Endless Health Informations

ISP To Host A2K3 Conference September 8-10 in Geneva

2008-05-09T23:57:00.001-07:00

The Information Society Project (ISP) at Yale Law School will host the third Access to Knowledge Conference (A2K3) September 8-10, 2008, in Geneva, Switzerland. It will be held at the Geneva International Conference Centre and will bring together hundreds of decision-makers and experts on global knowledge to discuss the urgent need for policy reforms.

“Opening up access to knowledge is a demand of global justice; it is both a human rights issue and a crucial factor in spurring economic development and technological innovation,” said Yale Law School Professor Jack Balkin, founder and director of the ISP.

The ISP is collaborating on the conference with an international team of partners representing academia, civil society, industry, and government.

“The A2K community has grown exponentially in the last three years, and it is time to move this perspective to the mainstream of international policy-making,” said Lea Shaver, ISP’s Access to Knowledge Program Director. “The A2K3 will address crucial topics related to global knowledge policy, including innovation systems, digital education, Internet governance, climate change, public health, and human rights.”

This year’s A2K conference coincides with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) annual assemblies, being held in Geneva later that month.

“The location and timing of A2K3 were strategically chosen, and we hope to influence the discussions at the WIPO and other forums,” acknowledged Sisule Musungu, ISP Senior Fellow and the conference organizer.

At the conference, the ISP plans to launch the A2K Global Academy, a new network of academic centers dedicated to research, education, and policy advice promoting access to knowledge. The Global Academy already counts as partners Brazil, China, Egypt, South Africa, and the United States but intends to expand to include more academic centers.

The first Access to Knowledge conference was convened in 2006 to explore knowledge policy reform and to promote innovation, economic growth, and international development. The ISP at Yale Law School was founded in 1997 by Professor Jack Balkin to study the impact of the Internet and new information technologies on law and society.

Herbal Products and Supplements: What You Should Know

2008-05-09T23:25:00.000-07:00

This information was developed as part of an educational program made possible by an unrestricted educational grant from McNeil Consumer & Specialty Pharmaceuticals.

Are herbal health products and supplements safe because they’re natural?

Not necessarily. Don’t think that herbal health products and supplements are safer than medicines just because they occur in nature or come from plants. After all, many plants are poisonous! Although herbal products and supplements are advertised as “natural,” they aren’t necessarily natural to the human body.

Unlike prescription and over-the-counter (OTC) medicines, herbal products and supplements don’t have to be tested to prove they work well and are safe before they’re sold. Also, they may not be pure. They might contain other ingredients, such as plant pollen, that could make you sick. Sometimes they contain drugs that aren’t listed on the label, such as steroids or estrogens. Some of these products may even contain toxic (poisonous) substances, such as arsenic, mercury, lead and pesticides.

What types of herbal products and supplements are available?

Hundreds of herbal products and supplements are available. They are advertised to treat just about any symptom. However, trustworthy evidence usually doesn’t exist to support these advertising claims.

Some of the most popular herbal products and supplements include chondroitin sulfate, echinacea, ephedra (also called ma huang), garlic, ginkgo biloba, ginseng, glucosamine, kava, melatonin, phytoestrogens (such as black cohosh, dong quai and soy), saw palmetto and St. John’s wort.

Do any health problems increase the danger of taking herbal products and supplements?

Yes. Herbal products and supplements may not be safe if you have certain health problems. You also may be at increased risk of problems from these products if you are elderly. Talk to your doctor before taking herbal products if you have any of the following health problems:

Blood clotting problems
Cancer
Diabetes
An enlarged prostate gland
Epilepsy
Glaucoma
Heart disease
High blood pressure
Immune system problems
Psychiatric problems
Parkinson’s disease
Liver problems
Stroke
Thyroid problems

If you are going to have surgery, be sure to tell your doctor if you use herbal products. Herbal products can cause problems with surgery, including bleeding and problems with anesthesia. Stop using herbal products at least 2 weeks before surgery, or sooner if your doctor recommends it.

Lancet: Combating Counterfeit Drugs

2008-05-09T23:16:00.000-07:00

LONDON, May 8, 2008-This week’s lead Editorial in The Lancet discusses the growing problem of counterfeit drugs, highlighting a possible counterfeiting case in America in which a contaminant found in batches of heparin is believed to have killed at least 81 patients.

The Editorial says that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has seen an 800% increase in the number of new counterfeit cases between 2000 and 2006. In developing countries, where drug regulatory systems can be weak or non-existent, around 10–30% of medicines might be counterfeit. Antimalarials have been a particular target for counterfeiters, and fakes have flooded the market in many Asian countries.

WHO, countries and the pharmaceutical industry all have their part to play in the fight against counterfeit drugs. The Editorial says: "According to WHO, only 20% of its member states have well-developed drug regulatory systems, and around 30% have no or weak drug regulation... Drug authorities also need to work effectively with customs, the police, scientists, health workers, WHO, and INTERPOL. This type of collaborative approach has proved successful in tackling counterfeit antimalarials in southeast Asia. The pharmaceutical industry should be legally required to report suspected cases of counterfeiting to the relevant national drug authority—a practice which is currently voluntary. Companies must also be encouraged to lower the prices of their products in developing countries to reduce the economic incentive for counterfeiters."

It concludes: "There is no magic bullet to deal with counterfeit medicines. Countries need to adopt multipronged, multidisciplinary approaches to combat the problem. WHO and donor countries should provide support to developing nations to strengthen their drug regulatory systems. But individual governmental commitment to this goal is essential. Without it, public safety will continue to be compromised."

