An Infection I Just Couldn’t Shake
I'd call my doc, he'd send me to the emergency room to be admitted, and off we'd go for another round of IV antibiotics. What was particularly frightening was how fast the progression was from that flu feeling to full-blown pain. In the few hours it took to get to the ER and be admitted, the swelling and pressure would increase so much that the nurses were administering morphine before I even got transferred to my hospital room.
As awful and frightening as my experience was, I'm one of the lucky ones. Those with more serious infections often have to have large swaths of tissue removed. In the most devastating cases these superbugs can start knocking out organs before the victim even realizes what's happening.
Whatever level of havoc these infections are causing individually, the toll they're taking nationally is staggering. The Centers for Disease Control report that in the last 15 years the number of people who have died from hospital infections has jumped almost tenfold—from about 13,300 in 1992 to nearly 100,000 in 2005. That's more deaths than from AIDS, breast cancer and auto accidents combined.
For several years now, the Committee to Reduce Infection Deaths (RID) has been sounding the alarm on this issue. In one recent report RID noted that more than 70 percent of blood pressure cuffs were carrying bacteria. The committee is pushing for testing of incoming patients for MRSA (in the same way the CDC now recommends that hospitals test for AIDS) and for beefed-up sanitary procedures for doctors and medical staff. The organization says several European hospitals have already implemented some of these measures, with success.
Preventive measures are key, because treatment after the fact may not work. Infectious disease specialists say we simply can't keep dousing ourselves with antibiotics. And the CDC reports that repeated and improper uses of antibiotics are one of the primary contributors to the increase in drug-resistant bacteria.
Even vancomycin, whose name is derived from vanquish, is buckling under the strain of these mutating microbes. There are increasing reports of vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA). And some of vancomycin's much-heralded successors are already losing out. I was sent home once with a startlingly expensive and powerful drug called Zyvox, which has the distinct advantage of working as well in pill form as many antibiotics do in IV form. But even that didn't do the trick, and within a week I was back in the care of the compassionate nurses whom by now I had come to know by name.
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Posted By: curlykin22 @ 09/16/2008 12:54:21 PM
Comment: Please, if this is not the correct department to email, forward it to the correct one as we really would like to be able to help people!
Dear Sirs,
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Posted By: Nins @ 07/06/2008 11:49:50 PM
Comment: Did you know that if McCain is elected you will have to pay income tax on the value of the medical insurance that your employer gives you? Worse still, he is offering a tax break for people who pay their own insurance, BUT only $2,500 for individuals and $5,000 for families.
Let's say you have a family of four. Your insurance policy costs would be at least $1,500-2,500 per month under a self-pay plan, which cost more than employer group plans. So, you pay $18,000 -$30,000 per year for insurance, and you get to deduct only $5,000 of that. If you paid $25,000 for you insurance, you would be out of pocket $20,000 per year. This is FAR WORSE than the current system, where if you are self employed you can deduct 100% of you medical insurance costs.
So, if you're not self employed, you would stick with your Employer's plan. Employer plans for a family of four have a value of $900-$1,500 per month totaling 10,800-$18,000 per year. Surprise! On April 15th, you owe tax on all of that as INCOME to you. Say your bracket is 25%, and the value of your Employer medical plan is $14,000. You will OWE THE IRS an additional $3,500, and that's ON TOP of whatever monthly premium you already pay to your employer for your insurance.
Many analysts say that McCain's new rules would encourage employers to stop offering health benefits. If that happened, then far fewer Americans would be insured than are insured today, because what family of four can afford $18,000-$30,000 out of pocket per year for self-pay health insurance?
Furthermore, McCain's plan does not require insurance companies to cover pre-existing conditions of people who self-pay their insurance. People under employer group plans have all of their pre-existing conditions covered. This is a hugely unfair aspect of the current system. Insurance companies can afford to cover the pre-existing conditions of the much larger pool of people with group insurance, but they refuse to pay the pre-existing conditions on the smaller pool of self-pay customers. They have been allowed to price gouge the self-pay customers, which is a form of market manipulation that should be illegal.
So let's say one of your kids had diabetes and you have high blood pressure, then your employer stops offering insurance. You now have to buy your own, but you and your child are INELIGIBLE due to pre-existing conditions. Oh, yeah, they will let you buy the insurance, but you can't use it for any pre-existing condition until you have paid on time every month for two years. And you know what happens at one year and 11 months? You get a letter saying your policy has been cancelled. I have many patients this has happened to.
McCain's plan SUCKS.
It does nothing to help middle class working Americans afford or obtain medical insurance. In fact, it makes the current system WORSE.
Posted By: spencer jones @ 01/14/2008 2:14:26 AM
Comment: This was published in the Evening Telegraph, a British newspaper. For a FREE report on safe, daily colloidal silver dosage levels, please visit http://www.thesilveredge.com
Mans claims colloidal silver cured his MRSA infection...
http://www.northantset.co.uk/675/Man39s-MRSA-cure-claims.941888.jp
An elderly man who lived with a potentially lethal infection for two years claims he has cleared himself of the illness with colloidal silver.
David Sharman, 82, was infected with superbug MRSA in June, 2001, but believes determination and a regular dose of colloidal silver has helped him beat the infection.
He said: "There are so many terrible stories about MRSA in the news, but people seem to just talk about it and are not doing anything.
"I started to use colloidal silver and, after almost two years living with the infection and having regular check-ups, I was told I was clear."
Mr Sharman, of Exmouth Avenue, Corby, claims he contracted MRSA after a series of hip operations at Kettering General Hospital during 2001.
He said: "The wound on my hip became infected and the hospital informed me that I had MRSA before I was discharged for rehabilitation.
"I was determined to help myself and began using colloidal silver directly on my wound daily."
Colloidal silver is a liquid commonly used before the 1930s as an antibiotic treatment and is available at health food shops.
It works by attaching itself to a vital enzyme found in bacteria and disabling the offending pathogen, preventing it from reproducing.
Mr Sharman, who has three children Richard, 22, William, 20, and Sarah, 18, with wife Denise, said: "I could feel myself slowly getting better and the day I got the all-clear, just before Christmas 2003, was an extremely happy day for the whole family.
"Getting MRSA doesn't have to mean it is the end of the road and I really believe colloidal silver helped me."
Dr Richard Slack is a microbiologist based in Nottingham who works in infection control.
He said: "The silver is quite a good antibiotic used in burns units because it does kill MRSA and other bacteria that cause wound infections.
"There is absolutely a possibility that this has been beneficial to Mr Sharman."