people you admire/respect gain weight; both change your perceptions of what is normal/OK for your social circle, including you.   

Fear Not the Fat!   Just as fat seems to be catching, so does fat loss.  Dr. Nicholas Christakis (Harvard Medical School) reports in the NEJM study that weight loss was also contagious—people who considered themselves the friends of newly slim friends reported theylost weight themselves.

This supports the research from the Stanford School of Medicine bariatric surgery program ( published in the Arhcives of Surgery) which shows that when a patient has gastric bypass,   family members show a tendency to lose weight, eat better and exercise more; the finding was dubbed  gastric bypass ripple effect. 

At Health Travel Guides we see evidence of this all the time. Like this story of an Arizona husband and wife team losing a combined 150 pounds!

"Former co-workers don't recognize me!"

My husband had Gastric Plication surgery with Health Travel Guides in January, 2011. Following his surgery, I modified my eating habits and accelerated my activity and was able to lose approximately 30 lbs prior to my own weight loss surgery in September, 2011.

Since surgery I have lost 45+ lbs more.  I started weight and strength training twice a week in January 2012 and added Zumba Gold twice a week, in addition to working in the yard on nearly a daily basis. I have gone from a size 1X/2X or 18/20 clothing to Medium/Large or 12/14/16 since surgery.  Friends and former co-workers do not know me when they see me now. I am extremely happy with my progress as well as my husband's progress (75+ lbs) since surgery. We both look much better, feel much better, have much more energy and stamina, and both feel far healthier than prior to surgery. In fact, he is now off blood pressure and cholesterol medication..   

Weight Loss Drugs, Weight Loss Surgery Options
With more than a third of US adults obese, and fully two-thirds overweight, there is obviously a 'big' market for weight loss alternatives - everything from pills to new surgical procedures.  Weight loss surgery alternatives are increasingly minimally invasive, and geared to help patients get a jump start on the road to health.  Topping the list are the sleeve plication sugery with no resection and no devices, and the new Green Zone Weight Loss Surgery Options made possible by Irish medical device maker Crospon.

Why the Logic of Free Trade In Medicine Is Becoming Harder To Resist

"If domestic hospitals actually had to compete with international hospitals the way American car companies have to compete with Toyota and Honda, they might be forced to become more efficient."  ~New Yorker Magazine

This year, a few hundred thousand Americans will head to places like Costa Rica, Mexico, India and Thailand  and not for the views of the Mayan ruins or ancient Buddhist temples, but rather for affordable medical care.

Yesterday's New Yorker features the story Club Med on James Surowiecki's Financial Page, discussing the increasingly commonplace practice of destination health care, in which US patients travel abroad for treatments as varied as root canals, metabolic surgery (for type 2 diabetes) and hip replacements.

Surowiecki opines that if costs for US healthcare continue to rise, and Obama care is overturned in the Supreme Court, this practice will become more and more common. 

Destination health care is nothing new - Mayo Clinic is one of the earliest practitioners, attracting  more than 80,000 medical travelers, or medical tourists, per year.

Now, international hospitals such as Bumrungrad Hospital in Bangkok and Angeles hospitals in Mexico are also major hubs for destination healthcare, treating hundreds of thousands of medical tourists every year.

Who Said It? 

“Ten years from now, we’ll all get on planes and fly somewhere to get treated.”  ~NY Times

Other countries reporting  annual medical travelers to their private hospitals numbering in the hundreds of thousands include the Philippines, Malaysia, India, Korea, and China; dental travel is common in Mexico and eastern Europe. 

The attractions of destination healthcare are many:  most significant, of course, is the value, i.e. medical care is much cheaper abroad, often less than half the out of pocket costs to insured patients in the US health system.

But cheap is perhaps not the best word, since the private hospitals catering to American medical travelers are often quite luxurious by US health care standards, with very low nurse:patient ratios, all private rooms, and the latest medical technology.

And as Surowiecki notes, the challenges to medical travel have virtually disappeared with the advent of destination health care facilitation services, including:

• employers providing destination health care options in employee benefits
• physican-founded organizations like Orbicare specializing in taking US stem cell, IVF and metabolic surgery  patients to Latin AMerican destinations such as Spain, Argentina
• technology companies like Health Travel Guides providing patients with a global network of health are options and a free, full complement of concierge services to make the process easy
• medical device companies are choosing to bypass the FDA approval process and offering their products abroad, where Americans must follow for the latest technology

In short order, the market for destination health care could expand by as much as forty million (the number of Americans who are uninsured) if Obamacare is overturned.

Cuts in  Medicaid and Medicare  might make the cost of US health care cost prohibitive to America's silver citizens, adding further to the growing ranks of medical travelers.

Health care has, to date, been insulated from the impact of globalization, but medical tourism might spell the end of that.  Benefits of the practice go beyond savings to the patient, according to Surowiecki; more medical tourism increases free trade in medical services.

