New research finds that just 15 minutes of daily physical activity can reduce the risk of cancer.
The current generally accepted exercise recommendations call for adults to do a total of 2.5 hours of physical activity weekly. That equates to about 150 minutes per-week.
This week, researchers released the results of a study that reports that doing only a quarter-hour of daily exercise or about 105 minutes a week still provides benefits.
Adults who exercised for an average of 92 minutes per week were 10 percent less likely to die of cancer, and had a three-year longer life expectancy, on average. Every additional 15 minutes of daily exercise beyond the minimum 15 minutes further reduced the risk of all-cause death by 4 percent and the risk of cancer death by 1 percent.
"Over 1.5 million Americans will be diagnosed with cancer this year so anything that reduces the risk is most welcome news," explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance http://www.criticalillnessinsuranceinfo.org.
The study included more than 390,000 residents of Taiwan. Researchers followed these individuals for an average of eight years and, based on self-reported amounts of weekly exercise, placed them into five categories.
Individuals interested in receiving a cost quote for critical illness insurance from a designated American Association for Critical Illness Insurance professional can complete the organization's free quote request form accessible at http://www.criticalillnessinsuranceinfo.org/free-quote/ or by calling the Association's offices.
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Showing posts with label health. Show all posts
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
First National Critical Illness Insurance Study Examines U.S. Buyers
Nearly half of individuals purchasing critical illness insurance protection were under age 45 according to the first national study of buyers conducted by the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance.
The industry trade group released the findings of a study that reveals one third (34%) of purchasers were between ages 45 and 54 and the majority (87%) purchased $50,000 or less in benefits. The study examined sales data for over 130,000 individual and voluntary worksite policies and certificates issued.
"Critical illness insurance is growing in acceptance as consumers understand the risk and financial exposure resulting from cancer, a heart attack or stroke," explains Jesse Slome, the organization's executive director. First introduced in the United States in 1996, some 600,000 individuals have purchased critical illness coverage available from about 20 insurance companies.
Nearly a quarter (24%) of individual buyers opted for coverage of less than $20,000 according to the study's findings. For those purchasing in the worksite setting, some 65 percent chose benefits of $20,000 or less.
The vast majority of purchasers do so prior to turning age 55. Among those purchasing individual critical illness insurance policies, 20 percent were under age 35; 27 percent were between ages 35 and 44 and 34 percent were between 45 and 54. Buyers purchasing coverage in the workplace were about the same age according to the Association report. Policies providing a $10,000 benefit for a 40 year old can range from $150 to $300-per-year.
Individual buyers tended to be male (52% versus 48% female) while those purchasing in the workplace were more likely to be female (59% versus 41% male).
"We anticipate the market for critical illness insurance products will increase in the years ahead," predicts Slome. The Los Angeles-based association will undertake an aggressive consumer awareness campaign in 2010 to build an understanding of the benefits of the protection that is popular outside of the United States. "Every year, millions of Americans are diagnosed with a critical illness and the vast majority survive," Slome explains. "The financial cost even for those with health insurance can be devastating and one of the leading reasons 1.5 million Americans declared bankruptcy even before the current economic crisis." Critical illness insurance policies range in cost based on the age, sex and use of tobacco products. A policy providing a $10,000 cash benefit can range from about $150 a year to $400 a year experts explain.
Access to the full study results can be viewed on the organization's website http://www.aacii.org.
The industry trade group released the findings of a study that reveals one third (34%) of purchasers were between ages 45 and 54 and the majority (87%) purchased $50,000 or less in benefits. The study examined sales data for over 130,000 individual and voluntary worksite policies and certificates issued.
"Critical illness insurance is growing in acceptance as consumers understand the risk and financial exposure resulting from cancer, a heart attack or stroke," explains Jesse Slome, the organization's executive director. First introduced in the United States in 1996, some 600,000 individuals have purchased critical illness coverage available from about 20 insurance companies.
Nearly a quarter (24%) of individual buyers opted for coverage of less than $20,000 according to the study's findings. For those purchasing in the worksite setting, some 65 percent chose benefits of $20,000 or less.
The vast majority of purchasers do so prior to turning age 55. Among those purchasing individual critical illness insurance policies, 20 percent were under age 35; 27 percent were between ages 35 and 44 and 34 percent were between 45 and 54. Buyers purchasing coverage in the workplace were about the same age according to the Association report. Policies providing a $10,000 benefit for a 40 year old can range from $150 to $300-per-year.
Individual buyers tended to be male (52% versus 48% female) while those purchasing in the workplace were more likely to be female (59% versus 41% male).
