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  "You've been condomized!" said Joy Lynn Alegarbes, of The Condom Project, which promoted safe sex at the 19th International AIDS Conference. The group handed out more than 850,000 condoms this week.

  Benjamin Morris/NPR

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  Colorful flags and candies decorate the LGBT Networking Zone. More than 120 groups from around the world set up booths in the Global Village to distribute information about the AIDS epidemic.

  Benjamin Morris/NPR

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  Getting the word out about HIV was a major goal of the Global Village. Helena Nangombe from Namibia holds up a sign written by her friend during a session that aimed to promote communication about HIV.

  Benjamin Morris/NPR

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  The International AIDS Conference is one of the only medical meetings that invites the public to come and share ideas through art, music and debates.

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  Choirs from churches and schools around the District of Columbia joined together on Thursday afternoon to perform a concert in the Global Village.

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  Music and dancing filled the Global Village from morning to evening, often spilling out into other parts of the convention center. Khadijan High, a member of the Dance Institute of Washington, performed a hip-hop routine for The Condom Project.

  Benjamin Morris/NPR

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  Cris Thomas, a teacher in Washington school system, said she came to the AIDS conference with a friend.

  Benjamin Morris/NPR

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  A fashion show on Tuesday evening featured dresses decorated with female condoms. Here Olwin Manyanye from Zimbabwe prepared backstage for the show, which raised awareness for the growing need of female condoms.

  Benjamin Morris/NPR

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  On Tuesday afternoon, thousands of people marched from the Washington Convention Center to protest several issues related to AIDS, including high prices of HIV drugs and inequalities for women.

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  At a booth dedicated to people living with HIV, Michel Bourrelly from France handed the mic to Roger Yves from Cameroon to lead the group in an African song on Thursday afternoon.

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  Women's garments hang from a clothesline at the Women's Network Area in the Global Health. The area promoted the diversity and pride of woman around the world.

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  A lubricant tasting booth in the Global Village set up by The Condom Project. The booth offered a variety of fruit flavors, as well as vegan and sugar-free options.

  Benjamin Morris/NPR

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  Safe, Stupid or What? The Ashe Performing Arts Company, based in Kingston, Jamaica, performed a musical television game on Thursday in the Global Village. The show used song and dance to explain how HIV is transmitted.

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  Sophia (left) and Sarah Denison-Johnston of Berkeley, Calif., are 16-year-old twins, who are HIV-negative even though their mother was HIV-positive while pregnant with them. Their mother took part in one of the first clinical trials testing whether anti-retroviral drugs could successful block HIV transmission from mother to infant.

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  Small steps forward and international cooperation are ingredients in the fight against AIDS. Elizabeth C. Otieno of Allentown, Pa., embodies this spirit. She was born in Kenya but is now an HIV case manager in the U.S.

  Benjamin Morris/NPR

The 19th International AIDS Conference is wrapping up today in Washington, and it's been an exciting one.

Doctors said two more people have been nearly cleared of HIV. New data suggest that HIV treatment as prevention can be cost-effective. And, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton energized the political world by announcing plans to build a "blueprint" for reaching an "AIDS-free generation."

But the conference isn't just about charts, facts and clinical trials. There is a human side to the meeting that makes it unique among medical conferences.

 

It's home is the meeting's Global Village. That's the only part of the meeting open to the general public and free of admission. It's a place where people from around the world come together to share their ideas about the AIDS epidemic through art, performances, and debates.

This year, the Global Village contained more than 120 booths from 90 different countries, taking up 190,000 square feet of the conference center. Activists and advocates distributed information about human rights, safe sex, and the facts of living with HIV, while performance artists filled the convention center with a music and dance throughout the week.

Highlights at the Global Village this year included a female condom fashion show on Tuesday evening, a Jamaican musical television show from the Ashe Performing Arts Company on Thursday afternoon, and The Condom Project, which handed out more than 850,000 condoms during the week.