The US of course has a long history of breaking down barriers to free trade in manufacturing and service, exposing these  industries to foreign competition and resulting in lower prices and higher quality goods and services to American consumers.  The same, Surowiecki argues, would hold true for competition in health care.

Despite the technology explosion and social interfacing of the information age, medicine has stubbornly remained an anachronism - local and somewhat unconnected business.  That would quickly change if patients could easily engage in domestic medical tourism (i.e. journeying to lower cost hospitals within the US), or if Medicare and Medicaid covered treatment in  foreign hospitals, and/or if insurers decide to cut consumers in on the savings from treatment abroad. 

Ironically, bringing the US health care system's costs into line might only be possible as the result of more Americans outsourcing their health care.

What Else We're Reading and Listening To

• Why 1 in 3 US Hospitals Is On Life Support
• The State of American Health Care: Some States More Equal Than Others
• How Many Hospitals Should Serve McDonald's? 
• Regretful Former Insurance Exec Calls Obamacare a Boon To Greedy Insurance Industry 
• From the Patient's Mouth: US Nurse Goes Abroad for Metabolic Procedure 
  
  

How Many Hospitals Should Serve McDonald's?

Take a guess - how many hospitals do you think in the US have McDonald's on site?

a. 1-9
b. 10-19
c. 20-29
d. 30+

Our blog has moved, but you can get the answer by clicking here.  The answer will surprise you..especiall when you find out what famous brand name shares space with the Golden Arches.

 Thanks for visiting the Health Travel Guides blog!

Picture This: America's Big Fat Future of Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes

Facing the Facts: The High Cost of Obesity in America

Thanks to our friends at  MedicalCodingCareerGuide.com for this infographic!

Related Reading

Today's new York Times reports on studies recently published in the New England Journal of Medicine, "Surgery on Diabetics May Be Better Than Standard Treatment".  

Although the effectiveness of metabolic surgery on resolution of type 2 diabetes is good news, the bad news is, most Americans cannot afford the cost of bariatric surgery, which ranges from $10,000 for adjustable gastric banding to more than $30,000 for the RNY gastric bypass.  

The good news: the world's leading metabolic surgeons are located in Mexico, Costa Rica and Spain, where the cost for the procedure is less than half the U.S. health system.  The best news: Health Travel Guides, a San Francisco-based healthcare technology firm, will guide you every step of the way!

Find out if you are a candidate for weight loss surgery by clicking on this secure link to fill out a personal medical history . A Health Travel Guide will be in touch to answer your questions about traveling for bariatric surgery abroad - something more than 7,000 Americans have done!

• Experts Agree: Metabolic Surgery More Effective Managing Type 2 Diabetes Than Diet, Meds
• Brown Fat, Triggered by Cold or Exercise, May Yield a Key to Weight Control
• Diabetics Have Less Opportunity, Lower Lifetime Earnings
• Minimally Invasive Weight Loss Surgery Alternatives 
• The Noninvasive Solution to Weight and Diabetes Management
• Young, Obese and Getting Weight-Loss Surgery (travel4health.wordpress.com)
• Drinking Water Helps Lower the Risk of Diabetes, Helps Dieters Lose Weight (travel4health.wordpress.com)

Fat and the Shame Game: Plus Sized Model Speaks Out

Georgia has a message for the overweight, and there's nothing sweet about it.

A television advertising campaign with a harsh anti-obesity message ("Stop Sugarcoating It, Georgia)"  has been receiving criticism, ironically from the overweight stars of the ads themselves.

Model Beth Anne Sacks (pictured at left) says in a New York Times interview that the approach is too negative to inspire overweight people to change people's behavior.

Sacks also calls the ads misleading (some of the ads showed a 'virtual amputation' (via photoshop) of the leg of another model.

“If they think they’re going to reach overweight people with these ads, they’re not going to do it.  ~Plus-sized obesity campaign model

"It Has To Be Harsh"
Linda Matzigkeit, vice president of Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, defends the campaign's harshness. "If it's not, nobody's going to listen," says Matzigkeit. 

Some public health experts do not agree, however, saying the negative approach could be counterproductive when it comes to childhood obesity, pointing out that the commercials and billboards do not give families the tools they need to attack the problem.

You Might Be Surprised....at what Dr. Oz says about weight loss surgery as a solution to obesity!

Others say the campaign will further stigmatize obesity and make it even less likely for parents and children to acknowledge that their weight is unhealthy and should be addressed.

What do you think?  Do anti-obesity messages need to be harsh to be effective? What is the alternative?


Check out what we’re reading:
Brown Fat, Triggered by Cold or Exercise, May Yield a Key to Weight Control
How LAP-BAND® Is Like a Band-Aid®
Diabetes, Obesity and Superheroes
Minimally Invasive Weight Loss Surgery Alternatives
The Noninvasive Solution to Weight and Diabetes Management
More Fat News and This Time it’s Good!