Students Compete to Mount Best Defense Against Malicious Hackers

2008-05-09T23:13:00.000-07:00

Brandon Hladysh's business was in trouble. Mr. Hladysh, a junior at Baker College of Flint, in southern Michigan, was supposed to be managing the computer network of a small company, but hackers had attacked, and several of his computer servers were down. In a battle with unseen enemies on the network, Mr. Hladysh and his colleagues thought they were losing.

It was scant consolation that the struggle wasn't real. It was the end of the first day of the National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, held last month in San Antonio.

The Baker College group was one of 56 teams that had entered state and regional contests this spring. "It's sort of like March Madness, but with computers," said the competition's director, Dwayne E. Williams, an assistant director of the Center for Information Assurance and Security, at the University of Texas at San Antonio. The top six, including Mr. Hladysh's team, had been flown to San Antonio for the national finals, with tickets paid for largely by a grant from the Department of Homeland Security.

The need for colleges to graduate students who understand computer security is growing. The Internet Crime Complaint Center, a partnership of the FBI; the National White Collar Crime Center; and the Bureau of Justice Assistance, in the Department of Justice, reported more than 90,000 crimes in 2007, with reported financial losses of almost $240-million. The goal of the competition is to increase interest in computer security and improve training for network defenders.

Each team was given a fictional business network created by the contest organizers. Over the next three days, the teams had to defend their networks from a set of elite hackers — in reality, eight security professionals. At the same time, organizers peppered the students with requests to expand the network and add new business capabilities.

Emphasis on 'Defense'

The competition reflects a shift in computer-security education. Efforts to give students experience with techniques they read about in books have usually met with resistance. In fact, practical training has been seen as dangerous.

For example, in 2002, Gregory B. White, an associate professor of computer science at San Antonio, put together a course on penetration testing, in which students would look for ways an attacker could penetrate, or break into, a network. Computer-security professionals conduct such tests in order to improve network security. But Mr. White says he faced criticism that the tools and techniques he was teaching students could be used to attack as well as defend a network.

So in 2005, when he decided to start a regional computer-security competition — the precursor to last month's national contest — Mr. White was not surprised by some of the responses. "We had a lot of folks worrying that it would look like we were creating a hacking contest," he says. It's no accident that the competition has the word "defense" in its title.

The idea was endorsed by a panel convened by the National Science Foundation the year before, so Mr. White pressed ahead.

In the contest, students are allowed to scan their own networks for vulnerabilities, but if they start poking at another team's networks, they will be disqualified.

The U.S. military academies sponsor a similar defensive contest, the Cyber Defense Exercise, or CDX, which Mr. White looked to as a model.

Not all competitions require students to be on such good behavior, however. Giovanni Vigna, an associate professor of computer science at the University of California at Santa Barbara, runs a security contest each December. A team of his graduate students is pitted against teams from across the United States, Europe, Australia, and South America in a competition that could be thought of as an ultimate fighting match waged on keyboards. Playing over a private network, each of the 30-odd competing teams attacks the others and attempts to defend its own network.

"The students love it. They say, wow, instead of being there doing some boring test, here I am hacking," says Mr. Vigna, who just received a $200,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to expand the competition. "Even if they're getting hacked to pieces, if they hack into one thing, they are so excited."

Most important, he says, the contest is a valuable teaching tool for aspiring security professionals, who must understand precisely how attacks work, and how to think like an attacker, if they are going to be effective defenders.

The Tavern Challenge

But other academics see risks in Mr. Vigna's approach to contests. "I don't disagree with him. I like Giovanni," says Lt. Col. Ronald C. Dodge, an associate dean at the U.S. Military Academy who leads the CDX. But unlike Mr. Vigna's graduate students, he notes, those at West Point are undergraduates training to be infantry officers. While some might eventually specialize in computer security, he says, "what we didn't want to have was the perception that the service academies were training hackers."

San Antonio's Mr. White and Mr. Williams, too, say their students get enough practical training, and excitement, just playing defense.

Mr. Hladysh, the Baker College competitor, says the weekend in San Antonio pushed him and his teammates to a new level. At the end of that difficult first day, they had failed at the first two technical and business tasks the contest had set. And there were those downed servers. So he called a team meeting at a local pub called Tex's Sports Bar.

"After quite a few hours down at the bar, we came up with a long list of solutions" that they tried out as soon as they walked in the door the next morning," he says. By the end of the weekend, the Baker team had bested the previous year's returning champions, a team from Texas A&M University at College Station.

A day later, Mr. Hladysh still sounded surprised by the victory: "Our team isn't just folks who get full-ride scholarships or have 4.0 GPA's." If they were, he said, they would probably be at a computer-science powerhouse like the University of Michigan. What they did have was a will to win. "Our team is just really dedicated," Mr. Hladysh said.

Information technology

2008-05-09T23:04:00.000-07:00

Information Technology (IT), as defined by the Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), is "the study, design, development, implementation, support or management of computer-based information systems, particularly software applications and computer hardware." IT deals with the use of electronic computers and computer software to convert, store, protect, process, transmit, and securely retrieve information.

Today, the term information technology has ballooned to encompass many aspects of computing and technology, and the term is more recognizable than ever before. The information technology umbrella can be quite large, covering many fields. IT professionals perform a variety of duties that range from installing applications to designing complex computer networks and information databases. A few of the duties that IT professionals perform may include data management, networking, engineering computer hardware, database and software design, as well as the management and administration of entire systems. When computer and communications technologies are combined, the result is information technology, or "infotech". Information Technology (IT) is a general term that describes any technology that helps to produce, manipulate, store, communicate, and/or disseminate information. Presumably, when speaking of Information Technology (IT) as a whole, it is noted that the use of computers and information are associated.

