The Obamas' and Nancy Pelosi are on a plane. Nancy says:" If I throw out a $100 bill, I'll make one person very happy". Michelle replies" If I throw out ten of $10 bill, I'll make ten people happy. Then Obama says:" If I throw out one hundred of $1 bill, I'll make one hundred people happy".

The pilot turns to the copilot, " Listen to the three of them talking!. If I throw all of them out, I'll make a whole country happy".

Late one night, a burglar broke into a house he thought was empty. He tiptoed through the living room but suddenly froze in his tracks when he heard a loud voice say: "Jesus is watching you!"

Silence returned to the house, so the burglar kept going forward.

"Jesus is watching you," the voice boomed again.

The burglar froze again – terrified. Frantically, he looked all around with his flashlight. In a far corner, he spotted a birdcage with a parrot perched inside.

"Was it you who said Jesus is watching me?" he asked the parrot.

"Yes," said the parrot.

The burglar breathed a sigh of relief, and asked the parrot: "What's your name?"

"Clarence," said the bird.

"That's a dumb name for a parrot," sneered the burglar. "What idiot named you Clarence?"

The parrot squawked sarcastically, "The same idiot who named the Rottweiller Jesus."

An old man, Mr. Smith, resides in a nursing home. One day he went to the nurses' station and informed Nurse Jones that his penis died. Nurse Jones, realizing the Mr. Smith was old and forgetful decided to play along with him. 'It did? I'm sorry to hear that, ' she replied. Two days later, Mr. Smith was walking down the halls at the nursing home with his penis hanging outside his pants. Nurse Jones saw him and said, 'Mr.Smith I thought you told me your penis died'. 'It did' he replied; 'today is the viewing'.

A man goes to visit his 85-year-old grandpa in the nursing home. 'How are you grandpa?' he asks.'Feeling fine, ' says the old man.'What's the food like?' 'Terrific, wonderful menus.' 'And the nurses?' 'Just couldn't be better. These young nurses really take good care of me.' 'What about sleeping? Do you sleep okay?' 'No problem at all --- nine hours solid every night. At 10 o'clock they bring me a cup of hot chocolate and a Viagra tablet, and that's it. I go out like a light.' The grandson is puzzled and a little alarmed by this, so he rushes off to question the Nurse in charge. 'What are you people doing?' he asks. 'I'm told you're giving an 85-year-old man Viagra on a daily basis. Surely that can't be true?' 'Oh, but it is true, ' replies the nurse. 'Every night at 10 o'clock we give him a cup of hot chocolate and a Viagra tablet. It works wonderfully well. The chocolate makes him sleep, and the Viagra stops him from rolling out of bed.'

Nancy, Betty, Jim and Tom are living in the old folks home. Nancy and Betty thinking that Jim and Tom weren't getting enough excitement, decided to run naked past their room. Later that night they did just that. Jim looked at Tom and said, 'Did you see that? What in the hell were Nancy and Betty wearing?' 'I don't know, replied Tom, but whatever it was, it sure needed ironing.'

A man was walking down the street when he noticed his grandpa sitting on the porch, in the rocking chair, naked from the waist down. 'Grandpa, what are you doing?' he exclaimed. The old man looked off in the distance and did not answer him. 'Grandpa, what are you doing sitting out here with nothing on below the waist?' he asked again. The old man slyly looked at him and said, 'Well, last week I sat out here with no shirt on, and I got a stiff neck. This was your Grandma's idea!'

A study funded by the U.S. National Institute on Aging and the Department of Veterans Affairs suggests that many individuals diagnosed with Alzheimers may not actually suffer from the disease.

The study looked at brain autopsies of over 426 men who died at age 87 on average and found about that half of those were informed that they had the disease while alive but didn't have enough brain lesions at death to confirm the diagnosis. They also found that the likelihood of an incorrect diagnosis rose with age. The researchers are saying that larger studies are needed to confirm these findings and provide insight as to how we may more accurately diagnose and prevent Alzheimers disease and other types of dementia in the elderly. Most of those who'd been misdiagnosed did have one or a combination of other kinds of brain lesions that would explain the dementia. But their scans didn't show sufficient evidence for the more serious condition of Alzheimers.

Researchers find these results troubling because there are many other causes of dementia in the elderly, such depression, overmedication, thyroid problems, Vitamin B-12 deficiency and vascular disease. These causes are generally much more easily treated than Alzheimer’s disease. A wrong diagnosis of Alzheimer’s may have delayed or prevented proper treatment.

The scientists are saying that with the large increase in dementia cases expected within the next 10 years in the United States, it will be increasingly important to correctly recognize, diagnose, prevent and treat age-related cognitive decline. They are emphasizing that Alzheimers comes with a very specific set of symptoms and behaviors, including severe memory loss, an inability to process thought fully and an impairment in intellectual functioning. The impact on memory and thinking goes way beyond everyday forgetfulness and haziness. Alzheimers is not just a memory disorder. It affects the ability to think things through, it is a serious inability to learn new information, serious enough to really impair your job or your social life.

Two men are on a lake, fishing, when one is asking the other

-Some people go fishing because they like the sport in it, others are just bored, I do it to relax myself, but what about you?

-Me?..... I just want to catch some fish.

In an office, a grave error happenned that had severe consequences. The boss, furious, comes in the office and asks one of the employees

-Which one of us was the idiot, me or you?, at which the employee replies

-Sir, with your vaste experience and carefull screening, I don't think you would have hired an idiot.

A drunk man in a cemetery, is passing by a grave and on the stone was written: " Here is resting in peace a lawyer, a good man, an honorable man". The drunk says in stupor " Goodness gracious, these idiots buried three men in the same grave".

Assisted living facilities can offer different levels of assistance, from minimal to comprehensive. When choosing an assisted living facility it is important to ask about the level of care the facility provides, so that you will receive the services you need. Also, the number and types of services can determine the total monthly cost of care. Some assisted living facilities offer specially designed environments for Alzheimers-Dementia and other memory impaired patients.

The assisted living facility staff will manage the residents care, including ongoing assessments of the residents needs and health monitoring. Assisted living facility staff will coordinate and assist the resident to gain access to needed medical services, as well as mental health, social, educational, and other services. They will also monitor and evaluate the delivery of services. The resident can contract with a third party, like a home health agency or a nurse registry, to provide nursing and other medical services to the resident when needed, as long as the resident's health does not require more care than can be provided in an assisted living. The facility can assist the resident in arranging for such nursing care.

Choosing the right Assisted Living Facility:

• Staffing: How much qualified staff is available each shift to provide personal care, resident supervision and to provide or arrange for scheduled and unscheduled resident services?. What is the ratio of staff to residents?. Assisted living facility's employees are required to have various levels of training depending on their responsibilities. Are the caregivers friendly, respectful and ready to assist you?.
• Financial: Assisted living facilities are, usually, private pay. There are some additional sources that you can use to cover for part or all the assisted living care cost such as veteran benefits, long term care insurances, Medicaid Diversion( if you qualify).
• Cost: Find out price of a private or sharred room. Inquire about additional cost for caring for patients with Dementia-Alzheimers. How often the monthly rate is increased and by what percentage?. Make sure that everything is mentioned in the contract before you sign it. Any assisted living facility is obligated to give you 30 days notice before any increase in the monthly rate. Is any additional charge for increase in level of care and how much?. What is included in the monthly rent and what services will require additional fees?
• Admission fee and Deposit: Some assisted living facilities may ask for a deposit and admission fees. If these are required, you should ask for the purpose of such fees, whether they are refundable, and, if so, under what circumstances. Most facilities have a policy in place.
• Accommodations: Assisted living facilities offer different type of accommodations based on facility size. Larger assisted living facilities could offer from apartments, to a room with private bathroom and kitchenette, to just a single or sharred room. Residential assisted living facilities( 6 beds or less), most of the time, have only single or sharred rooms with sharred bathrooms. Do the rooms or apartments have telephone access and cable TV and is there an additional charge for the services?. Ask if the rooms/apartments come furnished or unfurnished, if you can bring your own furniture and wall decorations. Is the assisted living facility easy to get around in?. Larger facilities with long hallways and/or multiple levels can be very confusing to patients with dementia and/or Alzheimers and difficult to access to patients with ambulatory problems. A smaller facility is more suitable for these type of residents. Security and fire safety is very important in assisted living as well. Inquire about smoke detectors, fire sprinkler system and door alarms. Ask about smoking, pet, parking and visiting hours policy.
• Services: Ask about services provided in the facility and which services may require additional cost. There are many other services provided by third party providers such as physicians, pharmacy, laboratory and X-ray, home health services, beautician and barber care. Is the facility going to arrange those services for you?. Some assisted living facilities allow their residents to benefit from hospice services and to "age in place". All assisted living facilities have a bed hold policy for patients that require hospitalization or physical rehabilitation. The patient's family is required to continue paying the assisted living facility to be able to hold the bed. Ask about "bed hold" policy.
• Meals: How many meals and snacks are provided each day?. Ask to see a copy of the menu and see if choices are always available. Most assisted living facilities are offering three meals and snacks per day. It is also important to know if the facility is offering special diets.
• Licensing: Every assisted living facility in Florida is licenced by the state and the license has to be posted in plain view. The "Resident Bill of Rights" must be posted in the assisted living in a prominent place along with Long-Term Care Ombudsman poster. You must know where to call in case that you have a complaint.

In the last years residential assisted living facilities have become popular alternatives to nursing homes.

Do you really need a nursing home?. Most of the time no, but people are just not aware of how much care can be provided in a small residential assisted living facility. Those facilities have the highest caregiver to patient ratio giving one-on-one care which no nursing home or larger assisted living facility can provide unless you are paying additionally or by hiring a private duty aide.

Just continue to read about the many services that can be provided to your loved one in a 6-8 bed residential assisted living facility and then decide if you are really in need of nursing home care.

DON'T FORGET!.....Assisted living facilities in Florida do benefit from Medicaid Diversion Program and your relative can have a portion of the assisted living cost covered, usually up to $1100-$1200/month( your relative's monthly income-pension, retirement benefits,etc-plus Medicaid Diversion contribution can not exceed $2400 per month for our facilities with certain programs such American Eldercare, Amerigroup and Citrus). There is a small difference if you are a member of Universal Medicaid Diversion. Their contribution is $1100/month on top of your pension, retirement funds etc. up to $2200/month. So if your pension is $2200/month, the assisted living facility in which you are residing will receive an additional $1100/month coming to a total of $3300/month. In many assisted living facilities( including Phoenix Senior Living), $3300/month will cover private room accommodations.