Catholic Nun Groups to Supreme Court: Affordable Care is a Mandate of Civilized Society

A group of nuns that represent the leadership of Catholic women’s religious orders from across the United States (the "amici curiae")  filed a brief last week with the nation's Supreme Court in support of President Obama's Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. 

The sisters have a long record of service in the public health care sector, founding free clinics and hospitals for the underprivileged since the earliest days of the union. Their powerful words:

Amici have witnessed firsthand the national crisis that prompted Congress to pass the Affordable Health Care Act. We have seen the devastating impact of the lack of affordable health insurance and health care on women, children, and other vulnerable members of society.

 We believe..... it is a moral imperative that all levels of government institute programs that ensure the poor receive health care (and that)  Medicaid expansion under the Act is critical to the communities we serve.

Did You Know: Catholic Means "Universal"
Many of the Amici (Latin for "friends") have devoted their lives to providing care to those most in need, and it appears they are not alone in their devotion. Even the Holy See has called health care an “inalienable right,” and the

 “moral responsibility of nations to guarantee access to health care for all of their citizens.”~Pope Benedict XVI

Jesus Agrees! 
Dr. Jesus Ortiz agrees.  The state of American health care drove him to create Orbicare (Latin for "care for the world"), an organization that helps the uninsured and under-insured (which numbers about 30% of the US population) get health care in Latin America and Europe, where health care costs tend to be much lower than the US, with equal quality and, often, superior service.  As Dr. Ortiz notes,

"American health care is among the best in the world - why the high cost, and what can we do about it?"  ~Dr. Jesus Ortiz, Founder, Orbicare

What We're Driving At:  Is it Time To Outsource American Health Care?
Dr. Ortiz compiled some fascinating statistics (in this free downloadable brochure) about the sad state of the US health care system, including the shocking statistic that US ranks #1 in the world in cost of heath care, but much farther down the list - forget the top 3, not even the top 25 - in life expectancy and infant mortality.

For those neither young nor old that think this problem somehow does not affect them, General Motors says this is how much health care adds to the cost of each new car it sells:

a.  more than $500
b.  about $750
c.  more than $1500

The good Sisters have spoken. What do you think?

Related Articles

• More Health Care Dollars Spent on Teeth Than Babies, But Diabetes Beats Them All  
• The State of American Health: Some States More Equal Than Other  

Recession Reschmession: Cosmetic Surgery Demand Remains Strong

The American Society of Aesthetic and Plastic Surgeons reports that Since 1997,  there has been a 155%+ increase in the total number of cosmetic procedures.


Even after the recession hit, Americans still made room in their budget for cosmetic self-improvement:  Americans spent nearly $10.7 billion on cosmetic procedures in 2010. Of that total almost $6.6 billion was spent on surgical procedures.

 From 2009-2010, there was almost a 9% increase in the total number of cosmetic surgical procedures, with over 1.6 million cosmetic surgical procedures this year.

• Surgical procedures increased by more than 71%
• Nonsurgical procedures increased by 228%

Mostly a girl thing.....
Women had almost 8.6 million cosmetic procedures, 92% of the total.  The number of cosmetic procedures for women increased over 164% from 1997.  The top five surgical procedures for women were:

• breast augmentation
• liposuction
• breast reduction
• abdominoplasty
• eyelid surgery

But increasingly a guy thing too...

Men had over 750,000 cosmetic procedures, making 8% of the total number of cosmetic surgeries.

The number of cosmetic procedures for men increased over 88% from 1997.   The top five surgical procedures for men were:

• liposuction 
• rhinoplasty
• eyelid surgery
• breast reduction to treat enlarged male breast
• cosmetic ear surgery

Mostly- but not limited to - middle age
People age 35-50 had the most procedures – more than 4 million, accounting for 44% of the total number of cosmetic procedures.

• ages 19-34 account for 20% of procedures
• ages 51-64 account for  28%
• ages 65 and account for  7%
• ages 18 and younger account for 1.3%

 ...with 1 in 5 among ethnic groups
Racial and ethnic minorities, as of last year had approximately 19% of all cosmetic procedures:

• Hispanics 8%
• African-Americans 6%
• Asians 5%

Traveling for Beauty On The Rise

The recession has had a notable impact on cosmetic surgery in one key aspect: Health Travel Guides reports the number of people traveling abroad to have their procedures shows a double digit increase over the past two years.

Director of International Patient Services Deborah Natsch reports that procedure popularity for so-called 'cosmetic travelers' mirrors the ASAPS report on procedure popularity, with breast enhancement procedures leading the way.

"Getting breast augmentation abroad means working with a board-certified cosmetic plastic surgeon who is a member of ASAPS, but the patient saves well over 50%, simply due the structure of the health care system," Ms. Natsch points out. 

