Obesity: A Growing Problem

by PlacidWay

Obesity: A Growing Problem

Obesity is a growing problem in the U.S. Not only does obesity cause a multitude of health and medical problems, it’s costing billions of dollars in rising healthcare costs. According to the CDC, costs associated with healthcare caused by obesity have reached alarming rates. In the past twenty years, obesity has risen nearly 30% throughout the country.

What is Overweight?
Health care providers determine whether a person is overweight or obese by taking a look at an individual’s BMI (Body Mass Index). How is this BMI calculated? Basically, the BMI is calculated by age, gender, height and weight. Using a CDC reference chart for example:

Height	Weight Range	BMI	Considered
5’9”	124 pounds or less	Below 18.5	Underweight
	125 to 168	18.5 to 24.9	Healthy weight
	169 to 202	25.0 to 29.9	Overweight
	203 pounds or more	30.0 or higher	Obese

How do you calculate the BMI?

A body mass index table will assess your height and weight to give you a rough idea of what your body mass index reading is. If you want to calculate it yourself, here’s the formula:

 BMI = (weight in pounds x 703) / height in inches squared

So, for example, a person weighs 185 pound and stands 5’9” (69 inches – 4761 inches squared). 185 x 703 = 130055. Divide by 4761 and you get 27.31674. Round off to 27.31. Look at the chart. This person falls in the ‘Overweight’ category.

Now, keep in mind that the BMI is just an average. There are different BMIs for children, teens and adults. The BMI can’t assess genetic or heredity information, environment, or metabolism. It’s used as a guide to help individuals track and maintain healthy weight averages.

How Did We Get Here?
Most obesity in the first decade of the 21st century is blamed on socioeconomic changes in our environment. With a fast food restaurant on every corner that offers, fast, convenient foods and drinks, eating a well balanced and nutritiously prepared meal at home is considered almost boring these days.
Unfortunately, such fast food is loaded with sugar and high-fat content. Coupled with decreasing amounts of exercise, it’s hardly surprising that Americans have created bulging bellies and jiggling read ends. What’s worse, the fat is killing us.

High cholesterol, high blood pressure and diabetes are afflicting younger people than ever before. Obesity holds the dubious recognition of being ranked among one of the highest causes of death-related illnesses and disease processes, including complications stemming from heart disease, diabetes and high cholesterol.

Help is Out There
Individuals who find themselves chronically or morbidly obese can get help. Today, numerous surgeries and procedures provide a variety of treatments that may help a person retain healthy weight and physical conditioning. Such procedures include but are not limited to:

• Weight-Loss Medications
• Bariatric Surgery
• Gastroplasty
• Lap Banding
• Sleeve Gastrectomy
• Gastric Bypass

Dealing with Costs
Unfortunately, such procedures in the United States cost tens of thousands of dollars, and many are not covered by traditional medical or health insurance plans. Who has time to wait? That’s why more men and women in the U.S. are opting to travel abroad for bariatric surgeries that don’t require year-long waits or that will leave you in debt for the rest of your life.

The most popular destinations for obesity surgeries include but are not limited to countries such as:

Mexico – Some popular gastric bypass surgery providers in Mexico include Mexicali Obesity Solutions or Almater Hospital in Mexicali, and Alejandro Aguirre Wallace in Ensinada or the Sanoviv Medical Institute on the Baja coast or The Bariatric Group from Texas offering best bariatric surgeries in Mexico.

India – A favorite destination of many, Artemis Hospital and Sahara Medical in Gurgaon offers several treatments and procedures. So does Tour2india4health Consultants in Mumbai.

Latin America – Facilities in Latin America offer popular gastric bypass treatments and procedures in exotic locales, such as Med Logistic Services in Colombia, Angels Abroad in Guatemala and the ever-popular GoSculptura and Dr. Marco More in Argentina

Costs of bariatric surgery abroad in such facilities such as these offer medical travelers savings between 30% to 75% over costs of same surgeries and procedures in the U.S., and without the long wait-times often required in the States.