Mom or dad receives assistance with all activities of daily living, with transfers and ambulation and help with wheechair mobility if they are unable to wheel themselves. Residents with dementia or Alzheimer's will be reminded to eat if needed and food will be cut up for residents with limited manual dexterity.

Many other services are provided as: medication administration( it is centrally locked and controlled by trained personnel), incontinence care and supplies, nutrition is closely monitored( diet provided based on a menu prepared by a registered dietitian), in house visiting physician, optometrist, podiatrist, hairdresser, laboratory and x-ray services.

Medical services are available to residential assisted living facilities and are provided by licensed nurses, physical, occupational and speech therapy through home health services, and the services rendered are covered by the resident's health insurance.

Everybody believed that if mom or dad was a diabetic on insulin, or needed intravenous antibiotics or other injectable medication, they had to go to a nursing home. The concept is wrong because all that can be provided in a assisted living facility under home health services.

Senior care or eldercare or long term care refers to a wide variety of services that are provided to seniors at home or in a senior care facility.

Not long ago, senior care or elder care used to be provided only to seniors that required skilled nursing care. Now, senior care begins when a previously independent senior can not perform some or all of the activities of daily living.

Types of senior or elder care includes:

• Custodial care which is provided, most of the time, in client's home and includes assistance with activities of daily living such as grocery shopping, bathing or driving.
• Assisted living care provided in assisted living facilities which includes, based on the size of the facility and level of care, assistance with ADL's, transfers, medication supervision, meals are cooked and served in a central dining room. Certain medical services are provided as well through home health care.
• Skilled care can be provided in a nursing home or at home, by licenced nurses, physical and occupational therapists.
• Alzheimer's/Dementia care is provided at home, in assisted living facilities and nursing homes as well. The facility must be secure and the caregivers properly trained to be able to attend to this type of patients.
• Palliative care or hospice care is for patients that suffers from a chronic, debilitating disease and had a significant decline in health or for patients with a terminal medical condition. The old concept that if you are on hospice care you will be dying soon, is wrong. Some clients do recuperate well enough to come off hospice care.

There are three basic ways to go about hiring a professional caregiver. First, you need to decide whether to hire a private caregiver or go through an agency. While it may be slightly more affordable to find a caregiver on your own, it would be more safe to use an agency. It will be in the best interest of a homecare agency to provide with a competent and experienced caregiver.

There two types of homecare agencies: Full-Service Agencies and Referral Agencies. There is a difference in how they screen their caregivers/home health aids.

Full-Service Agencies: They will provide you with a fully screened caregiver and will continue servicing you thereafter. Some of their services include:

• Prescreening employees for a criminal background
• Checking multiple references
• Maintaining professional liability insurance
• You will be paying the agency for services and the agency will be covering all payroll taxes
• Supplying a caregiver when yours is off or absent
• Replacing a caregiver who isn't a good fit
• Supervising caregivers regularly by sending a registered nurse at intervals

Referral Agencies : Will refer you a caregiver and then your relationship with the agency will end. Referral agencies provide you with a fully screened caregiver but they will not provide any services thereafter. You will be responsible to find a replacement if your caregiver is off or absent, covering any related taxes and you have to supervise the caregiver as well. Some of the services offered by referral agencies include:

• Prescreening employees for a criminal background
• Checking multiple references

Then there is Private-Hire Caregiver when you will find a caregiver on your own( word-of-mouth, recommendations, etc.). This is when you will have to do all the work including criminal background screening.

Everything should be taken in consideration when searching for in home care. The safety and well being of your loved one depends on it.

It is sometimes confusing and hard to differentiate between home health care and in home care.

Home health care is offered by home healthcare agencies that are licensed by the state. They provide in home skilled nursing, from licensed professional medical staff who can administer medication and provide wound therapy amongst others, and other home health care services, such as physical and occupational therapy.Though some healthcare agencies only provide health services, others also can provide personal care services as well. You will need a physician order to receive home health care. The services are, most of the time, covered by your insurance company( Medicare, Medicaid, HMO,PPO, etc) and some people choose to have additional services( most of the time is an increase in physical therapy visits per week or extra assistance from a home health aid) and pay privately.

In home care or homecare is nonmedical care provided in the client's home. It includes custodial care and assistance with activities of daily living such as eating, bathing and providing medication reminders. These services are provided by certified nurse assistants( CNA), home health aids( HHA) or just caregivers( not working through a homecare agency or nurse registry). Homecare can be arranged without a physician's order and is different from home health care, because caregivers do not provide nursing care.

Some caregivers or homecare aids will work with clients in assisted living facilities or nursing home, taking care of the patient in the facility and not in client's home.

In home care services are covered by long term care insurances or has to be paid privately. If not covered by long term care insurance, in home care can be rather expensive.

• Everything hurts and what doesn't hurt doesn't work.
• The gleam in your eyes is from the sun hitting your bi-focals.
• You keep repeating yourself.
• You feel like the morning after and you haven't been anywhere.
• Your little black book contains only names that end in M.D.
• Your children begin to look middle aged.
• You finally reach the top of the ladder and find it leaning against the wrong wall.
• Your mind makes contracts your body can't meet.
• You look forward to a dull evening.
• Your favorite part of the newspaper is "20 Years Ago Today."
• You turn out the lights for economic rather than romantic reasons.
• You sit in a rocking chair and can't get it going.
• Your knees buckle, and your belt won't.
• You're 17 around the neck, 42 around the waist, and 105 around the golf course.
• Your back goes out more than you do.
• You sink your teeth into a steak, and they stay there.
• You have too much room in the house and not enough in the medicine cabinet.
• Your secrets are safe with your friends because they can't remember them either.
• Your joints are more accurate than the National Weather Service.
• If a young girl looks at you, you check to make sure you remembered to put on your pants.

Passengers on a plane are waiting for the flight to leave. The entrance opens, and two men walk up the aisle, dressed in pilot uniforms. Both are wearing dark glasses. One is using a seeing-eye dog, and the other is tapping his way up the aisle with a cane.

Nervous laughter spreads through the cabin, but the men enter the cockpit, the door closes, and the engines start.  The passengers begin glancing nervously,  searching for some sign that this is just a little practical joke. None is forthcoming.

The plane moves faster and faster down the runway, and people at the windows  realize that they're headed straight for the water at the edge of the airport.

As it begins to look as though the plane will never take off, that it will plow into the water, screams of panic fill the cabin. But at that moment, the plane lifts smoothly into the air.

Up in the cockpit, the co-pilot turns to the pilot and says, "You know, Bob, one of these days, they're going to scream too late, and we're all gonna die."

Caring for a person with Alzheimers disease at home is a challenging task that  can become overwhelming at times. As the disease progresses, the task becomes more challenging. Some families find it very difficult to care for a loved one toward the end stages of Alzheimers when 24 hour care is necessary.

Finding the right senior care facility that could care for your family member is very important, for you and your loved one. Some facilities claim to specialize in treating the elder with Alzheimers disease or other dementia, but not all of them excel in this kind of care. Those that do excel tend to be larger facilities and very expensive. Looking for a smaller, residential assisted living facility may be a better choice, affordable and your family member will feel "at home".

As symptoms progress, unfamiliar people, places and activities can be upsetting or confusing. A smaller senior care facility will provide security and more personalized care. Routines are reassuring to Alzheimers patients especially toward mid-stage of the disease.   

Routines that could help in caring for an Alzheimer's patient:

• Structure the day.
• Provide consistent environmental cues about time of day.
• Help the person to look forward to milestones of the day, such as bathing, dressing, meal preparation and eating, going outdoors, having visitors, getting ready for bed. Talk about the upcoming markers of the day.
• Enlist the patient in accomplishing small tasks around the house or yard.
• Keep the environment familiar. Put things in expected places. Novelty and surprise are not helpful to most Alzheimer's patients.
• Be near the person. Many dementia patients feel most comfortable if their caregiver is nearby. You do not have to talk or entertain them.
• Create a routine around regular toilet visits, to avoid embarrassment, discomfort, or medical complications. The caregiver may have to help with hygiene. In late-stage Alzheimer’s, adult diapers are often needed.

Phoenix Senior Living offers a secure environment and trained caregivers that are able to care for Dementia-Alzheimers patients. Read more.....

Alzheimers disease is the most common form of dementia, a serious brain disorder that impacts daily living through memory loss and cognitive changes.  Alzheimers is a degenerative disease, progressing from mild forgetfulness to widespread neurological impairment and ultimately death. Chemical and structural changes in the brain gradually destroy the ability to create, remember, learn, reason, and relate to others.  As critical cells die, drastic personality loss occurs and body systems fail.

There are symptoms that mimic early Alzheimers disease such:

• Central nervous system and other degenerative disorders-, head injuries, brain tumors, stroke, epilepsy, Pick’s Disease, Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease
• Metabolic ailments- hypothyroidism, hypoglycemia, malnutrition, vitamin deficiencies, dehydration, kidney or liver failure
• Substance-induced conditions-drug interactions, medication side-effects, alcohol and drug abuse
• Psychological factors- dementia syndrome, depression, emotional trauma, chronic stress, psychosis, chronic sleep deprivation, delirium
• Infections- meningitis, encephalitis, and syphilis

Discuss with your doctor any of the following symptoms:

• Memory loss
• Difficulty performing familiar tasks
• Problems with language
• Disorientation to time and place
• Poor or decreased judgment
• Problems with abstract thinking
• Misplacing things
• Changes in mood or behavior
• Changes in personality
• Loss of initiative

Although there is no cure for Alzheimer's disease, an early detection will slow down the progression of the disease. Medications can delay the onset of more debilitating symptoms as well.

Alzheimers disease symptoms do not appear suddenly and it does progresses through stages lasting from 8 to 10 years or even longer. It is important to remember that each individual progresses differently and that not all patients experience all symptoms.

Stages of Alzheimers disease:

• Stage 1 – No impairment. Memory and cognitive abilities appear normal.

• Stage 2 – Minimal Impairment-Normal Forgetfulness. Memory lapses and changes in thinking are rarely detected by friends, family, or medical personnel.  Half of those over 65 begin noticing problems in concentration and word recall.

• Stage 3 – Early Confusional-Mild Cognitive Impairment.  Subtle difficulties impact functions.  Try to hide problems. Problems with word retrieval, planning, organization, misplacing objects, and forgetting recent learning affect home and work environments.  New learning, complex planning and organization may be impacted. Depression and other mood disturbances can occur.  Duration:  2-7 years.