The US fee-for-services model has driven up the cost of medical care to the point that US ranks #1 on health care spending, but lower than #30 on infant mortality and life expectancy.   It's no wonder that more and more Americans are choosing to circumvent a system that charges too much, particular for elective surgeries.

Natsch reports that the average cost of breast augmentation in a top-flight cosmetic surgery clinic in Cancun, for example, is about $4500, while breast lift runs about $4,250.  Plus, there is the added advantage of recovering in a beautiful setting.  The program prices include a dedicated Health Travel Guide (chat with one here) and even a logistics coordinator to book patient's travel.

"We have an 80% referral rate," said Natsch. "Our patients are delighted with their results, and many have additional procedures that would have been out of reach had they chosen to stay in the U.S. "

Big News For Big Loser Wannabes: New Minimally Invasive Device-Free Restrictive Gastric Plication Free Webcast

Free Gastric Plication Live Medical Webcast: You have nothing to lose but weight!

If you have been researching weight loss procedures, you can't afford to miss this free gastric plication webcast produced by Health Travel Technologies, part of the excellent Patient Education Series.

Gastric Plication is the latest in a series of bariatric innovations (including the gastric pacemaker and metabolic surgery) and features some great benefits for patients:

- minimally invasive: the procedure is laparoscopic
- device free - no band to refill or adjust or remove
- no resection - no loss of stomach tissue
- greater weight loss than LAP-BAND

All of this adds up to lower risk of complication. Weight loss results have been consistently comparable to the much more invasive RNY Gastric Bypass, or Vertical Sleeve Gastrectomy. The procedure requires only an overnight hospital stay, and unlike LAP-BAND, which requires a healing period before the first fill (after which optimal weight loss begins), weight loss begins sooner, and happens at a faster rate.

The About Gastric Plication webcast was developed in cooperation with the obesity surgical team of Hospital Angeles, led by Dr. Juan Lopez-Corvala, the world's leading gastroenterologist surgeon performing the gastric plication.

register now!

Bonus: The panel will spend some time discussing another recent bariatric innovation, Green Zone weight loss surgery.

we invite you to check out what we're reading:

Brown Fat, Triggered by Cold or Exercise, May Yield a Key to Weight Control
How LAP-BAND® Is Like a Band-Aid®
Diabetes, Obesity and Superheroes
Why Gastric Bypass Spells the End of Type 2 Diabetes
Minimally Invasive Weight Loss Surgery Alternatives
The Noninvasive Solution to Weight and Diabetes Management
More Fat News and This Time it’s Good!

Twinkies, Eternal Freshness and Premature Death

This past Wednesday Hostess - that purveyor of Twinkies, Wonder Bread and Ho-Hos -  filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. The company said it is struggling to stay competitive under the weight of debt and soaring labor force expenses  - primarily referring to legacy pension and medical benefit obligations and restrictive collective bargaining agreements governing its 19,000 strong, predominantly union workforce.

A Sweet American Giant On Its Knees

The ingredients for a bankruptcy can be complex, but, it seems, no more so than the ingredients of the Twinkie itself.  The description we hear in advertising - golden sponge cake, creamy filling - is rather vague and, it turns out, not very reflective of the very interesting (and somewhat alarming) ingredients of the snack cake.

Fun Facts About Twinkies

Vitamins.  Who knew Twinkies have vitamins?!  Where the vitamins come from, however, is another story: Food writer Steve Ettlinger, author of the book “Twinkie, Deconstructed, explains in an interview with NY Times health blogger Tara Parker-Hope that the vitamins in Twinkie are made from petroleum and fermented in enormous industrial plants mostly in China, part of what Ettlinger calls "the Twinkie Industrial Complex". 

Rocks.  No animals are harmed in the making of a twinkie, but rocks are put to work. Five rocks are required in the making of a Twinkie, including salt,.gypsum, trona, limestone and phosphorus ore.

Polysorbate 60   Ettlinger was unable to get Twinkie factory employees to give away the secret of the cream filling, but he suspects it is partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, polysorbate 60, and possibly cellulose gum.

Eternal Life.  Twinkies will change consistency as they age, but apparently never become (more) inedible.  The food writer interviewed in the NY Times has a Twinkie from 2005 in his office, with nary a speck of mold, which might explain the "good through 1/11/25" that was ink-jetted onto the cellophane wrapper of a Banana Flip - quite similar to a Twinkie except for the flavor - that I once purchased as part of a Halloween costume.

The year was 1992, and it actually took me awhile to understand that the '25' in the date line referred to 2025. I've moved twice since then, but the Banana Flip, still stored in a box somewhere, is still (according to them) just as edible a the day I bought it. I should add that the last time I saw it - sometime in 2002 - it looked the same, although the creme filling looked a trifle less creamy.

