Travel and Health News, the latest issue is out

AirMed is there not only when you need us, but where you need us.

In this issue of Travel+Health, AirMed's member newsletter:

• How does AirMed work?
• A CEO's business trip turns terrifying
• The Number One Traveler's Health Issue 
• Our members sound off, and more!
  

Follow this link to see the full AirMed News. 

Why CVS Isn't Selling Cigarettes Anymore

CVS/Caremark announced this morning that it will stop selling tobacco products starting October 1. 

The pharmacy chain said selling cancer-causing products was incompatible with its overall mission of improving health, both through its pharmacies and its MinuteClinic walk-in primary care centers. 

The company will forgo $2 billion in annual tobacco sales by no longer carrying the number-one cause of preventable death. 

"We have about 26,000 pharmacists and nurse practitioners helping patients manage chronic problems like high cholesterol, high blood pressure, and heart disease, all of which are linked to smoking," Larry J. Merlo, chief executive of CVS, told the New York Times. "We came to the decision that cigarettes and providing healthcare just don't go together in the same setting."

Read the Full Story of this important health decision by a major pharmacy chain in The Atlantic.

Don't let jet lag spoil your trip!

Jet lag, more formally known as desynchronosis, is a temporary disorder caused by a disruption of your body’s normal circadian rhythm or internal body clock. As any international traveler can tell you, jet lag occurs after rapid travel across multiple time zones. The most common symptoms are sleep disorders and daytime fatigue, but they can also include anxiety, constipation, confusion, dehydration, headache, irritability, nausea, dizziness and memory loss.

What’s in a Zone?

The cause of jet lag is the inability of the body to immediately adapt to a different time zone. Your body has an internal 24-hour clock located in the hypothalamus of the brain which is triggered by environmental factors, the most important of which is light.

When the hypothalamus senses light, it stops the production of melatonin. This allows your body to “wake up” and begin its normal daily functions. When the hypothalamus senses an absence of light, it signals for the production of melatonin which helps put the body to sleep. Therefore, when an air traveler leap frogs through time zones, and thus perceives dawn and dusk with several hours difference from what a biological clock is expecting, the hypothalamus triggers activities for which the rest of the body is not prepared.

Go West!

Travelers flying east typically experience more severe symptoms, because they “lose” time. For example, if your body believes it is 1 a.m. (New York time) but your brain is sensing the 7 a.m. bright morning sunlight in Paris (you lucky dog), you will still be very sleepy due to your preprogrammed sleep cycle. We cannot immediately adapt to the new time zone, but gradually the internal clock will acclimate–usually at the rate of 1 time zone per day.

Travelers flying west have a little easier time because it is easier to extend your waking cycle (when you “gain” time) than it is to shorten a waking cycle. Adaptation usually occurs at a rate of 1.5 time zones per day.

Early to Bed

To help prevent jet lag, you can start adapting your body prior to your trip by gradually moving your bedtime and/ or wake time towards your destination’s time zone. Stay well hydrated during your travel, and avoid caffeine and alcohol, which not only promote dehydration but also disrupt sleep cycles.

Once you board your flight, change your watch to your destination’s time zone. Try to sleep on the plane at times that are appropriate at the destination. Between naps, get up and move about the aircraft, stretch your legs and find some way to engage your brain (puzzles, books, conversations). If you are on a flight that will cross more than 8 times zones, consider scheduling your flight in such a way that you can take a 1-2 day layover halfway.

Why not just take a pill?

Medications may help, but should be used only after you have consulted your physician. Mild sedatives (benzodiapines, like Valium or Ativan) may help you get to sleep and adjust to the new time zones, however, using these medications on the flight itself will increase your risk of developing blood clots in the legs. Use of these medications may also cause morning-time “fuzziness” and even memory loss. Ambien, a well-known sleep aid, has the same potential side effects, but can also cause bizarre behavior and sleep walking, which could be an issue if you are staying in an unfamiliar place.

----------------------------

Dr. Beth Phillips, MD, is the Director of Medical Operations at AirMed International

Winter Driving Tips, Surviving Jet Lag, the Smallest Heart Patient and More

The latest AirMed Travel + Health News is full of great information for all of your travel and health needs this holiday season.  Jet lag? No problem. We've got ways to combat it.  Read all about one of our smallest and most miraculous patients and so much more. 

Click this link to read all the AirMed News and even get a discount code to Give the Gift of AirMed to the travelers in your life!

Visit us anytime at airmed.com to find our more about our life-saving air medical memberships with great benefits such as Second Opinion Referrals, 24/7 Medical Services Hotline and more.

How to Prevent a Cold

Prevention Magazine has a terrific feature called "How to Prevent Anything."  From hangnails to Lyme Disease, they outline it all for you.  Now that winter is fast upon us, here are a few tips from the section on How to Prevent a Cold.

1. Practice Tai Chi
This Eastern exercise rev’s your body's cold-fighting defenses by as much as 47% and even triples the protection you get from a flu shot. 

2. Wash Your Hands
Every time you push an elevator button, clutch a treadmill handle, or twist open a doorknob, your hands get populated by tons of germs. That’s why washing your hands is the single best way to keep from getting sick, say experts. Scrub with soap and hot water for 20 seconds, and don't forget between your fingers and under nails. When you can’t get to a sink, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer, says Allison Aiello, PhD, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.”