The Condom Project also ran a popular "lube tasting" booth, that even offered vegan and sugar-free options.

Dental implants are considered the permanent solution to our oral problems. Success rate of dental implants is more than 95%, which shows that it is perfectly safe to undergo this procedure. It is a procedure of altering a tooth. Dental Implants are the manufactured devices and are placed by the dentist in upper/lower to support the substitute teeth. They are usually made up of titanium or any other material that is lightweight and is supported by human body. An implant gives a natural look and feel like a natural tooth. You will not even feel a thing after having dental implant and could easily chew and speak.

However, dental implants are not meant for everyone. One needs to have healthy oral to go through the procedure. Your dentist will make sure that you are ready for the procedure and will examine you first. He will take x-rays and molds of your teeth and you would be required to provide detail about the medicines you take whether they are prescribed or non-prescribed.

Dental implant is secured in the jawbone and after the surgery is completed, they will not be visible to anyone. They are placed in the upper or lower jaw and act as a bridge when the bone grows around it. In order to place them, the dentist would need to cut and lift a gum where implant is supposed to take place. Small hole is drilled in the jawbone at the exact location where implant is intended to be placed and dentist should be very careful while doing it. Once an implant has been place, it is left there to heal and integrate with the bone of jaw. The healing process usually takes place between six weeks to six months.

Implants are durable and can last lifetime without giving a feel or look of something, which does not belong. However, you need to take care of them just like the way you do with your natural teeth. You would be required to brush daily and properly and get regular dental checkups.
People usually wonder if they can have an implant of more than 1 tooth. The answer to this question is yes. If you are missing several teeth then you definitely can have a dental implant. However, you will not be required to have a separate implant for each. Single implant would be enough to support your teeth with the help of a bridge or denture.

Dental implants can be placed by any patient of any age. All they need to have is a healthy oral. However, the reasons for which patients are not suitable for dental implants are heavy smoking, excessive alcohol intake, periodontal gum disease, teeth grinder and immune-compromised individuals. If you do not have any of such problems then you certainly can have an implant.

Dental implants help their patients to increase confidence of smiling, talking and eating without any trouble. In other words, they give them everlasting comfort for the rest of their lives.

Author Bio:

This is a Guest Post By Sirangi Kalpana in her free time write a lots about dental implants.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Related posts:

The Average Cost of Dental Implants

Suitability Factors for Patients Receiving Dental Implants

Dental Implant-Spreading Smiles

MRI and Implants and Foreign Bodies

When to Opt for Tooth Replacement?

Brush for Good Dental Health

Benefits Of Cosmetic Dentistry With An Experienced Dentist

Prevention of Dental Caries

Dental Caries: an Understanding

Benefits of Cosmetic Dentistry

Dental implants are considered the permanent solution to our oral problems. Success rate of dental implants is more than 95%, which shows that it is perfectly safe to undergo this procedure. It is a procedure of altering a tooth. Dental Implants are the manufactured devices and are placed by the dentist in upper/lower to support the substitute teeth. They are usually made up of titanium or any other material that is lightweight and is supported by human body. An implant gives a natural look and feel like a natural tooth. You will not even feel a thing after having dental implant and could easily chew and speak.

However, dental implants are not meant for everyone. One needs to have healthy oral to go through the procedure. Your dentist will make sure that you are ready for the procedure and will examine you first. He will take x-rays and molds of your teeth and you would be required to provide detail about the medicines you take whether they are prescribed or non-prescribed.

Dental implant is secured in the jawbone and after the surgery is completed, they will not be visible to anyone. They are placed in the upper or lower jaw and act as a bridge when the bone grows around it. In order to place them, the dentist would need to cut and lift a gum where implant is supposed to take place. Small hole is drilled in the jawbone at the exact location where implant is intended to be placed and dentist should be very careful while doing it. Once an implant has been place, it is left there to heal and integrate with the bone of jaw. The healing process usually takes place between six weeks to six months.