Doctor Criticizes Snack Cakes, Loses Job
While nothing in the Twinkie seems to resemble food as we know it, and sugar and fat are well-understood contributors to the American obesity rate - Tuesday the CDC reported that more than 78 million adults and almost 13 million children aged 2-19 are obese- a  Florida doctor was removed from his job running a local  health department after posting signs critical of junk food and doughnuts.

Associate professor of medicine at the University of Chicago Dr. Elbert Huang said in an interview with  MSNBC news that current obesity rates guarantee that we will see dramatic increases down the road in diabetes and in costs linked with that disease. That's because Type 2 diabetes, strongly linked to obesity,  becomes more prevalent as people age.

Twinkies are eternally nostalgic, (nearly) eternally fresh as that word is understood in processed food land, but neither obesity nor diabetes need to be lifelong burdens.  Check out the articles below for an in-depth look at the factors contributing to obesity and diabetes, and how to control them.

click to learn about Green Zone LAP-BAND

Related Reading

• Diabetics Have Lower Lifetime Income, Opportunity 
• New Noninvasive Weight Loss Surgery Options
• How Exercise Makes  You Weight-Gain and Diabetes Resistant  
• Understanding Diabetes Risks:  loss of vision,  foot amputation, shorter life span 

The Two Second Vampire

Every two seconds someone in America needs blood, but only one in three Americans donates. That's a discrepancy that gets even wider in the winter, when blood is typically in short supply due to illness, holiday travel land and winter weather conditions.

Since 1970, FEMA has recognized  January as National Blood Donor Month - a time to remind Americans that even when blood donations are down, the need for blood isn't: our society needs nearly 40,000 units of red blood every single day, and most blood centers are unable to maintain more than a three-day supply of blood for transfusions.

"Donating blood is a safe, life-saving and selfless gift that enhances the level of preparedness for each and every community in this nation."  ~Ken Murphy, FEMA

 

Fang You, Baby Boomers!

According to FEMA, baby boomers are the biggest donors, and that's bad news in the long run: as boomers age, they often become less able to donate due to health issues and medications.  As baby boomers age, we lose them not only as top donors, we gain them as top users. 

The largest demographic cohort ever to move through the population will have more surgeries and health problems that will require more and more donated blood to maintain their own health.  Just as blood supplies become increasingly important, they become more quickly depleted, as boomers use more and more of the blood supply they once supported themselves.

Visit Boomer's Abroad

Interesting facts about donating blood:

• Only 5%  of eligible donors in the US donate
• The number of blood transfusions performed in the US increases by 9% every year
• One unit of whole blood is divided into three parts: red blood cells, platelets, and plasma.
• Each whole blood donation can help as many as three people
• On average, a hip replacement typically uses one unit of blood, a cardiac bypass 2 units, a heart transplant 2 units, and a liver transplant 10 units
• 25 % or more of us will require blood at least once in our lifetime

Is Mickey Mouse Getting Stem Cell Injections to Stay Young?

A recent study published in Nature Communications and reported on MSNBC's Vitals  illustrates, with rodent Benjamin Buttons, how scientists may one day be able to, if not reverse, then slow the aging process with an injection of adult stem cells.

In the study, mice bred to carry the disease progeria - or, rapid age acceleration - were injected with stem cells. Within days, the rapidly aging mice  (whose normal 2 year lifespan is cut to just 21 days by disease) began looking and acting younger. 

“It was mind boggling.”~ Dr. Johnny Huard, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine (study co-author)

The stem cells did not fully reverse the aging disease - i.e. the progeria-infected, stem-cell injected mice didn’t live as long as normal mice - however the injected mice nevertheless lived three times longer than mice with progeria and no stem cell treatment. 

Adult Stem Cells: A "Fantastic" Cure For Aging?The study authors speculate that additional injections of stem-cells would even further lengthen their lifespans - that more stem cells will provide equal more effect.

Though the stem cell injection was made in the stomach, the stem cell effect was not limited to the gastrointestinal neighborhood. Though the stem cells themselves did not make it to the brain, the stem cells nevertheless improved the health of the brain by increasing the number of blood vessels.  

For scientists, this was the coupe de grace, suggesting as it does that normal stem cells are releasing a protein that spurs the growth of healthy cells.   The study authors note that 'there is a lot of money being spent in the world trying to delay aging' and that the comparative simplicity of the stem cell 'cure' for aging - a treatment that is non-surgical and non-invasive - would be nothing short of 'fantastic' for humans.

Top 10 Adult Stem Cell Treatments

Stem cell treatment to repair damaged hearts, bones and cartilage is currently being conducted by the study's authors.

Although human trials for stem cell treatment are not readily accessible to patients in the United States, leading stem cell researchers in state-of-the-art private hospitals abroad are building open study registries for treatment protocols.

Conditions treated include for congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, joint regeneration and erectile dysfunction.

A number of professional athletes have traveled abroad for stem cell treatment for joint repair, including Cy Young-award winning pitcher Bartolo Colon and Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning.

