Healthcare expenses you can't afford to skip

Healthcare expenses you can't afford to skip
As people cut healthcare spending to make their monthly bills, experts say there are some health-related expenses that you can't afford to skip.

Using Wakefulness Tests To Detect Daytime Sleepiness In Drivers May Be Unreliable, Study Finds
A study in the Feb. 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine shows that a 40 minute protocol for the Maintenance of Wakefulness Test (MWT40) is superior to a 20-minute protocol (MWT20) at detecting excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) in adults who may be unable to maintain wakefulness while driving.

Discovery Of Behavorial Link Between Insomnia And Tension-Type Headaches
Using sleep or napping to cope with chronic pain caused by tension-type headaches could lead to chronic insomnia according to a new study by researchers at Rush University Medical Center. The study, published in the February 15 issue of the Journal of Clinical Sleep Medicine, found that napping to relieve headache pain could serve as a behavioral link between headache and sleep disturbance.

News From The Journal Of Neuroscience 3-Feb-2009
1. IRBP Is Required for Retinaldehyde Transport Minghao Jin, Songhua Li, Steven Nusinowitz, Marcia Lloyd, Jane Hu, Roxana A. Radu, Dean Bok, and Gabriel H. Travis In photoreceptors, absorption of a photon by an opsin-associated chromophore causes isomerization of 11-cis to all-trans retinaldehyde, which activates the opsin. Before the chromophore can absorb another photon, the all-trans isomer must be converted back to the 11-cis form.

Stimulus plan would pour millions into healthcare
The economic stimulus plan currently being debated in Washington would pour millions of dollars into healthcare, experts say.

'Wake Up' To The Health Risks Of Heavy Snoring
Heavy snoring can be far from a nuisance. It can be a sign of obstructive sleep apnea, a condition where an individual briefly stops breathing during the night which raises the risk of heart failure and strokes. "Sleep apnea or sleep disordered breathing is one that we're getting more and more interested in because we see a very strong association with strokes, heart attacks and other cardiovascular problems," says Dr. Melvyn Rubenfire, M.D.

A simple checklist makes surgery safer, study finds
The 19-item checklist includes such basic steps as having the doctors and nurses introduce themselves, ensuring that adequate blood is on hand, and making certain that all equipment needed is present.

Study: Sleep Apnea Masks Help Hearts Heal, Too
It's estimated that some 12 million Americans suffer from sleep apnea*- which means they could stop breathing in their sleep, in some cases hundreds of times per night. Most people who have moderate to severe cases of sleep apnea are given a mask to wear at night that helps them sleep better, but it might be doing much more than that. In the first study of it's kind, Doctors have found it may be helping to heal the heart too.