Implants are durable and can last lifetime without giving a feel or look of something, which does not belong. However, you need to take care of them just like the way you do with your natural teeth. You would be required to brush daily and properly and get regular dental checkups.
People usually wonder if they can have an implant of more than 1 tooth. The answer to this question is yes. If you are missing several teeth then you definitely can have a dental implant. However, you will not be required to have a separate implant for each. Single implant would be enough to support your teeth with the help of a bridge or denture.

Dental implants can be placed by any patient of any age. All they need to have is a healthy oral. However, the reasons for which patients are not suitable for dental implants are heavy smoking, excessive alcohol intake, periodontal gum disease, teeth grinder and immune-compromised individuals. If you do not have any of such problems then you certainly can have an implant.

Dental implants help their patients to increase confidence of smiling, talking and eating without any trouble. In other words, they give them everlasting comfort for the rest of their lives.

Author Bio:

This is a Guest Post By Sirangi Kalpana in her free time write a lots about dental implants.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Related posts:

The Average Cost of Dental Implants

Suitability Factors for Patients Receiving Dental Implants

Dental Implant-Spreading Smiles

MRI and Implants and Foreign Bodies

When to Opt for Tooth Replacement?

Brush for Good Dental Health

Benefits Of Cosmetic Dentistry With An Experienced Dentist

Prevention of Dental Caries

Dental Caries: an Understanding

Benefits of Cosmetic Dentistry

Enlarge Jenny Gold for NPR

Child life specialist Kelly Schraf helps to put at ease Yoselyn Gaitan, 8, who had surgery on her cleft palate, at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Jenny Gold for NPR

Child life specialist Kelly Schraf helps to put at ease Yoselyn Gaitan, 8, who had surgery on her cleft palate, at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C.

Yoselyn Gaitan, an 8-year-old with a shy smile, sits quietly in an exam room at Children's National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., wearing a tiny hospital gown. She looks a little uneasy as she waits to be brought back to the operating room for the final surgery on her cleft palate.

Kelly Schraf spots her through the curtain and tiptoes into her room.

Schraf is a child life specialist, a type of health care provider whose job is to help sick children and their families navigate difficult medical situations emotionally and psychologically while in the hospital. They do it largely through play â€" the basis of how a child learns and grows.

Schraf introduces herself to Yoselyn and her mother, and explains to them why she's there: "It's my job at the hospital to make it easier for you to be here and make it more fun." At the word "fun," Yoselyn begins to look a little more relaxed.

 

Schraf is straight out of college, which she followed with a mandatory 480-hour child life internship. Her favorite part of her job, she says, is "knowing that I can work with the hospital team and make [a child's] stay better."

Pediatric ear, nose and throat surgeon Rahul Shah says the doctors in the outpatient surgery unit are as grateful for child life specialists like Schraf as the patients are.

"It's really profound when you hear some of the most old school physicians or surgeons asking for something you would consider warm and fuzzy," he says. But those doctors insist that they need child life specialists largely because they make the unit more productive.

When the child life specialists aren't available, Shah says, "It's hard. You're pulling [children] sometimes away from the parents. The parents are upset. The child is upset. It heightens their anxiety. You bring them back to the operating room, and it's a lot harder to put them back to sleep and ... give them an IV."

Even if each visit saves only four minutes of the surgical team's time, he says, it can allow that team to accomplish an extra surgery each day.

There are about 4,000 child life specialists in the country. Most of them work in the acute units with the very sickest children. Liz Anderson, who, like Schraf, is 24, works in the oncology unit, where children often spend months at a time.

"I get to know them very, very well," Anderson says.

She's been working with 9-year-old Owen O'Hara for several weeks. He sits in his pajamas in an isolation room, a feeding tube in his nose. It's been less than a week since his bone marrow transplant, which his doctors hope will cure his leukemia; his immune system is still too vulnerable for him to be in the unit's playroom with the other kids. So yesterday, Anderson brought him a brand new set of Legos to play with.

"We're building an alien spaceship," Owen says.