• Stage 4 – Late Confusional-Mild Alzheimers.  Problems handling finances result from mathematical challenges.  Recent events and conversations are increasingly forgotten.  Still know selves and family, but have problems carrying out sequential tasks, including cooking, driving, and home management tasks.  Ordering food at restaurants, independent shopping, and other sequential tasks are affected. Often withdraw from social situations, become defensive, and deny problems.  Need increasing assistance with the “business” of independent living.  Accurate diagnosis of Alzheimers disease possible.  Lasts roughly 2 years.

• Stage 5 – Early Dementia-Moderate Alzheimers disease- Decline is more severe, and requires assistance. No longer able to manage independently in community. Unable to recall personal history details and contact information.  Frequently disoriented to place and or time.  A severe decline in numerical abilities and judgment skills leaves patients vulnerable to scams and at risk from safety issues.  Even if able to dress, feed, and perform other basic daily living tasks, require supervision.  Loss of current information is inconsistent and personal history is no longer reliably recalled.  Duration:  average of 1.5 years.

• Stage 6 – Middle Dementia-Moderately Severe Alzheimers disease- Total lack of awareness of present events and can’t accurately remember the past. Progressively lose ability to dress and bathe independently. Bowel and bladder incontinence often occur, repetitive verbal or nonverbal behaviors are present, wandering, suspicion, and other dramatic personality changes are common.  Can’t remember close family members but know they are familiar.  Agitation and hallucinations are particularly present in the late afternoon or evening.  Late in this stage, need care and supervision but can respond to nonverbal stimuli, and communicate pleasure and pain behaviorally.  Lasts approximately 2.5 years.

• Stage 7 – Late or Severe Dementia and Failure to Thrive.  Severely limited intellectual ability. Communicate through short words, cries, mumbles or moans.  When speech is lost, also lose ability to ambulate without help.  Health declines considerably as body systems begin to shut down, swallowing is impaired, and the brain is no longer able to interpret sensory input.  Generally bedridden, increased sleeping, seizures possible. No longer responds to environmental cues and requires total support around the clock for all functions of daily living and care.  Duration is impacted by quality of care and average length is 1-2.5 years.

It’s normal to worry and feel tense or scared when under pressure or facing a stressful situation. Anxiety is the body’s natural response to danger, an automatic alarm that goes off when we feel threatened.

Although it may be unpleasant, anxiety isn’t always a bad thing. In fact, anxiety can help us stay alert and focused, spur us to action, and motivate us to solve problems. But when anxiety is constant or overwhelming, when it interferes with your relationships and activities—that’s when you’ve crossed the line from normal anxiety into the territory of anxiety disorders.

Signs and Symptoms of Anxiety Disorder:

• Are you constantly tense, worried, or on edge?
• Does your anxiety interfere with your work, school, or family responsibilities?
• Are you plagued by fears that you know are irrational, but can’t shake?
• Do you believe that something bad will happen if certain things aren’t done a certain way?
• Do you avoid everyday situations or activities because they make you anxious?
• Do you experience sudden, unexpected attacks of heart-pounding panic?
• Do you feel like danger and catastrophe are around every corner?

Because the anxiety disorders are a group of related conditions rather than a single disorder, they can look very different from person to person. One individual may suffer from intense anxiety attacks that strike without warning, while another gets panicky at the thought of mingling at a party. Someone else may struggle with a disabling fear of driving or uncontrollable, intrusive thoughts. Still another may live in a constant state of tension, worrying about anything and everything.

But despite their different forms, all anxiety disorders share one major symptom: persistent or severe fear or worry in situations where most people wouldn’t feel threatened.

Treatments for Anxiety Disorders:

• Exercise – Exercise is a natural stress buster and anxiety reliever. Research shows that as little as 30 minutes of exercise three to five times a week can provide significant anxiety relief. To achieve the maximum benefit, aim for at least an hour of aerobic exercise on most days.
• Relaxation techniques – When practiced regularly, relaxation techniques such as mindfulness meditation, progressive muscle relaxation, controlled breathing, and visualization can reduce anxiety and increase feelings of relaxation and emotional well-being.
• Biofeedback – Using sensors that measure specific physiological functions—such as heart rate, breathing, and muscle tension—biofeedback teaches you to recognize the body’s anxiety response and learn how to control them using relaxation techniques.
• Hypnosis – Hypnosis is sometimes used in combination with cognitive-behavioral therapy for anxiety. While you’re in a state of deep relaxation, the hypnotherapist uses different therapeutic techniques to help you face your fears and look at them in new ways.
• Medication - A variety of medications, including benzodiazepines and antidepressants, are used in the treatment of anxiety disorders. Anxiety medications can be habit forming and cause unwanted side effects, so be sure to research your options. It’s important to weigh the benefits and risks so you can make an informed decision about whether medication is the right treatment approach for you.

Aging alone is unlikely to be the cause of your sleep problems. Disturbed sleep, waking up tired every day, and other symptoms of insomnia are not a normal part of aging. Instead, poor sleep habits, untreated sleep disorders, medications, or medical problems can contribute to sleeplessness. Poor sleep hygiene (your sleep habits and your sleep environment) can be the main cause of low-quality sleep. Fortunately, sleep hygiene is easy to improve.

• Keep a regular sleep schedule – Go to bed and wake up at the same times every day, even on weekends.
• Be engaged – Social activities, family, and work can keep your activity level up and prepare your body for a good night’s sleep.
• Experiment with napping  Although napping too close to bedtime can interfere with nighttime sleeping, short naps early in the day can improve overall restfulness.  Make sure your nap is short, only 15-30 minutes. You may feel groggy and unable to concentrate after a longer nap. Try to nap in a comfortable environment preferably with limited light and noise.
• Expose yourself to sunlight – Bright sunlight increases melatonin, which regulates your sleep-wake cycles. Try to get at least two hours of sunlight a day.
• Block out snoring - If snoring is keeping you up, try ear plugs, a white-noise machine, or separate bedrooms.
• Go to bed early - Adjust your bedtime earlier, to match when you feel like going to bed.
• Quit smoking - Nicotine is a stimulant and can keep you awake. If you can’t quit, avoid smoking within three hours of bedtime.
• Develop bedtime rituals – A soothing ritual, like taking a bath or playing music will help you wind down.
• Limit your use of sleeping aids and sleeping pills - Many sleep aids have side-effects and are not meant for long-term use.
• Combine sex and sleep – Sex and physical intimacy, such as hugging and massage, can lead to restful sleep.

No matter what your age, sleeping well is essential to your physical health and emotional well-being. As we age, a good night’s sleep is especially important because it improves concentration and memory formation, allows your body to repair any cell damage that occurred during the day, and refreshes your immune system which helps to prevent disease.

Nurses are a critical part of modern medicine. They promote health, prevent illness and take care of ill, disabled and dying people. With patients’ family members relying on nurses to take care of their loved ones, qualified, capable nurses are well paid and always in demand.
Even better, a career in nursing typically offers a flexible schedule and excellent health and child care benefits.

1. Nurse Anesthetist

Job Description

A certified registered nurse anesthetist is someone who administers anesthesia to patients. They collaborate with surgeons, anesthesiologists, dentists and podiatrists to safely administer anesthesia medications.

Median Salary

$134,820

Education Requirements
Successful completion of a CRNA program (24-36 months). Prior to admission into a CRNA program, applicants should have already completed the following: BSN or other appropriate baccalaureate degree, hold a current RN license, and have one year’s experience in critical care nursing.

Job Outlook
Like most nursing specialties, nurse anesthetists are in high demand. Competition for positions is a bit more intense since these professionals’ average earnings are much higher than the average RN.

2. Clinical Nurse Specialist

Job Description
Clinical Nurse Specialists develop uniform standards for quality care and work with staff nurses to ensure that those standards are being met. They are required to possess strong managerial skills and an ability to anticipate potential staff/patient conflicts.

Median Salary
$76,209

Education Requirements
Master’s or Ph.D in a clinical nursing specialty. There is also a CNS certification process provided by the American Nurses Credentialing Center

Job Outlook
The need for clinical nurse specialists is expected to grow.

3. Travel Nurse

Job Description
Travel nurses are licensed nurses who travel to areas of the country that are most affected by the nursing shortage. Most of these positions fill staff nurse roles in critical care settings. These nurses may work through an agency, registry, or as an independent contractor. Travel nurses must have at least 1-2years of work experience and a valid nursing license in the state he/she plans or working.

Median Salary
$60,010

Education Requirements
Travel nurses may either be Licensed Practical/Licensed Nurses or Registered Nurses. LPN/LVNs require a one-year certification program or an Associate Degree. A Registered Nurse may hold either an Associate Degree in Nursing or a Bachelor of Science in Nursing. Both must pass the NCLEX exam in order to become licensed.

Job Outlook
Travel nursing, and nursing in general, is one of the fastest growing occupations in the country. As the nursing shortage grows, travel nurses will be needed more than ever in order to fill vacant staff positions around the nation. Despite the shortage, there is an increasing desire for Registered Nurses with Bachelor degrees.

4. Pediatric Nurse

Job Description
Pediatric Nurses provide care and consultation to children of all ages and their families. These nurses are often skilled in sub-specialties such as oncology or immunology. Pediatric Nurses must not only love kids, but understand the ways in which a child’s body is different than an adults. Children’s bodies are delicate and the onset of symptoms can come on like a flash flood, therefore, Pediatric Nurses must think on the ball and be able to make quick and correct medical decisions.

Median Salary
$53,000

Education Requirements
RN license; a certification process is available through the Pediatric Nursing Certification Board.

Job Outlook
Employment is expected to grow much faster than the average for all nurses.

5. Licensed Practical Nurse

Job Description
Licensed Practical Nurses (LPNs) work under the direct supervision of RNs and physicians but are capable of performing most patient care tasks. These tasks include taking patients’ vital signs, temperature, blood pressure, and patient bathing. The only RN-specific tasks that LPNs are not able to do are to administer IVs, push pharmaceuticals, and hang the first unit of blood. LPNs are called Licensed Vocational Nurses (LVNs) in Texas and California.

Median Salary
$40,000

Education Requirements
Most LPNs complete a one-year LPN program usually offered at a vocational or technical school.

Job Outlook
Like most nursing specialties, licensed practical nurses are in high demand and job growth in this specialty is expected to remain steady over the next ten years.

6. Correctional Nurse

Job Description
Correctional Nurses provide healthcare to inmates of correctional facilities such as juvenile detention centers, halfway houses, municipal jails, and state/federal penitentiaries. In many jurisdictions, correctional nurses earn more than their hospital counterparts. Due to a lack of full-time medical doctors in correctional facilities, correctional nurses also enjoy a high degree of independence.

