For the women who live in the Kashmir Valley, a territory that has been disputed between India and Pakistan, the decades of war has taken an unexpected toll: infertility.

Poor ovarian reserve, polycystic ovarian syndrome and other infertility-causing diseases have been on the rise in Kashmir, promoting endocrinologist Dr. Ashraf Ganaie to launch a study to determine exactly why these women are suffering from these illnesses.

According to Ganaie’s unpublished study over 90% of the cases of infertility in Kashmir are due to PCOS – a disease which is aggravated by stress and disrupts the normal function of the ovaries. The other 10% of cases are due to poor  low ovarian reserve (premature ovarian failure) and life stressors.

“Due to the decreased insulin sensitivity after any bad experience, there is a rise in the glucose level in the body,” explains clinical psychologist Dr. Iram Nazir. High levels of glucose in the body impair normal hormonal function, interferes with regular menstruation and can lead to PCOS, poor ovarian reserve and other infertility-causing conditions.

“In the last few years, we have received more than 150 women who suffer from premature ovarian failure,” Nazir told Forbes Magazine. Nazir believes that this increase is due to the stress of life in Kashmir.

Ganaie and Nazir are not the first to notice how the war between these countries have impacted the reproduction of the women living there. In 2006 Doctors Without Boarders conducted a study which linked the high rate of miscarriages among the women in Kashmir to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a psychiatric disorder common for those who have experienced war.

Currently there are no known programs to address this problem within Kashmir. While  the option to go to an infertility and  IVF center  is available to the women in the area, they are often stigmatized and under-used.

Obama’s $787 billion economic stimulus package had a serious impact on the stock value of EMR software vendors and other healthcare technology companies, says a new report from USA Today.

According to the report created in a collaborative effort by USA today and International Data Corp., a health technology consulting firm, a significant amount of the stimulus package allocated for technology spending was put towards EMR software implementation. The beneficiaries of these funds, such as EMR vendor, have had marked improvements in companies and stock values since receiving the money.

“The clearest connection between the stimulus and the economy might be in health care software,” reads the report from USA Today. Cerner, an EMR vendor who boasts the largest share of the market has received $100 million so far from the stimulus which was in turn increased their stock value 194% since January of 2009.

However, Cerner was not the only EMR vendo to benefit. All Scripts Healthcare solutions has seen an 134% increase in their stock shares and Athenahealth has also doubled as well.

“The stimulus has helped spark an 82% gain in the stocks of 11 health care technology companies since President Obama took office,“ said Tim Mullaney from USA Today.

An additional benefit from the stimulus money is not just the boom in the health IT economy, but the safety and efficiency that comes along with the implementation of EMR software. According to Jeff Townsend, the chief of staff at Cerner, their company expansion has allowed many more doctors to implement EMR software into their practices.

In the legal business, where competition is fierce, many lawyers and law firms reply upon their reputation in order to maintain a high volume of clientele. However, with more and more people turning to the internet for reference and referrals, it is important to utilize your attorney website design to further promote your company’s reputation.

The most important strategies that you can utilized in your companies web design are: 1) support social media 2) blogging.

Social Media

A growing number of people, particularly the younger client base, is utilizing social media to help find and rate service providers – such as laywers. Social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter, Digg, or other online patforms which allow people to rate or comment upon a business or person can have a tremendous impact on your companies reputation. Addionally, social media is now being factored into major search engine rankings (ie: Google), which is another reason to make sure social media is a central part of your legal marketing campaign. Quick Tip: Add social media sharing buttons to each page of your website.

Blogging

Blogging has been largely ignored by many legal businesses – which is a huge mistake! Blogging can not only greatly enhance your companies reputation but it can also help build your search engine optimization (SEO). A legal website design which incorporates blogging into its structure will not only rank better in search engines such as Google, but it will also help establish your company as an authority in your particular area of expertise and make you an online resource for those looking for the most up-to-date information. Quick Tip: Once you have your blog established make sure you have at least 1 blog post per week for optimal results.

The concept of building an online reputation is so essential to the legal business that it earned itself top priority at the upcoming ABA conference being held Saturday November 8^th and Sunday November 9^th in Philadelphia. The conference is highlighting three major topics: Reputation, Referrals, and Rankings which they believe are the most important to maintaining solid business in today’s legal market.

Keynote speaker Dan Hill will discuss marketing strategies for reputation management and Steve Silverberg will address social media marketing. For more information about the conference and their topics please read: Attorney Website Design Highlighted at Upcoming ABA Marketing Conference

Fall is one of the most beautiful time for trees. However, according to a Seattle arborist, is is also one of the most important times when it comes to making sure your tree stays healthy throughout the long winter.