Stem Cell Awareness Day
Learn more about anti-aging adult stem cell treatments available through programs certified by the nonprofit stem cell treatment oversight organization dedicated to patient safety, the International Cellular Medicine Society  (ICMS).

More reading:  

• Dogs and Horses Gain Quality of Life with Stem Cell Treatments...Will People?

• Are Adult Stem Cells a Miracle Fountain of Youth?

Diabetics Have Less Opportunity, Lower Lifetime Earnings

The Toll of Diabetes:  Social and Economic As Well As Physical

A new study has quantified the non-medical costs associated with Type 2 diabetes, which according to the American Diabetes Association affects ~26 million children and adults in the United States, or 8% of the population, with new diagnoses at a rate of  1.9 million cases per year.

 The study, published in the journal Health Affairs, tracked 15,000 people diagnosed with either Type 1 or  the far more common Type 2 diabetecs from high school through their early 30s, or about 14 years.  Results show that people with diabetes can expect to make $160,000 less in earnings over the course of their lifetimes as compared to non-diabetics.

The research reveals that diabetics are less likely to complete high school or attend college; by age 30, a person with diabetes is 10 percent less likely to find employment. , in part because of reduced education.

"Diabetics may be having some negative consequences pretty early on in the course of life,” ~Dr. Michael Richards, study author/Yale University

The researchers estimate that the driving force of the income and opportunity disparities for diabetics is the difficulties experienced in balancing school or job demands with the management of a chronic disease.

In addition, employers may also be less likely to hire someone with diabetes, fearing either (or both) lost productivity due to sick days because and a greater insurance burden relative to non-diabetic workers.

Read: Diabetes Discrimination: Know Your Rights

"Job lock" may also be a factor; job lock refers to reluctance to seek out better-paying jobs for fear of losing existing health benefit.

Earlier research confirms that chronic disease and other health indicators - for example, being overweight, can pose barriers in the job market - obesity has long been linked to lower earnings.

Although Type 2 diabetes is more often encountered among older Americans, who can face age-related discrimination, the study controls for age, and shows the deleterious effects of diabetes are independent of age:  high school students with diabetes were 6% more likely to drop out, and 10% less likely to find a job.  

The study also controlled and adjusted for the effect of being overweight, as well as race and other environmental and demographic factors, with results clearly showing diabetes having a negative effect on income independent of other factors.

Intergenerational effects were also noted: children of diabetics were 6% less likely to attend college if they had a diabetic parent, possibly due to the financial impact of diabetes on the family income/savings. 

Diabetes: Stealing The Future of Our Children?

Current estimates place obesity rates among adolescents between 16-32%, a statistic that has the A panel of experts appointed by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and endorsed by the American Academy of Pediatrics recently released a report recommending screening for Type 2 Diabetes should begin before age 10 for children who are overweight and/or have a family history of diabetes.  

Read: Is Weight Loss Surgery a Drastic Solution to the Problem of Childhood Obesity?

The problem of childhood obesity is so severe the New England Journal of Medicine has opined that the next generation of children may be the first in history to have a shorter life expectancy than their parents.

First Lady Michele Obama's Let's Move initiative to reduce childhood obesity is aptly named; recent research has discovered an 'exercise hormone' (nicknamed "irisis" by scientists).  The hormone helps transform inert white fat into metabolically active brown fat; while overweight people who exercise may not lose weight, they experience the benefit of the hormone making them weight-gain and diabetes resistant.

Gastric Bypass and Diabetes Resolution

Diabetes is the 7th leading cause of death in the US, and will likely move up the mortality ladder given that nearly 80 million Americans are currently classified by the ADA as "prediabetic". 

Type 2 diabetes is the leading cause of kidney failure and adult blindness, and is linked to increases incidence of heart disease, stroke, cancer diagnosis and death. 

The current gold standard of bariatric surgery for obesity has the welcome side effect of resolving Type 2 diabetes.  The popular Dr. Oz was recently quoted in Prevention Magazine recommending  gastric bypass surgery, a procedure he considers essential in the fight against obesity.

Read: 10 Celebrities Who Have Had Weight Loss Surgery

Dr. Oz points out that an obese 50-year old has the same mortality rate as a cancer patient - most would not hesitate to operate for cancer, and the same should be true of obesity. "If you get people to start losing 5% of their excess body weight, you're really taking a big whack out of  (a serious health problem that is affecting) the two-thirds of Americans," he notes.

Related Reading

• Diabetes, Obesity and Superheroes 
• 12 Anti-Diabetes "Superfoods"
• Why Gastric Bypass Spells the End of Type 2 Diabetes
• 9 Foods on the No List for Diabetics

60% Would Toss A Pension For THIS Perk

How does health affect work, and how does work affect health?

A gym membership is the most common and, as it happens, least interesting health perk a company can provide.  That's what the Fit to Perform survey conducted among 554 executives reveals.