Median Salary
$62,000

Education Requirements
RN license with AD, diploma, or BSN. Many correctional nurses also go through a certification process provided by the National Commission on Correctional Healthcare to become Certified Correctional Health Professional.

Job Outlook
As the number of prisoners increases, the need for correctional nurses will grow.

7. Nurse Administrator 

Job Description
Nurse Administrators are responsible for overseeing the nursing staff of particular nursing units or entire hospitals. This specialty also includes First-line Managers/Head Nurses, Nurse Supervisors, and Nurse Administrators.

Median Salary
$72,000 (First-line Manager); $64,000 (Nurse Manager, Head Nurse); $55,000 (Nurse Supervisor); $45,000 (Nurse Administrator)

Education Requirements
RN license plus BSN, MSN, or Ph.D in Nursing

Job Outlook
As the nursing industry grows, the need for nurse administrators may increase to meet demand. 

8. Registered Nurse

Job Description
Registered nurses (RN) are one of the fastest growing occupations in the country. It is estimated that almost 1 million new nurses will be needed by 2020. Registered nurses care for patients under the supervision of medical doctors. They may draw blood, give injections, or prepare patients for surgery, among many other things. RNs may also specialize if fields such as pediatrics, forensics, or critical care.

Median Salary
$60,010

Education Requirements
There are two major paths to becoming an RN. First, you can get an Associate Degree in Nursing from an accredited community college which takes roughly two years. Next, you could complete a Bachelor of Science in Nursing degree at a four-year college or university. Finally, you can attend an accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing program which may be completed in just one year. No matter the school, you must pass the NCLEX exam in order to get your license.

Job Outlook
Nursing careers are expected to grow faster than ever. Fueled by a the aging Baby Boomers and high number of nurses retiring, the nursing industry needs staff like never before. Despite the shortage, there in an increasing desire for nurses who hold a Bachelor of Science Degree.

9. Critical Care Nurse

Job Description
Critical care nurses deal with human responses to life threatening health situations. They typically work in intensive care units, (including medical, surgical, neurological, pediatric, and cardiac-centered units). Some of these nurses may also work in emergency departments and can act as transport nurses when critically ill patients need to be transferred to other facilities. A critical care nurse usually has a smaller patient load (1-2 patients) because the care of an acutely ill patient tends to be complex. A critical care nurse is also expected to attend to the psychosocial and emotional needs of the patients and their families.

Median Salary
$61,853

Education Requirements
RN license.

Job Outlook
Like most nursing specialties, critical care nurses are in high demand and job growth in this specialty is expected to remain steady over the next ten years.

10. Forensic Nurse

Job Description
Forensic Nurses aid law enforcement officials in the investigation of crimes including, sexual assault, homicide, abuse, and assault. These nurses should possess strong analytical abilities that aid them in evaluating the causes of victims’ injuries and the precise methods that should be used to alleviate them.

Median Salary
$56,000

Education Requirements
Most forensic nurse have either an Associates Degree in Nursing (ADN) or a Bachelors of Science in Nursing (BSN) and a valid RN license.

Job Outlook
Like most nursing specialties, forensic nurses are in high demand and job growth in this specialty is expected to remain steady over the next ten years.

11. Hospice Nurse

Job Description
Hospice and palliative care nurses provide care for, and help ease the pain of, terminally ill patients outside of hospitals. They advise other clinicians on how to best care for the dying patient. Some may also run debriefings for other nurses who have been upset by a patient’s death.

Median Salary
$66,000

Education Requirements
RN license, with associates or baccalaureate degree. Some master’s programs exist, but an advanced degree is not considered a prerequisite. There is also a voluntary certification process offered by the National Board for Certification of Hospice and Palliative Nurses.

Job Outlook
As the American population continues to age, hospice nurses are in especially high demand and job growth in this specialty is expected to see strong growth over the next 20 years.

12. EMT/Paramedic

Job Description
Paramedics are first responders who provide advanced life support for medical and trauma emergencies throughout a first response area, usually as part of an emergency medical service or fire and rescue department. Paramedics possess advanced certifications above and beyond what a basic EMT would possess.

Median Salary
$35,210

Education Requirements
The most advanced level of training for this occupation is EMT-Paramedic. At this level, the caregiver receives training in anatomy and physiology as well as advanced medical skills. Most commonly, the training is conducted in community colleges and technical schools over 1 to 2 years and may result in an associate’s degree. Such education prepares the graduate to take the NREMT examination and become certified as a Paramedic. Extensive related coursework and clinical and field experience is required. Refresher courses and continuing education are available for EMTs and paramedics at all levels.

Job Outlook
Employment of emergency medical technicians and paramedics is expected to grow by 19 percent between 2006 and 2016, from 201,000 to 240,000 positions.

13. Community Health Nurse

Job Description
Community Health Nurses, also known as Public Health Nurses, provide medical care to specific populations, many of which are underserved by the overarching healthcare system. Community nurses often work for government agencies or privately funded clinics.

Median Salary
$56,000

Education Requirements
A current RN license is required, with either an ADN or BSN.

Job Outlook
Employment for community health nurses is expected to grow faster than average, especially in under-served areas of the country. Employment is predicted to grow much faster than average, especially in urban and rural areas of the country. An increased emphasis on rural health means nurses willing to work in rural areas will be in high demand.

14. Nurse Educator

Job Description
Nurse Educators are responsible for preparing nursing students enrolled in various nursing vocational, Associate’s, undergraduate, and graduate degree programs for careers in nursing. They are responsible for developing lesson plans rooted in nursing theory and adequately preparing students for licensing and certification programs.

Median Salary
$66,000

Education Requirements
Nurse educators need a Bachelor of Science in Nursing or higher as well as an RN license. The level of education needed will depend upon the facility and program. Nurse educators may also want to invest in acquiring teaching credentials.

Job Outlook
Nurse educators are one of the most in-demand nursing occupations. While the nursing shortage affects hospitals and clinics, is also has a drastic impact on nursing programs. As nurse educators retire, there is an increased need for teachers in these programs. Without nurse educators, fewer nurses are able to complete nursing programs and go on to their careers as nurses. Job prospects should be very good, especially in the places hardest hit by the nursing shortage.

15. Case Manager

Job Description
The primary role of a case manager is to coordinate patient care. They review the patient’s chart and plan of care to optimize the patient’s healthcare experience. They assess, plan, implement, and evaluate, in order to provide a better outcome for the patient. Case managers specialize in particular areas such as rehabilitation or geriatrics.

Medial Salary
$56,508

Education Requirements
Case managers are required to be Registered Nurses, with either an ADN or BSN. Case managers are typically have experience supervising others, and expertise in their particular field of nursing.

Job Outlook
Like other nurse occupations, employment is expected to grow immensely through 2016. The demand for case managers will increase as the Baby Boomers age and the nursing industry grows.

16. Medical Assistant

Job Description
Medical assistants perform administrative and clinical tasks to keep the offices of physicians, podiatrists, chiropractors, and other health practitioners running smoothly. They should not be confused with Physician assistants, who examine, diagnose, and treat patients under the direct supervision of a physician.

Median Salary
$31,290

Education Requirements
Postsecondary medical assisting programs are offered in vocational-technical high schools, postsecondary vocational schools, and community and junior colleges. Programs usually last either 1 year and result in a certificate or diploma, or 2 years and result in an associate degree. Courses cover anatomy, physiology, and medical terminology, as well as typing, transcription, recordkeeping, accounting, and insurance processing. Students learn laboratory techniques, clinical and diagnostic procedures, pharmaceutical principles, the administration of medications, and first aid. They study office practices, patient relations, medical law, and ethics. There are various organizations that accredit medical assisting programs. Accredited programs often include an internship that provides practical experience in physicians’ offices, hospitals, or other health care facilities.

Job Outlook
Employment is projected to grow much faster than average, ranking medical assistants among the fastest growing occupations over the 2006-16 decade. Job opportunities should be excellent, particularly for those with formal training or experience, and certification.

Many myths, or misconceptions, persist about nursing home life. People do not know what to expect, and worry about what they believe is relinquishing control over their lives. Long term care providers understand these concerns, and want patients and their families to know the difference between the myths and the realities of life in a nursing facility.

Myth:  A nursing home is like a hospital

Reality: A nursing home is not a hospital. Many people enter a nursing facility after a hospital stay and tend to think of the nursing facility as an extension of hospital care. However, a nursing facility is much different. Medical, rehabilitative and nursing care is provided as needed by health care professionals and dedicated caregivers. Yet at the same time, nursing facilities try to be homes - where people can feel comfortable, find familiar faces, and continue life's activities appropriate to their age and capabilities.

Nursing facilities do not have restrictive visiting hours like hospitals. Family members and friends are encouraged to visit. Whenever possible, patients eat in dining rooms rather than in their rooms. Various activities and outings are offered each day to stimulate and entertain patients mentally, physically and socially.

Myth:  Nursing home patients are all confused

Reality: Most people slow down physically as they age and perhaps get easily tired. Some may slow down mentally as well. In fact, many people enter a nursing facility, in part, because poor memory makes caring for themselves difficult or impossible. However, with adequate nutrition, exercise, social stimulation and properly controlled medication memory problems often can be improved. It is important to take into consideration that a nursing facility has professional caregivers that are extraordinarily capable of interacting with the elderly or persons with a disability in a variety of situations.

It is true that a large number of nursing home residents have Alzheimer's, an irreversible disorder that causes progressive mental difficulties. In many cases, Alzheimer's patients live in distinct units where they can be among people having the same limitations and receive the specialized care they require in a secure setting.

Myth: There's no privacy in a nursing home

Reality: Nursing homes must strike a balance between providing security and adequate supervision while respecting a person's privacy. Common areas in nursing facilities tend to be open, while patient rooms are considered private. Staff members respect patient privacy by being courteous and by knocking before entering the room.

Myth: Nursing home patients never leave

Reality: A primary goal of the nursing facility staff is to rehabilitate patients so that they can return home or to an assisted living setting. Those who cannot return home permanently may be able to make short visits, health permitting. In most states, Medicaid-certified nursing facilities will hold beds for patients while they make a short visit home. Check on how your state government regulates a home visit by asking the admissions person at the nursing home that you are considering.