Online information resources at Endlessinformations.com

2008-04-22T01:27:00.000-07:00

Online information resources at Endlessinformations.com provides Weather Information, Health Information, Drug Information, Medical Information, Company Information, Business Information, Financial Information, Corporate Information & Travel Information Management.

For visitors who are interested in health and fitness will get information’s at ENDLESSINFORMATIONS.com on diet, health, medical & many more. For businessman’s we have listed legal information’s, management, financial, debt consolidation and corporate information related sites. For the traveler’s, site related to travel information are listed at ENDLESSINFORMATIONS.com Weather information’s for viewing the climate condition. If you require information about bankruptcy, our sites directory list various website related to bankruptcy. You will also get other site related to career, community, computers & consumer information. Other miscellaneous information such as referral services, society, technology and many more are available. It also includes much other information related to drug, company, management, financial, consumer, etc… which are in short described below.

Prescription drugs information and news for professionals and consumers. Search our drug database for comprehensive prescription and patient information on 24,000 drugs online. There is a great deal of public company research that you can do on the Internet. It is a bit more difficult to get information on private companies. Company information is prevalent because both companies and investment firms are giving away free information so that investors will invest in stocks. Improving information management practices is a key focus for many organizations, across both the public and private sectors. In many cases, information management has meant deploying new technology solutions, such as content or document management systems, data warehousing or portal applications. Endlessinformations is fully committed in providing up to date and regular financial information to all its investors. Versions of annual report are available, as well as the recent financial press releases. Consumer information guides covering a variety of topics including children, consumer products and services, environment, food, health, housing and finance. It provides information on consumer protection laws in thirteen countries and offers consumers a way to file complaints online.

If you require any additional information’s which is not mentioned above than please visit our endless information directory. So go and start browsing our website Endlessinformations.com

A "Healthy" Move That Can Hurt You

2008-04-11T22:41:00.001-07:00

When celebs such as Beyonce and Gwyneth rave about a detox diet, it's easy to think they're onto something. Who wouldn't want to lose 5 pounds in three days? But the truth is, these plans aren't good for you and could even make you sick. SELF went to top women's-health experts to bust the biggest myths.

THE MYTH. You'll clear disease-causing toxins.

THE FACTS. "The body isn't a cesspool that needs to be drained," says David Robbins, M.D., assistant professor of medicine at Beth Israel Medical Center in New York City. Your intestines were made to hold and eliminate toxins. As long as you eat a complete diet with plenty of fiber, they do their job fine.

THE MYTH. You'll shed pounds quickly.

THE FACTS. Some diets ban solid food, but "weight you lose on a liquid diet is mainly water," says Dawn Jackson Blatner, R.D., a spokeswoman in Chicago for the American Dietetic Association. "When you reintroduce solid foods, you'll gain it back." SELF's Jump Start Diet on page 77 is a better plan.

THE MYTH. You'll feel more energized.

THE FACTS. If your diet is high in refined carbs, you will get a temporary lift when you cut them out, Jackson Blatner says. But that's because you're eating healthier and avoiding sugar highs and lows. Eliminating food groups, especially protein, or fasting will tucker you out.

Mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s

2008-04-11T22:39:00.000-07:00

New technologies help determine whether cognitive impairment will lead to Alzheimer’s, from the Harvard Mental Health Letter

With nearly 10 million baby boomers at risk for developing Alzheimer’s disease, researchers are taking a closer look at a condition known as mild cognitive impairment. This is a state between the normal forgetfulness that comes with aging and the more pronounced thinking deficits of dementia. Mild cognitive impairment often progresses to Alzheimer’s disease, but some people remain stable and others recover. New technology is improving the ability to determine who might fall into each category, reports the April 2008 issue of the Harvard Mental Health Letter. These developments are promising because they are occurring just as the first disease-modifying drugs for Alzheimer’s have reached late-stage clinical testing.

One technology, fluorodeoxyglucose positron emission tomography (FDG-PET), measures blood glucose metabolism in the cerebral cortex. Diminished glucose uptake suggests that neurons are not as active. Clinicians can also measure brain volume changes with volumetric MRI to detect shrinkage, which is typical in Alzheimer’s. These techniques are likely to prove most useful when combined with detection of newly discovered proteins believed to be the first signs of Alzheimer’s.

If one of these technologies—or a combination—can reliably predict which people with cognitive impairment are likely to progress to Alzheimer’s, scientists might be able to determine who should get the disease-modifying medications now in development. And they might be able to predict which healthy people are most likely to get mild cognitive impairment, and try to prevent it.

The technologies and medications needed to predict and prevent mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s are still in the early stages of development, but the Harvard Mental Health Letter says that this research will almost certainly lead to better treatments.

Hormone therapy for prostate cancer

2008-04-11T22:38:00.000-07:00

Caution advised when using hormone therapy for prostate cancer, reports the Harvard Heart Letter

In men with localized but aggressive prostate cancer, the combination of testosterone-lowering therapy and radiation improves survival substantially more than radiation therapy alone. But testosterone-lowering therapy isn’t so hot for the heart, reports the April issue of the Harvard Heart Letter. Low testosterone can increase harmful LDL cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure, and weight. It can also make arteries stiffer, promote formation of artery-clogging plaque, and allow blood clots to form more readily.

Preliminary results show that testosterone-lowering therapy is associated with more diabetes, more heart disease, and earlier heart attacks. However, this hormone therapy does have a significant benefit in curing prostate cancer. For instance, one study of patients with localized but unfavorable prostate cancer found that about 90% of otherwise healthy men who underwent radiation and hormone therapy were still alive after eight years, compared with about 65% of those who had only radiation therapy. The reverse was true among those with moderate or severe health problems in addition to their prostate cancer: only about 25% of those who underwent the combination were still alive, compared with 55% of those who had radiation alone.