"We anticipate the market for critical illness insurance products will increase in the years ahead," predicts Slome. The Los Angeles-based association will undertake an aggressive consumer awareness campaign in 2010 to build an understanding of the benefits of the protection that is popular outside of the United States. "Every year, millions of Americans are diagnosed with a critical illness and the vast majority survive," Slome explains. "The financial cost even for those with health insurance can be devastating and one of the leading reasons 1.5 million Americans declared bankruptcy even before the current economic crisis." Critical illness insurance policies range in cost based on the age, sex and use of tobacco products. A policy providing a $10,000 cash benefit can range from about $150 a year to $400 a year experts explain.
Access to the full study results can be viewed on the organization's website http://www.aacii.org.
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Weight Loss Good For Kidney Health
Shedding pounds through diet and exercise or even surgery may help obese adults with kidney disease ward off further decline in kidney function a new study finds.
Medical experts explain that kidneys filter waste products from the blood and excrete them in the urine. When damaged, their ability to perform these vital functions is reduced.
Some 26 million Americans have chronic kidney disease according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance and millions of others are at increased risk. By 2015, experts predict there will be more than 700,000 people with the most advanced form of kidney disease known as end-stage renal disease.
More than a third of US adults are either overweight or obese, putting them at increased risk for kidney trouble, not to mention heart trouble and diabetes. To determine if weight loss could help protect the kidneys, medical researchers at Ohio's Cleveland Clinic studied data from studies that examined the impact on kidney function of weight loss achieved through diet, exercise, or surgery.
The researchers found that losing weight through diet and exercise reduced one key measure of kidney damage - namely, excess excretion of protein in the urine, what doctors call "proteinuria." The medical report noted that weight loss achieved through surgery seemed to help normalize the rate at which the kidneys filter waste products in obese adults with abnormally high filtration rates.
The findings were reported in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology.
Medical experts explain that kidneys filter waste products from the blood and excrete them in the urine. When damaged, their ability to perform these vital functions is reduced.
Some 26 million Americans have chronic kidney disease according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance and millions of others are at increased risk. By 2015, experts predict there will be more than 700,000 people with the most advanced form of kidney disease known as end-stage renal disease.
More than a third of US adults are either overweight or obese, putting them at increased risk for kidney trouble, not to mention heart trouble and diabetes. To determine if weight loss could help protect the kidneys, medical researchers at Ohio's Cleveland Clinic studied data from studies that examined the impact on kidney function of weight loss achieved through diet, exercise, or surgery.
The researchers found that losing weight through diet and exercise reduced one key measure of kidney damage - namely, excess excretion of protein in the urine, what doctors call "proteinuria." The medical report noted that weight loss achieved through surgery seemed to help normalize the rate at which the kidneys filter waste products in obese adults with abnormally high filtration rates.
The findings were reported in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society Nephrology.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Heart Risk Factors Shorten Men's Lives
Middle-aged men with risk factors for heart disease such as smoking, high blood pressure and high cholesterol are taking 10 to 15 years off their lives.
Death from heart disease has been declining according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, the industry trade group. Some 800,000 Americans will have a first heart attack this year and roughly half will survive.
Due in part due to better control of cardiovascular risk factors and better care, a study by British researchers looked at death from heart disease in terms of life expectancy.
The researchers collected data on nearly 19,000 men ranging from 49 to 69 years of age. The men were first evaluated between 1967-1970. At the start of the study, the men completed a questionnaire that included questions about their medical history, smoking, employment and marital status. In addition, height, weight, blood pressure, lung function, cholesterol and blood sugar levels were also measured.
After about 28 years of follow-up, 7,044 surviving men were examined again in 1997. When the study began, 42 percent of the men smoked, 39 percent had high blood pressure and 51 percent had high cholesterol. By 1997, about two-thirds had stopped smoking and their blood pressure and cholesterol levels had also dropped, the researchers noted.
Despite these changes in risk factors for heart disease, men who had three heart risk factors in middle age had a threefold higher risk of dying from heart disease and a twofold increased risk of dying from other causes, compared with men with none of these risk factors, the study found.
Men who had all three risk factors at the time they entered the study lived 10 years less than men with none of the risk factors. Life expectancy after 50 was an additional 23.7 years for men with three risk factors, compared with 33.3 years for men without the risk factors, the researchers found.