For example, a laparoscopic gastric bypass procedure in the United States will cost roughly $30,000. In India, the cost averages about $16,500. In Mexico and South American destinations, costs may average between $9,800 and $13,000.

So what are you waiting for? Make a life-changing decision and optimize your health. You, and your body, will be glad you did.

Babies on the Way : Fertility Treatment Options for the 21st Century

Infertility is a subject that many couples don’t want to discuss, but it’s an issue that millions of couples around the world deal with on a daily basis. The causes of infertility are numerous, from lack of ovulation to low sperm counts in men. Infertility is not just a woman’s problem, but because of basic anatomy and physiology, women’s ‘plumbing’ so to speak, is more complex and therefore apt to contribute more difficulties to conception than males.

Increase Your Chances of Conception
However, there’s hope on the horizon – new techniques and options in infertility are available not only in the U.S. but also around the world. Common treatments today include:

• IVF (in vitro fertilization)
• OI (Ovulation induction)
• Clomid treatments
• AI (artificial insemination)
• ICSI (intracytoplasmic sperm injection)
• IUI (intrauterine insemination)
• Alternative Medicines

Whether you’re in your twenties or your forties, couples are finding new techniques to help their dreams of parenthood come true. Most fertility treatments help to increase the development of eggs within the ovary, which help to promote the chances of one of those eggs being fertilized by a sperm. For women who don’t have regular monthly cycles to those who just can seem to conceive due to ovulation difficulties, fertility treatments can help.

Treatments with drugs or medications are usually the first step, in an effort to try and stimulate and induce ovulation. These types of drugs are designed for women who have been diagnosed with ovulation difficulties and offers about an 80% success rate. Women who experience difficulties with follicle development, and thereby ovulation problems, may benefit from ovulation induction therapies, where hormones are given to stimulate follicle and egg development.

Intrauterine insemination is generally the next step in the infertility treatment process, also known as artificial insemination. Women experiencing fallopian tube defects or damage, as well as those with poor egg quality often benefit from this type of therapy. At this point, treatments can become quite expensive. Next often comes in vitro fertilization. This involves placement of an already fertilized egg into the woman’s uterus for implantation.

What Do Fertility Treatments Cost?
The cost of fertility treatments prohibit many couples from seeking treatments, but these days, many foreign destinations offer fertility programs that are affordable and effective. Fertility treatments in the United States may cost anywhere between $300 and $800 per treatment for intrauterine insemination (IUI) procedures, with couples required to undergo multiple treatments. Costs for in vitro fertilization (IVF) may cost between $8,000 and $10,000 with each attempt.

However, medical travelers to foreign destinations such as Mexico, South America, India, and Thailand can save thousands, up to 75% of costs in the U.S. Popular destinations that treat infertility such as:

• Almater Hospital in Mexicali, Mexico
• Superior A.R.T. in Bangkok, Thailand
• Roshni Poly Clinic, India
• Jordan Hospital in Amman, Jordan
• Medical Sense Group in Sao Paulo, Brazil
• Florence Nightingale Hospital in Istanbul, Turkey
• Angels Abroad, Guatemala

In the United States alone, more than 5 million couples deal with infertility issues every year. Fortunately, many of these couples have been helped through advancements in technology, both at home and abroad.

Lower costs in foreign destinations are not due to sub-standard care or training – quite the opposite. Lower costs are enjoyed because other countries don’t have to deal with the rising and often prohibitive costs of medical malpractice insurance that is rampant within the healthcare industry in the United States. Therefore, medical providers in other countries are able to perform such treatments, procedures and surgeries at huge savings to their patients.

Reap the Benefits of Fertilization Technology
Whether you decide to travel to Mexico, South America, or Asia for fertility treatments and procedures, chances are you’re going to be more than pleased with the results. Take a second honeymoon and take care of business while you’re there. Take the opportunity to create that family you long for, and without putting yourself in debt for the rest of your life. Medical travel is the wave of the future for millions of couples around the world – so check it out and find a facility that can offer a realization to your dreams.