These findings don’t mean hormone therapy should be off limits. Quite the contrary—suppressing testosterone is a life-prolonging addition to radiation therapy for men with locally advanced prostate cancer or cancer that has spread. The Harvard Heart Letter suggests that hormone therapy be used with caution in men who have had a heart attack or who are at high risk for cardiovascular disease.

Also in this issue:

Angioplasty or bypass surgery?
Study results on cholesterol drug Vytorin
Tiny arteries and chest pain
Vitamin D and the heart
Aldosterone follow-up
WelChol and blood sugar control
Ask the doctor: Warfarin and vitamin K; Different kinds of stress tests; and ADHD medications and the heart

Managing common conditions without medication

2008-04-11T22:35:00.000-07:00

Managing seven common conditions without medication, from the Harvard Health Letter

We’ve gotten used to taking pills for everything that ails us, but medications have side effects and cost money. The April 2008 issue of the Harvard Health Letter takes a look at how to manage seven common conditions without taking medication. It takes some discipline, but in many cases, the nonpharmacological approach can do as much as pills.

Here’s a brief look at the conditions and treatments:

Arthritis: There’s a good chance that losing weight will make arthritis less painful. Combine weight loss with exercise and you may have less pain and more mobility. Even for those who don’t need to lose weight, exercise that doesn’t put “load” on the joints reduces pain.

Cholesterol: Your LDL level may drop by 5% or so if you keep foods high in saturated fat off the menu. Additional soluble fiber may reduce LDL levels as well. So can margarines fortified with sterols.

Cognitive decline: Memory training and other “brain exercises” seem to help healthy older people stay sharp. But physical exercise may benefit the brain more than mental gymnastics.

Depression: Studies have shown that regular physical activity can have a potent antidepressant effect.

Diabetes: Regular physical activity is a powerful brake on blood sugar levels as well, because exercised muscle becomes more receptive to the insulin that helps it pull sugar in from the bloodstream. Eating fewer sweets and easy-to-digest carbohydrates also helps control blood sugar levels.

High blood pressure: Losing weight, getting more exercise, and eating less sodium all lower blood pressure.

Osteoporosis: Weight-bearing exercise puts stress on bones, and bone tissue reacts by getting stronger and denser, fending off osteoporotic processes. Extra vitamin D and calcium top the list of dietary recommendations.

Government Weather Information Services

2008-04-11T22:23:00.000-07:00

National Weather Service Forecast Offices on the Web
National Weather Service Homepage has NWS text and image products online.
National Hurricane Center provides current bulletins and data on hurricanes in the FFCantic, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico and eastern Pacific Ocean. Some historical data is also available.
NOAA's Hurricane Research Division has information about their ongoing research projects and images of some of the storms, including some spectacular reconaissance photographs.
NOAA's National Data Buoy Center provides current and recent weather observations from meteorological observing platforms in the the FFCantic, Pacifc, Gulf of Mexico, Great Lakes and Northern Europe.
NWS Tallahassee's Interactive Tropical Weather web site provides the latest advisories and discussions as well as satellite and buoy data for storms that form in the FFCantic basin. Limited radar data is also available.
National Severe Storms Laboratory has information about their ongoing research in the realm of severe storms as well as some mesonet data.
Hydrometeorological Prediction Center (HPC) produces analyses and forecasts for National Weather Service field offices and and the public from the current time out to seven days.
National Climatic Data Center (NCDC) is the national storehouse for U.S. weather and climatic data records.
Climate Prediction Center Long-Range Forecasts Climate and Long-Range prediction.
Climate Diagnostic Center

Consolidate Your Credit Card Dept

2008-03-19T22:16:00.000-07:00

With the popularity of plastic money in the present age, credit cards are gaining immense importance. With the growing increase in usage of such cards the credit rates are also reaching the horizon. Debts are thus becoming a common happening in our daily lives. People who are under the claws of credit card debts need to give a serious thought to debt consolidation and lighten their burden. In the US more than half of the population have an average of $8000 debts, only because of the usage of credit cards.

You must be eager to know:
(1) How does debt consolidation helps in case of credit card debts?
(2) How consolidating my credit card debts could be beneficial?

A credit card debt consolidation loan can be a resource to consolidate the outstanding balances on your cards into one single loan. They can also be transferred to one single card that has a lower interest rate than the ones you are currently paying. The path to savings should be very cautiously chalked out and one needs to make calculated moves all the time. When you are paying high interest rates on some of your current credit cards then it might be a wise idea to go for a balance transfer onto another credit card or cards that have relatively low interest rate. Know more about balance transfer in the "members only" contents. We offer free membership. Calculate the interest on your credit card debts and transfer it accordingly.

The ideal way to consolidate your credit card debts!

In order to make you understand better we have a small example of how consolidating your credit card debt could be beneficial.
Let's say you have $100 in outstanding credit card debt and the average annual percentage rate (APR) on that card or cards is 18 %( which is the average). If the outstanding balance remains at $100 then over the course of a year you would pay approximately $18 in interest charges alone. If you consolidate your credit card debt into a single loan with a lower interest rate or if you do a balance transfer onto a credit card or cards with a low interest rate you would save a significant amount of money.

If the new loan or credit card have a 9% APR then you would save roughly $10 in interest charges over the course of that same year. If you save $10 for a debt of $100, then think about a debt of $10,000. This trick will save you $1,000 over the course of that same year. Just think of $1, 00,000 debts; you can save $10,000. And this amount of $10,000 can be used to repay some of your debts. Life becomes easy with simple calculations and cautious moves.

