Healthcare in the headlines again

Story in the Mirror Online today, headlined NHS told to cut tonsil, wisdom teeth and other "low value" ops to cut costs.

Well, I think we all knew that something like this would eventually happen - as hospitals are likely get more and more desperate for their share of money to carry out their business, the types of operation mentioned in the article (tonsillitis, cataract ops, hip replacements, knee joint repairs, ­treatments for wisdom teeth and varicose veins) would be subject to some form of *ahem* priority rethink.

Where could this leave ordinary folk like us though? I mean, I know plenty people who've had the wisdom tooth thing done- (I will spare you the graphic details except to say that one story in particular still makes go a bit queasy even though it was told to me over a decade ago!) - and believe me, if that's going on in your jaw, your brain will most certainly NOT be sending 'low priority' signals to the brain's pain centres.

While on the short term this could definitely be a time of fractious transition, in the longer term it might mean who knows what? We'll have to wait and see. In terms of people seeking affordable health insurance, there will almost certainly be an increase in uptake.

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Healthy eating, health insurance and acai berries

While a lot of us who care about ourselves and our health have health insurance policies, there are types of 'insurance' for health that aren't financial. For instance: healthy eating. If we take care of ourselves eating plenty of nutritious foods containing the right amount of vitamins and fibre, we're actually helping to safeguard our future health. While nothing is certain in terms of the future, it's still fair to say that the healthy eaters will have the fewer health problems during their lifetimes.

And while healthy eating is often very enjoyable, there are times when we wish we could all cheat a bit. If you're trying to lose a half stone in weight and it's slow in budging, for instance, it's tempting to turn away from the low-calorie healthy plates you've been serving up and start to cast around for easier, quicker ways. Unfortunately there are none. or at least, none that are scientifically proven. Special herbal teas and things like the much vaunted fruit of the acai tree. But sadly there is no scientific evidence that açaí consumption affects body weight or could promote weight loss.

[picture: the açaí palm, which bears the acai berry]

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Plane Sailing

Yep, we've all been there. Returning from holiday you step off the plane with a dose of the sniffles.

This case of sniffles turns into mild flue (probably aggravated by tiredness and your body acclimatising to its new surroundings).

Lying there on your miserable sickbed, coughing, sneezing, aches to the very core of your bones, you think to yourself, you ask

How did it feel not to be ill?

You cast your mind back to the two whole days before you got sick. Suddenly you realise that
the unwellness must have come from the aeroplane.

Well, it's no wonder planes are where we pick up loadsa lurgy. All that shared air with other people in a pressurized cabin. Yukk.

But there's worse health risks than a bit of flueyness from air travel. Among them are things like DVT, which really does sound frightening.

Have a look at this handy guide in The Guardian for tips on air travel health. If you're a regular air traveller it's probably a wise idea to seek medical advice on the general risks of flying.

On a more general health and welbeing note, it's probably also a good idea to get a health insurance quote for peace of mind.

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Ten Great Health Sites

As you ar no doubt aware, there are a huge amount of blogs and websites covering every niche within the health sector. However, there are a few which stand up more than other to repeated visits - we thought that we would list them here!

These are ten health related websites that we visit regularly.

1. Health on the Net – established and relevant guide to useful and reliable health websites
2. AXA PPP Health Insurance – UK insurance company with a great deal of health information on its site
3. Surgery Door – Commericial UK based website with a wealth of health information and advice on a range of health topics
4. Intute Medicine – thousands of links to academic medical resources, collated from top universities
5. Allcures – online pharamacy, you can get your prescription from the comfort of your computer desk
6. Web MD – well presented and hugley popular website, features loads of information on a huge variety of conditions
7. NHS 24 – much maligned, but on balance its probably helped thousands of people in need
8. Real Age – take the real age test and get a personalised plan to improve your health
9. Medgadget – the latest healthcare technological innovations
10. Insureblog – blog focusing on the us healthcare industry and health issues in general

If there any other health websites that you would like to see on the top 10 list? Please let us know.........

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