The Swine Flu (strain H5N1) caused the great Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919 that killed about 40 million people. It is now back in Asia and Europe, and is spread by migratory birds like ducks, swans and geese – so it is already in the U.S. There are two stocks that will benefit the most.
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In that great Hitchcock thriller, the birds start attacking Tippi Hedron (Melanie Griffith’s mom, for trivia fans) in Mendocino for no particular reason.Today, Ms. Hedron works actively in films, international relief efforts and for animal causes.She may get an ironic opportunity to combine her charity works with birds again, because scientists around the world are looking nervously at the increasing possibility of a return of avian influenza, also known as the Swine Flu.First identified in Italy in 1900, it is the H5N1 virus implicated in the great Spanish Flu pandemic of 1918-1919 that killed about 40 million people.I say “implicated in” instead of “caused,” because it was government policies that made the death toll much higher than it needed to be.But there is no doubt H5N1 is a major killer.
There are three steps H5N1 has to go through in order to get to people.First, there needs to be a lot of infected birds.Almost 200 million chickens have been killed or died in Asia in the last year due to avian flu infection.Strike One. Next, unless someone eats diseased poultry, the flu has to cross species into an animal that can easily infect people.It has now crossed into pigs, which is where most human flu outbreaks begin.Pigs carry human influenza viruses.Viruses can combine (exchange DNA) in pigs, creating a variant of H5N1 that can spread as easily and rapidly as ordinary flu.Strike Two.
Finally, it has to hit an unprepared populace, with lowered immune systems and no effective drugs.Lowered immune systems are caused by, among other factors, cold weather, lack of sleep, excess weight, stress, high sugar intake and caffeine.Hmmm. Sound like anyone you know?
Serious scientists think H5N1 could kill as many people as the 1918 disaster, if only because there are now more than three times as many people in the world. The UN Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza recently said a Swine Flu pandemic could kill as many as 150 million people.Other scientists have projected up to 354 million deaths.And you thought $3 gasoline was a major problem!
The H5N1 Swine Flu reappeared in Hong Kong in 1997.Eighteen people were infected, and six died.All the chickens in the area were slaughtered, and the outbreak was confined to Hong Kong.But it has now been found in Vietnam, Thailand, Japan, Mainland China, Malaysia and Indonesia.
It then showed up in Russia, almost certainly carried by migratory birds.So much for banning chicken.In August 2005, it appeared in Mongolia and Kazakhstan, and then in western Russia, poised to enter Europe.Roumania found infected and dead swans in October.An infected parrot died in quarantine in the United Kingdom.
The Senior United Nations System Coordinator for Avian and Human Influenza in charge of a response to H5N1 says a pandemic could begin at anytime, and kill five million to 150 million people.He confirmed the virus is in migratory birds, and said an outbreak could start in Africa, where immune systems are chronically depressed, or the Middle East as well as southeast Asia.What he didn’t say is that the same migratory birds, mainly ducks, swans and geese, also travel thousands of miles to Canada and the U.S.The H5N1 virus is almost certainly in the U.S. already – it just hasn’t been found yet.December, Janaury and February are the “flu season” in both the U.S. and Asia.
We have reviewed all the companies involved in Swine Flu vaccines, and found two stocks that should be bought immediately because they will make a fortune even if there is never a case of Swine Flu in the world again.Governments around the world are stocking up on vaccines just in case they are needed, and these stockpiles need to be replenished periodically.For the names of the two stocks, visit my website at http://www.NewWorldInvestor.net

According to throat cultures obtained from sick soldiers, each of the patients were infected by “swine-like flu virus” which have been unknown to humans since 1930. It was believed that the same virus was also responsible for the worst flu pandemic in the United States in 1918-1919 which led to the death of half a million Americans.

To many people, the discovery of the 1976 was more of a debacle than a victory because after only 10 weeks of implementation, vaccination efforts came to a premature close as the program led to complications which were associated to the shots.

After the death of Private David Lewis after participating in a forced five-mile march the night before his demise, Dr. David Sencer and his colleagues attributed the death to strains of swine-like flu virus. Upon the advice of specialists across the United States, Dr. Sencer called on then President Gerald Ford to launch a nationwide mass inoculation.