Owen's mom, Jackie O'Hara, says child life specialists have made a huge difference in helping Owen understand what's happening to him, often explaining difficult medical concepts in child-friendly words.

But like all things in health care, child life programs come at a price. The 16 child life specialists at Children's National Medical Center cost about $800,000 a year, which gets passed on to patients and insurers.

Mark Wietecha, president and CEO of the Children's Hospital Association, says the cost is "greatly worth it." Child life specialists can minimize the trauma caused by a hospital stay â€" and that can pay dividends far into the future for a sick child, he says.

"It's really almost an insignificant amount of money on our national expenditure to let the sickest kids have some opportunity to a life and be re-assimilated," Wietecha says.

O'Hara couldn't agree more. The child life program, she says, is "like having a little bit of a normal life in the middle of something that's not normal."

Are you struggling to find motivation to work out? Consume healthy herbs and vitamins, such as Acai to help increase your metabolism. Acai is also very rich in antioxidants, given you a healthier immune system. Visit Holland and Barrett today.

There are several reasons why vitamins are important for the body. A lot of research has been done to prove the various theories on the benefit of different vitamins. Because of this, many people suffering from all kinds of diseases will often find themselves being advised to take vitamin supplements.

The research for the benefits of vitamins for those suffering from diabetes is a bit more recent. Several vitamins are being tested to see what vitamins would be best suited for vitamin therapy for diabetes. Although many vitamins have different effects on the body, so far the two main vitamins that have been shown to have a positive effect in reducing the effects of diabetes are vitamin C and vitamin D.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D has been known for several decades only for its benefits on bones and in calcium absorption. However recent research shows that there are other benefits to vitamin D. One of the benefits includes better control of diabetes.
The research on the relation between vitamin D and diabetes was brought about by the fact that most people who had poor diabetes control were found to be suffering from a deficiency in vitamin D.

According to Diabetologia, which was book written by Dr Mathieu, vitamin D is important in controlling the normal secretion of insulin in the body. Therefore people who suffer from diabetes can be able to have better control of their insulin production by getting sufficient vitamin D.
This makes vitamin D one of the best vitamins for vitamin therapy for diabetes.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is another vitamin that has been shown to have positive results on people with diabetes. Apart from the general benefits of vitamin C like the production of collagen and the boosting of the immune system, there are other directs benefits to those suffering from diabetes.
Most people with diabetes suffer from high blood pressure. Regular dosage of vitamin C can help regulate the blood pressure of a diabetic. Since high blood pressure usually leads to other complications, proper vitamin C intake will control all other complications.
However although vitamin C has been stated to have a lot of benefits on a diabetic, taking too much of vitamin C has its disadvantages. The amount of vitamin C that is good for you will depend on many issues including your age and weight. To determine, the amount that is right for you, you can visit your doctor.

Most people with any kind of vitamin deficiency are always quick to get supplements from the pharmacy. However, supplements are not always the best option. Instead of getting vitamin supplements, you can choose to eat foods that are rich in those vitamins. In the case of vitamin D choosing to take a walk in the sun can help you get the required dosage of the vitamin without resulting to supplements. If you are suffering from diabetics, you may already be on other medications and you do not want to add to the list of the number of pills that you are taking.

About the Author

Rastislav Skultety has been studying the benefits of dietary supplements for several years. His goal is to help others rediscover the world of vitamins and provide them guide for their effective use. Last year he particularly paid attention to vitamin therapy for treating diabetes.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Enlarge Jason Beaubien /NPR

Anti-AIDS posters at the Eshowe public health clinic in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. Clinicians there are hoping to slow the spread of HIV by getting more people treatment.

Jason Beaubien /NPR

Anti-AIDS posters at the Eshowe public health clinic in Kwazulu Natal, South Africa. Clinicians there are hoping to slow the spread of HIV by getting more people treatment.

As the 19th International AIDS Conference prepares to open this weekend in Washington, one of the catch phrases swirling around the AIDS community is "treatment as prevention."

