November is COPD Awareness Month
November 7th, 2018November is COPD Awareness Month. COPD, which stands for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, is a chronic inflammatory lung disease that causes obstructed air flow from the lungs.
What is COPD?
COPD is an umbrella term used to describe progressive lung diseases.
Air travels down your windpipe and into your lungs through two large tubes. Inside your lungs, these tubes divide many times into many smaller tubes that end in clusters of tiny air sacs. The air sacs have very thin walls full of tiny blood vessels. The oxygen in the air you inhale passes into these blood vessels and enters into your bloodstream. At the same time, carbon dioxide is exhaled. Your lungs rely on the natural elasticity of the bronchial tubes and air sacs to force air out of your body. COPD causes them to lose their elasticity and overexpand, which leaves some air trapped in your lungs when you exhale.
Conditions that contribute to COPD are:
- Chronic bronchitis: Inflammation of the lining of the bronchial tubes, which carry air to and from the air sacs of the lungs. Chronic bronchitis is characterized by daily cough and mucus production.
- Emphysema: A condition in which the air sacs at the end of the smallest air passages of the lungs are destroyed as a result of damaging exposure to cigarette smoke and other irritating gasses and particulate matter.
- Cigarette smoke and other irritants
- Refractory (non-reversible) asthma: A type of asthma that does not respond to usual asthma medications. In an asthma attack, bronchial airways tighten up and swell. Medications can usually reverse this, opening up airways and returning them to how they were before the asthma attack. In refractory asthma, medications cannot reverse the tightening and swelling of airways.
- Alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency: About one percent of people with COPD have this disease. The disease results from a genetic disorder that causes low levels of a protein called alpha-1-antitrypsin (AAt). AAt is made in the liver and secreted into the bloodstream to help protect the lungs.
People with COPD are at an increased risk of developing heart disease, lung cancer and a variety of other conditions.
Signs and Symptoms
COPD symptoms often don’t appear until significant lung damage has occurred, and they usually worsen over time. Signs and symptoms of COPD may include:
- A chronic cough that may produce mucus that is clear, white, yellow, or greenish
- Blueness of the lips or fingernail beds
- Chest tightness
- Frequent respiratory infections
- Having to clear your throat first thing in the morning, due to excess mucus in your lungs
- Lack of energy
- Shortness of breath, especially during physical activities
- Unintended weight loss (in later stages)
- Wheezing
According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), an estimated 11 million Americans suffer from COPD and several additional millions likely have COPD and don’t even know it.
What IAA has to Say
Insurance Administrator of America wants you to spread the word on COPD Awareness Month! You can help by sending this blog post on to friends and colleagues. A little bit of effort can go a long way. Remember, with IAA one call does it all.
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Actress Selma Blair Diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis
October 31st, 2018“Legally Blond” actress Selma Blair has been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis (MS). Blair’s recent reveal about her diagnosis has brought new attention to this nervous system disease.
What is Multiple Sclerosis?
Like many MS patients, it was a long journey for Blair to get answers. While she was diagnosed in August, she believes she has probably had MS for at least 15 years.
Blair is in her mid-40s. Researchers say most people are diagnosed between ages 20 and 50.
In MS, the immune system attacks the protective sheath (myelin) that covers nerve fibers and causes communication problems between your brain and the rest of your body. Eventually the disease can cause the nerves themselves to deteriorate or become permanently damaged.
Most people with MS have a relapsing-remitting disease course. They experience periods of new symptoms or relapses that develop over days or weeks and usually improve partially or completely. These relapse are followed by quiet periods of disease remission that can last months or even years.
Some people with MS experience a gradual onset and steady progression of signs and symptoms without any relapses. This is known as primary progressive MS.
There is no cure, but treatment can help manage symptoms and slow its progression.
Signs and Symptoms
Signs and symptoms of MS vary widely and depend on the amount of nerve damage and which nerves are affected. They may include:
- Dizziness
- Electric shock sensations that occur with certain neck movements, especially bending the neck forward
- Fatigue
- Numbness or weakness in one or more limbs that typically occurs on one side of the body at a time, or the legs and trunk
- Partial or complete loss of vision, usually in one eye at a time, often with pain during eye movement
- Problems with bowel or bladder function
- Prolonged double vision
- Slurred speech
- Tingling or pain in parts of your body
- Tremor, lack of coordination or unsteady gait
Risk factors for MS can include:
- Age: MS can occur at any age, but most commonly affects people between the ages of 15 and 60.
- Certain autoimmune diseases: You have a slightly higher risk of developing MS if you have thyroid disease, type 1 diabetes or inflammatory bowel disease.
- Certain infections: A variety of viruses have been linked to MS.
- Family history
- Gender: Women are twice as likely as men to develop MS.
Almost one million people live with MS in the United States, the National Multiple Sclerosis Society estimates.
What IAA has to Say
When a celebrity speaks out on their personal diagnosis and/or disorder, it allows for a better understanding of certain health conditions. Insurance Administrator of America wants you to have this information on certain diseases and conditions through these blog posts. Remember, with IAA one call does it all.
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Decline in Vaccinations in Children Under Two
October 24th, 2018The percentage of American children under two years of age who haven’t received any recommended vaccinations quadrupled in the past 17 years, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Drop in Vaccinations
Among children born in 2015, 1.3 percent had not received any of the recommended vaccinations, according to an analysis of 2017 data. That compares with 0.9 percent in 2011 and 0.3 percent of 19 to 35 month olds in 2001.