President Ford and the US Congress heeded the call and in October implemented the $137-million National Inoculation Program. However, after only several days of implementation, there were reports that the vaccine being used for the program made the patients prone to Guillain-Barre Syndrome, a rare neurological disorder which results to temporary paralysis but could be risky.

Prior to its premature end in December 1976, the vaccine was administered to over 40 million Americans comprising almost 25% of the population. From the over 500 people who experienced Guillain-Barre Syndrome after vaccine administration, 25 people died. As a result, the Federal Government paid millions worth of damages to the families of the victims.

Meanwhile, the epidemic which some experts predicted would affect 50 to 60 million Americans during that time never happened. According to the Center for Disease Control, there were only 200 confirmed cases and one death.

It is understandable why the current H1N1 outbreak has been a source of anxiety for the public who recalls the 1976 event. It serves as a lesson for the government and health officials who needs to make a decision on the current swine flu in the days and weeks to come.

Dr. David Sencer, who is now retired and resides in Atlanta, believes that the 1976 debacle brought good things as well as bad. The belief that the 1918-19 flu epidemic resulted from swine-like virus partly contributed to the 1976 setback.

Although current studies have shown that the cause of the epidemic was bird flu, it did not ease the current anxiety prevailing in the public. The 1918-19 epidemic led to the death of 500,000 people in the United States and more than 50 million worldwide.

In Mexico, where the 2009 swine flu outbreak, originated, 22 people have died from the most recent outbreak. Government officials have been under fire for the way they have handled the situation. However, with such a mystery surrounding the threat, Dr. Peter Katona, who is an authority on infectious disease from UCLA, believes that people have failed to understand the challenges posed by such problem.

Swine influenza came from pigs, hence the name, and pigs usually have regular outbreaks of this disease. The problem with it this time is that this strain of influenza has managed to jump the species and went over to us Homo sapiens and cased a bit of havoc.

Pigs don’t have to worry about it because most of them have built-in resistances to the diseases, mostly because of the constant evolutionary exposure to the disease. They like us when we receive the flu: a few chills, sniffles and a bit of bed rest and we’re right as rain. Problem with that is us humans don’t have this resistance to swine flu, mostly because we’re not pigs. The pigs would be in the same boat if a human strain had jumped into the porcine population.

The other problem with it is its virulence. The Center For Disease Control have determined that this strain of swine flu is contagious and can be passed to other people through the normal vectors: the virus can be transmitted when someone touches something that is contaminated and the puts it in his eyes, nose, or mout. It’s even airborne as microscopic droplets can travel through the air when someone sneezes. The CDC, however, is still a bit hazy on some other factors like incubation time and much contact is too much contact.

Another problem is that the swine flu has the same symptoms as regular human flu, just worse by an order of magnitude. High fever, cough, sore throat, body aches, headaches, chills and fatigue can either mean you’ve been hit by the ordinary human flu and should take the usual cures or maybe you have the swine flu and need to go to the doctor immediately. Personally, it would be better to take no chances and just go to the doctor. Diarrhea and vomiting are the big warning signs though. Death by flue isn’t direct though. It just compounds with other diseases like pneumonia and makes it even worse. It can also kick any existing medical conditions you have like asthma up a notch.

So, the question on your mind now probably is: is there no hope or should I just run to the hills to avoid human contact? Thankfully, you don’t have to go that far. The CDC has recommended the use of several medicines to treat yourself with and to prevent the spread of the disease. Oseltamivir and zanamivir are viral inhibitors that make sure that the virus does not reproduce. More common antiviral drugs that are bought over the counter can also be effective. They make the symptoms milder and help your body heal itself faster. They can also stop some of the higher level complications that can happen when you are infected, if you take them early enough.

Of course, an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure. To avoid getting infected, try to avoid close contact with sick people and wash your hands on a regular basis, especially before you eat. If you have the unfrotunate luck of getting sick, isolate yourself and check your symptoms. Immediately consult with your doctor if your sickness persists more than usual.

The swine flu is just the latest in a long line of diseases that have endangered the human race. No matter how frightening it is, it’s still pretty survivable. All you need to have is the right knowledge to win the battle.