The executives were asked how they support the health and well-being of their workforce. 

Fully 60% rated free or subsidized health care as the most important perk in perkdom.   These results are the preliminary findings as part of a wide-ranging investigation into the critical health care issues around the world.   Maternity leave continues to not be commonly provided but to be commonly thought important.

It is part of the GE "Health of Nations"  research and analysis program , created by the Economist Intelligence Unit.

Health Care Benefits Go International

Quality health care doesn't need to be subsidized if it's affordable in the first place - something employers are learning is the case with international health care. 

Private health care in places as diverse  as Thailand, India and Malaysia  - and as close as Mexico, Argentina, Panama and Costa Rica (where 15% of annual visitors are actually dental tourists, according to the Costa Rican government) - is often less than half US costs - that's even with all the perks and extras that most US patients would like to expect from domestic health care, including modern 5-star facilities, private patient rooms, top surgeons and nursing staffs and US medical devices. 

Join the Health Travel Guides mailing list to learn more.

How LAP-BAND® Is Like a Band-Aid®

Some brands are so well-known they become the generic references for a whole category - think Kleenex, Jello-O and Hula Hoop (did Hula Hoop have any competitors?). 

LAP-BAND^® is like the Band-Aid of  bariatric surgery, the Allergan-branded system is basically ubiquitous for minimally invasive adjustable gastric banding surgery.


An NFL Lineman Has LAP-BAND
Celebrities Who Have Had Weight Loss Surgery

More than 650,000  LAP-BANDs^®  have  been placed, and with more than one third of Americans (that's about 60 million people) meeting the medical definition of obesity (a BMI of 30 or more), and two of every three Americans overweight, this number is likely to increase.


Being overweight increases the risk for diseases such as type 2 diabetes (Read: 10 Truths About Diabetes), heart diseases, stroke, sleep apnea, respiratory problems and some cancers. Research from the National Institutes of Health has shown that obesity will decrease average life expectancy by nearly five years.

Most Troubling Obesity Health Risks

Going Green

The latest news in LAP-BAND^® is the Green Zone LAP-BAND^®, a variation on the procedure conducted with the new FDA-approved Endoflip system, which provides the obesity surgeon with multiple, real-time images of the gastrointestinal tract, enabling precision band placement and thus, opitmal weight loss.

Most interesting to patients is the fact that the first band 'fill' takes place inter-operatively; while 'regular' LAP-BAND^® patients must weight up to three months for their first fill,  patients having a Green Zone LAP-BAND^® get their first fill before they even leave the OR; often, the next fill is not needed until five months post-surgery. 

It's a win-win for both surgeons and patients: an advancement that results in more and faster weight loss, a quicker reduction of the more serious complications of obesity such as Type 2 Diabetes, while reducing the overall risk of complication.

Click here to take the Type 2 Diabetes Risk Test

 Why Mexico is the Land of LAP-BAND®
Thanks to a sometimes glacially slow FDA approval process, the LAP-BAND® was available in Mexico a good five years before the United States.  As a result, top gastroenterologist surgeons in Mexico placed thousands of LAP-BANDS® before American surgeons had placed even one.  Rock star surgeons like the Allergan-certified "little Giant of LAP-BAND®" - Dr. Juan Lopez Corvala - visited as many as 100 US research hospitals proctoring the procedure.   His patient roster now includes about 6,000 gratefully thinner Americans.

The pattern holds true for this latest LAP-BAND® as well - as of this writing, Green Zone LAP-BAND® is available exclusively in Mexico's top private hospital network, where regular surgical clinics are held for US surgeons to train on the use of the EndoFlip. 

Although geographically speaking it's now just as easy to have a LAP-BAND®  in Missouri as Mexico, the economics still significantly favor Mexico, where the procedure costs $5,200 at a top private hospital - less than half the average cost for having  the procedure in a clinic in the US.  With medical travel facilitators like Health Travel Guides on hand to handle all the details, it's not only cheaper to have the procedure in Mexico, it's often easier as well.

Is LAP-BAND® Getting a Bad Rap? 

Watch this animated video about Green Green Zone LAP-BAND® and be the judge!




Want to find out if you're a candidate for Green Zone LAP-BAND®? Submit a secure online medical history and receive information about the Green Zone LAP-BAND® procedure.

Diabetics, Dodge Holiday Disasters with These Holiday Travel Tips

Can't beat the 'beatis, my grandpa used to grumble. Meaning, he felt powerless against his diabetes.

It's a different world now, one that includes insulin pumps and a TSA.  How to keep these two entities from making your life miserable during holiday travel is our subject today, with a little help from the CDC's just-released Tip Sheet,  Managing Diabetes During the Holidays.