1. Prune – Pruning your tree is an important part of your tree’s survival throughout the winter. Dead branches and bark that are touching the ground (or will touch the ground when covered with snow)0 should be removed in addition to any new sprouts, stems or branches at the base of the tree. However, new growth up higher in the tree should be preserved. If you have any large branches that are dead, but too high to reach, or hanging over your house it is a good idea to have a professional arborist Seattle come and prune these parts for you. It is always a good idea to consult with an arborist prior to pruning your trees in order to make sure you are pruning properly and not leaving any of the central hardwood core exposed throughout the long winter.
2. Water – Early on in the fall do not water your trees frequently. You want to prevent new growth which will not have time to harden off before winter. However, once the leaves have fallen from the tree, give it a deep watering (so it reaches the bottom roots). This will help minimize the damage to the tree as it faces the long winter drought.
3. Fertilize – It is a good idea to give your tree extra nutrients during the fall in order to help keep it healthy throughout the winter. A sure sign that your tree probably needs fertilization is yellow or pale leaves, changing leaves earlier than usual during the season, wilting, or reduced growth in branches and leaves. However, you need to be very careful about the balance of nutrients that you tree receives and know when (and how) to go about fertilizing. It is best to hire a professional arborist to do the job.

For a complete arborist report Seattle visit CertifiedArboristTreeCare.com

Further reading: Three Tips for Hiring a Seattle Arborist

Guest Post by Amanda Rahi

1. It’s Easy and Makes a Big Difference

Finding medical content writing services is easy and makes your life easier! Find someone to help you perfect your website and take care of every aspect of your webpage. Take a look at the client references of medical content writers to see the difference it makes.

2. Save Time

Writing content and updating your website with new information takes time, but is very important. Nowadays, people are relying more and more on the internet for information. If they want to know about your practice, most likely the first thing they will do is google it to learn more. So if you cannot find the time to update it, find someone that can and is ready immediately to write. Don’t leave your patients hanging!

3. Get a Competitive Edge

Working with professional medical content writing services that really know your industry and have experience with other doctors gives you a competitive edge. Find writers that have SEO knowledge and strategies. They will help build you a very strong and effective web presence.

4. Make a Good Impression

In so many cases, it is all about appearance. Make sure your website presence reflects your professional values and work. Hiring qualified and experienced writers brings your website to a whole new professional level.

5. Be Proud

By having you website content taken care of, you are free to reap the benefits of having a perfective and up-to -date website! Enjoy it, tell everyone to go and visit your website and be proud of it.

This last weekend the WSJ.com ran a heart-wrenching essay written by Holly Finn titled “My Fertility Crisis” detailing this 40-something year old woman’s journey through multiple failed IVF treatments.

The deeply personal piece brings to light the struggle that many couples face when the infertility treatment that they poor their emotional, physical, and financial resources into – fails.

The reality is that most IVF treatments do not result in a child. The average age of women seeking infertility treatment is 39 years of age, and by 40 a woman’s chance of the treatment actually resulting in a live birth is around 20%. Once she reaches 41 this drops to on 12%. Even more disheartening is that once a woman has failed a treatment, her likelihood the next time is even less.

In Ms. Finns story she reminisces how after several failed IVF treatments Ms. Finn asked her doctor, “Would a sane person bother trying again?”

Thankfully, she had a wonderful doctor who told her that there is nothing insane about hanging onto a thread of hope. Despite sinking chances of a baby her doctor is willing to support helping her pursue her dream of a family – while staying honest about the mere chances which he told her was only 5%.

Dr. Norber Gleicher, Medical Director of the Center for Human Reproduction, President of the Foundation for Reproductive Medicine, and Visiting Professor at Yale University came across Ms. Finn’s article and was moved by her message. As an infertility expert who specializes in “older women” he was particularly touched by the hopelessness that Ms. Finn conveyed in her essay.

“As a gynecologist and infertility expert, I – like most of my colleagues, of course – constantly try to create awareness about the importance of female age for successful reproduction,” he said. “The younger the better! But, increasingly, every time I make this point to an ‘older’ patient, I am uncomfortable about unwittingly aggravating her already unwarranted and excessive sense of guilt that is so well depicted in Ms. Finn’s essay.”

According to Dr. Gleicher there is no clear answer to how many infertility treatments are too many. He says that this depends wholly upon the individual circumstances of each woman. He does say, that this woman’s chances could be much greater should she choose to go with a donated egg.

“While genetic inheritance very clearly represents one of the primary purposes of reproduction, biological maternity is also of crucial importance to maternal-child bonding,” explained Gleicher. “Women today are no longer limited by their own reproductive lifespan (i.e. their ovaries’ ability to produce viable eggs) because (anonymous) egg donation has become widely available. In the United States, egg donation now represents the most rapidly growing fertility treatment within IVF.”

I strongly suggest reading Dr. Gleicher’s full response to Ms. Finn’s essay. It reminds us that in the booming infertility medical business there are still doctors, such as him, who really do care about creating miracles for patients who have lost all hope.

Further reading: Pregnancy after 40: Risk for Complications

One in every four Americans would consider installing solar power panels in their home says a new report from Applied Materials. The results are a part of the third annual solar energy survey released by the company in honor of the summer solstice.

Although the results of the study show that most Americans are still quite resistant to solar energy, it appears that the idea is catching on.

