The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulates medical devices in the U.S. The FDA keeps extensive databases on these devices containing lists of the devices, their safety records, pre-market notifications, and pre-market approval notices, to name a few.

Section 510(k) of the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act requires regulated medical device manufacturers to notify the FDA at least 90 days in advance of their intent to market a medical device. This is known as Premarket Notification — also called PMN or 510(k). It allows FDA to determine whether the device is equivalent to a device already placed into one of the three classification categories.

This allows “new” (unclassified) devices (those not in commercial distribution prior to May 28, 1976) to be properly identified. Specifically, medical device manufacturers are required to submit a premarket notification if they intend to introduce a device into commercial distribution for the first time.

The 501(k) notification must also be submitted when reintroducing a device that has been significantly changed or modified to the extent that its safety or effectiveness could be affected. These changes or modifications might relate to the design, material, chemical composition, energy source, manufacturing process, or intended use of the device.

The FDA has established classifications for approximately 1,700 different generic types of devices. These devices are grouped them into 16 medical specialties referred to as panels. Each of these generic types of devices is assigned to one of three regulatory classes (Class I, II or III) based on the level of control necessary to assure the safety and effectiveness of the device.

This 510(K) database can be searched by 510(k) number, applicant, device name or FDA product code. The database is updated monthly and is found online at .accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfPMN/pmn.cfm

Call your laser hair removal clinic or doctor, and ask for the manufacturer, model, and 510(K) number of the medical device to be used in your cosmetic surgery procedure. The 510(K) number always starts with a “K” and is the preferred item. Enter the 510(k) number into the appropriate field in the database search form.

An example of a 510(K) number is K002890. An example of a trade name or device name for that 510(K) number is “IntraLase 600C Laser Keratome.” The intended use for this particular medical laser is eye surgery.

When the search results are returned, click on the link to the right of the “Summary” line. The summary lists the characteristics of the laser device and when it was cleared for use. An approval letter should also be listed in the summary.

You may also wish to examine the FDA MAUDE (Manufacturer and User Facility Device Experience) database. This database contains reports of adverse events involving medical devices. The link to this database is .accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/cdrh/cfdocs/cfMAUDE/search.cfm

To Search the MAUDE listings by Brand Name, Manufacturer, Event Type, 510K Number, PMA Number, Product Code, or date, select use the Advanced Search button. No results were returned for the 510(K) number K002890, indicating that no adverse events were reported for that medical laser device during the reporting period.

The chances are very high that a licensed doctor will be using a licensed and approved laser device for your laser hair removal or other cosmetic surgery. However, with the quantity of online data available to the public, it doesn’t hurt to check.

Remember that the FDA keeps safety records of many medical devices, not just those that use lasers. It is better to learn about possible complaints or problems with the medical device about to be used on you before the cosmetic surgery procedure, rather than afterwards.

Learn more about medical laser applications, especially laser hair removal, at the resources below.

By hypothyroidism, the thyroid gland is producing too less hormones to stimulate the metabolism or the body is not able to utilize the hormones. The lack of thyroid hormones slows down the metabolism and thus all the activities in the body, giving a combination of many symptoms related to slowness of bodily processes.

Hypothyroidism is common, but the frequency of the condition is not well determined. Some authorities estimate that 0.5% of the total American population have the disease to some degree. The frequency is much greater among people over 50 years of age than among young people.

THE SYMPTOMS AND COMPLICATIONS OF HYPOTHYROIDISM

The most common early symptoms are: Mental and physical fatigue, weakness, weight gain or over-weight, and depression.

One or more of these symptoms also use to appear early: Constipation, sensitivity to coldness, cold hands and feet, thick tongue, decreased sweating, dry hair, thin brittle hair, thin brittle nails, muscle and joint pain, pale or yellowish skin.

One or more of these symptoms usually appear later: Poor memory, slow thought process, drowsiness, slow speech, thinning of eyebrows, hoarseness, poor circulation, dry and flaky skin, decreased taste and smell, menstrual irregularities, skin thickening, puffy face, puffy hands and feet, swelling of extremities, overall swelling, muscle spasms, muscle atrophy, joint stiffness.

