Iowans who are sick of winter might find a little solitude in a new book that highlights some of the many wonderful things the Hawkeye State has to offer. Lauren Rice, of Des Moines, is the author of “Iowa: An Explorer’s Guide.” Rice says it’s great for visitors, newcomers and longtime residents.
Rice says she spent four months traveling some 6,000 miles across Iowa for the book, keeping her eyes open for new places to explore or familiar sights that needed a fresh look. The 408-page book features a list of unique attractions all over Iowa. She says there was plenty of eating during her journey.
On the trips, she tried to find the best pork tenderloin in Iowa, but says it’s difficult to name a favorite. A restaurant in St. Olaf offered a one-pounder, which was the largest tenderloin she encountered. Rice has a few suggestions for travelers exploring the state.
Get off the interstates and visit small towns, ideally staying in bed and breakfasts. “Bed and breakfast owners themselves are treasure troves of information,” Rice says.
“They have so much knowledge and they can really send you to spots that regular people aren’t going to.” Those spots include attractions and great food, in addition, the B-and-B owners can fill you in on juicy local gossip and legends. Find Rice’s book at: “www.countrymanpress.com” or hear her talk Friday at 7 P.M. at the Kendall Young Library in Webster City. She will also host a writing workshop Saturday at the library.
By Pat Powers, KQWC, Webster City
Governor Culver has signed legislation backed by doctors and cancer survivors who believe it will encourage more Iowans to participate in clinical trials. The new law requires state regulated insurance policies to continue covering routine medical care for patients who agree to try experimental medications.
Doctor Richard Deming, medical director of Mercy Cancer Center in Des Moines, says even though many clinical trials are privately funded, patients are afraid to enroll for fear of being dropped by their insurance carrier.
“Cancer is still the number one killer of Iowans and the only way we can make improvements in cancer treatment is doing cancer clinical trials, but millions of cancer patients are afraid, especially nowadays, to do something that may cause them to lose healthcare coverage,” Deming said. While most Iowans are covered under federally regulated insurance plans, supporters of the bill say it still sends an important message to cancer patients.
“Most patients are not fearful of the actual treatment, they are very fearful of what the consequences might be if they were to lose coverage,” Deming said. Healthcare advocacy groups have been pushing for the legislation for three years. Deming says the new law does not require insurance carriers to cover the cost of the clinical trial itself – only the routine medical care the patient needs.
Encourages Legislature to Pass ‘Trailing Spouses Bill’, Veterans Legislation
Des Moines, IA—Governor Chet Culver announced today in his weekly press conference he is fighting for Iowa’s Veterans and military families by encouraging the Iowa legislature to pass key veterans legislation.
The Governor highlighted the “Trailing Spouse Bill” (HF 2110), which expands unemployment benefits for spouses who are forced to leave their jobs when their spouse receives a military reassignment or deployment. More than 12,000 Iowans have been mobilized since 2002, and this year 3,500 more Iowa troops will be deployed.
The Governor also encouraged passage of the Exemption of Veteran’s Benefits from Income Tax (HF 2138), Modification of Visitation Rights for Veterans (HF 2417) and Addition of Veterans Representation on Commissions (SF 2175).
Governor’s remarks as prepared:
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Grassley asks for justification of Wellmark rate increases
by Matt Kelley on February 23, 2010 (www.RadioIowa.com)
Iowa’s largest health insurance company is announcing plans to significantly raise rates in April by as much as 25%. Iowa Senator Chuck Grassley says he’s sending a letter today to the C.E.O. of Wellmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, asking for justification of the rate increases that are being planned.
“I’m getting questions from Iowans about this and I need to know the basis for Wellmark making these decisions,” Grassley says. “What factors were considered? Did they have individual actuarial analysis? We need data on their reserves.”
Some 80,000 Iowans buy their own health insurance through Wellmark and their rates are expected to rise between 10% and 25 %. A company spokesman has said the rate hikes are due to increasing health care costs, but Grassley says he wants more detail from Wellmark, though people in several other states are facing similar premium increases.
