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Prevention is the Cheapest Medicine; Five Ways to Save on Health Care Ouch! Those insurance premiums hurt. Whether you're a part of and HMO or a private insuree, whether you're an employee with benefits or an employer providing them, premiums, deductibles and copayments swallow an ever larger slice of your expense pie. Soon it may be necessary to join the ranks of the uninsured or at least, the growing number who opt for catastrophic insurance with high deductibles. Whatever way you go, reducing the number of visits to your health care provider will save you money, and in 99 out of 100 cases won't hurt you. In 1999, a study in Florida of elderly patients who took advantage of all the office visits, tests and medications their health insurance plan had to offer were no healthier after a year than those who received little or no care. It's not the availability of professional health care, expensive procedures, or the latest breakthrough drugs, but the preventive measures you take that keep you healthy. Smokers cost us millions in higher premiums. Type II diabetes--more millions. We will all save a bundle, as well as our lives, if we quit smoking, eat less and exercise more. That's obvious. Here are some less obvious ways to stay out of the doctor's office and still enjoy good health. 1. Think Positively. Study after study has shown that optimists live longer, healthier lives than pessimists. Chronic negative thinking adversely affects your physiology by raising susceptibility to infections, slowing healing time, even increasing blood pressure and increasing the risk of heart attacks. Positive thinkers don't assume the worst, that a mild cough is bronchitis, for example. Optimists believe in their own abilities. They more often self-treat first, like putting an ice pack on a strain, before turning to an expert. 2. Take responsibility. Your health is your job. Only you can figure out why your sciatica acts up everytime you go into couch potato mode. Only you know how stressed out you are; how your neck hurts when you use the computer; how little sleep you get. If something hurts, figure out what makes it feel better and do that. If you've had a cold off and on for months, think about how your lifestyle may be contributing to a compromised immune system; then make a change. 3. Have a little patience. Don't look for a quick fix. Healing takes time. Stay home in bed for a few days and see if you feel better. Yes, being sick is inconvenient. But the desire to avoid the least inconvenience has led to the overuse of antibiotics to the extent most are now useless. In the past, we waited for the results of a culture to find out whether we had a bacterial infection for which antibiotics were prescribed. If we had a virus, we went home to bed without medicine. The quick-fix mentality leads to higher demand for medication and health services, and therefore higher costs, but, according to statistics, has not made us any healthier. 4. Don't be swayed by advertising. Have you noticed the huge increase in ads for pharmaceuticals? Have you witnessed the corresponding increase in the profits of pharmaceutical companies? All advertising is self-serving. Don't forget that. It's up to you to be discerning. Don't "Ask your doctor about...". If your doctor thought you needed a certain medication, she'd prescribe it. 5. Don't name it. Doctors need to name conditions, but you don't. "My elbow is sore" sounds less serious than "I have arthritis." If your elbow is sore you'll probably massage it, work it, ice it, rest it, or take an aspirin. Naming it arthritis makes it something only a doctor can take care of, even though that doctor will probably suggest you massage it, work it, ice it, rest it or take an aspirin. Finally, trust your body's innate ability to heal itself. It produces all the chemicals you need to stay well, naturally. It produced T-cells to fight viruses, antibodies stronger than any antibiotics you can take. It produces natural pain relievers called endorphins, antidepressants such as seratonin, melatonin to help you sleep, and epinephrine to pep you up. It produces cortisol, the best anti-inflammatory there is, insulin to regulate your blood sugar, and growth hormone to keep you young. Your body produces everything you need in the right amounts at the right times... if you'd let it. Make the healthy choices to exercise, eat well and reduce stress. Prevention in the cheapest and best medicine.
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