Myth: I will not be able to make my own decisions

Reality: Nursing home staffs strive to maximize independence and honor patient preferences. It is a patient's legal right to make choices about activities, schedules, health care and other aspects of their life. Yet it is important to recognize that the facility must ensure an environment where people can live together safely and harmoniously. Whatever an individual's physical condition, the over-riding objective for the facility is respecting an individual's rights and wishes and providing a supportive environment and quality care.

Resident councils, which are self-governing bodies in nursing homes, provide an opportunity for patients to become actively involved in addressing their concerns to staff and to one another. When it comes to treatment decisions, some patients choose to shift decision-making responsibilities to their children or others. Patients, if they have not already done so, are encouraged to prepare an advance directive. An advance directive is a legal document designed to express an individual's wishes for treatment should he/she be unable to communicate his/her preferences.

Myth: Nursing homes have unpleasant odors

Reality: Today's nursing homes should not have persistent odors. In fact, with the effective cleaning products available, a properly sanitized nursing facility should smell pleasant. However, because some patients are incontinent, an occasional odor may be noticeable, especially in the morning, though it should not linger.

Myth: Nursing homes do not provide quality care

Reality: Family members are encouraged to participate in care planning meetings with the staff and patient. By being involved in care decisions, the information you can provide will help ensure quality and satisfaction of care.

Keep in mind that nursing facilities are expected to meet government-quality standards, and they are inspected to ensure that they do. When a problem is found, a plan for correcting it is put into place promptly. In addition, most areas have an active, government-supervised, Ombudsman program that provides advocates for patients.

Family and friends also serve as an important safety net by being regular visitors. If you feel that proper attention or care is not being given to a specific situation, bring it to the attention of the appropriate staff person, for example, the director of nursing, social worker or administrator. If you are not satisfied with their responses, you may wish to contact the facility's Ombudsman or other authorities.

Myth: Husbands and wives must live apart in a nursing home

Reality: This is simply not true. Many couples enter nursing facilities together and may share a room if they so choose. Some couples have even met at the nursing facility and decided to marry. Staff members respect the privacy of couples living in nursing facilities.

Myth: Nursing home patients are not visited regularly by family and friends

Reality: In some cases this is true even though the facility staff does everything possible to encourage visitation. Staff members often become surrogate family members and friends to patients. However, as hard as they try, the staff cannot fully offer the same social and psychological support as friends and family. Staff members recognize this and try to encourage visits and to make visitors feel welcome. Many facilities encourage and facilitate communication via email and the web.

Myth: Meals are not appetizing

Reality: The dietary staff makes every effort to ensure that meals are nutritionally balanced, varied and appetizing. The fact is, however, it is difficult to meet everyone's expectation of home cooked meals. Another impacting factor is that many patients are placed on restrictive diets that may limit salt, fat, cholesterol, or sugar. Some may require that their food be pureed due to difficulty in swallowing or chewing. Because proper nutrition is so important, discuss this matter with the facility's dietary manager.

Myth: Patients are controlled by medications

Reality: Every person has the right to know what medication he or she is taking, to refuse any or all treatment, and to be free of medication inappropriately used to control behavior. Tranquilizers, pain relieving medications, sleeping pills, and anti-depressants are all drugs that must be prescribed by a physician for treating a medical condition. Properly prescribed, and administered, these medications help individuals. For example, drugs are often very beneficial to the elderly if they suffer from depression, which is common.

Use of drugs in nursing facilities is closely monitored. Government regulations require that a consultant pharmacist review drug regimens monthly and state inspectors also review medications. Patients and families are encouraged to participate in care planning sessions to discuss pharmacy issues and ask questions about prescription medications, especially if it is felt they are having a negative effect.

Myth: Physical restraints/restrictive devices are common

Reality: Nursing homes have made great strides in promoting and fostering the maximum physical potential of everyone in their care. Restrictive devices are used only when necessary to treat medical symptoms under a physician's order. In accordance with federal regulations, a family's desire to use a restrictive device must also be medically indicated and ordered by a physician. As more care options are developed and physical independence strategies are enhanced, more patients are enjoying the freedom of movement while also achieving improved functioning and safety. Long term care professionals use devices as medically needed, and not as restraints.

For example, if a person who has had a stroke has difficulty balancing while sitting, a therapeutic position enabler may be prescribed to facilitate sitting, positioning for eating or participation in activities or therapy.

Myth: Nursing homes are expensive

Reality: Skilled Nursing Facility care is expensive, and the cost continues to rise. The average daily cost of a private room in a Nursing Home was $192/day or $70,080 a year, according to the 2004 MetLife Market Survey of Nursing Home and Home Care Costs. This is a more than $4,000 annual increase over the prior year. The cost of a shared Nursing Home room averaged $169 a day, or $61,685 a year.

In addition to a private or semi-private room and the care options you choose, where you live also affects how much you'll spend for Nursing Home care. Alaska reported the highest rates for a private room in a Skilled Nursing Facility, at $204,765 a year or $561 a day on average. The lowest rates were found in Shreveport, Louisiana, at $36,135 a year or $99 a day.

Payment options for Skilled Nursing Facilities include:

• Private pay
• Long-term care insurance
• Medicaid (called “MediCal” in California)
• Medicare

Myth: Medicare or my health insurance will pay for a lengthy stay in a nursing home

Reality: Because many people mistakenly believe that Medicare or health insurance will cover their long term care costs, they are forced to spend down their savings to cover the cost of care.

Consumers should be aware that the government provides little financial assistance for nursing facility care unless a person is impoverished and qualifies for Medicaid. Nursing facility coverage falls under Part A of Medicare and is very limited. If certain stringent conditions are met, Medicare pays for 100 percent of the first 20 days of care in a skilled nursing facility (SNF) if that many days are needed. For the 21st through the 100th days, the patient must share the cost of care by paying a daily co-insurance rate that changes yearly. In 2002, the co-insurance payment was just over $101 per day. Medicare Part B may help pay for covered services received from a doctor in a SNF, if the person has chosen to participate in the Part B medical insurance program. If they have used up their Part A coverage for a spell of illness, Part B also covers a portion of services received in a SNF, such as physical and occupational therapy.

Under the Part B program, they must pay an annual premium and a deductible for all Part B services including physician services, after which Medicare pays 80 percent of the reasonable charges for covered services.

Long term care insurance offers a more viable solution to accessing the facility or setting of your choice, paying for it while preserving personal assets. However, due to lack of public awareness about long term care and who pays for it, long term care insurance is used by only five percent of the public.

Financing nursing facility care should be approached with as much thought and preparation as any major expense. Obtain in writing what the basic charge will be and understand clearly all financial arrangements before signing a contract.

The glycemic index (GI) is a way of ranking foods, particularly carbohydrates, according to how quickly they affect the blood glucose levels in the body when they are eaten.

Clinicians measured hemoglobin A1c levels, which give a picture of a person's blood glucose control over several weeks or months. The reviewers found that levels decreased by 0.5 percent with a low GI diet, noting that the findings were significant, both statistically and clinically.

The highest GI is 100, based on consuming foods like white bread or straight glucose, according to the American Diabetes Association. Low GI foods have a score of 55 or less. Glycemic load is a combined measure that takes into account the amount of carbohydrate in a food, as well as its GI score, and represents the overall glycemic effect of the diet.

The point for people is to lower the GI or GL of the diet, rather than to follow specific diet plans, which over the longer term can be very difficult to maintain. By knowing which foods to eat and which to avoid, low GI rye bread instead of high GI white bread, or basmati rice instead of white rice - a person can gradually adapt their diet to become more low GI. Every diabetic can get the information from the endocrinologist or a dietitian.

Since childhood obesity and long-term obesity are also strong risk factors, keeping weight down is also important in diabetes prevention and management.

The aim of diabetes management is to normalize blood glucose levels, since individuals with improved blood glucose control have fewer complications and less disease progression.

Some government officials are saying that the subprime crisis was the fault of the Clinton administration who created the subprime mortgage crisis.

Other Republicans have been laying blame on the financial crisis on minorities and illegal immigrants who got mortgages they simply couldn’t pay.

They offer no statistical proof on this point.

Barack Obama said any bailout to Wall Street must not be simply a cash payout or a loan, but be treated like an equity investment in these firms. We want our money back and then some. Almost everybody was OK with a bailout plan but it should have been one that is a win-win for Wall Street, Main Street investors and taxpayers like you and me.

But remember the government bailout plan proposed by the president and modifications supported by the Democrats won’t fix the underlying problem: the housing market collapse. Home prices are continuing to fall, and fewer people are buying homes than ever. Foreclosures will continue.

What happened back in 2001 that brought real estate to this shape?

The Federal Reserve under Alan Greenspan gave the U.S. economy shock treatment back in 2001 and 2002 when it lowered interest rates to 1 percent — the lowest Fed Funds rate in recent history.

Incredibly low rates by the Fed were accompanied by an acceptance of the central bank for all sorts of exotic mortgage loans. No down payments. Interest only. No job and income verification.

By pushing the pedal to the metal and backed quietly by the White House, the Fed injected massive liquidity in the U.S. economy, creating the largest asset bubble in history, according to the Economist magazine.

Well rates have adjusted up and the crisis hit.

Many mortgage providers also encouraged loan applicants to lie about incomes and qualifications to approve these mortgages.

Wall Street as a whole had little role at this stage. But later, Wall Street took these mortgages, which had been rolled up into collateralized debt instruments, better known as mortgage backed securities, and sold them off to investors globally. Wall Street failed to compute the risks involved in these securities. It was a failure, not a crime.

Washington played a role in the mess too. The White House pushed for easy money and easy lending practices, many weighted in favor of the banks and lenders and against the consumer. Congress, dominated largely by Republicans from 1994 to 2006, did an awful job in oversight. This is especially true after President Bush took the oath of office.

This problem will worsen unless Washington tackled the underlying problems.

The first thing the Fed must do to reduce the continuance of the problem is drop rates. It doesn’t have much wiggle room, because the dollar needs to be protected, but a small decrease in rates could have an enormous impact on those readjusting mortgages.

The second-most-important thing to do is for Congress to give a significant tax credit for new home buyers, not just the $7500.

The key to solving the financial crisis is not to simply send a blank check to Wall Street, but to get consumers buying homes again.

Instead of improving the economy to generate more jobs, President Obama is hurting it, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee tells Newsmax. Although Obama's efforts have been well intentioned, they have been “horrible,” Huckabee says.

“It’s just a lack of understanding of how the economy and the private sector work,” Huckabee says. “I think he believes he’s helping a lot, but any time when you even raise the threat of raising taxes and the cost of doing business and perhaps unionizing the employees of a business, nobody wants to hire.”