“I think we’re entitled to documentation of these insurers’ efforts and how it relates to their seeking to be fully nonpartisan status, but my purpose is to study what’s going on,” Grassley says. “I want an informed policy debate on these issues.”
Wellmark raised insurance rates for individual policyholders last year by more than 9%. Overall, Wellmark insures 1.8 million Iowans, with most of them buying their health care coverage through their employers. Grassley, a Republican, says he wants to see the numbers.
“I’m asking because Iowa consumers deserve to know and as the health care debate in Washington continues, insurance rates are a major issue,” Grassley says. “The legislation passed last year didn’t drive costs down. In fact, premiums would’ve gone up.”
Wellmark is constructing a new headquarters in downtown Des Moines that’s expected to cost $194-million, but company officials say the structure has no impact on its rates. The move will gather workers from five existing buildings into one central location.
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| System Offers Unique Approach to Diabetes Management Between Physician Visits |
#diabetes – Bayer’s A1CNow® SELFCHECK At-Home A1C System Now Available In Local Pharmacies
This press release is an announcement submitted by PRNewswire, and was not written by Diabetes Health.
Bayer’s A1CNow SELFCHECK, cleared by the Food and Drug Administration last year, is the first and only system of its kind with at-home results in five minutes. It enables patients to more closely watch their A1C level in between doctor visits so they may have a more informed discussion with their healthcare provider to ensure their diabetes plan is working.
Measuring A1C levels is important for diabetes management, as even a one-percent point reduction in A1C may lower the risk of complications by up to 40 percent.(1)
“A1C testing is an important measure of long-term diabetes management,” said Olivier Jarry, Chief Operating Officer for Bayer Diabetes Care. “Bayer’s A1CNow SELFCHECK provides patients with a new way to partner with their healthcare providers to help meet their blood sugar goals over time.”
A1CNow SELFCHECK complements the healthcare provider-administered A1C test but is not intended to replace it or routine blood glucose testing. Bayer’s A1CNow SELFCHECK, when used in conjunction with blood glucose meters, such as Bayer’s CONTOUR® or BREEZE®2 blood glucose meters, lets people with diabetes know where they stand with respect to their treatment goals.
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#diabetes – by Olivia Grider
This is the third – and final – installment of our three-part series “Handing Down the Genes.” Part III: “Nutrition and Exercise Tips”
Small changes in food choices and daily activity can make a big difference in children’s health – and their risk for type 2 diabetes. Here are some ways to get started.
- Lose the juice. Advertising makes it easy to think fruit juice is good for kids – it’s organic, it has vitamins, it’s made from fruit, after all. What the advertisements don’t tell you is that it’s also packed with sugar and has none of the fiber found in whole fruit. Try providing half an orange with breakfast instead of orange juice.
- Skip the drive-through. A regular soda, fries, and a burger at a fast-food chain can include three days’ worth of sodium, fat, and sugar for an adult. Prepare extra food on weekends so that when you’re in a hurry for a meal, turning to fast food isn’t your first instinct. Scrambled eggs and cheese are also a fast, easy alternative.
- Eat more fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy. The number of daily servings needed varies with age and sex. See www.mypyramid.gov/pyramid for recommendations.
- Choose high-fiber chips, crackers, and breads. Fiber carbs don’t raise blood sugar, and they make people feel full, so they eat less. Fresh fruits and vegetables also contain lots of fiber. Most Americans eat less than half the fiber they need each day (28-35 grams).
- Read the fine print on bread labels. Whole-grain wheat bread is best, but names like “Honey Wheat” can be deceiving. Bread that’s truly whole grain will have four or more grams of fiber per serving and the word “whole” in the first ingredient.
- Look for short ingredient lists. Six ingredients or fewer are best. Studies have shown that a diet high in starchy, processed food, which may contain 20 to 40 ingredients – many of them additives and preservatives that extend shelf life – increase risk for diabetes, insulin resistance, cancer, and other diseases.
- Offer nutritious snacks that kids like. Examples include apple or banana slices with three or four high-fiber crackers (Nabisco Fiber Selects are good) and peanut butter; celery and peanut butter; carrots with ranch dressing; and fruit with string cheese. Make it fun by letting kids create a smiley face using whole-grain bread, a banana halved length-wise, and raisins.