In children or young persons hypothyroidism may give developmental problems, like disturbed tooth development and short stature.

Hypothyroidism increases the risk of elevated cholesterol levels, heart disease and diabetes (diabetes mellitus). This occurs even by moderately decreased thyroid production.

THE THYROID GLAND AND ITS HORMONES

To understand the hypothyroidism, some knowledge about the thyroid gland and its hormones is essential.

The thyroid gland produces hormones that accelerate and in other wise regulate metabolism. A part of metabolism is the process of breaking down energy containing nutrients, and using the energy to produce molecules that all the processes and activities in the body use as fuel. Another part is the production of molecules that the body use as building materials.

The thyroid makes four hormones: Thyroxin (T4), triiodothyronine (T3), diiodothyronine (T2) and monoiodothyronine (T1). The hormones contain iodine, and the figures tell about the number of iodine atoms in each hormone molecule. T3 is not made directly, but is produced from T4. T3 is a more efficient hormone than T4. Therefore this conversion is important.

The pituitary, a gland under the brain, produces a hormone called thyrotropin or thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) that enhances the activity of the thyroid gland. If the body has too less thyroid hormone in the blood, the pituitary produces more thyrotropin. This makes the thyroid gland speed up its own production. By a too heavy thyroid hormone concentration, less thyrotropin is produced by the pituitary, and the thyroid gland slows down. This feed-back mechanism regulates the metabolism of the whole body.

THE MECHANISMS AND CAUSES OF HYPOTHYROIDISM

By hypothyroidism the body does not get enough thyroid hormone, or the hormones do not work effectively in the body. This causes the metabolism to slow down. When the metabolism decreases, the processes in the body do not get enough fuel and building materials, and all the body activities will therefore slow down. Energy containing nutrient will also be stored as fat, since they are not broken down.

Serious variants of hypothyroidism are called myxedema. This is a rare condition. However, less serious, but painful variants are common. There are several reasons for hypothyroidism, each giving a variant of the disease:

*An autoimmune reaction against the thyroid tissue can destroy the capability of the thyroid gland to produce hormones (for example Hashimoto’s disease).

*Sometimes the production of T3 by conversion from T4 is impaired. The total amount of hormones may be normal in these cases, but the body is still lacking T3, and gets the symptoms of hypothyroidism.

*Iodine deficiency can cause hypothyroidism, since the thyroid hormones contain iodine. In Europe and America the food is seldom short in iodine, but bad nutrition may result in iodine deficiency.

*Surgery or radiation at the thyroid area can destroy enough tissue to cause hypothyroidism.

*Injury or disease in the pituitary or of the part of the brain controlling the pituitary may cause a decrease in secreted thyrotropin, and then the thyroid will respond by producing less of its own hormones with hypothyroidism as a result.

*Some people have symptoms of hypothyroidism even though the amount of thyroid hormone in the blood is normal. One of the symptoms is raised levels of thyrotropin, indicating that the body signals need for more thyroid hormones. This variant may be caused by conditions elsewhere in the body that make it difficult for the hormone to reach their destination in the cells. In many of these cases the immune system produces anti-bodies against the thyroid hormones. This variant is called sub-clinical hypothyroidism, and responds to the same treatment as ordinary hypothyroidism.

*Some types of food can contribute to a depressed thyroid function or aggravate hypothyroidism when eaten raw in great amounts: Brussel sprouts, broccoli, corn oil, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, radishes, rutabaga, soy and turnips. By cooking these vegetables, the depressing effect is decreased.

*Factors suspected for causing hypothyroidism are: The artificial sweetener aspartame, mercury pollution, dental fillings containing mercury, fluoride and heavy metal pollution.

HOW CAN HYPOTHYROIDISM BE TREATED

For serious hypothyroidism caused by tissue destruction, external supplement of thyroid hormones is necessary.

When the condition is caused by lack of iodine in the diet, dietary changes and iodine supplements will be a part of the treatment.

Less serious, but painful hypothyroidism is sometimes also treated with hormone supplements. In these cases it is difficult to find the right dose, and treatment may result in hormone poisoning.

