Anyone Can See the Dentist Now: Consumer Driven Dental Plans Ensure It

How long has it been since you've been to a dentist? If you
aren't going at least once a year (as is recommended), why
aren't you?

You may be surprised to learn that more people avoid the
dentist for fear of the bill they'll get after going to a
dentist than fear the dental work itself. The reason is
that dental benefits insurance and dental HMOs have created
such a confusing array of deductibles, annual limits,
claims forms and services that are not covered, that the
average person is never quite sure how much of the cost of
dental treatment will be out-of-pocket. What you can be
sure of is that elective and cosmetic dental treatments are
not covered by dental benefits insurance. And it is highly
likely that the cost of seeing a specialist such as an
orthodontist (braces) or a periodontist (gums) will exceed
your annual limit.

What can you do? Are there any alternatives to standard
dental plans?

Fortunately, there are. Consumer driven dental plans are a
REAL alternative to big insurance companies and their fall
out. Put simply, consumer driven dental (CDD) plans provide
all varieties of dental care at a large discount. CDD is
not insurance. It is not Medicaid or Medicare. It is a
well-thought-out dental plan that enables everyone--man,
woman, child, over 60, under 5, with pre-existing dental
conditions or without--to get the dental care they need,
when they need it, at an affordable price. No surprises.

Whether you need braces or tooth whitening, root canal or
caps, a regular check up or treatment for gum disease, you
are "covered" with consumer driven dental plans. You are
covered, but not in the sense you may be accustomed.
Discount dental plans simply negotiate a fair price with
dentists across the nation to an amount that is affordable
to virtually anyone who is working for a living. There are
no claims forms to fill out afterward, and no confusing
bills that leave you wondering whether the bill was paid at
all. The only surprises you get are these-no forms to fill
out, no age limits, and no waiting periods. And the
discounts are significant-up to 80% off the dentist's
regular rates.

That's not all. If you need to compare prices, most
discount dental networks will give you their rates vs. an
insurance company's. Just ask.

So now there are no excuses, join a consumer discount
dental plan today, and go to the dentist. It won't hurt a
bit.

----------------------------------------------------
Jim Martinez is a National Sales Director for AmeriPlan USA
offering discount dental, health, vision, prescription and
chiropractic benefits plans starting at only $19.95 per
month for your entire household. Sign up today for discount
dental benefits plans at

http://www.familydentalhealthplans.com/dental-benefits.html

New Brain Health Roadmap Announced

On June 10th something wonderful happened, and the media
hasn't paid much attention yet. On that day, the National
Public Health Road Map to Maintaining Cognitive Health was
released by the CDC and the Alzheimer's Association. The
authors proposed a set of 44 actions to reach a lofty goal:
To maintain or improve the cognitive performance of all
adults accross America. This is great timing, given all the
research and media attention that this field is getting,
and the aging of the baby boomer population..

I want to first share with you the 10 top actions proposed
by this report, and then provide a quick glossary to
explain the key words that you will hear more and more when
discussing brain health.

Top recommendations:

1) To determine how diverse audiences think about cognitive
health and its associations with lifestyle factors. This
work has all-ready yielded in a phenomenal report on Baby
boomers' current opinion of Brain Health and Fitness, that
you can find in the website of the MetLife Foundation.

2) To disseminate the latest science to increase public
understanding of cognitive health and to dispel common
misconceptions. The discovery of lifelong neuroplasticity
and neurogenesis (see glossary below) has given us a new
positive view upon the human brain - This is still a
concept not many know of. "Use it or lose it" and "Use It
and Get More of It" needs to reach all people.

3) Help people understand the connection between risk and
protective factors and cognitive health. Protective factors
were well summarized in the MacArthur study of successful
aging: good nutrition, mental and physical exercise, stress
management and social engagement.

4) Assess the literature on risk factors (vascular risk and
physical inactivity) and related interventions for
relationships with cognitive health. As Dr. Marilyn S.
Albert at John Hopkins points it out: All the things that
we know are bad for your heart turn out to be bad for your
brain.

5) More clinical trials will be conducted to determine the
effect of reducing vascular risk factors on lowering the
risk of cognitive decline and improving cognitive function.
Recent findings presented at International Conference on
Prevention of Dementia are one big step in the right
direction.

6) Further, more research will be conducted on other areas
potentially affecting cognitive health such as nutrition,
mental activity, and social engagement.

7) The last research focus is on determining the effect of
physical activity on reducing the risk of cognitive decline
and improving cognitive function.

8) The government will develop a population-based
surveillance system to measure the public health burden of
cognitive impairment in the United States.

9) Initiate policy changes at the federal, state, and local
levels to promote cognitive health by engaging public
officials.