Over 80 percent of those who said they would not consider solor power panels at this time did say that they would be more interested if it would mean cost-savings for them in the long run. This could come in for the form of government incentives to offset installation costs, increase in home value, or the ability to sell off some of the electricity they create with the panels to a power company.

The good news is that the price of San Diego solar energy is continuing to decline as technological advances continue. The price of a solar power panel has already dropped 70 percent from $4 per watt back in 2008. Experts say this could go as low as $1 in the next couple of years.

“We’ve reached a critical inflection point in the cost of solar energy. At the end of 2010, 36 gigawatts of solar PV had been installed worldwide, with 18 GW installed last year alone, thus doubling the total amount of solar capacity installed in the history of the technology,” explained Dr. Charlie Gay, president of the Applied Materials solar division. “This tremendous growth, coupled with new technologies that are making panels more efficient and scalable, has made solar power more affordable than ever before.”

Contact Solaire Energy Systems, the leading solar electricity San Diego expert, about how you can start utilizing cost-effective and environmentally-friendly energy for your home. 1-800-847-7751

Yesterday the FDA announced new recommendations for the highest dose of the cardiology drug, Simvastatin after conducting an investigation into whether or not it causes heart muscle damage.

It is now being recommended that the 80mg dose only be used in those who have already been taking it for at least 12 months without evidence of heart muscle damage. No new patients should be prescribed the medication and all those taking it less than 12 months should discontinue its use.

“The FDA has completed its review of the safety of high-dose simvastatin and is making label changes to reduce the risk of statin-associated muscle injury,” said Eric Colman, M.D., deputy director of the Division of Metabolism and Endocrinology Products in the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. “We want to ensure that patients and health care professionals are aware of the new labeling changes to simvastatin, including the increased risk of myopathy when using the 80 mg dose of simvastatin.”

Cardiologists Panama City FL are familiar with the drug as it is one of the most common cardiac medications prescribed. In 2010 alone there were over 2.1 million patients prescribed this 80mg medication. Simvastatin in used to help reduce low-density lipoprotien (LDL), also referred to as “bad” cholesterol.

Manufactures of the medication which is sold under the names Zocor, Vytorin and Simcor will be required to make changes to the drug label.

Cardiologist Panama City FL specialize in the areas of non-invasive and invasive cardiology which includes coronary, peripheral and neurovascular angiography and intervention as well as comprehensive cardiac electrophysiology.

Broken Hearts Repair Themselves With New Treatment

Leading cardiac doctors are calling for the Scottish government to provide funding for a minimally invasive heart valve replacement surgery called a TAVI.

TAVI stands for transcatheter aortic valve implantation which is a minimally invasive valve surgery for those suffering from aortic stenosis – a condition in which the heart valve do not function properly. The procedure involves the threading a catheter to the heart via an incision in the groin all the way up to the heart where the valve is replaced.

The TAVI procedure was developed in Europe back in 2002 and has since been widely used as an alternative to traditional open heart surgery for valve replacements, which has a high risk for post-surgical complications.

The TAVI procedure, however, is not funded by the National Health Service for Scotland, making this procedure inaccessible to most.

“There is nothing more upsetting and frustrating for clinicians than to have the skills to give a patient the treatment they need and be denied the opportunity, particularly when it is widely available everywhere else,” says Professor Keth Oldroyd a consultant cardiologist in Glasgow. “TAVI is a proven technology giving normal lives back to the people who receive it. There is increasing evidence that it is cost-effective in this carefully selected high-risk population.”

The Scottish government, however, does not agree. The government said in a statement that the most recent review of this heart valve replacement surgery failed to show enough evidence to make this procedure accessible. However, in light of the Scottish Cardiac Society’s request, a further investigation into the matter will take place.

Lady Gaga recently paid for her father’s minimally invasive valve surgery due to lack of insurance coverage as well.

A new study suggests that genes located in the part of cells that creates energy, are a large contributor to male infertility.

Dr. Damian Dowling from Monash University in Melbourne and his colleagues conducted genetic studies on fruit flies to determine how genetics affect male infertility. Fruit flies have a surprisingly similar genome to humans, making them an appropriate subject of study.

In looking at the power-center for cells, known as the mitochondria, the researchers realized that the genetics that make up this part of the cell don’t go through rigorous quality control checks like other genes do. The result is high levels of genetic mutations that go unchecked and get passed along to male offspring.

“What our results suggest is that the mitochondria have inadvertently evolved to be bad for males, but good for females, as a by-product of their maternal transmission,” said Dowling. “While medical practitioners have a fairly good idea that certain mitochondrial mutations can bring about male infertility, the evolutionary process that we uncover actually suggests that the mitochondria might well harbor very many unidentified mutations, all of which could contribute to the problem of male infertility.”

Although this study does not necessarily explain all male infertility, it is a breakthrough in how researchers may study this condition going forward. Dowling concludes, “At the very least, our results should therefore provide a road-map of where we should be looking for these mutations.”

Male infertility can be related to issues of low semen count, low semen volume, or abnormal sperm. This research study was published in the May 13, 2011 edition of the journal Science.

Male Infertility Got You Down? 5 Ways to Boost Your Swimmers