Question: My dentist is stating that my baby tooth needs to come out because my new tooth can not come out correctly. The baby tooth is loose but it just has not came out. If my baby tooth does not come out then I have a dentist appointment in two weeks to take it out. I do not want to go to the dentist they will inject me in the gums to do the extraction. I do not want a shot in the gums.

Answer: First if you do need to have the tooth pulled by the dentist the shoots to numb the area do not really hurt. Just close your eyes while they are doing that and try to relax. You may also want to bring your I Pod or whatever you use to listen to some music that will help you relax while the dentist is pulling the tooth. However if you want to try and have the baby tooth come out at home, then maybe eat an apple. Biting into an apple may help to loosen the tooth more in order for it to come out.

It is commonly believed that people with Tourette’s syndrome tend to be aggressive. Now a new study, being presented at the ECNP Congress in Vienna, shows that people with Tourette’s are no more aggressive than anyone else.

Anyone worried about chest pain should not wait to get urgent medical care. They should call for an ambulance straight away, especially if the pain is unexplained, sudden, or severe.

Heart attack pain is caused when one of the arteries supplying the heart becomes blocked. Angina is a similar chest pain caused when these arteries are narrowed by heart disease.

Heartburn is a burning pain often felt in the upper belly or lower chest. It is caused by stomach acid going back up the food pipe.

Heartburn and heart attack pain can be similar. If someone is in doubt whether pain is a heart attack, they should always call for an ambulance. If it is a heart attack, prompt medical care can be lifesaving.

Drug use can have a negative impact on dental health as well as overall health. Patterns of oral health pathology attributed to methamphetamine users, for example, include rampant tooth decay, accelerated tooth wear, unexplained advanced gum disease, missing multiple teeth, and overall detrimental dental effects that are rapid and severe. These patients also often seek cosmetic dental treatment, such as veneers and whitening, which give dentists another opportunity to discuss suspected substance misuse, provide referrals for treatment, and encourage cessation of drug misuse.

Below is a summary of Rep Jim McDermott’s newly introduced Medigap Consumer Protection Act of 2016. We support this long-awaited legislation to update the Medigap program and add new consumer protections, including the right to purchase a Medigap to those with disabilities and/or end stage renal disease (ESRD).

Medicare provides affordable health insurance to 57 million American seniors and people with disabilities. However, there are gaps in the program’s benefit package. Beneficiaries are expected to pay a significant amount of out-of-pocket costs through deductibles and coinsurance, and traditional Medicare currently lacks a limit on catastrophic expenses. As a result, approximately 11 million beneficiaries choose to enroll in supplemental Medigap policies, which provide additional benefits and help reduce out-of-pocket expenses.

Although Medigap plans are an important insurance product for millions of Americans, many of the laws governing the Medigap market have remained largely unchanged since 1990. In particular, consumer protections have lagged behind other forms of insurance, leaving beneficiaries subject to discriminatory market practices, lacking sufficient information about their plan options, and at times enrolled in lower quality coverage.

The Medigap Consumer Protection Act provides the first major update to the laws governing Medigap plans in more than two decades. It will improve the beneficiary experience by:

— Expanding guaranteed issue rights to prevent issuers from denying coverage to individuals with disabilities and End-Stage Renal Disease, as well as other beneficiaries who are not currently protected.

— Calling on the National Association of Insurance Commissioners to update medical loss ratio standards to improve the efficiency of Medigap policies.

— Placing limitations on pricing Medigap products based on beneficiary age.

— Requiring Medigap issuers to price their products by county level.

— Improving the Medicare Plan Finder website to facilitate beneficiary access to information and increase consumer understanding of available plan options.

— Restoring access to popular Medigap plan options that provide first-dollar coverage of the Part B deductible.

— Increasing transparency by requiring issuers to publicly disclose payments made to brokers that sell Medigap policies.

The Medigap Consumer Protection Act makes these long overdue updates to federal law. It will significantly improve the beneficiary experience and strengthen the health security of millions of Americans enrolled in Medicare. I hope you will join me in supporting this important legislation.

Sixty percent of children with ADHD in a recent study demonstrated persistence of symptoms into their mid-20’s, and 41 percent had both symptoms and impairment as young adults.

Investigators noted that rates of ADHD persistence into adulthood have varied greatly in earlier studies, depending on how information is collected and analyzed. In a 16-year follow-up of the Multimodal Treatment Study of Children with ADHD (the “MTA”), they found that a combination of parent and self-reports plus a symptom threshold that is adjusted for adulthood (rather than based on traditional childhood definitions of ADHD) may be optimal.

Vaccines save thousands of lives in the United States every year, but many adults remain unvaccinated. Low rates of vaccine uptake lead to costs to individuals and society in terms of deaths and disabilities, which are avoidable, and they create economic losses from doctor visits, hospitalizations, and lost income. To identify the magnitude of this problem, we calculated the current economic burden that is attributable to vaccine-preventable diseases among US adults. We estimated the total remaining economic burden at approximately $9 billion (plausibility range: $4.7–$15.2 billion) in a single year, 2015, from vaccine-preventable diseases related to ten vaccines recommended for adults ages nineteen and older. Unvaccinated individuals are responsible for almost 80 percent, or $7.1 billion, of the financial burden. These results not only indicate the potential economic benefit of increasing adult immunization uptake but also highlight the value of vaccines. Policies should focus on minimizing the negative externalities or spillover effects from the choice not to be vaccinated, while preserving patient autonomy.