If the same proportion of children born in 2016 have not received any vaccinations, about 100,000 children who are now less than two years old are not protected against 14 potentially serious vaccine- preventable diseases.
The latest numbers come from a telephone survey last year of the parents of about 15,000 toddlers. The 100,000 estimate refers to the 2017 vaccination status of kids born in 2015 and 2016.
A separate CDC study found that overall vaccination rates for older, kindergarten-age children continue to hold about steady, with close to 95 percent fully vaccinated.
The researchers didn’t ask parents why they didn’t get their children vaccinated.
Recommended Vaccinations for Children Under Two
Early childhood vaccinations are one of the best ways to protect your child from serious diseases that can be especially dangerous for infants and very young children. The vaccines recommended for those under the age of two are:
- DTaP
- Hep A
- Hep B
- Hib
- Influenza
- IPV
- MMR
- PCU13
- RV
Vaccines do not overload the immune system according to the CDC.
The most common side effects after vaccination are mild. They include:
- Chills
- Feeling tired
- Headache
- Mild fever
- Muscle and joint aches
- Pain, swelling or redness where the shot was given
Young children are at an increased risk for infectious diseases because their immune systems have not yet built up the necessary defenses to fight serious infections and diseases. Vaccinations start early in life to protect children before they are exposed to the disease.
What IAA has to Say
Insurance Administrator of America knows that vaccinations are not fun, but they are important. They keep not only children safe, but the community at large as well. IAA wants you to live as healthy a life as possible!
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FDA Bans Multiple Synthetic Flavor Enhancers
October 17th, 2018The Food and Drug Administration has banned the use of seven synthetic substances used to flavor or enhance flavor in baked goods, ice cream, candy, beverages, and chewing gum.
The FDA Ban
In 2015, several organizations petitioned the FDA to ban the substances pointing to data showing they cause cancer in lab animals. Under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Acts Delaney Clause enacted in 1958, the FDA cannot allow the legal use of any food additive found to induce cancer in humans or animals at any dose.
When announcing its decision on October 5, 2018, the FDA noted that its “rigorous scientific analysis has determined that they do not pose a risk to public health under the conditions of their intended use. The synthetic flavoring substances that are the subject of this petition are typically used in foods available in the U.S. marketplace in very small amounts and their use results in very low levels of exposure and low risk.”
According to the FDA the decision does not affect the legal status of foods that contain the natural counterparts of the substances used to flavor foods and drink.
The Substances
The now banned substances are typically added to stimulate mint, cinnamon and citrus. The six are:
- Benzophenone
- Ethyl acrylate
- Eugenyl methyl ether
- Myrcene
- Pulegone
- Pyridine
The FDA also removed its approval for styrene which has been abandoned by the industry.
On a label, the substances are listed as “artificial flavors,” rather than their specific names, according to the Environmental Defense Fund, one of the organizations that petitioned to get the flavors outlawed.
The FDA will give companies 24 months to identify suitable replacement ingredients and change the formula for their products.
What IAA has to Say
Insurance Administrator of America wants to keep you up-to-date in the world of health. Stay tuned to this blog to learn more! Remember, with IAA one call does it all.
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Yes, it Could Actually be Possible to be “Hangry”
October 10th, 2018When you are hungry, everything is annoying and your temper can run short. New animal research might help explain why.
New Research
Researchers working with rats found that sudden drops in blood sugar that occur with hunger might make people “hangry.” That drop in blood sugar and the ensuing mood changes may also be a key to depression and anxiety, the study authors also noted.
For the study, researchers injected rats with a glucose blocker that caused low blood sugar. At other times, the animals got an injection of water. In each case, the rats were put into different chambers. When the animals could choose which chamber to enter, they avoided the chamber where they had experienced low blood sugar, the researchers found. This type of avoidance behavior is an expression of stress and anxiety.
Blood tests after the episodes of low blood sugar also found more of the hormone corticosterone, an indicator of physiological stress. The rats also seemed more sluggish when given the sugar blocker.
While sugar is needed to make muscles work, when the rats were given a commonly used antidepressant, the sluggish behavior could not be seen. The animals moved around normally. Their muscles were still not getting the glucose, but their behavior changed. For people who are anxious or depressed, these findings have implications.
Having shown that hypoglycemia might contribute to a negative mood, the researchers plan to see if long-term hypoglycemia is a risk factor for depression.
The report was published September 25 in the journal “Psychopharmacology.”
It is important to note that the results of animal studies are not always applicable to humans.
Signs and Symptoms of Hypoglycemia
Hypoglycemia is a condition caused by a very low level of blood sugar (glucose), your body’s main energy source.
If blood sugar levels become too low, signs and symptoms may include:
- An irregular heart rhythm
- Anxiety
- Crying out during sleep
- Fatigue
- Hunger
- Irritability
- Pale skin
- Shakiness
- Sweating
- Tingling sensation around the mouth
Hypoglycemia can turn serious, so make sure to get checked if you have these symptoms.
What IAA has to Say
Feeling “hangry” is never fun! Insurance Administrator of America wants to keep you up-to-date in the world of health. Remember, with IAA one call does it all.
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