At this point, “Businesses are not hiring, they’re not spending, and they really can’t afford to, because they don’t know if their costs are going to go up dramatically with healthcare, tax increases, cap and trade, unionization of employees,” Huckabee says. “You put all those things out in front of them and tell them that’s what they may be facing, and they know they can’t exist now under the current employee load they have. So they certainly aren’t going to be adding new employees if they can avoid it.”

In the meantime, asked what Republicans should avoid, Huckabee says, “They have to avoid being part of a policy agenda that defies Republican principles. That’s one thing that hurt them before: big government, major spending, deficit spending.” Republicans also need to avoid “being narrowly partisan and just opposing everything just because they didn’t come up with it,” Huckabee says. “They should vigorously oppose things like the healthcare policy and cap and trade.” At the same time, Republicans “need to not only come up with an alternative, but they need to find things that they can compliment.”

Dick Cheney for president in 2012?

Even as the former vice president dismisses such talk, a movement is building to "draft"

Cheney into running for president in 2012, according to Fox News.

Republicans need Cheney because he's the only one with the experience and conservative credentials necessary to lead the party at a critical juncture in its quest for identity and dominance, Christopher Barron said( a political consultant and former political director for the Log Cabin Republicans).

In a poll The Washington Post conducted last month, only one in about 800 people who lean Republican picked Cheney as the person who best reflects GOP principles, Fox reported.

In February, when the Conservative Political Action Conference' straw poll asked attendees whom they'd pick in 2012, Cheney's name wasn't even on the list, Fox pointed out. Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal, Texas Rep. Ron Paul, then-Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee topped that roster.

And Cheney, who has had four heart attacks and would be 71 in 2012, decided once not to run when President Bush's term expired and says now that he has zero interest in returning to politics. "Why would I want to do that?" he said in a recent interview with Politico.com. "It's been a hell of a tour. I've loved it. I have no aspirations for further office."

• Myth: Memory loss is a natural part of aging

Reality: In the past people believed memory loss was a normal part of aging, often regarding even Alzheimers as natural age-related decline. Experts now recognize severe memory loss as a symptom of serious illness.

Whether memory naturally declines to some extent remains an open question. Many people feel that their memory becomes less sharp as they grow older, but determining whether there is any scientific basis for this belief is a research challenge still being addressed.

• Myth: Aspartame causes memory loss

Reality: This artificial sweetener, marketed under such brand names as Nutrasweet and Equal, was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for use in all foods and beverages in 1996. Since approval, concerns about aspartame's health effects have been raised. 

According to the FDA, as of May 2006, the agency had not been presented with any scientific evidence that would lead to change its conclusions on the safety of aspartame for most people. The agency says its conclusions are based on more than 100 laboratory and clinical studies.

• Myth: Silver dental fillings increase risk of Alzheimers disease

Reality: According to the best available scientific evidence, there is no relationship between silver dental fillings and Alzheimers. The concern that there could be a link arose because "silver" fillings are made of an amalgam (mixture) that typically contains about 50 percent mercury, 35 percent silver and 15 percent tin. Mercury is a heavy metal that, in certain forms, is know to be toxic to the brain and other organs.

Many scientists consider the studies below compelling evidence that dental amalgam is not a major risk factor for Alzheimers. Public health agencies, including the FDA, the U.S. Public Health Service and the World Health Organization, endorse the continued use of amalgam as safe, strong, inexpensive material for dental restorations.

      - March 1991, the Dental Devices Panel of the FDA concluded there was no current evidence that amalgam poses any danger.

      - National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 1991 funded a study at the University of Kentucky to investigate the relationship between amalgam fillings and Alzheimers. Analysis by University statisticians revealed no significant association between silver fillings and Alzheimers.

      - October 30, 2003, a New England Journal of Medicine article concluded that current evidence shows no connection between mercury-containing dental fillings and Alzheimers or other neurological diseases.

• Myth: There are treatments available to stop the progression of Alzheimers disease

Reality: At this time, there is no treatment to cure, delay or stop the progression of Alzheimers disease. FDA-approved drugs temporarily slow worsening of symptoms for about 6 to 12 months, on average, for about half of the individuals who take them.

• Myth: Flu shots increase risk of Alzheimers disease

Reality: A theory linking flu shots to a greatly increased risk of Alzheimers disease has been proposed by a U.S. doctor whose license was suspended by the South Carolina Board of Medical Examiners. Several mainstream studies link flu shots and other vaccinations to a reduced risk of Alzheimers disease and overall better health.

      - A Nov. 27, 2001, Canadian Medical Journal report suggests older adults who were vaccinated against diphtheria or tetanus, polio, and influenza seemed to have a lower risk of developing Alzheimers disease than those not receiving these vaccinations.

      - A report in the Nov. 3, 2004, JAMA found that annual flu shots for older adults were associated with a reduced risk of death from all causes.

• Myth: Alzheimers disease is not fatal

Reality: Alzheimers disease has no survivors. It destroys brain cells and causes memory changes, erratic behaviors and loss of body functions. It slowly and painfully takes away a person's identity, ability to connect with others, think, eat, talk, walk and find his or her way home.

• Myth: Only older people can get Alzheimers

Reality: Alzheimers can strike people in their 30s, 40s and even 50s. This is called younger-onset Alzheimers. In 2009, it is estimated that there are as many as 5.3 million people living with Alzheimers disease in the United States. This includes 5.1 million people age 65 and over and 200,000 people under age 65 with younger-onset Alzheimers disease.

• Myth: Drinking out of aluminum cans or cooking in aluminum pots can lead to Alzheimers disease

Reality: During the 1960s and 1970s, aluminum emerged as a possible suspect in Alzheimers. This suspicion led to concern about exposure to aluminum through everyday sources such as pots and pans, beverage cans, antacids and antiperspirants. Since then, studies have failed to confirm any role for aluminum in causing Alzheimers. Experts today focus on other areas of research, and few believe that everyday sources of aluminum pose any threat.

Some people are trying hard to loose weight and they are having little or no success at all. These people may be experiencing a slow metabolism and there are a few ways to improve your metabolism to boost your weight loss efforts.

• Drink Water – Water will flush your system and help your body get rid of sodium, toxins, and fat, it is also great to help you avoid overeating and to give your system an overall boost.
   
• Eat Every Three Hours – Many people advocate  eating small well balanced and nutritious meals regularly throughout the day. Doing so is a good way to speed up your slower metabolism and reduce your body’s likelihood of holding extra fat.
   
• Don’t Skip Breakfast - If you really want to fire up your metabolism then you mustn’t miss breakfast. This early morning meal shapes your daily metabolism and is the right start which is then continued with the small regular meals you have during the day.
   
• Don’t Fear Fat – Unfortunately our fear of getting fat has transferred to fatty foods. Our bodies need some fats to stay healthy. If you take in plenty of healthy fats from olive oil, avocados, various nuts, and flax you will be healthier and your metabolism will work better because you are getting all the nutrients you need.
   
• Omit Trans Fats – Trans fats are the ones that you should actually look out for, as these can contribute to weight gain, lack of energy, depression, cancer and heart disease. These are usually in high concentration in fast food, frozen dinners and processed options. If you want to boost your metabolism and achieve your fat loss goal, then stick with the things that Mother Nature provided. 
   
• Get Active – If you include some activity for at least six days a week then your metabolism will have a real boost! Don’t let a busy lifestyle stop you from including some exercise in your day. It can be as simple as taking the stairs or getting off the bus one stop early. Just a little added movement each day will improve your overall health dramatically.
   
• Include Some Cardiovascular Exercise - Cardio exercises improve heart and lung health and burn more calories quickly. Boost your metabolism by doing a cardio session in the morning before eating and you will start burning fat stores fast; but don’t fall into the trap of not eating adequately if you do so, as it can be counterproductive.
   
• Weights – Resistance training increases muscle, which is metabolically active tissue. Increase your muscle mass and you will have a much faster metabolism. As an added bonus, this training is great to help prevent the onset of osteoporosis.
   
• Listen to Your Body – Remember overdoing it with the workouts or food control is as bad for you as not exercising or managing your weight. Learn to listen to your body and respond to the signals it is sending you. Look after yourself well and get the maximum benefit from the workouts and healthy eating you commit to.

Following these for about 6 weeks will bring results. If no results are seen, you should check for medical reasons such as food allergy, a slow thyroid, hormonal imbalances, toxins, parasites, etc.

Eaten in moderation, chocholate has a positive impact on your health. The cocoa found in chocholate, especially in the dark chocholate, was found to have the ability to lower high blood pressure. Nitric oxide is the ingredient that the body uses to help regulate blood pressure and chocolate and cocoa have a substance that helps the body to process nitric oxide.

Cocoa is is high in anti-oxidants that help to slow down aging by restricting the activities of free radicals in the body. Free radicals are created by simply living. You create them when you breathe, eat or exercise. Free radicals damage normal healthy cells.

Chocolate is also high in oleic and linoleic acids. Oleic acid makes the skin more flexible and helps preventing breast cancer. Linoleic acid helps to repair damaged cells, burn calories, relieve eczema or dry skin and  It helps maintain the health of cell membranes.

Chocholate beside making you "feel good" it is beneficial to your health as well.

The Senate ObamaCare creates a new marriage penalty by imposing a tax on individuals who make $200,000 annually but hitting married couples making just $50,000 more.

If you have insurance, you get taxed. If you don't have insurance, you get taxed. If you need a life-saving medical device, you get taxed. If you need prescription medicines, you get taxed.

Voters Reject ObamaCare's Central Objective The Single-Payer Option AKA Government Run Socialized ObamaCare. Only 27% of voters nationwide favor a single-payer health care system (Government Run ObamaCare) where the federal government provides coverage for everyone.
Single-payer refers to one entity acting as administrator, or "payer." In the case of ObamaCare, a single-payer system would be setup such that one entity - a government run organization - would collect all health care fees, and pay out all health care costs.

Reid's Senate version of ObamaCare calls for:

• Hiding the $2.8 Trillion price tag by not accounting for actual costs.
• Major reductions in Medicare befits to seniors.
• Major Tax Increases on every American to pay for it all.
• Reid called for increasing the Medicare payroll tax

The Senate ObamaCare creates a new marriage penalty by imposing a tax on individuals who make $200,000 annually but hitting married couples making just $50,000 more.

If you have insurance, you get taxed. If you don't have insurance, you get taxed. If you need a life-saving medical device, you get taxed. If you need prescription medicines, you get taxed.