Alcohol has often been suggested as a contributor to and trigger for asthma. However, researchers haven’t conducted a significant amount of research as to the specifics of alcohol and asthma.

One of the biggest research studies on the topic was published in 2000 in The Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology. The study from Australia asked more than 350 adults to fill out a questionnaire on their allergy triggers related to alcohol. The study’s findings included:

* 33 percent said that alcohol had triggered an asthma attack on at least two occasions
* Wine was associated with being particularly allergenic
* The onset of most alcohol-related asthma symptoms occurred within 1 hour of drinking alcohol
* Most asthma symptoms reported were mild to moderate in severity

There really is not much involve in taking care of your teeth and gums. Yet when you do not have proper dental care habits your oral health is put at risk.  Listed below are the simple steps you can take to making sure to maintain good teeth and gums.

1) Brush your teeth twice a day with fluoride toothpaste.
2) Floss your teeth at least once a day.
3) Make sure to visit your dentist regularly for your checkup’s and cleaning.
4) Eat a well-balanced diet.
5) If you smoke, Quit. Smoking increases your risk for gum disease as well as increase your risk of having many other health issues.
By practising good oral health habits you greatly reduce your risk of having large dental care needs

Researchers from UPM id reveal how mould from humidity caused by rotting fruits and vegetables unfolds a surprising strategy to infect plants.

A team of researchers from Centre for Plant Biotechnology and Genomics (CBGP, UPM-INIA), has published the results on “Alt a 1” in an article released in Scientific Reports from the Nature group. “Alt a 1” is a strongly allergenic protein found in certain endophytic fungi species that causes severe asthma

Knowing where and who to turn to when presented with a Medicare question, billing issue, or potential fraud can make a huge difference in one’s peace of mind and in-pocket savings! One recent example is with a beneficiary facing a $511.45 bill for a covered Medicare service. The beneficiary’s husband contacted our Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) in May 2016 about a claim submitted to Medicare on 02/08/2016 where Medicare was billed for a covered patient office visit, but denied the claim due to “Medicare does not cover routine examinations”. The denied claim on the Medicare Summary Notice showed the beneficiary may be billed $511.45. And later on, she did indeed receive such a bill from her doctor’s office.

Yet this visit was a covered Medicare service. She shouldn’t be billed. The beneficiary and her husband repeatedly called the doctor’s billing department requesting multiple times that they correct the coding on the claim and resubmit it to Medicare. But they got nowhere, which is why they contacted SMP for help.

After our SMP worked for 5 months on the case, staying in touch with the billing department and advocating for the beneficiary and her husband, the billing department finally reviewed the coding and agreed to re-submit the claim to Medicare with appropriate code. Our SMP recently got news that Medicare payed $118.63 for the claim, and the beneficiary no longer has any looming bill! This is just one example of the thousands of dollars SMP programs nationwide save beneficiaries each year. See our Senior Medicare Patrol section for more info on SMP.

Question: I have one son and two girls. Even though both my husband and I have jobs, our jobs only offer the health insurance and no dental. Due to this we have not had dental insurance for some time. There for we been paying for our dental care out of pocket. I would now at this point like to get a family dental insurance plan that is not going to cost us more then $50.00 a month or so.

Answer: With your budget in mind for a family dental insurance plan, I would suggest reviewing our dental HMO insurance options as our HMO would fit into your budget and in most cases be less then $50.00 a month.

In a prior post it talked about sugar consumption and it’s effect on our dental health. One sure way to reduce the risk of tooth decay due to excess sugar consumption is by reducing the amount of sugar you and your family consume. Instead of having soda or fruit juice have a glass of cold water. Water will not harm your teeth and is also good for your body. Make sure that you and your family members are seeing your dentist at least twice a year. Maintaining your dental checks ups helps to spot and stop any small dental issues before they become large dental care needs.

This policy brief, written by Bonnie Burns, our Training and Policy Specialist provides background and an overview of the California Partnership for Long Term Care, and discusses reasons for its gradual decline. She raises the tough questions as to whether the program is meeting the goal of protecting those consumers most in danger of spending down to Medi-Cal with a long term care expense, and whether the program is saving any Medi-Cal funds that would otherwise pay for care. Earlier this year, Governor Brown signed SB 1384 (Liu) that, among other things, charges the Partnership program with establishing a task force of industry, consumer groups, and agency stakeholders to review and make recommendations on necessary changes to the program to make sure it fulfills that very goal.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Previous academic research has found that having greater control over your job can help you manage work-related stress. But it’s never suggested that it was a matter of life and death — until now.

New research from the Indiana University Kelley School of Business finds that those in high-stress jobs with little control over their workflow die younger or are less healthy than those who have more flexibility and discretion in their jobs and are able to set their own goals as part of their employment.

The symptoms of depressive and manic episodes are often enhanced by alcohol. It can depress the central nervous system, adding to the feelings of depression.

Alcohol also reduces a person’s inhibitions, which may make them behave irresponsibly. The combination of alcohol and bipolar disorder can not only be irresponsible but unsafe as well.