Researchers, clinicians and HIV policy experts are hailing treatment that helps prevent more infections as a possible way to end the pandemic.

The idea is to get powerful AIDS drugs to everyone who is infected. Studies have found that these drugs make a person less likely to transmit the virus to others because they decrease the level of virus in the body. Thus, treatment as prevention could slow the spread of AIDS.

 

This is a 180-degree shift in the fight against HIV, which has focused on blocking the transmission of the virus with condoms, microbicides or dental dams.

The World Health Organization said Wednesday that it's preparing new guidelines for using AIDS drugs for HIV prevention.

At a public health clinic in the South African province of Kwazulu Natal, nurse Futi Mlambo says treatment as prevention also works on a social level.

As people in the community see that treatment is successful, more of them are willing to get tested, says Mlambo. This alone could reduce the spread of HIV. Research has shown that individuals who know they're infected are more likely to use condoms.

Mlambo says HIV drug therapy also improves the morale of the clinic staff. "Once you see a person who comes in for testing and he can't even walk," she says, "And then a few months after starting the treatment, you find that he's well and walking around, you feel that 'You know, man, I've done something!'"

Over the last few years, South Africa has finally caught up with the rest of the world and is aggressively trying to get AIDS drugs to people who need them. South Africa has the largest number of people infected with HIV in the world, at 5.6 million. Now South Africa also has more people on anti-retroviral therapy â€" 1.8 million â€" than anywhere else.

Are you struggling to find motivation to work out? Consume healthy herbs and vitamins, such as Acai to help increase your metabolism. Acai is also very rich in antioxidants, given you a healthier immune system. Visit Holland and Barrett today.

There are several reasons why vitamins are important for the body. A lot of research has been done to prove the various theories on the benefit of different vitamins. Because of this, many people suffering from all kinds of diseases will often find themselves being advised to take vitamin supplements.

The research for the benefits of vitamins for those suffering from diabetes is a bit more recent. Several vitamins are being tested to see what vitamins would be best suited for vitamin therapy for diabetes. Although many vitamins have different effects on the body, so far the two main vitamins that have been shown to have a positive effect in reducing the effects of diabetes are vitamin C and vitamin D.

Vitamin D

Vitamin D has been known for several decades only for its benefits on bones and in calcium absorption. However recent research shows that there are other benefits to vitamin D. One of the benefits includes better control of diabetes.
The research on the relation between vitamin D and diabetes was brought about by the fact that most people who had poor diabetes control were found to be suffering from a deficiency in vitamin D.

According to Diabetologia, which was book written by Dr Mathieu, vitamin D is important in controlling the normal secretion of insulin in the body. Therefore people who suffer from diabetes can be able to have better control of their insulin production by getting sufficient vitamin D.
This makes vitamin D one of the best vitamins for vitamin therapy for diabetes.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is another vitamin that has been shown to have positive results on people with diabetes. Apart from the general benefits of vitamin C like the production of collagen and the boosting of the immune system, there are other directs benefits to those suffering from diabetes.
Most people with diabetes suffer from high blood pressure. Regular dosage of vitamin C can help regulate the blood pressure of a diabetic. Since high blood pressure usually leads to other complications, proper vitamin C intake will control all other complications.
However although vitamin C has been stated to have a lot of benefits on a diabetic, taking too much of vitamin C has its disadvantages. The amount of vitamin C that is good for you will depend on many issues including your age and weight. To determine, the amount that is right for you, you can visit your doctor.

Most people with any kind of vitamin deficiency are always quick to get supplements from the pharmacy. However, supplements are not always the best option. Instead of getting vitamin supplements, you can choose to eat foods that are rich in those vitamins. In the case of vitamin D choosing to take a walk in the sun can help you get the required dosage of the vitamin without resulting to supplements. If you are suffering from diabetics, you may already be on other medications and you do not want to add to the list of the number of pills that you are taking.