You can sometimes alleviate hypothyroidism by reducing the amount of food suspected for depressing the thyroid function: Brussel sprouts, broccoli, corn oil, cabbage, cauliflower, kale, kohlrabi, radishes, rutabaga, soy, soy products and turnips. However, these food types are valuable in many ways, so it is probably not wise to cut them out totally. Also try to avoid artificial ingredients like the sweetener aspartame, conserving additives and fluoride.

Changing out mercury dental fillings and avoiding mercury or heavy metal exposure may help to ameliorate the condition.

You may also alleviate the condition by eating food that stimulates the thyroid function according to practical experience: Chia seed, dulse, fish from the ocean, flax seed, pumpkin seed, seaweed, coconut and brewer yeast.

You can find nutritional supplements to help for hypothyroidism. The compositions of these products vary:

*They may contain building materials that the thyroid uses to make its hormones, for example: iodine, acetyl-L-tyrosine or L-phenylalanine.

*They may also contain vitamins and minerals that stimulate the mechanism of hormone production by being a part of necessary enzymes, or by helping the absorption of the ingredients that hormones are made from, like: Magnesium, zinc, selenium, copper and vitamin E.

*They may furthermore contain constituents that stimulate tissue regeneration by being part of tissue building enzymes, and thus helping to restore a degraded thyroid, for example: Folic acid or folate, vitamin B2 (riboflavin), B3 (niacin), B5 (pantothenic acid or pantothenate), B6 (pyridoxine), B12 (cyanocobalamin) and molybdenum.

When someone has a hemorrhoid problem, they are going to be very uncomfortable and will have to do something in order to take care of this annoyance. Having hemorrhoids means that a person has a condition in which the veins around the anus or lower rectum are swollen and inflamed. This may result in the straining to move bowels. The most common people to get hemorrhoids are pregnant women, people that are aging, chronic constipation or diarrhea and anal intercourse.

Hemorrhoids are either inside the anus or under the skin around the anus. This means that they are usually internal or external. There are creams and medications for the external problems; however, the internal hemorrhoids may result in surgery or other procedures to remove them.

Many of these hemorrhoid problems will mean that any person with them will have pain or itching in that area. Hemorrhoids are usually not dangerous or life threatening. In most cases, the symptoms will go away in a few days. Although many people with them will not experience any symptoms at all. The most common symptom of internal hemorrhoids is bright red blood covering the stool, on toilet paper, or in the toilet itself.

An internal hemorrhoid may protrude through the anus outside the body and this is what will become painful. This is called non other than a protruding hemorrhoid. Symptoms of the external hemorrhoids may be painful as well. This will also include swelling or a hard surface around the anus that results when a blot clot forms.

It is normal to have a hemorrhoid problem. They are very common in both men and women. So many pregnant women have to deal with the pain of hemorrhoids along with everything else that they have to go through while pregnant. Others will have hemorrhoids by the age of fifty.

There are many treatments of hemorrhoids and the symptoms that they cause. Sitting in a warm bath a few times a day will help to relive pain. There are also a lot of creams available both over the counter and by prescription that can help to heal and ease the pain of the hemorrhoids.

In extreme cases, it may be determined by a doctor that a person must have surgery to remove the hemorrhoids. This is to help those that have severe bleeding or anemia and cannot take the loss of blood. This will eliminate the problems of the hemorrhoids so that the person can live a happier and healthier lifestyle.

To prevent hemorrhoids, many people with constipation should relive the pressure of straining. You should have lots of fiber and fruits in your diet and drink plenty of water. This will help to soften the stool and will not cause so much strain. A stool softener may also be necessary to fix this type of problem.

In case of emergency, the first thing that you should do is tend for yourself and then consider providing first aid to other people around you. It is important for every home to have a first aid kit and emergency supplies to treat injuries sustained during an accident. These supplies can help reduce swelling, bleeding, infections and trauma that occur during an injury.

