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No Cuts or Caps on Medicaid

A very real battle is brewing over Medicaid. Medicaid, the health care program for the most vulnerable among us -- seniors, children, people with disabilities, and others who have nowhere else to turn -- is under fire from both the Administration and Congress.

Thatâs why the battle over next yearâs federal budget is so critical. Unfortunately, we already know that Medicaid will be on the chopping block. Advocates have about three months to do everything they can to preserve Medicaid as a guarantee of health care to those who need it most.

On January 12, 2005, we sent a letter to President Bush urging him not to cut or cap the Medicaid program. Hereâs the really big news: 240 national organizations and 775 state and local organizations, representing all 50 states and the District of Columbia, joined Families USA in signing this letter! Thatâs more than 1,000 signatures. Click here to read the letter to President Bush.

Together, we can protect Medicaid!

Tell President Bush and Congress: No Cuts or Caps on Medicaid

Tell the President and Congress:
No Cuts or Caps on Medicaid

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* President George Bush
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Smoking May Protect Against Parkinson's

Reuters

January 21, 2005 01:26:36 PM PST

Adapted from The Daily Motivator
Saturday, January 22, 2005
Another choice
Stress is only what you allow it to be. When you choose not to let it
affect you, it is no longer there.
There are no situations that are stressful on their own. There are
only situations in which you choose to respond with a stressful
attitude.
When you choose to focus on the negative aspects of a situation, you
choose to fill your experience with stress, but there are other
choices.
You can, for example, choose to respond with love. You can choose to
respond with positive action and enthusiastic determination.
You can look at challenges and see in them the opportunity for
positive progress. You can look at the disappointments and see in them
the opportunity for real joy.
When stress begins to fill you, stop and remember that it is only one
of many possible responses, then smile and make another choice.
-- Ralph Marston
Copyright ©2005 Ralph S. Marston, Jr. All rights reserved.
http://greatday.com/motivate/index.html
~Joyce
If you can give your child only one gift, let it be enthusiasm.

Device Shows Promise for Spinal Cord Injury

HealthDay

I have tried to look through the archives, but that is much harder than members think when the subject line does not necessarily reflect the contents of the posts. If someone has a file handy, I would certainly appreciate the posting of Hughes Syndrome information again. Anything current would be good.

Thank you,

~ cyd

One of our past list members Carol, was diagnosed with Hughes and she researched the subject deeply. Last we heard it appeared that there was still a question mark whether she had MS as well as Hughes. There was a lot of correspondence on the list relating to Hughes and MS - if you searched the archives you are bound to come across it. Carol talked about all the tests, treatments, symptoms - you name it. Good luck,

Trish.

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/99/105087.htm

NSAID Pain Drugs Injure Small Intestine

Among Daily Users of Aspirin-Like Drugs, 71% Have Small Intestine Injury

By Daniel DeNoon
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Michael Smith, MD
on Wednesday, January 05, 2005

Jan. 5, 2005 -- More than 70% of people who take daily doses of aspirin and similar drugs sustain small bowel injuries, a new study shows.

But don't throw your pain pills or baby aspirin out the window. Most of these injuries are small -- and it's not at all clear whether they mean trouble. On the other hand, some of these injuries may be serious.

The drugs are called "traditional" NSAIDs to distinguish them from the newer NSAIDs known as Cox-2 inhibitors. There are around 20 traditional NSAIDs, including aspirin, ibuprofen (Advil and Motrin), naproxen (Aleve), indomethacin (Indocin), and piroxicam (Feldene).

The findings come from a study led by David Y. Graham, MD, head of gastroenterology at Michael DeBakey Medical Center, and professor of medicine at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. Graham and colleagues used a tiny new "pill camera" to look inside the small intestines of 21 men and women who used NSAIDs every day and 20 people who did not use the drugs. None of the people in the study had any symptoms of small intestine problems.

They found that 71% of the traditional NSAID users had some damage to their small intestines, compared with 10% of the nonusers. Five of the traditional NSAID users had large erosions or ulcers -- a problem not seen in any of the nonusers. The findings appear in the January 2005 issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology.

"Our study looked only at asymptomatic people, so we couldn't say anything about the meaning of the damage," Graham tells WebMD. "The fact is, there is damage that does extend down into the bowel. Mostly these are little erosions that will heal without any problem. But some patients had big lesions. One would expect that the size and number of lesions would be important, but we have not yet shown this. The number of ulcers was small."

Meaning of Small Intestine Injuries Not Clear

Graham notes that his study was too small to show whether the traditional NSAID injuries would ever cause problems. However, the findings do indicate many cases of unexplained blood loss and other symptoms may be due to long-term use of traditional NSAIDs.

"What does this mean? It can't mean nothing," Graham says. "But we may find out these [unexplained symptoms] are not due to the kinds of injuries we see here."

Graham's study doesn't prove that the small intestine injuries linked to traditional NSAIDs cause clinical problems, says James M. Scheiman, MD, professor of gastroenterology at the University of Michigan.

"Traditional NSAIDs do damage the small intestine," Scheiman tells WebMD. "We have known that taking these drugs injures the gut. The question is, what does it mean? It is likely that those with the most damage as seen by this pill camera will get symptoms. It is possible; it is fairly likely, but we actually don't know that yet."

Scheiman notes that small intestine injury linked to traditional NSAIDs isn't as dramatic as the stomach bleeding seen in a small proportion of those who take the drugs. Indeed, Graham notes that traditional NSAIDs cause problems in a small but significant percentage of people. But that has to be balanced against the great good that they do.

"People take these drugs because they get such benefits," Graham says. "Before we had them, if you had pain, you had pain. Now people with chronic arthritis pain can walk and go back to work."

Graham argues that some traditional NSAIDs are much safer than others.

"Feldene is always leading the list of NSAIDs linked to problems," he says. "The less-dangerous ones are ibuprofen or naproxen. But NSAIDs are remarkable for their ability to cause damage. Some shouldn't even be on the market. Now we can do studies to find which ones we should eliminate."

Scheiman echoes Graham's warning.

"People shouldn't use NSAIDs willy nilly," Scheiman says. "One of my areas of concern is the widespread use of aspirin. A lot of the patients in the Graham study were just on low-dose aspirin."

Hi All,
I was just wondering does anybody suffer from headaches. I have a had a nagging headache for about 2 week's now. It peaks every so often to the point that I cant function. And then seems to ease up?????
Pamela

Thought thid *might be of interest.
===================
http://www.biospace.com/news_story.cfm?StoryID=18760420
===================
Your friend found this news on http://www.biospace.com
BioSpace - Web solutions for the life sciences
http://www.biospace.com
NEWS_STOCKS_CAREERS_RESOURCES_COMMUNITIES_WEB SOLUTIONS
BioSpace
300 Fifth Avenue South
Naples, Florida 34102
Phone: 888-BIOSPACE
Fax: 239-659-0111 or 239-659-0100

Thought this might be of interest.
===================
http://www.biospace.com/news_story.cfm?StoryID=18761920
===================
Your friend found this news on http://www.biospace.com
BioSpace - Web solutions for the life sciences
http://www.biospace.com
NEWS_STOCKS_CAREERS_RESOURCES_COMMUNITIES_WEB SOLUTIONS
BioSpace
300 Fifth Avenue South
Naples, Florida 34102
Phone: 888-BIOSPACE
Fax: 239-659-0111 or 239-659-0100

Mouse Experiment Offers Alzheimer's Hope

Associated Press

January 21, 2005 04:41:43 AM PST