About the Author

Rastislav Skultety has been studying the benefits of dietary supplements for several years. His goal is to help others rediscover the world of vitamins and provide them guide for their effective use. Last year he particularly paid attention to vitamin therapy for treating diabetes.

Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net

Enlarge Khem Sovannara/AFP/Getty Images

Cambodian children and their parents sitting at Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital in Phnom Penh on July 5.

Khem Sovannara/AFP/Getty Images

Cambodian children and their parents sitting at Kantha Bopha Children's Hospital in Phnom Penh on July 5.

Where do things stand with the outbreak of illnesses in Cambodia that landed scores of children in the hospital and was implicated in the deaths of more than 50? Here's a roundup of the latest info.

 

.

Are you struggling to find motivation to work out? Consume healthy herbs and vitamins, such as Acai to help increase your metabolism. Acai is also very rich in antioxidants, given you a healthier immune system. Visit Holland and Barrett today.

We all know what diarrhea is? But have you ever wondered what doctors think about diarrhea, i.e. when doctors diagnose a patient to be suffering from diarrhea. Well, truly speaking doctors are also confused as what should be called diarrhea (that is the reason many authors define diarrhea in a different way and different parameter). Diarrhea can be simply defined as “passage of unformed or abnormally liquid stool at increased frequency”. Diarrhea also sometimes defined as “passage of more than 200 grams of stool per day on a typical Western diet”. But this definition can not be applied to people not consuming typical Western diet. Because individuals taking more fiber/roughage (such as people living in developing countries) can pass stool much more than 200 grams per day but do not suffer from diarrhea.

Pseudo-diarrhea is the term used for frequent passage of stool in small volume, which is commonly associated with IBS (Irritable Bowel Syndrome), rectal urgency or proctitis (inflammation of rectum). Fecal incontinence is involuntary passage of rectal contents (stool).

Diarrhea can be of three types. Acute diarrhea is diarrhea that lasts for less than 2 weeks. Diarrhea is called persistent when it lasts for 2-4 week and chronic diarrhea is diarrhea that lasts for more than 4 weeks.

Global scenario of diarrhea:

Diarrhea is extremely common health problem. Diarrhea is common even in developed countries and it is extremely common problem in developing and underdeveloped nations. Globally more than a billion individuals suffer from diarrhea each year. Diarrhea is responsible for mortality, morbidity, social inconvenience, loss of productivity, and consumption of medical resources and put a huge burden on economy.

Worldwide 2-3 million deaths occur due to diarrhea, especially infants and children and elderly in developing countries. Rotavirus diarrhea is responsible for largest number of infant deaths.

It is estimated that more than 100 millions individuals suffer from diarrhea each year (but only approximately 10% consult physician) in the United States, which leads to a quarter of million (250,000) hospitalizations and approximately 5,000 deaths, generally older individuals. Diarrhea drains away billions of dollars each year by loss of work productivity, morbidity, restricted movements, hospitalization etc.

Fiorenzo Omenetto/Tufts University

Soft to the touch, silk may also help preserve vaccines and drugs someday.

Silk is in neckties, scarves and some fancy underwear and pajamas. Before too long, it might just help keep people from getting sick with measles or polio.

Vaccines play an important role in health, but can be tricky to transport to the far corners of the world. Many vaccines and some other drugs require constant refrigeration â€" from the factories where they're made to the places where they're ultimately injected into people.

That's where silk comes in.

Researchers from Tufts University recently discovered that proteins in silk could help protect some vaccines and drugs from heat damage, eliminating the need for this so-called cold chain, according to a study published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

 

Chemicals in vaccines and some antibiotics given by injection must stay in the right folded shape to work properly. When exposed to heat or moisture those folds can unfold, and the drugs or vaccines can no longer challenge the bacteria or viruses they were designed to battle, says Dr. David Kaplan, a bioengineering professor at Tufts University and lead author on the study.

Silk proteins stabilize the medicines and act to "pin the structure in place," Kaplan says.