But what should you include in your first aid kit? You have to have safety pins, bandages, sterile gauze pads, scissors, needle, tweezers, medicine dropper, aspirin, non-prescription drugs, thermometer, and moistened towelettes among others. To store these supplies properly you need to buy a plastic storage container. This container will be the safety box of your emergency supplies so make sure that it is durable and easy to move around. You can also include a flashlight and fresh batteries in the kit. A flashlight can help in detecting foreign bodies in the wound, eyes and mouth and in determining the severity of the wound. Just be sure to check on the batteries every few months.

If you do not want to assemble your own first aid kit you can always purchase it through a variety of medical supply shops. There are quite a number of them in the Internet that offers ready-made first aid kits in different prices depending on the size and want you want included in the kit. Nevertheless, when buying ready-made emergency supplies you have to carefully examine its content. There are some that contains a few bandages and tablets only. This will surely not treat any injury. So don’t be fooled by the quantity. Look for the components that you can use in real life emergencies not what you can buy for a few dollars less. Look also for a kit that is nicely organized. This will enable you to locate supplies readily.

On top of this, buy first aid kits that have guides in it. A kit that does not have one is useless because you don’t even know what to do with it. Make sure also that the kit is from a credible source and it is packaged in a way that it can be easily understood when under stress. And when you are taking trips, make sure that your first aid kit comes along with you. So check you household and make sure that you have a first aid kit in places where accidents are most likely to occur.

Most people are well aware that an estimated 45 million Americans currently do not have healthcare, but is the crisis simply the lack of health insurance or even the cost of health insurance? Is there a bigger underlying problem at the root of our healthcare system? Although the U.S. claims to have the most advanced medicine in the world, government health statistics and peer-reviewed journals demonstrate that allopathic medicine often causes more harm than good.

People in general have always felt they could trust doctors and the medical profession, but according to the Journal of the American Medical Association in July 2000, iatrogenic death, also known as death from physician error or death from medical treatment, was the third leading cause of death in America and rising, responsible for at least 250,000 deaths per year. Those statistics are considered conservative by many, as the reported numbers only include in-hospital deaths, not injury or disability, and do not include external iatrogenic deaths such as those resulting from nursing home and other private facility treatments, and adverse effects of prescriptions. One recent study estimated the total unnecessary deaths from iatrogenic causes at approximately 800,000 per year at a cost of $282 billion per year, which would make death from American medicine the leading cause of death in our country.

Currently, at least 2 out of 3 Americans use medications, 32 million Americans are taking three or more medications daily, and commercials and advertisements for pharmaceutical drugs have saturated the marketplace. Although our population is aging, exorbitantly expensive drugs are being marketed and dispensed to younger and younger patients, including many children who years ago would never have been given or needed medication, for everything from ADHD to asthma to bipolar disease and diabetes. Clearly, the state of health in this country is not improving even though there are an increasing number of medications and treatments. Between 2003 and 2010, the number of prescriptions are expected to increase substantially by 47%. In recent years, numerous drugs previously deemed safe by the FDA have been recalled because of their toxicity, after the original drug approvals were actually funded by the invested pharmaceutical companies themselves.

According to the media, thanks to advances in U.S. drugs and medical procedures, Americans are living longer statistically, but they are living longer sicker, with a lower quality of life, and often dependent on multiple expensive synthetic medications that do not cure or address the underlying causes, but only suppress symptoms, often with a plethora of dangerous side effects to the tune of billions of dollars for the drug industry. Considering that the U.S. is supposed to have the most advanced technology in the world and the best health care system, it is at odds that we spend the most on healthcare, yet are the most obese and most afflicted with illness outside of the AIDS epidemic in some third world countries.

Unless you have an acute emergency that requires emergency room care, being admitted to a hospital environment may be more dangerous to your health than staying out. In 2003, epidemiologists reported in the New England Journal of Medicine that hospital-acquired infections have risen steadily in recent decades, with blood and tissue infections known as sepsis almost tripling from 1979 to 2000. Nearly two million patients in the U.S. get an infection while in the hospital each year, and of those patients over 90,000 die per year, up dramatically from just 13,300 in 1992. Statistics show that approximately 56% of the population has been unnecessarily treated, or mistreated, by the medical industry.