Some health care providers prefer the insulin pump because its slow release of insulin mimics how a normally working pancreas would release insulin. Studies vary on whether the pump provides better blood glucose control than multiple daily injections. Another advantage of the insulin pump is that it frees you from having to measure insulin into a syringe.

An insulin pump is a medical device continuously delivering insulin under the skin through a catheter. It’s usually con…
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Some health care providers prefer the insulin pump because its slow release of insulin mimics how a normally working pancreas would release insulin. Studies vary on whether the pump provides better blood glucose control than multiple daily injections. Another advantage of the insulin pump is that it frees you from having to measure insulin into a syringe.

An insulin pump is a medical device continuously delivering insulin under the skin through a catheter. It’s usually connects somewhere in the waist area. There’s a new generation of insulin pumps, called a patch pump. Currently patch pumps are only available from OmniPod. Patch pumps adhere directly to the skin with no catheter tubing showing. It then infuses insulin directly under the skin.

Either pump delivers insulin at an hourly rate. For instance, the rate might be 1.1 units an hour. However, the pump delivers different rates at different times of day depending on the patient’s insulin infusion (or basal) rates that are programmed into the pump.

The amount of insulin delivered depends on two things. First by the amount of carbohydrate a patient eats using an insulin to carbohydrate ratio, and then by the correction factor, or the ratio of the number of milligrams per deciliter (mg/dl) a patient’s blood sugar will be lowered by one insulin unit.
If a patient eats 60 grams carbohydrate at meals and has an insulin-carbohydrate ratio of one insulin unit to 15 grams carbohydrate, the patient’s insulin injection at that meal would 4 units.

However, if a patient has a correction factor of one unit to 50 points of blood sugar, the pump should give an additional injection of 2.5 units to lower his blood sugar from 245 mg/dl to a needed level of 120 mg/dl.

To use an insulin pump a patient must be able to manage it. This involves knowledge at several levels. First, patients must understand how to insert the catheter when using the pump, or how to attach the newer patch pump to their abdomen. They must also be able to push the right buttons on the pump to deliver proper insulin doses and adjust the basal rates.

Then the patient needs to be skilled in carbohydrate counting so they are able to deliver correct insulin doses at mealtimes. And they should be willing to check their blood glucose levels at least four to six times a day. This assures that they detect a pump failure and prevent hyperglycemia and diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA, in type 1 patients).

Patient attention is important because no long-acting insulin is used in type 1 patients who use pumps and they need to correct high- or low-blood sugars before they are clinically observable and symptomatic.

Insulin pump therapy is almost never needed to maintain life because insulin can be easily injected under the skin. Most insurers will cover insulin pump therapy in situations where insulin pump therapy will significantly improve the level of diabetes care and control over and above multidose insulin (MDI) therapy. This includes cases where:

The glucose control in multidose insulin therapy is not optimal with glycated hemoglobin (Hba1c>) than the ADA (American Diabetes Association) recommended goal of 7%. An endocrinologist, who will be able to help the patient learn how to use and the pump and adjust basal and correction doses, prescribes the pump.

The patient has type 1 diabetes. However, in many situations patients with type 2 diabetes will benefit from the pump as well. Presence of hypoglycemia despite adjustments in insulin doses and utilizing carbohydrate counting to help decide pre-meal insulin doses in patients who are using MDI therapy.

Presence of hyperglycemia-especially as revealed by high morning readings (Dawn phenomenon) where increasing basal rates of insulin in the early morning hours would help to better control blood sugar levels.

Insurers require medical charts from the prescribing doctor as well as blood sugar logs from the patient to prove that there is real medical necessity.

About a billion doses of any one vaccine each year is the only they can produce, so that even if all the capacity was switched to fight a pandemic flu, as opposed to a seasonal flu. Few years ago, the supply of the vaccines they have produced were enough to epidemic but now is not enough for the total population’s outbreak.

Deadlier wave of a new H1N1 strain they forecast will reappear this fall and they have to produce pandemic vaccines as early as now to prepare for a turn out as the vaccine may not be as effective will be sure to a big waste of resources with serious results, and there would also be a shortage of seasonal flu vaccine available. Only a few more weeks were needed for the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) CDC to develop a “seed strain” of the pandemic virus on the first days May, but producers would then need four to six months before they could create large volumes of vaccine.

