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Assessing For Your Health
Mammography, an x-ray examination of the breast, detects early signs of breast cancer. The American Cancer Society recommends that mammography screening begin by age 40. Women ages 40 to 49 should get a mammogram every 1 to 2 years, depending on physical and mammographic findings. Women age 50 and older should get a mammogram yearly. High-risk women may be advised to have mammograms more often and at an earlier age.
Pelvic examination and Pap smears detect abnormalities of the ovaries, uterus, and cervix. The American Cancer Society recommends an annual Pap test starting at age 18 or when sexual activity begins, whichever comes first. Pap smears should not be done during the menstrual period. The test is more accurate during the first half of the cycle if oral contraceptives are taken. Midcycle is preferred in most other menstruating women. Regardless of when the test is done, the technician reading the smear must know whether you are taking oral contraceptives or estrogen-replacement therapy and when the last menstrual period began. Only with this information can the smear be accurately interpreted.
A complete eye examination includes a test for visual acuity; tonometry, a painless test for glaucoma; and cataract check. The American Academy of Ophthalmology recommends a complete eye examination from puberty to age 40 only if eye discomfort or vision problems occur. After age 40 a glaucoma test and cataract (a clouding over the lens) check should be done every 2 to 3 years.
AIDS Through Blood Transfusion – How to Be 100% Safe
If you have surgery and need a blood transfusion, how can you be sure the donated blood is free of the deadly AIDS virus? That’s a question many are asking since it was discovered that the fatal disease can be transmitted through blood transfusions.
Although every pint now undergoes strict testing to eliminate tainted blood, a small danger remains. Every blood donated will undergo screening for HIV virus, which leads to AIDS. Hepatitis B, syphilis and another rare form of hepatitis also are screened out. But even with screening that at least one pint in every 100,000 donations carries the AIDS infection and slips through to an unsuspecting recipient.
One sure way to avoid AIDS through transfusions is to donate your own blood and have it saved until you need it. A second sure way works like this, during surgery, the doctors collect blood seeping from your wounds, recycle it, and put it back in your body.
These techniques are called autologous transfusion. Autotransfusion is another term for the same thing. This means that you give your own blood back to yourself.
Easy CPR New and Simplified- Learn a Little, Save a Life
Just a few years ago, performing CPR on a victim meant that you had to remember to count the number of chest compressions you were giving, and remember to give rescue breaths between each set of compressions. Trying to remember all the steps, especially a few months or years after your CPR certification class, was sometimes daunting, especially in the face of an emergency situation. With swine flu, bird flu, hepatitis and HIV lurking about, more and more bystanders are becoming reluctant about going mouth to mouth with a stranger to give rescue breaths. We’ll things have change a lot over the past couple of years and American Heart, now has new guidelines. Presenting, the new CPR guidelines which feature no rescue breaths! Here’s the basic idea.
CPR used to involve complicated patterns of mouth to mouth breathing and compressions. The latest data however shows that the lungs already have enough oxygen in them to sustain life, without having to give additional breaths. BUT, you still have to circulate the blood to deliver oxygen to vital organs until more definitive medical treatment can restore a normal heart rhythm.
You must act quickly to ensure the survival of the victim as the lack of oxygen flowing to the brain, can cause permanent brain damage and lifelong incapacitaion in about 5 minutes. After 10 minutes without oxygen to the brain and vital organs, the victim may die. The following is a general guidleline and overview of the latest CPR techniques as outlined by the American Heart Association. I recommend you take a CPR certification class to ensure your skills.