With the addition of these silk supports, the vaccine (against measles, mumps and rubella) and two antibiotics were able to retain their potency at temperatures over 100 degrees for two weeks or more. Without silk stabilizers, heat that high saps their effectiveness in less than a day.

Though this finding could help clinics in the U.S. eliminate the need for costly refrigeration facilities, the biggest impact of this discovery could be global.

"The cold chain is a severe limitation to the distribution of therapeutics. Not only in the U.S., but in developing nations where the cold chain is difficult to maintain, or may not even be present," Kaplan tells Shots.

Silk is already approved by the Food and Drug Administration for some medical uses, but Kaplan's concept is far from becoming a pharmaceutical reality.

However, using silk to reduce the need for a cold chain got Kaplan and his team brainstorming.

"Think of a Band-Aid with small little spikes. When you put it on the skin, it penetrates the skin just through the outside layer so it doesn't hurt," says Kaplan. "You can envision making these Band-Aids with vaccines and other drugs in there during the manufacturing, and distribute them without worrying about temperature exposure. And then when you're ready to use it, you just put it on your skin."

Menopause, premenopase, perimenopause and postmenopause are all part of natural stages of life and not diseases or disorders. Therefore menopause usually does not need any treatment. If there is physical, mental or emotional effect of perimenopause and they are strong enough to significantly disrupt the everyday life of the woman experiencing them, palliative medical therapy may be required to alleviate them.

Management (menopause, premenopase, perimenopause and postmenopause) depends on many aspects such as how severe/strong are the symptoms, general health of the woman and also your preference of treatment. Treatment generally includes lifestyle modification and HRT (hormone replacement therapy). HRT can help in alleviating symptoms such as hot flashes, night sweats, mood issues, vaginal dryness etc. Women taking HRT have a low risk for stroke, heart disease, blood clots and breast cancer.

Hormone replacement therapy (HRT):

The guidelines for HRT are:

• Hormone replacement therapy is suitable for women during premenopause or who recently entered menopause.
• Hormone replacement therapy should not be used for women who are in menopause for several years.
• HRT should not be used for more than 5 years.

Estrogen in HRT has some side effects such as increased risk of endometrial cancer of uterus and need to take precautions such as using minimum effective dose, using different preparations (e.g. vaginal cream instead of a pill), regular pelvic examinations, regular Pap smear test, breast examinations etc. Addition of progesterone along with estrogen can reduce the risk of endometrial cancer.

There are other alternatives available other than hormone replacement therapy, such as use of different other medications and diet and lifestyle modifications.

Alternative medications to HRT:

They include use of antidepressants (such as paroxetin, bupropion, fluoxetine etc.), clonidine (generally used for treating high blood pressure), and seizure drug gabapentin (which can reduce hot flushes).

Diet and lifestyle modifications:

In many women perimenopausal symptoms can be reduced without used of drugs or hormone replacement therapy.

Diet changes that may help include:

• Avoid caffeine (coffee and tea), spicy foods and alcohol.
• Take diet rich in calcium (meat, fish, custard apple etc.) and vitamin D (cod liver oil, liver etc.) or take supplementations.
• Take soy foods as soy protein contains estrogen which may be helpful.

Regular exercise may also be helpful in relieving symptoms of menopause. Regular exercise is important not only for alleviating perimenopausal symptoms but also for health in general.

Other measures may be helpful, such as use of light dressing, do not give up sex and use lubricants during sex.

Related posts:

Menopause, Perimenopause, Pre-menopause and Post-menopause

Symptoms, Diagnosis and Treatment of Peri-menopause

What is Menopause?

What are the Signs and Symptoms of Menopause?

Osteoporosis Fracture Treatment & Estrogen

Natural Remedies for Menopause

Breast Cancer Awareness: The Modifiable Risk Factors

Menopause Definition and Transition from reproductive to menopause

Estrogens & Osteoporosis Treatment

Treatment of Acromegaly

Adam Cole/NPR

The Affordable Care Act remains pretty much intact after its review by the Supreme Court. So what's in it anyway?