In other point of view, the WHO will attempt to make sure that a substantial amount is available and should a pandemic be declared and a vaccine produced, for the benefit of developing countries. Vaccine manufacturers and countries with standing orders, such as the U.S. and some European countries will be asked to share with developing countries from the moment the first batches are ready if an H1N1 vaccine is made.

2009-2010 flu seasons are ineffective against the new strain with the previous influenza vaccines for the north and south hemispheres. The WHO claims that two separate immunizations will be required for seasonal and swine flu, but no decision would be made on whether to begin producing a swine flu vaccine. The board will receive inputs from manufacturers (e.g. GlaxoSmithKline, Sanofi-Aventis, Novartis and Baxter International) regarding when they are able to finish manufacturing the seasonal shot and begin production of the swine flu vaccine, waiting from the WHO of their recommendations and “seed virus”, and some may be ready to proceed with production at that time.

There also antiviral drugs available for treatments of influenza, the virus is resistant to amantadine and rimantadine but sensitive to the oseltamivir and zanamivir. There remains concern that this strain may mutate develop resistance to oseltamivir in the future. For the treatment and prevention of the Swine Flu, the CDC recommended the use of Tamiflu (oseltamivir) and Relenza (zanamivir). Studies shows that the medication continues to maintain its effective that why the U.S. government had already extended the shelf life of federally stockpiled Tamiflu from their original five years to seven years.

Buying medications from online sources is not recommended by the WHO because they believed that half of the drugs they sold are counterfeited. Others are thinking if they grab up antiviral drugs for their safe even if they have no symptoms, the health officials warned them may eventually lead them to the Swine Flu virus developing drug resistance.

TLC Laser Eye Centers is a premier provider of LASIK and other refractive surgery procedures. The group boasts highly experienced doctors, thorough pre-operative examinations, and personalized care for each of its patients.
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TLC Laser Eye Centers is a premier provider of LASIK and other refractive surgery procedures. The group boasts highly experienced doctors, thorough pre-operative examinations, and personalized care for each of its patients. It also has over 13,000 affiliated eyecare practitioners. TLC Laser Eye Centers does not offer quick assessments or overblown promises. Instead, it provides a long-term commitment for future surgical enhancements.

As a token of its genuineness, TLC offers a lifetime commitment program. Patients suffering from myopia may be eligible for this offer. According to this offer, if ever a patient requires enhancement surgery in order to maintain distance vision acuity, the enhancement surgery shall be performed without charge.

LASIK is by far the most preferred refractive surgery. However, the surgical procedure can often be expensive or even unaffordable for some people. TLC Laser Eye Centers have made an immense contribution to bring this surgery option to the masses. TLC offers variety of ways to pay for LASIK, and hence have eased out the whole procedure and have managed to make the procedure affordable for every patient. To be specific, TLC offers financing options, medical and vision plans, and flexible spending options for its patients.

The TLC Laser Eye Centers website also provides a whole repertoire of features. It might be the case that you are uncertain as to whether you should go for LASIK or not. TLC website provides a feature where you can easily check whether you are a potential LASIK candidate or not. You can locate a TLC LASIK center in your vicinity and also find a TLC affiliated eye surgeon. The website also provides a detailed description of the LASIK procedure so as to dispel any doubts that you might have had regarding LASIK.

In summary, TLC Laser Eye Centers offers scads of information and support for informed decision making. LASIK is a safe and efficacious procedure, but it’s still a surgery, and any sort of advice in such a matter is always handy.

The disease spreads easily person-to-person, and can be cause with serious illness, and can spread out across the country and even worldwide in a very short span of time. An influenza pandemic may be caused by either swine (pig) or avian (bird) flu viruses.

Swine flu viruses do not normally infect humans. But, randomly, the human race got infected with Swine flu. Most frequently, these cases occur in persons with direct exposure to pigs (example: owner and or workers in the swine backyard or industry or even the children near pigs at a fair).

Human-to-human transmission of Swine flu can also occur. This is thought to happen in the same way as seasonal flu occurs in people, which is mainly through coughing or sneezing of people infected with the influenza virus to an uninfected individual will be infected also. People may also become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then they touch their mouth or nose.