Additionally, as a result of the overuse of pharmaceutical drugs and antibiotics in our bodies and environment, our immune systems have become significantly weakened, allowing antibiotic-resistant strains of disease-causing bacteria to proliferate, leaving us more susceptible to further disease. Not surprisingly, incidences of diseases have been growing at epidemic levels according to the CDC. Now diseases once thought conquered, such as tuberculosis, gonorrhea, malaria, and childhood ear infections are much harder to successfully treat than they were decades ago. Drugs do not cure. They only suppress the symptoms that your body needs to express, while they ignore the underlying root cause. Side effects of synthetic and chemical drugs, which even if they are partly derived from nature have been perverted to make them patentable and profitable, are not healthy or natural, and usually cause more harm than any perceived benefit of the medication.

Where “physician errors” are concerned, these may not be entirely the fault of the doctors, as they are forced to operate within the constraints of their profession or risk losing their license, but doctors have become pawns and spokesmen for the drug companies, and the best interest of the patient has become secondary. In the name of profit, physicians are also under great pressure from hospitals to service patients as quickly as possible, like an assembly line, increasing the likelihood of error.

In conclusion, increases in healthcare costs are not just the result of frivolous law suits, but are primarily the result of a profit-oriented industry that encourages practices that lead to unnecessary and harmful procedures being performed, lethal adverse drug reactions, infections, expensive legitimate lawsuits, in-hospital and physician errors, antibiotic resistance due to overprescribing of antibiotics and drugs, and the hundreds of thousands of subsequent unnecessary deaths and injuries. Many people do not realize that there are healthier natural options, and anything unnatural or invasive we are exposed to is likely to cause either immediate or cumulative damage over time.

There is a huge concern in the medical industry that if a biological weapon were released that those sick might come to the hospitals in such large numbers that before you realized an attack had occurred everyone in every nearby hospital would also be infected. Then of course the hospital itself would be rendered useless and all those already in the hospital no matter what the reason would literally condemned. The biggest issue with this is that those places we have available to help our populations stay well would be immediately and totally useless.

One of our Think Tank Members considering this and having worked in the medical field almost three decades and understanding the very fast moving technologies and innovation in robotics had contemplated the use of robotics in the event of a bio-terrorist act. Today modern hospitals have all kinds of robotic type technologies and are very leading edge with their devices. These state of the art devices make hospital robotics even more possible. Swift in Montana writes in this solution during our online discussion of robotic advances:

“One of the best places for them to work would be in hospitals that have infectious disease floors where communicable diseases are treated. They would be able to administer medications, check on the vitals of the patients, IV flow rates etc. without anyone risking their own health. Should there be a flu pandemic this would really help to keep the numbers down as would having robots to keep the area sterilized and as germ free as possible. Sensors could be built into them to determine when there was a certain level of particulates in the air for those with contagious lung issues and a robot could move around and clean the viruses from the air.”

When further discussion of tele-robotics came up as one of the incredible advances of robotics in medicine and what that technology has meant for NASA applications in repairs of Hubble Telescope, Satellites, ISS or pre-flighting the Shuttle for safe return it was determined that such technology could also be used in hospitals for outbreaks when operations and surgery were to be done. Since no person would risk infection, while we learned what the problem was and how to cope with it. For instance a bio-situation or bio-terrorist attack in the middle east somewhere could be diagnosed, isolated and prevented from spreading while our CDC here and other scientists around the world tuned into the procedure, thus using the brains of many to solve the now isolated bio threat from afar. Swift from Montana further discusses other possible issues with bio-terrorism, namely that if the bio-terrorist see that their attack is not working they might seek to do further acts of International Terror and has these comments to offer:

“Perhaps the issue of doing surgery in another country would not mean that the physician would actually have to travel there. He could operate the controls, while a staff from that country assisted in the procedure thus eliminating the possibility of being kidnapped or tortured for humanitarian efforts. Maybe the residents of the country would look at what they were doing if the only entities that would come anywhere near them were machines. If a machine was captured, it could blow everyone up and eliminate several problems at one time. Robots would certain be effective in teaching people many skills that they might not have the opportunity to learn. The most successful programs in Third World Countries have always been those that teach the citizens how to do something that will take care of their own-’the teach a person to fish principle’. The most basic surgeries could easily be handled in sterile, relatively primitive situations. Medications to control infection and pain would be all that was needed afterwards. Lasers could be built in so that scalpels would not always need to be used. Thus keltoid scars that often don’t heal well on darker skins could be minimized.”

