• 11
  Nov
  2011

• Medical Cases from Ball-Bearing Magnets in Toys Increasing

  
  Filed Under: Blogging
  Author: YourGuy
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Washington has released a warning for parents about magnets found in adult toys or desktop items which children could ingest without parents’ knowledge. In 2009, there was only one reported incident. Last year, this number increased to 7 and this year, it’s expected to go up again. The Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) says that families traveling to the US have to be careful especially with children below 15 years old. Removing the magnet will require surgery and without international travel insurance, it’s an expensive process. At least with international health insurance, you can have your children x-rayed before leaving the country if you suspect anything.
CPSC advises that these ball-bearing magnets are so small; it’s like taking a pill. The magnets can cause a hole in a major organ or lead to blood poisoning. If more than one is ingested, they can stick together and create a massive blockage in the intestines. Symptoms are flu-like or can mimic a simple cold.
Among teenagers it happens when they experiment with the magnets and pretend they pierced their tongues. They then accidentally swallow the magnets and avoid telling their parents for fear of a backlash. If a cold cannot be treated and the flu does not seem to be getting better, then request for an x-ray. 

• 07
  Nov
  2011

• WHO Worries About the Increased Use of Infant Formula Among Asians

  
  Filed Under: Blogging
  Author: YourGuy
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Most countries in Asia are currently doing better than their counterparts in Europe and America. This has lead to an increase in the demand for international travel health insurance among Asians who travel abroad. It seems the tables have turned and now the top travelers are from China and India. Based on their support for global health insurance and a desire to see the world, they are contributing immensely to the global economy and spreading of wealth, so to speak.
However, one big problem as noted by the World Health Organization is a new tendency to prefer infant formula instead of natural mother’s milk. It’s the same for an increase in fast food diets as compared to home cooking. These are signs of progress but not in a good way.
The efforts of WHO to promote breast feeding has been compromised because of heavy advertising that appeal to new mothers. The promise of having a star baby or a genius makes new mothers turn away from breast milk to formula. WHO is urging Asian officials to prevent misleading ads that would be detrimental to the health of young infants.
The latest study shows that mothers who shift to infant formula show a 5.8 chance of baby deaths and illnesses in the first two months.  Influence from TV and radio ads have also shown that more mothers stop nursing their babies whether or not they can afford the cost of feeding infant formula or not.  It is perceived as the “more modern” method of caring for a baby.

• 30
  Oct
  2011

• New Measles Outbreak After 15 Year Lull

  
  Filed Under: Blogging
  Author: YourGuy
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When a report came out earlier this year about a link between autism and the measles vaccination, parents began to think twice about the MMR (Measles-Mumps-Rubella) shots and booster shots.  Thus when an unvaccinated student traveled overseas, he ended up getting sick and contaminating 9 others when he got back. Without the shots and the international health insurance, the local government ended up spending $300,000 just to stop the contamination from spreading. If the student got booster shots as well as international travel health insurance, the results would probably have been different.

In the first place, the report linking autism to the MMR shots is unsubstantiated. There is no proof to this allegation or no study that can even slightly confirm the possibility of a link. The measles outbreak included having to quarantine almost 185 people who were believed to have had close contact with the student. The same situation is happening in Canada with an outbreak of 757 cases because of unvaccinated persons.

Over the years the MMR vaccination has significantly caused the incidents of measles to drop from 4 million to a less than 70 a year. Thus, the outbreak is cause for alarm and a warning sign for parents to think again about having their children given the MMR vaccine.

• 21
  Oct
  2011

• WHO Predicts Malaria Gone In 10 Years

  
  Filed Under: Blogging
  Author: YourGuy
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The World Health Organization (WHO) feels that malaria, which has been with us for the past 50,000 years, may soon be permanently eradicated in 10 years. This is big boost for tourism and international health insurance because it would be one less worry for travelers. As many already know, one cannot travel to certain countries without taking note of the possibility of contracting malaria. This is why worldwide health insurance is always stressed when planning a trip overseas.
The current place that has known cases of malaria are the sub-Saharan African region with more than 780,000 people dying in the year 2009 alone! Other countries are in Asia, South America, the Caribbean, the Pacific, and Middle East.
In 2007 up to today more than 10 countries have been declared malaria-free like Morocco and Armenia.  A country can apply with WHO to get certified to be malaria-free, but they have to show proof of zero cases as well as efforts by the government to continue to fight malaria through the dissemination of tools that can be used to defeat malaria. The problem with this disease is that it can come back without warning if guards are let down. Traditional methods are mosquito nets and a malaria vaccine which is now going through final testing in Africa.