10) Brain Fitness will be included in Healthy People 2020,
a set of health objectives for the nation that will serve
as the foundation for state and community public health
plans.

This initiative will help people of all ages take more
control of our brain health in the same way we care about
our nutrition and body health.

Now let's review some of the most relevant concepts in this
field. This vocabulary will become familiar to all of us
during the next years::

Brain Fitness: the general state of good, sharp, brain and
mind, especially as the result of mental and physical
exercise and proper nutrition.

Brain Fitness Program: structured set of brain exercises,
usually computer-based, designed to train specific brain
areas and functions in targeted ways, and measured by brain
fitness assessments.

Chronic Stress: ongoing, long-term stress. Continued
physiological arousal where stressors block the formation
of new neurons and negatively impact the immune system's
defenses.

Cognitive training: variety of brain exercises designed to
help work out specific "mental muscles". The principle
underlying cognitive training is to help improve "core"
abilities, such as attention, memory, problem-solving,
which many people consider as fixed.

Cognitive Reserve: theory that addresses the fact that
individuals vary considerably in the severity of cognitive
aging and clinical dementia. Mental stimulation, education
and occupational level are believed to be major active
components of building a cognitive reserve that can help
resist the attacks of mental disease.

fMRI: functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) is a
non-invasive neuroimaging technique that enables
researchers see images of changing blood flow in the brain
associated with neural activity. This allows images to be
generated that reflect which structures are activated (and
how) during performance of different tasks.

Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction (MBSR): yoga and
meditation practices designed to enable effective responses
to stress, pain, and illness.

Neurogenesis: the process by which neurons are created all
throughout our lives.

Neuroplasticity: the brain's ability to reorganize itself
by forming new connections throughout life.

PubMed: very useful tool to search for published studies.
"PubMed is a service of the U.S. National Library of
Medicine that includes over 16 million citations from
MEDLINE and other life science journals for biomedical
articles back to the 1950s."

Working memory: the ability to keep information current for
a short period while using this information. Working memory
is used for controlling attention, and deficits in working
memory capacity lead to attention problems. Recent research
has proven that working memory training is possible and
helpful for people with ADD/ ADHD.

Exciting times ahead! We should all be looking forward what
science will bring us to help develop and grow gracefully
as we age.

----------------------------------------------------
Alvaro Fernandez is the CEO and Co-Founder of SharpBrains,
which provides the latest science-based information for
Brain Health and Brain Exercise, and reviews programs such
as MindFit, Posit Science, emWave, IntelliGym, Cogmed, and
more. Dozens of publications, such as Scientific American
Mind, CBS, Forbes, MSNBC, Seattle Times, New York Post,
have highlighted SharpBrains website and information. Check
http://www.sharpbrains.com/hottopics .

How much does 4 days in New York Hospital cost?

Nothing beats a near-death experience for revitalizing the
human spirit. The knowledge that life is relatively short
and absolutely unpredictable is humbling and insightful.

I'm returning from 5 days in New York hospital with a
serious intestinal infection… diverticulitis to be exact.
It is eye-opening to NOT EAT or DRINK for 5 days (not even
water) and to be hooked up to an I.V. machine 24 hours a
day.

It Really Sucks!

When you are fighting a potentially life-threatening
condition or illness, it puts one's life in a new,
refreshing perspective. It has given me an appreciation for
the really important things life has to offer…

Family, Friends, Loved ones, Health. (Not necessarily in
that order). Family, friends and Loved ones are the best
life has to offer… But life certainly is more enjoyable
when everyone is healthy.

All the money in the world… isn't worth losing your health
over.

Your Health is the most precious thing you possess… Just
ask any inpatient in a hospital!

I can tell you that although the health care was most
excellent, life in the hospital was not that much fun for
me. I was hooked up to an I.V. for days with no food or
drink. You have to drag that I.V. thing with you everywhere
you go, even to the bathroom.

(I'm not complaining - They probably saved my life).

I was getting prodded and poked and stuck with needles
everyday for blood samples and stuck with another needle to
give a blood thinner. They took blood pressure readings and
thermometer readings every few hours all day everyday… and
at night too.

The nurse would wake me up in the middle of the night to
take my blood pressure and temperature readings. (And I
thought waking up to an alarm clock was annoying).

The doctors and nurses were all wonderful. Very
professional care from very capable professionals. After 5
days I was well enough to go home.

I was admitted on Sunday evening and was discharged
Thursday evening… Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday,
Thursday… 5-days.