Computer modeling shows that if you can quickly diagnose and then isolate a situation such as an outbreak in those first crucial hours, then what could have turned into a pandemic turns into a controllable and conquerable problem.

The police arrive at the accident scene promptly. A driver has run his automobile into a guardrail while exiting a highway. The driver does not seem to be injured but is somewhat incoherent and is slipping in and out of consciousness. Did he strike his head? Is he inebriated? Is he on drugs? A quick review of the driver’s attire reveals a medical alert bracelet that identifies him as a Coumadin user. This is crucial information for those responding to the incident.

Coumadin (the brand name for Warfarin) is a medication that has offered protection from strokes, heart attacks, pulmonary embolisms other conditions resulting from blood clots. Coumadin is an anti-coagulant, or blood thinner, that helps to prevent the formation of blood clots. Those with certain heart conditions or who are subject to irregular blood clotting can benefit significantly from Coumadin. That’s the good news. The bad news is that Coumadin is a medication that must be carefully monitored to insure the correct balance in the user’s system to avoid serious complications.

Coumadin dosage is a very precise science and is determined by the specific condition being treated, certain characteristics of the person with the condition and the rate of clotting as determined by regular testing. In order to achieve the proper levels of Coumadin it may be necessary to take different doses each day. This requires that the user be very aware of the schedule and keep good records of dosage requirements and testing schedules.

Warfarin (generic Coumadin) was actually used as rat poison. Large doses of the compound caused rodents to hemorrhage internally and die. While the doses for humans are relatively miniscule, the dangers of excess bleeding are still a concern. The delicate balance of Coumadin in the system is the reason that many users will wear some form of medical alert identification. In the event of an emergency or an accident, attendants can readily identify a Coumadin user and attempt to discern whether to avoid certain other medications that may interact adversely with Coumadin. Emergency personnel can also determine if Coumadin may be the culprit.

There are many medical conditions and medications that can cause a situation or a reaction whereby a person cannot communicate. Conditions such as epilepsy, diabetes, food allergies and the use of medications like Coumadin can be easily and readily identified by wearing medical alert jewelry with the proper information engraved or stored. A small problem can become a large problem if someone takes the wrong course of action, or no action, based on a lack of information. A small, attractive, fashionable piece of jewelry can help you look sharp?and save your life.

Domestic violence is not over when the victim is safe and out of harm’s way. It’s not over until justice has been served. Even then, it’s not over. It’s not over until the victim is safe, justice has been served, and the victim is well.Consider these facts:

Abuse, especially repetitive abuse, leaves a lasting “impression” on the health, well-being, and post-abuse functioning of the victim. This impact lingers long after the bruises fade, the bones mend, and the abuse is over.

Victims of violence seek healthcare more often than non-victims. The severity of victimization is a powerful predictor of the healthcare costs generated by these victims.

Most healthcare visits by victims of domestic violence are not domestic violence patients presenting with injuries, but rather medical problems that seemingly are not related to current or past injuries.

The health effects of violence can reach across the life span. Studies have now shown that adults who were abused in childhood vs. those who were not have more:

• Infectious diseases

• Mental health disorders
• Hypertension
• Diabetes
• Dermatitis
• Asthma
• Allergy
• Acne
• Abnormal menstrual bleeding
• More heath-threatening behaviors such as smoking, the use of alcohol, driving while intoxicated, avoiding regular gynecological examinations, not wearing seat belts, sedentary lifestyle, and high-risk sexual encounters.