Gastric Bypass: Travel to Guatemala or Loose my home? – Angels Abroad

Mrs. Margaret Mckenzie, a nurse from Grass Valley, California, made a trip to Guatemala. She contacted a company named, Angels Abroad, and through them, contacted Dr. Rodrigo Gonzalez Toledo, a bariatric surgeon trained in the US. She had an open gastric bypass on September 6th 2008, at Las Americas Hospital in Guatemala city.

What is interesting about this story is that, Mrs. Mckenzie has a health insurance, and they can cover a gastric bypass. The problem is that she didn’t had enough money to pay a co-payment and deductible. Co-payment was US $24,000.

It was cheaper to pay an air ticket to go to Guatemala, plus, ground transportation, cell phone, concierge service, meals, hotel, all medical expenses including 4 nights at a 5-star hospital, nurse service, a tour to a tourist attraction and she paid for her companion expenses. All these was less expensive than using her own health insurance. She saved US $10,000.

Due to her weight loss, Mrs. Mckenzie is going to be able to have a better life.

With tears in her eyes, she told that if she had surgery in the US, she probably had to mortgage, for second time, her house. This is a reality americans are considering, to travel abroad to have invasive surgeries, not just cosmetic. Though it is a hard decision to travel to a called “third world country”, and find physicians trained in the US, using state of the art technology, it is becoming necessary, for americans to survive and not loose all of their money in the process.

Please click here to request additional information from Angels Abroad.

Health Tourism Portal Expands Global Provider Partnerships

PlacidWay, a health & wellness tourism web portal, recently expanded its number of partnerships with healthcare providers abroad, following a company directive to increase its offerings to health tourism consumers. Previously, the site has attracted partnerships from healthcare providers in India, Thailand, Malaysia, Argentina, Panama, South Africa and Poland. Recent additions include providers based in Brazil, Costa Rica, Bolivia, Mexico, Guatemala, Singapore, Norway, South Korea, Hungary, United States, and Croatia.

Attention to the needs of both sides of the health tourism coin—consumers and healthcare providers—has been a differentiator for the web portal. “Our partnership with PlacidWay has resulted in an increased interest in our facility by health tourists” said Dr. Ismael Naypa of Yanhee International Hospital in Bangkok, Thailand. “PlacidWay has worked with us to ensure that we had all the knowledge, resources and tools needed to attract new clients.”

As healthcare providers around the world realize the advantages of marketing on a global basis, they have turned to PlacidWay to establish their brand and gain greater visibility. “We recently identified health tourism as a key strategy for expanding our client base” said Abhik Moitra of Artemis Health Institute in India. “By partnering with PlacidWay, we have stepped out into the world arena and have become more competitively and prominently marketed.”

Health tourism is a centuries-old industry that has recently experienced explosive growth, and one that continues to grow as rising healthcare costs, overburdened public healthcare systems, increased interest in alternative/holistic medicine and less expensive procedures abroad prompt health and wellness seekers to travel beyond their backyard for more affordable options.

“PlacidWay has become a leading authority in the field of health tourism through its vision, commitment to service and determination to be the most complete resource possible” said Pramod Goel, President of PlacidWay. “We offer world class healthcare providers in exotic destinations, a formidable knowledge and information base, quick response turnaround and a one-stop approach to booking a health tourism experience.”

For more information on PlacidWay, go to www.placidway.com.

Upcoming Trends in Cosmetic Surgery

Cosmetic surgery has enjoyed a long and illustrious history not only in the United States but also around the world. Recently, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons released results surrounding the rising numbers of individuals choosing cosmetic surgical procedures since the year 2000. Everything from breast lifts to Botox to tummy tucks, cosmetic surgical procedures are growing in popularity around the world. Medical tourists are able to enjoy a wide selection of minimally invasive, surgical, and reconstructive cosmetic surgical procedures in the future as trends continue to attract the attention of baby boomers, all socioeconomic demographics and genders both domestically and abroad.

Top Five Cosmetic Surgical Procedures
While techniques and methods used in a variety of cosmetic procedures are continually advancing, 2008 saw a large increase in injectable and noninvasive treatments such as Botox, as well as breast augmentation procedures. Studies have shown that over 10 million cosmetic plastic surgery procedures were performed in the year 2005 alone, a nearly 40% increase since the turn of the new century. According to the American Society of Plastic Surgeons, the global market now exceeds $30 billion, with a sustainable compound annual growth rate in the range of 25%.