Some think that swine flu can also get from foods we eat. Take note that influenza viruses are not transmitted by food. You cannot get the influenza virus by means of eating pork or pork products. Eating properly handled and cooked pork is safe. Proper cooking of pork or pork products with an internal temperature of 160°F will kill the swine flu virus as it does with other bacteria and viruses.

Fever, lethargy, lack of appetite, runny nose, sore throat, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and coughing are some of the following symptoms of swine flu in people.

In diagnosing influenza infection, a respiratory specimen would generally need to be collected within the first 3 to 4 days of illness (when an infected person is most likely to be contagious). However, some persons, especially children, may be infectious for 10 days or longer.

If you get sick, there are two antiviral drugs (Tamiflu and Relenza) available with prescription can make your illness milder and make you feel better faster. They may also prevent serious influenza complications. In treatment, antiviral drugs work best if started as soon after getting sick as possible, and might not work if started more than 2 days after illness starts.

There are a number of things that you can do to prepare yourself and those around you for a flu pandemic. It is important to think about the challenges that you might face, particularly if an epidemic is rigorous.

The effects of a pandemic can be lessened if preparation is made ahead of time. Planning and preparation information and checklists are being prepared for various sectors of society, including information for individuals and families.

Different agencies are providing funding, advice, and other support from different rich nations to every country to assist with Swine Flu epidemic planning and preparation. Reading articles like this can help you plan against the spreading of the Swine Flu.

On the other hand, the World Health Organization raised the pandemic alert level from phase four to phase five, signaling that a pandemic is “imminent”.

To know more about different phases of Swine Flu as defined by the WHO, I enlisted six of them” defined by the WHO:

If a virus circulated among animals but there are no reported cases of infections to humans will fall under phase one. An example of this phase is an outbreak of flu symptoms in your hog race backyard.
In phase two there is an identified animal flu virus and caused infections to human, and it will be considered a potential pandemic threat.

An example is when the owner either the child or an adult within the hog race backyard got infected with a flu from their animal symptoms.
Phase 3 specified that a confirmed animal or human-animal flu virus has caused small outbreaks in human race, but has not resulted in human-to-human transmission that is sufficient to sustain community-level outbreaks. An example in this phase is when a child within the hog race backyard got infected together with his father, his mother and his siblings.

Radically in Phase 4, there is a cause of community-level outbreaks of human-to-human transmission of an animal or human-animal flu virus. This phase will focus to contain the spreading of the virus. The United Nations will then inform different countries asking to advice their people such as traveling to containment areas. All countries with infected with the swine flu must also consider in deploying a pandemic vaccine. An example of this when the infected family member went out from their backyard decided to talk to his friends and unaware that he’s spreading the virus.

In the 5th phase, if there are at least two countries in one region and spread the virus by means of human-to-human transmission. The signal of the pandemic is imminently strong. The infected countries are required to advise people with respiratory illnesses to stay home. There should be an advisory of suspension of classes. An example of this is when a man-infected virus either a family member or any of his friends travel to another neighboring country.

The sixth and final phase also called the pandemic phase. A pandemic phase is just like a spread of virus in phase 5 but extended at least one other country outside their geographic region. There must be an implementation of contingency plans of health systems in all levels. An example of this is when a man-infected virus travel to another continent.

Whatever phases of Swine Flu outbreak, we are experiencing in our country or geographic region we must prepare and prevent it to spread to lessen the death toll.

Deciding to get laser vision correction surgery is a big decision and you should do all the research you can before making such big decisions. Being well informed about your surgeon and their experience and education will benefit you and could help to prevent an untrained surgeon from operating on you…
about laser eye surgery, Corrective eye surgery, laser eye surgery, lasik eye surgery, cosmetic eye surgery, cataract eye surgery, plastic eye surgery, retinal detachment surgery
Finding out about Laser Eye Surgery is a very simple process. The Internet and your ophthalmology surgeon are your two best sources of information. Deciding to get laser vision correction surgery is a big decision and you should do all the research you can before making such big decisions. Being well informed about your surgeon and their experience and education will benefit you and could help to prevent an untrained surgeon from operating on your eyes.