If you are under a mountain of debts our experts will help you to consolidate your debts and help you tread you into a debt free land. Consolidating your debt is perhaps the fastest, safest and best way today to get rid of your financial obligations and we are experts in this field. Fill our free membership form to view all the alternatives. With debt consolidation we are here to consolidate all your financial loans in a single monthly payment. Thus we help you take the first step nearer to freedom.

Debt Consolidation Loan - Debt Consolidation Program

2008-03-19T22:15:00.000-07:00

Need of a Debt Consolidation Loan

Most all of us have bills. We have rent or mortgage, electric, gas, water and other utilities. But most of us also have student loans, credit card bills and more. Debt is an easy thing to acquire and a harder thing to get rid of.

It’s very easy to use those charge cards you were saving “for an emergency” and very quickly it can spiral out of control. If you also have student loans, car loans or other types of bills, it all just adds up. If you need to consolidate debt, you are not alone. Those late fees and interest charges add up and it can be very overwhelming.

How a Debt Consolidation Loan can help you?

A debt consolidation loan basically takes all of your bills, such as those from credit card companies, household bills etc. Then, they are all consolidated into one monthly payment which is lower than the sum of payments on individual debts. Then, as long as you are able to make this one monthly payment, your credit will remain in good standing and you will be working toward the goal to get your bills paid off.

Looking For A Debt Consolidation Loan ? Apply Now !

Debt Consolidation Program - An option to Avoid Bankruptcy

Many people feel pushed up against a wall and may think their only option is bankruptcy and they later regret the effect it has on their credit. Debt consolidation can save you from this. A debt consolidation program can help you manage your money troubles and it’s typically as easy as a simple phone call.

A debt consolidation program will help you pay off all your debts and stop the creditors from harassing you. In addition, you will also have the benefit of fewer interest and late charges from each individual creditor since they will all be combined. Free debt consolidation information can be obtained from the internet and from companies that provide debt consolidation loans.

How we can help you Consolidate Debt?

Apart from getting a solution to your debt and credit problems, you can also seek budget and financial counseling to help you manage better in the future. There are debt consolidation companies designed to help you ease your financial worries. So, if you want to stop over complicating life by having to make multiple payments each month, why not unravel the financial confusion and apply now for a debt consolidation loan.

What is Debt Consolidation?

2008-03-19T22:14:00.001-07:00

Debt consolidation is taking out one loan to pay off others. This is usually done to get a lower interest rate, a fixed interest rate or for the convenience of paying only one loan. The purpose of consolidating debts is to bring together all your existing credit card, store card, personal loan, and overdraft debts into one single loan.

Some of the advantages for consolidating your debts are as follows:

As you will be borrowing a larger amount for a longer term, the interest rate should be much lower than the rate you are paying now on each separate credit account.

Shopping around for the best deal should also reduce your interest rate on your debt consolidation loan.

With only one loan payment, managing your finances should be much easier than having several payments to think about.

As long as you remove your credit cards from your wallet, (even better if you cut them up), you will see your level of debt gradually decrease month by month.

In the case of an emergency you will no longer worry about having to use your credit card and being close to your overdraft limit.

A wide range of consolidation loans are available from your regular banks, credit unions, online banks, as well as from supermarkets or general finance firms.

Need to weigh the pros and cons? Click here.

Debt Consolidation

2008-03-19T22:13:00.000-07:00

Unsecured Debt Consolidation Loans

Do you, like so many others, have unsecured debt that has become a financial burden? An unsecured debt consolidation loan will save you time, energy and, most importantly, money.

Consolidate those unsecured debts such as high-interest credit cards and other bills into an easy-to-pay low-interest monthly payment. Relieve yourself of the stress of harassing creditors and bad credit with our guaranteed debt consolidation counseling.

Our debt consolidation service will assist you through the comfortable transition to uniform payments.

Unsecured debt consolidation loans are the answer to your high-interest debt problems and are available to help you become debt free..

Christians Debt Consolidation Programs

2008-03-19T22:12:00.000-07:00

Are you a Christian overwhelmed with Debt? Many Christians are, and not always because of poor spending habits. It could be due to major unplanned expenses such as medical bills or damage to your house or car not covered by insurance. Whatever the reason, if you are buried under debt then Christian Debt Consolidation Programs is for you. Owned and operated by a born-again Christian, this website has as its goal to help fellow Christians find the right resources to get their debt under control and, one day, become debt free!

Before you commit to any debt consolidation program, Christian or non-Christian, please make sure you read through the information on this site. The world of debt and financing is full of "less-than-honest" operators, and you need to make sure you know what you are doing before you sign on the dotted line.

Personal Debt Consolidation Information

2008-03-19T22:11:00.000-07:00

What exactly is debt consolidation?
Debt consolidation is simply a process by which an individual obtains a loan in order to use it to pay off other non-secured consumer loans and credit cards.

Why is debt consolidation done?
The main objective is to obtain a low interest rate loan, with low monthly payments, while not adversely affecting your overall credit rating or putting other assets that you may have at risk. In many cases, individuals have numerous credit card and loan debts at varied (but usually high) rates of interest, so debt consolidation is definitely a smart way for these individuals to ease their monthly debt payment obligations, and reduce their long term payback commitments.

Where can you get a debt consolidation loan?
Numerous 'brick and mortar' and online financial institutions offer debt consolidation loans. Most offer free consultation as to the best and most cost-effective debt consolidation route for you to take, and typically, no upfront fees are usually charged for disbursing these loans. Despite this however, before you sign or give your OK, you should always ask what fees will apply to it.