Adult day care may soon become harder to find and afford. The almost 4,000 state-licensed centers around the country rely heavily on funding from state legislatures and charities, which have been hit hard by the recession. Advocates for adult day-care programs are pushing to include them in federal health-care overhaul legislation while also lobbying state legislatures and suing state regulators to keep centers from shutting their doors.

Adult day programs began multiplying in the 1970s, when state and federal laws expanded funding for community-based services for people with disabilities, chronic disease or cognitive impairment. Although the programs vary greatly, most provide social and medical services, as does Senior Care, a nonprofit center serving about 130 clients ranging in age from the 50s through the 90s. Clients are referred by social service agencies, Medicaid case managers, rehab facilities and senior centers. Some programs open early and stay open late, and even operate on weekends, to accommodate the work schedules of family caregivers.

Not only do adult day services keep caregivers in the workforce, advocates say, they also provide a cost-effective alternative to a nursing home, which runs an average of $198 a day for a semi-private room, or to a home-health aide, at $21 an hour. By contrast, a full day at an adult day center, on average, costs $67. Nationwide, 35 percent of those expenses is paid out of pocket by participants. Much of the rest is financed by state Medicaid and local programs and federal sources including the Older Americans Act and programs run by the Agriculture and Veterans Affairs departments.

But reliance on public funding for adult day-care services has made them vulnerable. In Washington state, a lawsuit has warded off a move to deny adult day services to residents of state-funded residential care homes. In California, lawsuits by community service advocates thwarted a cut in the Medicaid reimbursement rate and a move to limit attendance to three days a week. Minnesota decreased its reimbursement rate and made eligibility requirements more restrictive. New York, Illinois and other states are also pursuing reductions.

Adult day care provides a way to keep seniors out of costly nursing homes. With the Obama administration intent on cutting health-care costs, "we need to make the case that use of adult day services prevents the use of more expensive health care.

Phoenix Senior Living offers adult day care services. Read more......

Seniors have until the end of the year to switch Medicare drug plans to get a better deal. But many will pass up the chance to save hundreds of dollars a year in prescription costs. 

The reason: With dozens of drug plans on the market, many seniors get overwhelmed at the prospect of changing plans, even if a different one would better suit their needs and lower their costs. But with the average premium for a Medicare drug plan increasing 11 percent in 2010, consumer advocates say seniors have even more reason to check out the options and consider their costs. Only an average of 7 percent of the 17 million seniors on Medicare drug plans switch plans each year, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that runs Medicare. Experts on Medicare say this suggests that millions of beneficiaries could be paying more than they should for their drug coverage.

Medicare's easy-to-use "plan finder" allows seniors to plug in their medications and see which plan would have the lowest overall annual costs. But many seniors are uncomfortable going online or unable to use computers to sort through the different policies. Last year, only 688,000 seniors, or 2.5 percent, went online to enroll in Medicare drug or health plans. The rest did it the old-fashioned way: by telephone or letter.

The average premium for the most popular drug plan -- UnitedHealthcare's AARP Medicare RX Preferred, which has nearly 3 million customers -- has jumped 50 percent to $39.39 in 2010 from $26.31 in 2006, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation. (Kaiser Health News is a part of the foundation.) The average premium for Humana's PDP Enhanced, the second most popular plan with 1.6 million customers -- will be $41.53 next year, 182 percent higher than in 2006. The actual premiums vary by state.

Senate Republicans forced Democrats to vote in favor of cutting billions from providers of home care for older people. Republicans, bent on making Democrats cast politically risky votes, offered their third amendment in the debate so far showcasing more than $400 billion in cuts to projected Medicare spending that would pay for the bill, mostly for subsidies to help extend coverage to millions of uninsured.

Home health care agencies were being unfairly targeted in the legislation, noting that they account for 3.7 percent of the Medicare budget but would absorb 9.4 percent of the cuts to Medicare in the Senate bill. The percentage is even higher in the House version of the legislation, which passed last month. These are truly some of the most vulnerable Americans that receive these services and the cuts are placed directly on their backs.

Democrats said those cuts, and others to Medicare private insurance plans and providers, would reduce overpayments, inefficiency and waste in the popular program, thereby strengthening it. They noted repeatedly that AARP supports the overall cuts, and also produced a letter from the National Association for Home Care and Hospice in support.

The overhaul legislation would provide coverage to more than 30 million more people over the next decade with a new requirement for nearly everyone to purchase insurance. There would be new marketplaces, lower-income people would get subsidies, the federal-state Medicaid program for the poor would grow, and there would be a ban on unpopular insurance company practices such as pulling coverage when someone gets sick.

• More government control is coming!
• Obamacare is rationed care!

If you think we've got problems with our healthcare system now, just wait until you see what your government has in store for you . . .

President Obama is pushing nationalized health insurance via the so-called public option, which is the first step toward socialized medicine.

All Republicans and at least a few Senate Democrats will vote against this now. But the compromise legislation will almost certainly include a "trigger" to adopt the public option in just a few years!

This is a sneaky backdoor way into socialized medicine.

This "trigger" will force the establishment of a government-run plan after the insurance companies fail to meet impossibly high standards for expanded coverage and reduced costs.

And that opens the door for the government takeover!

The loons behind this scheme actually believe a government takeover of healthcare will lower costs, even as it improves quality and expands coverage to all!

Of course that's impossible, and Medicare should be the obvious proof of that!

Long ago, the leaders of Britain and Canada set up socialized healthcare and then — BIG SURPRISE — found out they couldn't pay for what they had promised . . .

The British politicians relieved the country's financial burden in the traditional socialist way — they rationed care and specifically denied quality care to their nation's sickest citizens (mostly the elderly).

They justified this action by reasoning the sickest 5% would otherwise use up 50% of all healthcare dollars, which they said was "unfair."

The Canadians ran into the same problem and went to rationing, too. But at least some Canadians had a way out — they could get quality care in the United States. And that's how U.S. health insurance policies came to be the biggest sellers in Canada.

Now, these socialist steps could be taken in America . . .

• The new system will rely on severe progressive rationing . . .
• Many medical services will be denied, especially to the elderly . . .
• The elderly will be encouraged to die to save healthcare dollars . . .
• Doctors who provide too much care — or offer services not approved by the government — will be fined and even have their licenses revoked!

Shocking? Yes, but all of these steps have been taken in every socialist medical care system in the world. And that's been justified in the name of providing "universal healthcare."

I can't say this too strongly — Learn to take care of yourself and your family now. Download your FREE copy of Your Healthcare Is in Jeopardy — Protect Yourself to learn about these dangers and what you can do to protect your family!

Right now, we're short 16,000 primary-care physicians in this country and much more than that-nurses, and if Obama extends coverage to nearly everybody, that shortfall will double overnight!

The Obama healthcare initiative will be the biggest unfunded federal mandate on the states in history. It will force dozens of states, particularly in the South, to abandon their low-tax ways and to move toward dramatically higher rates of taxation. It may even force Florida and Texas to impose an income tax!

In the Senate version of the bill, states must expand their Medicaid eligibility to cover everyone with an income that is 133 percent of the poverty level.

The House bill brings it up to 150 percent. But a host of states have kept their state taxes low precisely by so limiting eligibility for Medicaid that it essentially is only for seniors needing long-term care and not for poor younger people who require acute care.

For example, Texas covers only those who make 27 percent of the poverty level or less. Florida covers only 55 percent. Pennsylvania covers only 36 percent. Arkansas covers only 17 percent. North Dakota covers only 62 percent. Nebraska covers only 58 percent. Louisiana covers only 26 percent. Indiana covers only 26 percent.

The revenue required to bring these states up to the 133 percent level in the Senate bill or the 150 percent level in the House would be enormous. Even California only covers up to 106 percent of the poverty level.

All states except for Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Vermont and Wisconsin (plus the District of Columbia) will have to raise their eligibility for Medicaid under the Senate healthcare bill. And they will have to pay for part of the cost. Under the House bill, with a higher Medicaid eligibility standard, Massachusetts and Vermont would also have to pay more.

The Medicaid expansion provisions of the Senate bill are complex. In the first year of the program (2013), states must enroll anyone who earns less than 133 percent of the poverty level in their programs. For a family of four, the national average poverty level in 2009 is $22,000 a year. So any family that size that makes less than $29,000 would be eligible for Medicaid.

For the first three years of the program (2013-2015) the federal government would pay for all of the costs of the Medicaid expansion. But starting in the fourth year of operation -- 2016 -- states would be obliged to pay 10 percent of the extra cost.

While Obama has often spoken about how he won't raise taxes on the middle class, his healthcare legislation will require the governors to do so.

Particularly in those states with Democratic governors, it is easy to see how the backlash against these new taxes could fundamentally alter state politics.

The following table is a rough calculation of the cost each state will have to bear once it has to pick up 10 percent of the cost. These calculations are based on guidelines laid down for me by the Republican staff of the Senate Finance Committee. There has been no official data yet generated on how much the Senate or House provisions will cost the taxpayers in each state.

STATE SPENDING INCREASES IN MEDICAID REQUIRED BY SENATE HEALTH BILL

These estimates were obtained by calculating the increase in Medicaid spending in each state to bring it up to the 133 percent level specified in the Senate bill. Then I applied the percentage of Medicaid spending in each state on acute care (mainly for the poor) as opposed to long-term care (mainly for the elderly). Finally, I took 10 percent of the increased state share of spending and listed it in the table above.

There are two organizations representing citizens 50 plus:

              -AMAC, the Association of Mature American Citizens has 10’s of thousands of 

                          members.

             - AARP has 26 million Members.

The leadership of AARP has proven themselves to be a liberal leaning group that endorsed expensive Obamacare, without the consent of their members.

AMAC (pronounced A- Mack) is one of the leading groups fighting against President Obama’s health care initiative. AMAC has organized “Tea Parties” and participated in rallies against expanding government and raising taxes. AMAC is pro-life, pro Second Amendment, and thinks government has grown too large and powerful. AMAC feels our elected officials are ignoring the will of the people. The proof of this can be seen in the way Congressmen and Senators have been treating their constituents at the various town hall meetings.

AMAC will lead this fight knowing we can win, if you and other patriot Americans stand behind us. Please go to www.amac.us and sign on as a member. For $12.50/year, you will know we are working on your behalf to stop socialism in America.

David conquered Goliath- and AMAC can beat AARP. Please check out our website and if you agree with us, please tell your friends.

Anual Period to make changes in your Medicare coverage is open from November 15 to December 31, 2009.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is encouraging senior citizens and other Medicare beneficiaries to take advantage of this period and check the Medicare handbook and make sure that they have the best coverage for their individual needs for 2010. Attention should be paid to both,  Medicare prescription drug and health coverage.