When people first decide to start looking into this surgical technique they are usually just concerned about getting their vision fixed. As you start to become more and more interested in actually getting the surgery there may be some other more pertinent concerns that will pop up.

Important Questions

1. How do I decide on the right clinic to perform my surgery?

2. What experience does my surgeon have?

3. Did my surgeon go through special training in order to do this type of eye correction surgery?

4. How much is my surgery going to cost?

5. How long is the recovery time?

6. Does my surgeon have any lawsuits pending or any history of them?

These are all very important questions that you need to look into before you arrive at your surgeons office the day of the surgery. It takes time to make an informed decision so do not rush the process.

Time and Research

Spend a couple of weeks making your decision. If you make your decision when you are calm and not rushed, it is more likely that you will make a clear-headed decision about your eye surgery. Laser eye surgery has the risk of potential blindness, so it is not a surgery you should take lightly.

How to Start Your Research

Start your research with a consultation from a local laser eye surgery clinic. At your consultation you will be able to find out what type of corrective eye surgery will be able to help improve your vision. Feel free to take notes or have your surgeon write down the important information regarding your surgery.

After you have had a consultation it is time to use the Internet to your benefit. Look up the type of surgery your doctor suggested that you have. Become clear on the risks and potential benefits associated with this surgery.

You can also use the Internet to check up on your doctor. With just a few minutes of research time you should be able to find out if your doctor has any lawsuits or complaints pending. Although lawsuits are fairly common practice today, you should definitely pay attention if your surgeon has even one pending suit against them.

You can also research the licensing of your surgeon in his or her specialty field. If you have any questions about your surgeon’s past, feel free to ask the clinic directly. If they are open and honest they will direct you to exactly where you can go to find out more information concerning the training and education of your surgeon.

This prescription of antiviral medication that can be used to treat influenza infections between children and adults is called Tamiflu. If their symptoms have started within the last two days they are advice to start taking the Tamiflu. This antiviral medication can also be used to prevent children, teens and adults if they are exposed to the influenza virus.

Relenza (ruh-LENS-uh) is more active than the Tamiflu. This kind of medicine, aside from treatment of influenza they can also prevent the suspect to getting the flu again. While some antiviral medicines only protect against influenza A, Relenza is effective against both influenza A and B. This Relenza drug belongs to neuramidase inhibitors group of medicines. These medications target the influenza virus and prevent it from spreading inside your body.

Relenza treats the cause of influenza at its source, rather than simply treating the symptoms like the role of Tamiflu. Simulations suggest that if physicians choose a second effective antiviral such as zanamivir. Zanamivir is the generic name of Relenza as first-line treatment in even a few percent of cases, but can solve to delay the spread of resistant strains.

The available antiviral treatments for influenza, the virus is resistant to rimantadine and amantadine, but sensitive to the oseltamivir and zanamivir. Oseltamivir is the generic name Tamiflu. This strain may mutate develop resistance of oseltamivir in the future.

Tamiflu and Relenza is highly recommended by the CDC for both treatment and prevention of the new strain. The shelf life of federally stockpiled Tamiflu from the original five years to seven years because studies indicated that the medication continues to maintain its effectiveness had already extended by the United States government and Roche Applied Science. Not only that, the other members of the G8 Countries extended their contract stockpiled of Tamiflu from vaccine manufacturers.

It is highly recommended not to buy from online pharmacies without an address of these two types of medications because their stockpiled are counterfeited. Consult to the World Health Organization for information about the antiviral drugs before making any steps in your country.

Medical experts warned the public not to take the antiviral drugs if you are not ill. You only want to be safe but the worst thing is if you take any of this antiviral drugs may lead you to a virus developing drug resistance. They suggest that antiviral drug should be taken only to very sick people or an individual with low immune system.

From the undetermined source that only one out of three Americans would get Swine Flu vaccine or antiviral drugs. So, it means the vaccine manufacturers especially the manufacturers of Tamiflu and Relenza have no enough capability to do more drugs against the pandemics.

According to CDC, testing has found that the Swine Flu virus remains at risk to two common antiviral drugs, Tamiflu and Relenza.