Other smart questions to ask before getting a debt consolidation loan

(1) As stated above, you need to ask WHAT FEES SPECIFICALLY APPLY TO THE LOAN. If fees are charged, they are typically low, but high fees are definitely not the norm for individuals doing debt consolidation.

(2) WHAT IS THE INTEREST RATE. On your part, for the debt consolidation to make sense, the interest rate HAS to be lower than the current rate(s) that you pay on the debt that you are consolidating. Obviously, a high interest rate will prevent you from paying the consolidation loan off, and you should also try to get a fixed interest rate (so that your payments do not change over time).

(3) Related to (2) above, you also need to ask WHAT ARE THE PAYMENTS ON THE LOAN. Again, it makes sense that the payment should be lower than the amount you were paying before the debt consolidation.

It is important to note that a debt consolidation loan only makes sense if you actually use it to get out of debt, and you actually have a plan - a plan that includes not getting back into the same bad debt situation in a few weeks, months or years.

What is a School Loan Consolidation?

2008-03-19T22:09:00.000-07:00

School loan consolidation is the process of taking your current school loans, and paying them off with one new consolidation loan. Students who have gone to school for 4+ years, and received Federal student loans will have amassed a large, deferred loan balance by the time they graduate. In many instances, several types of loans will have been used, with various interest rates and monthly payments. A school consolidation loan pays off all of these loans, and gives you one, easy payment to a single lender.

Reduces your monthly considerably.
Locks in your interest rates
Simplifies your finances by having you make only one payment a month
Improves your credit rating
Saves you money today when you need it most
Provides flexible repayment options

FREE Information about School Loan Consolidation!

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There are hundreds of websites that deal with school loan consolidation and student loan debt, but in reality, most of them are trying to sell you a loan, or make you complete a loan application to access their information about school loans. Not us! We have the largest compilation of free information to help you make the right choices about school loan consolidation. Research the various types of loans. Learn how to apply for a school loan, discover a few of the secrets about loan discounts and how to combine your current loans into a single, manageable school loan. Find out how to lower your monthly payment and your interest rate at the same time. Please enjoy the information provided on the site, and bookmark us for future use.

REASONS FOR CREDIT CARD CONSOLIDATION

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Because interest rates are high
The principal reason why most people consider switching credit cards and consolidating all of their outstanding credit card debt into one card is because the interest rates on their existing credit card are just too high.

Here, as you may be aware (from all the advertising that is thrown at us), not all credit card issuers offer the same interest rate (although they are closely related in a broad spectrum). Moreover, in this highly competitive market, some credit card issuers now offer significantly lower rates of interest than some of the other more “traditional” credit card issuers.

So, if you think that it is going to be financially beneficial to you to consolidate all of your existing outstanding credit card debt into one credit card debt that is offering a lower interest rate, which will equate in significant savings, this may well be a very sensible option to take.

Because of the annual fees
A common trend among credit card issuers over recent years has been to ask members to pay an annual usage fee for the credit card. In certain cases this annual fee can be expensive - especially where you may make use of more than one credit card and are faced with having to pay several annual membership fees.

However, credit card issuers now know they’re in a fight to get new customers and so some of them are offering use of their credit card without you needing to pay any annual membership fee and not asking members to pay an annual membership fee is a second worthy reason why you may want to consolidate your credit card debt.

Do, however, keep in mind that if you consolidate credit card debt because of this issue, make sure that the credit card issuer has not accounted for this by adding other hidden fees or a higher rate of interest on the card - otherwise you may find that the overall cost of funding the debt adds up to more per annum than if you just pay the annual fee with your existing credit card issuer!

Consolidating the credit card debt as a personal loan
It is a sad fact of life that many of us do not know how to budget our spending on our credit cards. We see the limit on our cards and seem to think that we have to spend all of this money in the next 24 hours, otherwise they may take the card away from us! We then spend the next 4 years trying to pay back all the debt we just accumulated. All of this stress is then compounded by the fact that we have to make, at minimum, the minimum monthly repayment to the credit card company.

To avoid this, and to try and find a way to source our debt at a lower cost many of us turn to the option of consolidating all of our outstanding credit card debt as a personal loan, which we then pay back monthly.

Although both of these debts are similar in nature, i.e. unsecured, the personal loan method is much cheaper than the credit card debt. So, if you have credit card debt outstanding that you believe will take you more than 1 year to repay, the time may well have come to consider the third reason why it may be more beneficial to consolidate your credit card debt as a personal loan.

Because we now have a bad credit rating
Those of us who allow our existing credit card debt concerns to get on top of us, to the extent where we are no longer in a position to make the monthly minimum repayments, have sadly just come across the fourth reason why you may want to consolidate your credit card debt - because you now have a bad credit rating!

Because they’re paying me to do it
The last reason why you may want to consolidate your credit card debt into one debt is because the credit card issuer is paying you to do it! Believe it or not, the credit card industry has now become so competitive that issuers are fighting among themselves to get people to sign up to their card. Here, when the card issuer knows you have an existing credit card, they’ll sometimes ask you to transfer the balance of your outstanding existing credit card debt to them, in return for which they’ll reduce some of the debt from your outstanding balance! Be careful though, those warning signs regarding interest rates and fees still apply.

How Endless Information Restricts Your View

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Sometime around the middle of this century, David Shenk tells us in his new book, something happened to alter human history: ''We began to produce information much faster than we could process it.''

With the introduction of computers, microwave transmissions, television and satellites, we were pushed from ''a state of information scarcity to one of information surplus, from drought to flood in the geological blink of an eye.'' Today we are drowning in data, pelted by newspaper and magazine stories, 24-hour television news, E-mail, junk mail and faxes. Cellular phones, car phones and beepers insure that we are always on call, while ubiquitous television sets -- in bars, sports arenas, airports and airplanes -- insure that we never lack visual distraction. Advertisements have proliferated along highways, in schoolrooms and on the World Wide Web, and they adorn everything from our hats to our luggage to our shoes.