Individuals who choose to not treat and control these major cardiovascular risk factors should recognize they may be giving up, on average, as much as 10 to 15 years of life by doing so, te research team reported. The study was published in the Sept. 18 online edition of the British Medical Journal,
SOURCES: Robert Clarke, M.D., reader in epidemiology, University of Oxford, UK; Gregg C. Fonarow, M.D., professor, cardiology, University of California, Los Angeles; Sept. 18, 2009, British Medical Journal
Death from heart disease has been declining according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, the industry trade group. Some 800,000 Americans will have a first heart attack this year and roughly half will survive.
Due in part due to better control of cardiovascular risk factors and better care, a study by British researchers looked at death from heart disease in terms of life expectancy.
The researchers collected data on nearly 19,000 men ranging from 49 to 69 years of age. The men were first evaluated between 1967-1970. At the start of the study, the men completed a questionnaire that included questions about their medical history, smoking, employment and marital status. In addition, height, weight, blood pressure, lung function, cholesterol and blood sugar levels were also measured.
After about 28 years of follow-up, 7,044 surviving men were examined again in 1997. When the study began, 42 percent of the men smoked, 39 percent had high blood pressure and 51 percent had high cholesterol. By 1997, about two-thirds had stopped smoking and their blood pressure and cholesterol levels had also dropped, the researchers noted.
Despite these changes in risk factors for heart disease, men who had three heart risk factors in middle age had a threefold higher risk of dying from heart disease and a twofold increased risk of dying from other causes, compared with men with none of these risk factors, the study found.
Men who had all three risk factors at the time they entered the study lived 10 years less than men with none of the risk factors. Life expectancy after 50 was an additional 23.7 years for men with three risk factors, compared with 33.3 years for men without the risk factors, the researchers found.
Individuals who choose to not treat and control these major cardiovascular risk factors should recognize they may be giving up, on average, as much as 10 to 15 years of life by doing so, te research team reported. The study was published in the Sept. 18 online edition of the British Medical Journal,
SOURCES: Robert Clarke, M.D., reader in epidemiology, University of Oxford, UK; Gregg C. Fonarow, M.D., professor, cardiology, University of California, Los Angeles; Sept. 18, 2009, British Medical Journal
Thursday, September 17, 2009
During CPR, More Chest Compressions Saves More Lives
When it comes to cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) you're better off doing less mouth-to-mouth and more chest compressions, according to a new study.
CPR consists of chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. It is performed on people whose hearts have stopped beating. Medical experts explain that mouth-to-mouth resuscitation moves oxygen into the lungs of someone who can't breathe on his own, while chest compressions move blood carrying that oxygen to the heart and the brain.
This year some 800,000 Americans will have a new coronary attack according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, the industry trade group. The average age of a person having a first heart attack is 64 for men and 70 for women.
Researchers found that the odds that someone whose heart has stopped beating will survive goes up markedly when rescuers spend more time giving chest compressions.
The findings emphasize that the chest compressions you do on a loved one are one of the most important things that can be done, one of the authors of the study, said in a statement. They shared the important information recognizing many are untrained or not confident giving mouth-to-mouth ventilation.
Even by themselves, chest compressions can make a difference, the medical researchers noted. Canadian medical researchers examined CPR tracings in over 500 patients who suffered "out-of-hospital" cardiac arrest in the US and Canada.
There was roughly a 10 percent increase in the chance of survival for every 10 percent increase in amount of time that rescuers spend giving chest compressions they found. Researchers found that the heart began pumping blood effectively on its own about 80 percent of the time when rescuers spent most of their time on chest compressions, compared to just shy of 60 percent of time when they spent most of their efforts on mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Similarly, about one in eight patients survived long enough to go home from the hospital when rescuers spent most of their time on mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but that rate of survival doubled when rescuers spent most of their time on chest compressions.
The study appears in the Journal of the American Heart Association, September 14, 2009.
CPR consists of chest compressions and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. It is performed on people whose hearts have stopped beating. Medical experts explain that mouth-to-mouth resuscitation moves oxygen into the lungs of someone who can't breathe on his own, while chest compressions move blood carrying that oxygen to the heart and the brain.
This year some 800,000 Americans will have a new coronary attack according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, the industry trade group. The average age of a person having a first heart attack is 64 for men and 70 for women.
Researchers found that the odds that someone whose heart has stopped beating will survive goes up markedly when rescuers spend more time giving chest compressions.
The findings emphasize that the chest compressions you do on a loved one are one of the most important things that can be done, one of the authors of the study, said in a statement. They shared the important information recognizing many are untrained or not confident giving mouth-to-mouth ventilation.
Even by themselves, chest compressions can make a difference, the medical researchers noted. Canadian medical researchers examined CPR tracings in over 500 patients who suffered "out-of-hospital" cardiac arrest in the US and Canada.