Now that the Supreme Court has upheld almost all of the Affordable Care Act, many Americans are scrambling to remember â€" or learn for the first time â€" what's in the law and how it works.

We asked for questions from our audiences online and on air. Here's are some, edited for clarity and length, and the answers:

 

Q: Will the penalty for not having health insurance affect people at all income levels, or will low-income people be spared?

A: The short answer is no, if you can't afford insurance you don't have to buy it.

Here is the slightly longer answer.

For starters, if you don't earn enough to have to file a federal tax return, you're exempt. In 2010 that was $9,350 for an individual, or $18,700 for a married couple.

You're also exempt if you would have to pay more than 8 percent of your household's income for health insurance, after whatever help you might get from an employer or subsidies from the federal government.

Q: If someone is only insured for six or seven months a year, will there still be a fine?

A: Possibly, but it would be prorated for only the months you didn't have insurance.

There is one exception. There's no penalty in the law for a single gap of less than three months in a year. That's because many employers impose a waiting period. There's also a separate provision in the health law that forbids employers from imposing waiting periods of longer than three months. So no one will have to pay a penalty specifically because a new employer makes them wait to qualify for coverage.

Q: I understand that businesses above a certain size have to provide a health care insurance option, but do they have to pay for it? Does the law require a certain contribution from the employer, or can the employer make the employees just pay, say, 99 percent of the premiums?

A: This is where the law seems a little bit tricky. It doesn't stipulate how much of the premiums employers have to pay, but it does say that overall, employers with more than 50 workers have to provide a plan that covers 60 percent of the covered expenses for a typical population. And that plan can't cost more than 9.5 percent of family income.

Q: How does the law affect Medicare recipients? I heard it cuts billions of dollars from the program. Does it have other effects?

A: Let's take these one at a time. Yes, the law does reduce Medicare spending by roughly $500 billion less than it would have been without the law. That's over 10 years, by the way, and Medicare will cost a little under $500 billion this year. But none of that comes out of benefits guaranteed under the law.

The biggest single chunk comes from reducing what had been overpayments to private HMOs and other health plans that serve about 20 percent of Medicare patients.

The next biggest chunk comes from hospitals and other providers of health care that hope to get that money back because more people will have insurance.

As to other changes to Medicare, there are actually some new benefits. The doughnut hole, that gap in coverage for prescription drugs, is being gradually closed. And Medicare patients are now getting new preventive screenings, like mammograms, without having to pay a deductible.

Q: My son lives overseas, where he is covered by the national health insurance plan. As an American citizen, would he be required to pay the fee for not being covered under an American plan?

A: No, only residents of the U.S. and its territories are subject to the insurance requirements.

Q: I am a veteran getting my medical care from Veterans Affairs. Am I correct that this counts as having insurance, when it comes to the requirement that everyone be covered or pay a penalty?

A: Yes, the VA counts. So does TRICARE and other military health plans. In fact, just about all government health care program, including Medicare and Medicaid, count as well. That's why the Urban Institute estimates that come 2014, only about 7 million people out of the U.S. population of well over 300 million will have to either purchase insurance or be subject to paying the penalty.

Q: If my current insurance policy does not meet the minimum requirements in the Affordable Care Act, and my insurer must raise the standards of my policy, can my insurer raise the premiums I pay?

A: In a word, yes. That was part of the goal of the law, not just to get people without insurance to have it, but to get people with what was considered substandard insurance up to par. This is controversial, and it's the part that leads to claims that the government is interfering in the private insurance market, which in this case it is. But it's in the law because Congress heard about lots and lots and lots of cases where people who had insurance nevertheless ended up bankrupt because the insurance didn't cover what they thought it did. So will this make healthy people who have to spend more unhappy? Yes. But will it protect people better when they do get sick? Yes, it will do that, too. And will the arguments about it continue? Yes, undoubtedly.