In ''Data Smog,'' Mr. Shenk, a journalist and radio commentator, tells us that the average American spends 60 percent of the office day processing documents. In the 1980's, per capita paper consumption tripled (to 1,800 pounds a year), and third-class mail grew 13 times faster than the population.

Such statistics aren't new, but Mr. Shenk has done a good job of pulling together a lot of observations about the downside of information technology and presenting them in a coherent and highly readable fashion. Though one may not agree with all of Mr. Shenk's theories, his book nonetheless forces one to re-evaluate the effects that data smog has on daily life and its long-term social and political consequences.

As Mr. Shenk sees it, data smog is bad for your health, promoting stress, memory overload, compulsive behavior and attention-deficit disorder. It's also bad, he suggests, for the health of the community, producing what could be called the Dennis Rodman or Madonna effect. By overstimulating us to the point of distraction, he argues, data smog forces people to resort to hyperbole and histrionics to get attention. ''The degree to which today's television programmers, movie producers, performers, spokespersons and publishers apparently feel compelled to turn up the heat is a serious threat to moderation and intelligence in society,'' he writes. ''It reduces our attention span. It makes us numb to anything that doesn't lurch out and grab us by the throat.''

Although much has been written about mass communications' turning the world into a global village, Mr. Shenk astutely points out that that village is, at the same time, growing increasingly fragmented and factionalized as people, despairing of being able to master a grand overview, retreat into their own special interests. These days there are more and more niche magazines and more and more niche advertising targeted at specific audiences and neighborhoods. As a result, community begins to give way to tribes, shared values to irreconcilable differences.

The Internet accelerates this trend. ''Like niche radio and cable TV,'' Mr. Shenk writes, ''the Net encourages a cultural splintering that can render physical communities much less relevant and free people from having to climb outside their own biases, assumptions, inherited ways of thought. This is perhaps best evidenced by the ominous emergence of so-called smart agents, which automatically filter out information deemed irrelevant to the customer.''

With smart agents, there is no stumbling across unexpected subject matter, and there are fewer exchanges with people with different interests and opinions. As a result, both the idea and practice of pluralism suffer.

Throughout this book, Mr. Shenk admonishes readers to refrain from ''info-pollution'' by being economical in what they ''say, write, publish, broadcast and post on line.'' This is advice that Mr. Shenk tries to follow himself, with largely admirable results. Toward the end of the book, however, when he turns from sociological assessment to more subjective political analysis, his penchant for concision can lead to oversimplification.

The Healthy People 2010 Library Initiative has five primary goals:

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1 To increase the quality and years of healthy life and eliminate health disparities for all minority
groups, including African Americans, Hispanic Americans and Native Americans.
2 To better educate minorities about common and often chronic health problems such as diabetes
and high blood pressure that occur at higher percentages in their communities.
3 To educate minorities about the science behind chronic illnesses in plain language information
booklets. The booklets, written and/or reviewed by minority scientists and medical professionals,
will be developed in tandem with writers who can translate technical information into easy-tounderstand
information.
4 To give librarians valuable information
resources and tools that they
can disseminate and use with consumers
who come to the library for
health information.
5 To improve outreach efforts to
minorities through promotional
materials such as posters, countertop
displays and bookmarks that will
inform them about the wealth of
health information and services
libraries can provide.
This booklet was developed as an introduction for librarians to the Healthy People 2010 Library
Initiative and to share with librarians the resources and information gathered during the first phase
of the project. Much of this material comes from a literature review of online and print resources that
examine some of the issues librarians face in delivering health information services. The review
provides seven key findings and reference materials that support and explain them.
This booklet also contains research gathered from a brainstorming session, interviews with public and
consumer health librarians, and focus groups with members of minority groups. It discusses an array
of resources and the ways in which public, hospital and medical libraries work cooperatively to meet
the public’s growing demand for health information.

Reliable Health Information on the Internet

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The Internet is the gateway to endless amounts of information. It’s easy-to-use, accessible and finds what you’re looking for in a matter of seconds. With this in mind, it is no surprise that more and more people are tossing books aside and using the Internet as their main source of information.

There are over 100,000 health-related Web sites. The goal of this site is to direct you to reliable health information on the Internet. As the Internet is a public domain, meaning anyone can create a site regardless of their credibility, keep these things in mind as you search the Web.

Use reputable sources. Start with MedlinePlus (medlineplus.gov). MedlinePlus has information information that is reliable, current, accurate, multilingual and written by health professionals. It’s free and accessible from any Internet connection.
Do not search the entire Internet. There are billions of Web sites on the Internet. The sites contained in this Web site are reliable.
Beware of commercial sites. Sites with “.com” at the end of their address are commercial sites whose primary goal is to make a profit, and not necessarily to provide reliable information.
Check to see if the information is current and accurate. Web sites can be created by anyone. Be sure the information you obtain is written by a health-care professional. Look for credentials (i.e. M.D., Ph.D., CRNP, D.D.S., RN). Check all information for a date. Information more than five years old is considered outdated.

The staff of the Harrison Medical Library, at the Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Center, offer free instructional presentations on locating reliable health information on the Internet. Presentations or hands-on classes are done for community groups and schools.

If you know of a group that would be interested in arranging a class or presentation, contact Christine Caufield-Noll (410-550-0681) at the Harrison Medical Library.

In addition, staff from the Harrison Library staff the Community Health Library, also located at Johns Hopkins Bayview. Services provided at the Community Health Library include Internet access, consumer health books and newsletters, and a leisure reading collection.