The abuse sustained in an intimate partner relationship does not have to be physical to cause poor health. Intimate partner violence and abuse (IPVA) can take several forms: physical abuse, verbal abuse, and forced sex. When Dr. Ann Coker and her colleagues looked at domestic violence in a large series of patients, they found that approximately 14% of domestic violence victims have only been victimized psychologically, not physically. These victims had higher rates of numerous medical problems that the non-abused do not have. Among them:

• Disability that prevented working
• Arthritis
• Chronic pain
• Migraine and other frequent headaches
• Stammering
• Sexually transmitted infections
• Chronic pelvic pain
• Stomach ulcers
• Frequent indigestion, diarrhea, or constipation.

These findings pose an interesting question: Do victims of psychological abuse have fewer or more health problems than victims of physical violence? Dr. Coker and her colleagues found that “psychological IPV was as strongly associated with the majority of adverse health outcomes as was physical IPV.” The old childhood taunt of “Sticks and stones can break my bones, but words can never hurt me,” is wrong, wrong, wrong. And now we have research to support the idea that it’s wrong.

Survivors of domestic violence or IPVA will tell you that life after abuse is never the same. Some experience insomnia, multiple aches and pains, problems with concentration, intrusive thoughts, fatigue, and irritability. Any one of these can interfere with effective functioning and set the stage for depression and even despair.

Violence and abuse of all forms is complex and the resulting health effects are interwoven. No single approach cures all. Medical help for domestic violence victims and survivors exists but is scattered. Appropriate care is often difficult to find and access, but it can be done. Healthcare providers and survivors must learn to work together to secure the best state of health possible for survivors of domestic violence.

There are a lot of fabulous stories about Cetyl Myristoleate (also known as CMO or CM) floating across the Internet. Mine is one of them. There have been a number of articles published in little known journals or magazines. There have been four small booklets published. One making fantastic claims, all four filled with anecdotal evidence but offering no real research to back up the claims. There are a number of Doctors sharing the results they are having with their patients but so does every other wonder-working product. The question is, are there any scientific studies to back up any of these claims? The answer is yes. To date there are several patient studies and two double blind studies completed. I will mention the three most prominent below.

Dr Len Sands of the San Diego Clinic completed the first human study on the effectiveness on Cetyl Myristoleate in 1995. There were 48 arthritis patients in this study. All but two showed significant improvement in articular mobility (80% or better) and reduction of pain (70% or better). Obviously the study had its flaws. One doctor conducted the study, there was no control group and the number of participants was small. Even so, it suggested to many that maybe there was some hope here and that more scientific studies should follow.

The first double blind study followed two years later. Dr. H. Siemandi conducted a double blind study under the auspices of the Joint European Hospital Studies Program. There were 431 patients in the study, 106 who received cetyl myristoleate, 99 who received cetyl myristoleate, and glucosamine, sea cucumber, and hydrolyzed cartilage and 226 who received a placebo. Clinical assessment included radiological test and other studies. Results were 63% improvement for the cetyl myristoleate group, 87% for the cetyl myristoleate plus glucosamine group and 15% for the placebo group.

In August of 2002, a double blind study was published in the Journal or Rheumatology. The study included sixty-four patients with chronic knee OA. Half of the patients received a cetyl myristoleate complex and half a placebo. Evaluations included physician assessment, knee range of motion with goniometry, and the Lequesne Algofunctional Index (LAI). The conclusion was that the CM group saw significant improvement while the placebo group saw little to none. In fact in their conclusion the state that CM “may be an alternative to the use of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs for the treatment of OA”.

Advanced Medical Systems & Design, Ltd completed the last study I would like to mention in Oct 2001. It was not a double blind study but the study included 1814 arthritis patients. The results showed that over 87% of the subjects had greater than 50% recovery and over 65% of those showed from 75% - 100% recovery following a sixteen day regimen. I know that this is not the most scientific study but a study this large does suggest that there could be a positive benefit to the use of CM in the treatment of arthritis.

Conclusion: There is mounting evidence that CM can be effective in the treatment of many forms of arthritis. While it is true that the evidence from these three studies can not be considered conclusive, it is a beginning. It should challenge you to think out side the box and consider that just because it did not come from a drug company does not mean that it will not work. With over 10,000 people a year dying from Nsaids would it not be great to find a safer and more effective product. Especially with the cost of prescription treatments for arthritis costing into the hundreds and good Cetyl Myristoleate products can be found for between $20 and $40.