There was roughly a 10 percent increase in the chance of survival for every 10 percent increase in amount of time that rescuers spend giving chest compressions they found. Researchers found that the heart began pumping blood effectively on its own about 80 percent of the time when rescuers spent most of their time on chest compressions, compared to just shy of 60 percent of time when they spent most of their efforts on mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.
Similarly, about one in eight patients survived long enough to go home from the hospital when rescuers spent most of their time on mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, but that rate of survival doubled when rescuers spent most of their time on chest compressions.
The study appears in the Journal of the American Heart Association, September 14, 2009.
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Asprin May Reduce Risk Of Coloreactal Cancer
Researchers report that aspirin may not only reduce the risk of getting colorectal cancer, but it also could lower the odds of dying once you have it. According to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, hundreds of thousands of Americans who are diagnosed annually with cancer, do survive.
Study participants with colorectal cancer who took aspirin regularly had nearly a 30 percent lower risk for death from the cancer and a 21 percent lower risk for death from other causes, according to the research, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The researchers reported that following an average of roughly 12 years, 35 percent of the 549 people with colorectal cancer who took aspirin had died. That included about 15 percent whose death was attributed to the cancer.
However, the study notes, among the 730 people with colorectal cancer who did not take aspirin, 39 percent had died, including 19 percent from the cancer. The overall five-year survival rate was 88 percent for people who used aspirin, compared with 83 percent for those who did not. The 10-year survival rate was 74 percent for aspirin users and 69 percent for those who didn't use aspirin.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School used data on 1,279 men and women with stage 1, 2 or 3 nonmetastatic colorectal cancer who were participating in two large studies, the Nurses Health Study that began in 1980 and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study that began in 1986.
Among 719 participants who had not used use aspirin before their cancer diagnosis, starting to take it once they'd been diagnosed was associated with a 47 percent lower risk for dying from the cancer and a 32 percent lower risk for dying prematurely from any cause.
Previous research has shown that aspirin might reduce the chances of developing colorectal cancer. Despite mounting evidence of aspirin's potential cancer-fighting properties, some medical experts have still stopped short of recommending that it be used to prevent or treat colorectal cancer. Aspirin, they note, can cause side effects, including gastrointestinal bleeding. Further studies, including placebo-controlled trials of aspirin and other anti-inflammatory agents, are needed they explain.
SOURCES: Andrew Chan, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor, medicine, Harvard Medical School, and gastroenterologist, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; Alfred I. Neugut, M.D., Ph.D., professor, medicine and epidemiology, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University, New York City; Aug. 12, 2009, Journal of the American Medical Association
Study participants with colorectal cancer who took aspirin regularly had nearly a 30 percent lower risk for death from the cancer and a 21 percent lower risk for death from other causes, according to the research, reported in the Journal of the American Medical Association.
The researchers reported that following an average of roughly 12 years, 35 percent of the 549 people with colorectal cancer who took aspirin had died. That included about 15 percent whose death was attributed to the cancer.
However, the study notes, among the 730 people with colorectal cancer who did not take aspirin, 39 percent had died, including 19 percent from the cancer. The overall five-year survival rate was 88 percent for people who used aspirin, compared with 83 percent for those who did not. The 10-year survival rate was 74 percent for aspirin users and 69 percent for those who didn't use aspirin.
Researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School used data on 1,279 men and women with stage 1, 2 or 3 nonmetastatic colorectal cancer who were participating in two large studies, the Nurses Health Study that began in 1980 and the Health Professionals Follow-up Study that began in 1986.
Among 719 participants who had not used use aspirin before their cancer diagnosis, starting to take it once they'd been diagnosed was associated with a 47 percent lower risk for dying from the cancer and a 32 percent lower risk for dying prematurely from any cause.
Previous research has shown that aspirin might reduce the chances of developing colorectal cancer. Despite mounting evidence of aspirin's potential cancer-fighting properties, some medical experts have still stopped short of recommending that it be used to prevent or treat colorectal cancer. Aspirin, they note, can cause side effects, including gastrointestinal bleeding. Further studies, including placebo-controlled trials of aspirin and other anti-inflammatory agents, are needed they explain.
SOURCES: Andrew Chan, M.D., M.P.H., assistant professor, medicine, Harvard Medical School, and gastroenterologist, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston; Alfred I. Neugut, M.D., Ph.D., professor, medicine and epidemiology, Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center, Columbia University, New York City; Aug. 12, 2009, Journal of the American Medical Association
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