The Community Health Library (410-550-0681) is open to patients, visitors and community members, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., and is located on the 01 Level of the Pavilion, next to the rehabilitation department. Stop by and check it out!

What are the personal qualifications?

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Do you like organizing and managing?

About 60% of UT HIM graduates follow a management oriented HIM career to organize, lead, and coordinate staff members to handle patient care information functions in a health care facility. The HIM professional assures that the patient's confidential information is protected and used appropriately for reimbursement, billing, statistics, legal needs, quality improvement, and in other health care operations. Most managers work in hospitals or large clinic settings with an increasing number working at the corporate systems level as corporate directors of health information management.

What about finance and accounting?

An increasing number of UT HIM graduates are working in areas directly related to reimbursement and coding and other payment oriented activities. These financial issues are increasing in importance to assure that payment for services is proper and based on accurate documentation and coding of the health record. Health information managers code and classify diagnoses and procedures and provide authorized information to insurance companies, Medicare, Medicaid, managed care organizations, and other payors

Are you interested in research and statistics and improvement of health care quality?

Jobs which involve analyzing health information for clinical research and health care quality are increasing in popularity for UT graduates. There are numerous positions for HIM professionals available at research institutions such as St. Jude Children's Research Hospital and at organizations which review the quality and safety of patient care. Health care facilities also employ HIM professionals for quality management, risk management, utilization review, and other types of quality improvement positions.

Certification

Upon completion of the year at UTHSC, students apply to write the national certification examination administered by the national association, AHIMA. This is a computerized examination that is individually scheduled by the student and can be completed at any time during the year. Successful completion of the examination allows one to use the designation RHIA or Registered Health Information Administrator and means that these credentials are recognized nationwide. State licensure is not required. These credentials must be maintained by required continuing education activities.

BS in Health Informatics and Information Management

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The Profession

Are you aware that you have health information - commonly known as medical records - at your private physician's office, the hospital where you are admitted or treated on an outpatient basis, or the neighborhood health clinic? Did you know that a trained health professional is needed to maintain this health information and to provide it to other professionals?

A career in health information management combines the exciting, challenging world of medicine with computerization, business, and management into one excellent career choice. While health information management (HIM) professionals possess skills similar to those of other business professionals, they must draw from a broader base of knowledge. Their knowledge of business and science is combined with knowledge of law and medicine. While HIM professionals may not be as visible to the public as the physician, nurse, or other health professional, their presence is vital to keeping the facility functioning smoothly.

Health information management professionals' knowledge of computer systems, health law, medical documentation and organizational management is essential to hospitals, nursing homes, law firms, outpatient clinics, insurance companies, physicians' offices, consulting firms, colleges or universities, or government agencies - any organization that deals with healthcare.

Career Opportunities

This is a great time to enter this field. The education you receive at UTHSC will prepare you to be successful in numerous positions in the health care fields. The variety of jobs is endless. As with any dynamic, rapidly growing profession, advancement depends on a personal commitment to life-long learning to keep up with the changes in the health field and in technology. Health Information Managers are qualified for many different types of positions. Some graduates direct or manage entire Health Information Management Departments or an area of a department in a larger health facility. Quality improvement and research positions are increasing. Many graduates develop an interest in the technical aspects of information management and assume positions in information management. Our graduates report back that they feel competent and confident in their jobs because of the excellent educational foundation received at UTHSC

What are the educational requirements for the BS in Health Information Management?

You must complete 72 (seventy-two) semester hours of pre-professional courses prior to admission to the one calendar year (48) semester hours at UTHSC to receive a B.S. degree in Health Information Management.

Online health information vs. Sugar pill

2008-03-13T22:02:00.000-07:00

After medical school, I spent three years in a Pediatric residency where I focused on treating individuals. After that, I spent two years in a Preventive Medicine residency where I focused on treating populations and discovering interventions that improve the health of a population.

What Medical Information improve the health of a population? This is the question all scientific studies ask and hope to answer with a specific number.

I posted a possibly inflammatory question a few days ago: “Does access to online health information improve the health of a population?” I got plenty of personal anecdote comments about individuals whose lives were changed by online health information. That actually makes me extremely happy.

But I’m suggesting treating online health information as a therapeutic intervention. We should compare two groups: a population of people who do not have access to the internet and a population who does. Then we should assess the long term effects of health information. My guess is that the intervention will work for a sizable minority of savvy patients and fail for the sizable majority.

I can provide strong evidence suggesting that knowing what is good and bad for you doesn’t change behavior that leads to improved health. I can also provide strong evidence that the only beneficial aspect of regular prenatal care visits is having access to routine blood pressure checks and urinalyses. That doesn’t stop the insane amount of New Mommy sites from creating an entire industry around telling pregnant women that it’s much more complicated.

Does this mean that we should not publish health information on the internet available to all? Hell no. But it does mean that the vast majority of health-related websites are worthless excuses to host advertisements and do nothing for the majority of people who aren’t savvy enough to sift out the good and bad. It also means that the push toward creating websites that organize health information in new ways (such as Revolution Health) is barking up the wrong tree and are simply excuses to make money in the lucrative healthcare advertising Business Information. Look at Sermo. The drug companies are already salivating. It’s 43,000 physicians all in one place! Revolutionary! It’s revolutionary advertising…that’s about it.

The internet has enabled everyone to essentially have access to the information from the first two years of medical school. However, having information does very little when synthesizing that information and doing something about it…that’s why doctors train for years after learning all these facts.

Folks, it’s not about health information. It’s about personalized, accessible communication between patients and doctors mixed with the other magic question…how do we change a culture’s behavior?