This must be a mistake! How could his drug costs rise from $150 a month to $1101 in just three weeks? My hands shook while I read the pharmacy bill.

There was no mistake. The bill I held recorded the drugs ordered by my fathers Alzheimers’ care unit. In only three weeks at this eldercare facility, his drug expenses had soared an incredible 734%. Ironically, his quality of life had plunged about the same percent. Walking and talking when he entered, he now spent his days confined to a wheelchair, unable to walk, drugged into a persistent stupor.

“I’ve got to do something.” The thought haunted me all day.

Then, that evening, an incidental trip to the grocery delivered the help I needed. It came in the form of a thick paperback book, The PDR Pocket Guide to Prescription Drugs (PDR Pocket Guide).

The PDR Pocket Guide provides tons of information for all prescription drugs on the market when it was printed. Specifics include:

• generic equivalents,
• why the drug is prescribed,
• how it should be taken,
• when it should not be taken,
• side effects and special warning, and
• possible interactions with other drugs and food.

The PDR Pocket Guide is available through Amazon.com, or you might find a copy like I did at your local grocery or bookstore. Jam-packed with almost 1700 pages of information, this paperback is a surprisingly affordable $6.99.

Using the pharmacy’s bill as a list of medications, I read the PDR report for each drug my father was using. What I found astonished me.

Two of fifteen drugs prescribed were being used “off-label” (not FDA approved for the condition it is used to treat). One of those was specifically contraindicated for use with Alzheimer’s patients. Two more were from drug families that I had previously identified as causing allergic reactions in my father.

When I was young, my father used to kid me by saying, “Up with this I will not put!” Up with this I wasn’t about to put either, so I called his doctor.

“My father is allergic to Furosemide.”

He bristled. “Where did you get an idea like that?”

“Furosemide is a sulfa drug. He’s allergic to sulfa drugs.”

“I never heard anything like that about Furosemide,” he barked. “Who told you that?”

“The PDR Pocket Guide.”

“Well, the PDR has a lot of stuff you don’t need to know.” His arrogance grated on my nerves.

“No more Furosemide.” Now I wasn’t asking, I was demanding. “You’ve seen his rash. He didn’t have it when he came to the care unit.”

“You’re not qualified to say what he should or should not have.”

“What am I doing,” I wondered, “arguing with a doctor who should be helping?” I wish I’d spoken the words I thought next. “Bye-bye! You’re fired!”

But, in that moment, I resolved to be fully in control of all my father’s drugs. I would learn everything I could and provide drugs direct to the facility. . .or not. There would be no more ordering drugs without my specific authorization

I enlisted the expertise of a pharmacist I found just down the street. She graciously took time from her crowded day to answer all my questions and explain anything I didn’t understand. She took a brief history of my father’s illness, made note of his allergies, and offered money-saving suggestions. She focused on providing excellent service. In short, she was, and is, an angel.

I immediately began to look for another physician to take over my father’s care, but I was too slow. Within a few weeks, my father died of complications from a massive insulin overdose.

Was my experience unusual? Probably not, according to a study from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS). On the subject of the increased cost of pharmaceuticals for people over-65, the study’s author, Marie Stagnitti, MPA, reports:

Every year from 1997-2000, the average out of pocket expense for prescription medicines for those with a purchase and age 65 and older was more than three times as high as the average out of pocket expense on prescription medicines for those with a purchase and under age 65.

The potential for overmedication in the elderly is clear in Stagnitti’s chart showing an average 23.5 prescriptions in both 1999 and 2000 for the over-65 group that used prescription drugs. The number of prescription drugs used by the under-65 group seemed high to me as well: 9.5 for 1999 and 10.1 prescriptions for the year 2000.

Overmedication is not only crushingly expensive for our elderly, it represents a real and present danger. You can do something about it. Please, learn about and oversee medications. You will help elders save money. You might even save a life.