- Ditch the diet soda. Studies show that people tend to overeat when they drink diet soda. Artificial sweeteners in diet drinks trick the brain into thinking that the body is getting calories. When it doesn’t, hunger increases.
- Ensure that kids get 30 minutes of exercise daily. Activities can include organized sports, driveway basketball, playing Frisbee with the family dog, riding a bike, or jumping on a trampoline. If it’s not safe for your children to be outside after school while you’re at work, find an after-school program that offers physical activities or look for ways they can be active indoors. If Wii Fit isn’t in the budget, have them take the stairs, jump rope, or play games.
- Take a walk after dinner. This can be a new family tradition, and it will count toward the 30 minutes of exercise.
- Limit TV and computer time (combined) to two hours/day. The more time a child spends in front of a screen, the more likely he/she is to gain weight. Reading a book or listening to music is better than watching TV because commercials indirectly tell kids to eat.
Tips provided by Nancy Heinrich, founder of Growing Healthy Kids; Gabriella Grinstein, pediatric endocrinologist; and Susan Dopart, registered dietitian and exercise physiologist. For more snack and meal ideas, see Dopart’s blog at http://www.susandopart.com/blog.
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#diabetes – Newly Found Protein and Enzyme Duo May Hold Key to a Cure for Retinopathy
by Patrick Totty
Thwarting a protein that carries an otherwise benign enzyme into the nuclei of cells in the retina, where the enzyme kills the retinal cells, may hold the key to preventing blindness in patients with diabetes. That’s the conclusion of a two-year study by researchers at Michigan State University seeking a way to treat retinopathy, the disease that often leads to blindness in people with diabetes.
The protein, siah-1, is produced by the body when blood sugar levels are high. Siah-1 then carries an enzyme called GADPH (glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase) from its normal position in the fluid component of retinal cells directly into the retinal cell nuclei. There, its presence destroys the nuclei and leads to cell death. The discovery of siah-1’s role in retinopathy opens to door to the possibility of a treatment that can stop retinopathy in its tracks, if the protein can be manipulated to prevent it from transporting GADPH into retinal nuclei.
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#diabetes – Less sleep for kids may mean higher blood sugar
by Joene Hendry
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) – Young children may be more apt to have high blood sugar, a precursor to diabetes, if they average 8 hours or less of sleep a night, report Chinese and American researchers.
This risk may be even greater among obese youngsters, Dr. Zhijie Yu, at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Shanghai and colleagues note in Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine.
Moreover, Yu said in an email to Reuters Health, shorter sleep seemed to influence blood sugar “independently of a large variety of risk factors,” such as age, gender, birth-related influences, early life feeding or later diet, recent illness, physical activity, body mass, and waist girth.
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Microsoft’s Hotmail email service suffered a temporary outage Tuesday related to problems with the Windows Live ID user-authentication technologies. And although the service is now back up and running normally, there are limited reports that some users’ accounts might have been compromised during the outage, allowing others to view account details and other private information.
“Around 9:30 a.m. PST [Tuesday Feb 16th], the Windows Live ID sign-in service experienced a partial outage: Some customers were unable to sign in to services using Windows Live ID for approximately one hour,” a Microsoft spokesperson said. “The service is now restored to normal. Microsoft apologizes for any inconvenience this has caused customers.” A posting to the Windows Live blog expanded on the explanation, noting that the outage was “due to the failure of one server, increasing the load on our remaining servers [and causing] Windows Live ID logins to fail for some customers.”
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State officials are releasing more information today about a rebate program on purchases of large, energy-efficient appliances. The rebates on selected refrigerators, hot water heaters, furnaces, dishwashers and other appliances range from $100 to $500. Iowans will be able to reserve their rebate starting at 8 a.m. next Monday.
Today, the website and toll free phone number where rebate reservations will be accepted are being released. Linda King, with the Iowa Office of Energy Independence, says just over 9,000 rebates will be available. “This program is on a first come, first serve basis. So, we are encouraging people to call in the first week of the program, reserve their rebates and then they’ll have plenty of time to make decisions and make their purchases,” King said.
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