But it only totals about 96 hours so the hospital says it's
4 days. Guess how much 4 days in New York Hospital cost?
The bill came today:

Rm Two Beds or more $8,230.08, Drugs $758.57, Laboratory
Services $346.30, Laboratory Services $516.52, Laboratory
Services $235.56, Laboratory Services $578.25, Laboratory
Services $73.15, X-Ray Services $229.10, Cat Scan
$4,518.51, Emer Room Services $827.68, Drugs $506.94, Ekg
Inpatient $174.81

Totals $16,995.47

And when you add in the cost of the phone and television…
That's a grand total of over $17,000.00 bucks for 4 days.
That's $,4,250 per day… And I didn't even have any surgery
(yet).

Professional Care comes with a professional price tag.

Would you have enough money to pay for this if it came out
of your pocket? Most people couldn't afford to make a
payment like that. It's not their fault. They work hard,
get paid well but the cost of living is sooo expensive.

Most families do not accumulate wealth. Most families have
a hard time saving any money. The solution however is NOT
to cut back.

The solution is to change your way of thinking. The
solution is to realize that… Your Health is Your Real
Wealth!

----------------------------------------------------
Carl Willoughby has worked as a Licensed Registered
Representaive for the Prudential Insurance Company in New
York City and a Computer Programmer for the Tephone Company
in Boston.
Visit his blog at:
http://www.StudentLoanDebtConsolidationSite.com

Do You Know Which Is The Best Acne Treatment For You?

Do you wish that there was just one treatment that you
could use to clear up your acne?

Whether you're a teen or an adult, if you battled acne
you've gone through countless medicines looking for the
best acne treatment. An inflammatory skin eruption that
most commonly affects the neck, face, shoulders, and upper
back, acne is perhaps the single most common skin
affliction, and there are thousands of acne treatment
products claiming to be the best. But in truth, there are
any number of acne medicines, soaps, creams and gels that
could work for you - the best acne treatment for one person
may be not the solution for someone else. This is because
everyone's skin is different, as is the degree and cause of
their acne.

The best acne treatment for you could be an inexpensive,
over-the-counter acne medicine with an alpha hydroxy
formula, or one with salicylic acid. Or you might find that
those do nothing to help your skin problems, and instead
need a more expensive acne treatment program like Proactiv,
or a more powerful, doctor-prescribed acne medicine like
Accutane. It's usually only through trial and error that
you'll find the acne product that works best for you.

When shopping for acne treatments, you should also consider
the possible level of toxicity in the products you choose,
which may cause health risks down the line. For that
reason, many acne sufferers rely on natural remedies that
have a lower risk of complications from their ingredients,
and there are such a wide variety of natural products on
the market, you may find that one of them is the best acne
treatment for your skin.

One of the most popular natural acne treatments is
Australian tea tree oil. This anti-bacterial, anti-fungal
remedy has been used for centuries to treat athletes foot,
body odor, bad breath, cold sores and acne. It's a strong
substance, so adding just a few drops to a cotton ball then
applying it to the affected area can help treat individual
blemishes - this is not, however, a treatment for large
patches of skin or your face, as tea tree oil is very
drying.

You can purchase bottles of tea tree oil online, at natural
food stores and in some drugstores, and there are a number
of acne products that use tea tree oil as a primary
ingredient, such as The Body Shop's line of tea tree oil
cleansers, toners and spot treatments, Skin Medica's line
of toners and cleansers with tea tree oil, the 'Blemish
Touch Stick' from Desert Essence, and Murad's acne
treatment gels.

If you find that tea tree oil works as an acne treatment
for you, find a line of products that you like and stick
with it. Start with an antibacterial foaming cleanser –
harsh exfoliating products will only irritate your skin and
exacerbate your acne - follow it with a good astringent or
toner, and then use an oil-free moisturizer, preferably one
designed for problem skin. Philosophy's 'Hope in a Bottle'
is one such acne product, designed specifically as an
anti-acne, anti-aging formula by combining anti-bacterial
ingredients with skin-soothing Vitamin E. Many companies
like Murad, Dermatologica and Neutrogena sell moisturizers
and spot acne treatments that work with a full line of acne
products.

Adult acne is very common - in fact, 50 percent of adult
women have it, as do 25 percent of men. Most adult acne can
be easily treated to prevent breakouts, with the best acne
treatment being a good regimen of cleansing followed by
benzoyl peroxide directly on blemishes. In more severe
cases, acne can be cured by retinoidal acne lotions like
isotretinoin or by a hormonal treatment - usually
drospirenone and cyproterone - under a doctor's
supervision. Dietary supplements containing antioxidants,
vitamins, collagen and herbal extracts can be very
beneficial to the skin and speed up recovery from severe
breakouts.

Talk to your dermatologist, and don't give up if the first
acne medicine or treatment you try doesn't have
satisfactory results - it may take awhile to find the best
acne treatment for you.

----------------------------------------------------
Find out more about the Best Acne Treatments or even about
Adult Acne for those of you who, like Michael Jennings,
have been unfortunate to suffer from it ==>

http://www.effective-acne-treatment.net