According to recent statistics, the top trends in cosmetic surgery include:

• Breast augmentation
• Breast lift
• Dermabrasion
• Tummy tuck
• Botox treatments
• Laser skin resurfacing

Who Is Having Plastic Surgery?
The trend seems to be showing a desire to minimalize and reduce the effects of aging, and this desire does not seem to be limited to baby boomers. Individuals as young as 25 and 30 years old are engaging in minimally invasive cosmetic procedures such as Botox and laser skin resurfacing as well as dermabrasion.

Read complete story at PlacidWay.com

Health & Wellness Tourism: The Next Great Healthcare Frontier

Have you ever traveled faraway to an exotic land? Have you marveled at their geography, their culture or way of life? Countries such as Thailand, India, South Africa, Poland, and even Costa Rica & Croatia have hidden treasures of which you may not be aware – treasures that once discovered can change your life and your health forever. This is why Health & Wellness Tourism (or Medical Tourism) is becoming one of the fastest growing industries of the decade. The dual experiences of addressing the needs of your body, mind and soul in locations that offer the lure of foreign and mysterious locales is irresistible. Add lower costs for procedures, cutting edge technology and physicians of the highest caliber, and a healthy, new you is just a plane ticket away.

Some may believe that going outside of the United States for surgeries is risky business, but did you know that many of the most technologically advanced medical centers are located outside of the United States? The growing trend of attracting international patients around the world has evened the playing field, so to speak, and patients around the world have more choices when it comes to choosing surgeons and physicians to treat them and their conditions. Especially in the medical field, borders are dissolving.

People are traveling out of country and even to places within their own country to seek both modern and alternative health services. Places like Singapore, Thailand and India (famous for all surgeries such as orthopedics, heart, cosmetic), Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Costa Rica and South Africa (cosmetic and dental) use modern technologies and procedures while offering world class treatment for less money. This is because in places such as the United States, doctors have to pay such outrageous rent, medical insurance and licensing fees that they have to hike up their prices just to make ends meet. In other countries the cost for these items is much less and therefore doctors can charge less for their procedures.

For example, a heart surgery requiring the replacement of one or more heart valves costs around $200,000 in the United States. The same procedure is performed for under $15,000 in India or Malaysia–that cost includes the services of a highly skilled and trained heart specialist, transportation and accommodation fees and a few extra days to enjoy the sites of your planned vacation as well. Other procedures follow suit. Facelifts can cost $20,000 in the U.S. but are available in other global destinations for around $2,500. Dental bridges cost around $5,500 in the U.S. but only around $200 in India. The list goes on.

Read complete story on Medical Tourism at PlacidWay.com

Do you see what I see?

LASIK is the safest and most accurate method to correct short-sight (Myopia), long-sight (Hyperopia), astigmatism (Cylindrical powers) and other corneal scarring disorders.  Essentially, the basis for all laser eye surgery is to reshape the cornea to the point that it changes the focal point of the eye.  During this procedure, the focal point is changed so that it focuses perfectly on the retina. 

LASIK procedures have been around since 1988.  The procedure has already gained wide acceptance worldwide with over 5 million people in USA and millions more worldwide have undergone LASIK surgery.

Contact lenses are often the chosen alternative to LASIK eye surgery, with many arguing they are safer and cheaper to use.  However, contact lenses require special care and maintenance, or they can seriously damage the eye.  As well, while contact lenses are cheaper in the short-term, they cost more in the long-term and contribute to the garbage waste of societies the world over.  Using contact lenses for five years will equal the cost of a LASIK treatment, which lasts for much longer. 

In terms of shelling out recurring costs like contact lenses or glasses, the possibility of a one-stop-fix-all solution like LASIK means that those who get the surgery will not have to buy another contact lens or eyeglasses ever again.  For many, the cost of the LASIK surgery is worth the price of never having to put in, nor take out, contact lenses again.

 

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