Only an average of 7 percent of the 17 million seniors on Medicare drug plans switch plans each year, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the federal agency that runs Medicare. Experts on Medicare say this suggests that millions of beneficiaries could be paying more than they should for their drug coverage.

Medicare customer service representatives are available 24-hours a day/7 days a week with multiple language options and resources for people with disabilities. Call Medicare at 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) (TTY#: 1-877-486-2048) or visit www.medicare.gov.

Did you know you could be responsible for your parents' unpaid bills? Thirty states currently have laws making adult children responsible for their parents if their parents can't afford to take care of themselves. While these laws are rarely enforced, there has been speculation that states may begin dusting them off as a way to save on Medicaid expenses. These laws, called filial responsibility laws, obligate adult children to provide necessities like food, clothing, housing, and medical attention for their indigent parents. 21 states allow a civil court action to obtain financial support or cost recovery, 12 states impose criminal penalties on children who do not support their parents, and three states allow both civil and criminal actions.

Generally, most states do not require children to provide care if they do not have the ability to pay or if the parents abandoned them or did not support them.

The passage of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 made it more difficult to qualify for Medicaid, which means there may be more elderly individuals in nursing homes with no ability to pay for care. In response, nursing homes may use the filial responsibility laws as a way to get care paid for.

Long-term care insurance will pay for the cost of long term care as long as you or the aging family member need help completing two or more every day activities such as getting in and out of bed, getting dressed, using the bathroom, and feeding themselves. The inability to perform these activities may be caused by a physical or mental disease or impairment, or it may just be the result of aging.. Long-term care can be provided in a nursing home or other assisted-living facility, or it can be provided in your own home.

Long-term care can be quite pricey. Today, the cost of long-term care ranges from $1,500 to $9,000 a month, depending on where the long-term care is provided.

Long-term care insurance isn’t the best purchase for everyone. If you make enough money, or have enough savings, to pay for a few years of long-term care, you’d be wiser to save the premiums you’d pay each month for long-term care insurance. If you don’t make much, or any, money at all, you’ll probably be eligible for Medicaid to cover the cost of your long-term care.

Although caregiving is nothing new to American culture, its significance for the delivery of healthcare in this country is greater than ever before. Already, it is estimated that family caregivers provide unpaid services valued at $306 billion a year, an amount comparable to Medicare spending in 2004. And although these individuals are usually untrained for the tasks they perform, family and friends now provide about 80 percent of all long-term care services in this country.

Adult family members and friends are viewed as an unpaid extension of the health care system, providing an estimated 80 percent of all long-term care services in the U.S. But these contributions often come at a significant price for these individuals. According to a large and growing body of scientific literature, the economic, emotional and physical impact of family caregiving can be substantial.

In terms of the financial burden, family caregivers who provide intense personal care can lose as much as $659,000 in wages, pensions, and Social Security plus workplace disruptions, scheduled and unscheduled absences, leave of absences, reduction from full- to part-time work, opting for early retirement, and leaving work entirely to care for a loved one.

Of added concern is what public health officials call the “caregiver burden,” which is defined as the state of physical, emotional and mental exhaustion resulting from the intense demands of caregiving. According to scientific studies, caregiving is associated with an increase in mortality in addition to a general decline in the overall health status of the caregiver. Research links the stress of caregiving with an increased risk of depression, anxiety disorders, diminished immune responses, slower wound healing, and a greater incidence of hospitalizations.

Bringing your loved one to day care or respite care in an assisted living facility, can give the caregiver the most deserved break. See Services.

Small businesses often lead the nation out of recession. Not this time.
The unemployment rate jumped to 10.2% in October from 9.8% in September, and economists say a big reason is small businesses. With sales weak, they're still slashing jobs and faring worse than their larger rivals.
Nineteen percent of small-business owners cut jobs by a seasonally adjusted average of 4.2 workers per firm in the third quarter, according to a late-October survey by the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB). Just 8% boosted employment by an average 3.5 workers per firm.

The struggles of small businesses help explain why the jobless rate soared even while the Labor Department's separate payroll survey showed employers shed 190,000 jobs in October, down sharply from an average 357,000 from May through July.

Businesses with fewer than 20 employees account for 25% of all jobs but generated 40% of job growth in the last recovery, the Small Business Administration says. With no excess workers, many must hire in a rebound to meet surging demand.

Reasons they're struggling:

•Credit. Small firms are finding it tough to secure credit, with 14% in a recent NFIB survey saying loans are hard to get. That's largely because they don't have bricks-and-mortar assets that can serve as collateral, says Molly Brogan, vice president of the National Small Business Association.

•Limited exports. They're less likely to export their products, so unlike large companies, are not benefiting from nascent recoveries overseas, Zandi says.

•Health care costs. They're worried about costs that are rising more sharply than for large firms, and uncertainty about reform, Brogan says.

The Federal Reserve's brain trust sees a slow recovery and high unemployment the next two years, according to the minutes of its meeting earlier this month.

Fed officials foresee the jobless rate - currently 10.2% - ranging between 9.3% and 9.7% next year and easing in 2011 to around 8.6%. That's slightly better than its outlook earlier this year.

Inflation is likely to remain below the Fed's projections, but there's concern that low interest rates may be encouraging investors to indulge in "excessive" speculation.

Unemployment rocketed above 10 percent in October, the first double-digit rate since the recession in the early 1980s. But experts warned that the current job-market malaise won’t be cured as easily this time around. And at least one forecaster said Friday’s report means next year will be even worse than previously thought. Jobs remain hard not only to find but also to keep.
October’s unemployment rate was the first in double-digits since June 1983. The Labor Department also said payrolls shrank by 190,000 during the month. Both numbers were higher than forecasters had guessed.
The unemployment rate doesn’t include people without jobs who have stopped looking, or those who settled for part-time jobs. Counting those people, the unemployment rate would be 17.5 percent.
Concerns about double-digit unemployment reflect doubts that this economy will be able to regenerate the kinds of jobs many of America’s 15.7 million unemployed have lost.
It was easier for the 1983 economy to do that because unemployment reached double digits then mostly because economic activity had slowed. The economy was much more industrially based then, and layoffs meant temporary idleness. Factories geared back up once the economy began to grow again. Today’s job market, by contrast, has been racked by structural changes that mean many lost jobs won’t be coming back.
According to Friday’s report, unemployment among construction and extraction occupations hit 19.1 percent in October. Production workers’ joblessness reached 14.5 percent. Sales and office workers fare a bit better than the 10.2 percent average. Management and professional unemployment remained relatively scant at about half the overall average.
America’s return to double-digit unemployment for the second time since World War II bumps up against other dramatic differences in the economy from the first go-around.

Based on a study done by the American Heart Association, people can survive cardiac arrest if they receive only chest compressions during attempts to revive them but they cannot survive without access to oxygen during the resuscitation effort. The study showed that there is a need for oxygen. How much oxygen is needed remains unknown. Adding 100 percent oxygen, or 21 percent oxygen the equivalent of room air to chest compressions will increase the rate of survival.

According to the American Heart Association, almost 80 percent of cardiac arrests that take place outside a hospital occur at home and are witnessed by a family member. Yet only 6.4 percent of sudden cardiac arrest victims survive because most witnesses do not know how to perform CPR. Approximately 30 percent of cardiac arrest patients will survive long enough to be hospitalized. But far fewer are ever discharged from the hospital; most typically die of heart failure or brain damage resulting from an extended loss of oxygen to the brain. The association is urging people to call 911 and push "hard and fast" in the center of the chest of a person in cardiac arrest. If supplemental oxygen is not available, ventilating with room air is just as good because too little or the absence of any ventilation might be harmful.

The federal subsidies, offered to laid-off workers and their dependents and needed to be able continue health coverage from their previous employer, expired on November 30, 2009. Laid-off workers will not be able to continue the so called "Cobra" healthcare plan and will join the ranks of the uninsured.

The cost of Cobra premiums for a family vary from state to state- ranging from $979 in Idaho to $1826 in Washington. Under ARRA( American Recovery and Reinvestment Act), the federal subsidies for COBRA family coverage average $722 per month or about 65% of the cost.

The first recipients, who began receiving subsidies in March, the subsidies expired on November 30. For those who started receiving subsidies after March, the expiration will be nine months after their start-up date.

There's a bus stop located outside the Benrath Senior Centre in Dusseldorf, Germany. People occasionally walk up to the stop and stand there, waiting for a bus, but a bus never comes. In fact, the stop is on no bus route. It's a faux bus stop, purposefully created by the local department of transportation as a lure designed to deceive Alzheimer's patients from the senior centre. “It sounds funny,” said Old Lions Chairman Franz-Josef Goebel, “but it helps." Our members are 84 years-old on average. Their short-term memory hardly works at all, but the long-term memory is still active. They know the green and yellow bus sign and remember that waiting there means they will go home.” The result is that errant patients now wait for their trip home at the bus stop, before quickly forgetting why they were there in the first place.“We will approach them and say that the bus is coming later today and invite them in to the home for a coffee,” said Mr Neureither. “Five minutes later they have completely forgotten they wanted to leave.” The idea has proved so successful that it has now been adopted by several other homes across Germany.

Over five thousand years ago, Moses said to the children of Israel " pick up your shovel, mount your asses and camels, and I will lead you to the promised land". Nearly 75 years ago, Roosevelt said, " Lay down your shovels, sit on your asses, and light up a camel, this is the promised land". Now Obama has stolen your shovel , taxed your asses, raised the price of camels, and mortgaged the promised land. God help us!.

The Allergists voted to scratch it, but the Dermatologists advised not to make any rash moves. The Gastroenterologists had sort of a gut feeling about it, but the Neurologists thought the Administration had a lot of nerve. The Obstetricians felt they were all laboring under a misconception, and the Ophthalmologists considered the idea shortsighted. The Pathologists yelled, "Over my dead body!" while the Pediatricians said, 'Oh, Grow up!' Oncologists fear it's malignant, while Osteopaths see it as holistic. The Psychiatrists thought the whole idea was madness, while the Radiologists could see right through it. Surgeons decided to wash their hands of the whole thing. The Internists thought it was a bitter pill to swallow, and the Plastic Surgeons said, "This puts a whole new face on the matter." The Podiatrists thought it was a step forward, but the Urologists were pissed off at the whole idea. The Anesthesiologists thought the whole idea was a gas, and the Cardiologists didn't have the heart to say no. In the end, the Proctologists won out, leaving the entire decision up to the assholes in Washington.