Packing Medical Supplies
If you read these guidelines carefully, you might spot a theme:

• pack at least twice as much medication as you think you'll need
• pack the right amount of blood-testing supplies - then double that too
• if you're traveling to a place with limited medical resources, double down again

If you're traveling long distances, make sure you move around or get up and walk every 30 minutes, to combat your increased risk for blood clots.

For time (zone) travelers, experts recommend Type 2 Diabetes patients ease into their new schedule by beginning to adjust medication times for insulin in increments in the 3-5 days prior to your departure.

However, if the time change is greater than four hours, ask your doctor to revise your dosing schedule to reflect your new time zone, to reduce the chance for a dosage error.

XO, RX

Carrying a prescription (in the original packaging) along with a letter from your doctor specifically outlining  your treatment plan (e.g. "take prescribed medication every 3 hours, take insulin shots 3 times per day") will reduce the chance of TSA hassles, like confiscation of syringe or other medical devices.

Pump Up Your Caution

 The CDC reports research that has shown changes in airliner cabin pressure during flights can cause insulin pumps to deliver too much insulin when the plane is climbing.  Therefore, diabetics who are extremely sensitive to insulin should disconnect the pump before take-off.  Always check an airborne insulin supply for air bubbles, even after deplaning.

Related Resources
Stopping Diabetes Before It Stops You
Unexpected Ways Technology is Changing Medicine 
Don't Be A Christmas Casualty

Happy Holidays from the Health Traveler! 

Diabetes, Obesity, Superhero Workouts Top Internet Health Searches of 2011

What do obesity and pin-thin Ryan Gosling have to do with each other? Well, a lot, according to Google. Seems "obesity", and "Ryan Gosling workout" are among the top two topics among Internet searchers in 2011.   

With more than two-thirds of the population overweight, and one third obese, America is flabbier than ever. But that may be about to change, if the search topics of 2011 are an indication:  among the most searched terms were "high protein diet" the "Thor" workout, the “Ryan Gosling workout,” the “Chris Hemsworth workout,” and the “Captain America workout.”

The most searched diet term: the “Dukan diet” (also known as the Kate Middleton pre-wedding diet, and also also known (by the British Dietetic Association) as one of the top 5 worst celebrity diets to avoid).  The “four-hour diet” and “17-days diet" were also in the top three.

With more than two-thirds of the population overweight, and one third obese, America is flabbier than ever. But that may be about to change, if the search topics of 2011 are an indication. 

Other top health-related search terms include:

• diabetes symptoms
• obesity
• gall bladder symptoms
• diet
• poison ivy 
• sunscreen
• sinusitis
• bipolar disorder

The most popular search terms at Health Travel Guides: obesity, diet, diabetes, joint replacement, and fertility treatment.   Our most popular articles include:

• Is American Medicine Losing It's Edge?
• Why Ginger Grant Would Never Marry a Dentist 
• Woman Refuses to Cash IRA for Hip Replacement Surgery

Popular New York Times Health Searches 
The New York Times reports the most highly searched health topics include alternative therapies, the brain and mental health, and happy relationships.  Below are some links to the Times' most searched articles of the year:

“How Meditation May Change the Brain”
People who meditated 30 minutes a day for eight weeks had changes in parts of the brain associated with memory, sense of self, empathy and stress.

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“Go Easy on Yourself, a New Wave of Research Urges”
A new area of psychological research suggests that self-compassion, a measure of how kindly people view themselves, may be the first step toward better health.

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“One Sperm Donor, 150 Sons and Daughters”
As the number of children born through artificial insemination increases, concern is growing about having many children fathered by the same donors.

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“Can Exercise Keep You Young?”
A new study finds that exercise reduced or eliminated signs of aging in mice genetically programmed to grow old at an accelerated pace.

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“Expert on Mental Illness Reveals Her Own Struggle”
Across the country, people with severe mental illness live what appear to be normal, successful lives. Now, a small number of them are openly discussing their struggles.

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“Counting Calories? Your Weight-Loss Plan May Be Outdated”
The newest findings on what specific foods people should eat less often — and more importantly, more often — to keep from gaining pounds as they age.

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“Alzheimer’s Therapy Focuses on Care”
Science is weighing in on many aspects of taking care of dementia patients, applying evidence-based research to what used to be considered subjective and ad hoc.

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“Left-Handedness Loses Its Stigma but Retains Its Mystery”
Over the centuries, left-handers have been accused of criminality and dealings with the devil; today, the riddle of handedness remains.

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“Talk Doesn’t Pay, So Psychiatry Turns Instead to Drug Therapy”
Many psychiatrists, in large part because of how much insurance will pay, no longer provide talk therapy.

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“Calcium and Vitamin D – Who Needs It, and How Much”
New recommendations for calcium and vitamin D have left many people wondering whether they are getting enough, or perhaps too much, in their diets and supplements.

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“The Hazards of the Couch”
Increasingly, research is focusing not on how much exercise people get, but how much of their time is spent in sedentary activity, and the harm that does.