3. Store Toothbrushes Separately
If someone in your house has come down with a case of the sniffles, it may seem inevitable that you will start sneezing, too. One trick to avoid catching their germs: Keep your toothbrushes separate. Don't store your family's toothbrushes together in a glass.

Read the entire article and search for How to Prevent much more at the Prevention website.





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Flu Shots, Flu Season, Know What's What

Don't get your flu shot too early!!  Visit airmed.com to find out about medical evacuation assistance from the leading air ambulance in North America.

Concussions and Concussion Symptoms

Concussions and Concussion Symptoms

Team sports from grade school to high school and even through college and into professional sports have put a new national spotlight on the dangers of concussions, especially for children.

Children's Hospital of Philadelphia has created an informative web page full of helpful facts about concussions, concussion symptoms, what causes them, as well as many myths that go along with them.

Easy-to-print, two-page fact sheets put concussion facts at your fingertips allowing you to log symptoms and providing you with information on how to treat a concussion.  

See the full Concussion Educational Page by visiting the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia's website.  

Find out more about travel assistance at airmed.com. 

Hearing Loss Symptoms and Prevention Tips

Protection is Key to Preventing Hearing Loss

Music, television, crowd noise, video clips, cellphones, street noise, ambulances, fire trucks and airplanes are just some of the noises that we hear on a daily basis. As a culture we have become inundated with LOUD noises that contribute to different types of hearing loss. It is estimated 32.5 million people in the United States are experiencing hearing loss symptoms.  Hearing loss can be painless and not recognized until permanent damage is done. Exposure to high levels of sound on a regular basis can cause damage to the microscopic hairs within the ear that are responsible for acute to severe hearing loss.

How loud is too loud? 

Prolonged exposure to sounds above 85 decibels (dB) are considered "hearing loss damage decibels" and may cause tinnitus (ringing in the ears) and/or permanent damage to your ability decipher sounds. Here are some hearing loss statistics:

• Normal conversation is measured at a noise level of 50-70 dB. 
• A motorcycle or lawn mower is 85-90 dB. 
• A typical rock concert is measured at 110 to120 dB. 
• An ambulance siren or jet engine at take-off is 119-140 dB. 

Regular exposure--even wearing headphones or ear buds--can be dangerous if the volume is too loud. As a good rule of thumb, if you can hear the music when someone is wearing their headphones, it is too loud!

Protection, Protection, Protection

Hearing protection can include ear plugs, ear muffs, and headphones. Those who work in a high risk environment should know that it is imperative to wear the best ear protection and take as many “quiet’ breaks as possible.

• Get your hearing tested yearly to track any loss that may occur.
•  Try to avoid long exposure to any dB over 85-90.

Younger generations should be encouraged to protect their hearing so they will enjoy the sounds of life as they age. They will thank you when they are grandparents.

Remember PROTECTION, PROTECTION, and PROTECTION!! Hearing loss is preventable!!!

Cheap Ways to Be Healthy

Great Healthy Tips While on a Budget

Any time is a good time to save money, be healthy, and be informed. Making healthy choices may help prevent injury, disease, and disability. Stay healthy on the cheap by including smart choices that are low-cost or free. Many are simple too, and the CDC has compiled a quick list to get you started.

Quit smoking.
Smoking is expensive, and that doesn't include the long-term costs associated with chronic disease and other problems that can develop later. It's never too late to quit smoking. Quitting improves your health and reduces your risk for heart disease, cancer, lung disease, and other smoking-related illnesses. Quit now with free coaching, a free quit plan, free educational materials, and a list of helpful online resources.

Find affordable health care.
Many programs are available through federally funded and state-sponsored programs that are free or low-cost. They are offered through hospitals, health centers, public health departments, and clinics. Also, the health reform law will give many Americans new opportunities to get needed services and care. Some benefits are already available and others will become available by 2014.

Subscribe to text4baby. 

Get free health text messages for pregnant and new moms.
Text4baby is a free service that provides pregnant women and new moms with free text messages each week on pregnancy and caring for babies younger than 1 year old. These messages are timed to a woman's due date or the baby's date of birth. Sign up for the service by texting BABY to 511411 (or BEBE in Spanish) to receive free SMS text messages.


Read the FULL STORY at the CDC website. For other ways to save on medical flight membership coverage check out AirMed.com

Travel, Health, AirMed's Latest Newsletter

In this issue of AirMed News, we spotlight some of the best travel apps for smart phones to help your travel worries be few and far between. Also, one of AirMed's own staff recalls the reason she supports organ donation in a heartbreaking and uplifting story. 

Check out the member questions, a professional racecar driver's AirMed transport story, and so much more.

Travel Health News from AirMed - 2013

Respiratory Illness striking some in the Middle East

More information about Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS)

July, 2013 --  MERS is the term for a new severe respiratory illness very similar to SARS. This disease was first reported in 2012 in Saudi Arabia and has been confirmed to be caused by a new species of coronavirus . 

The virus itself has evolved from a species that is known primarily in bats. Since most patients with confirmed MERS have not had close contact with bats, it is thought that transmission is through an as-yet unknown vector (i.e. mosquitoes).

There are only very few cases where disease has been attributed to human-to-human transmission. For this reason, this new coronavirus is NOT considered a “human coronavirus”, and should not be referred to as such. The World Health Organization and the Saudi Ministry of Health have agreed upon the term “MERS-CoV” to refer to this new virus, and this is how it will be referred to by the CDC and other health agencies around the world.

MERS presents as a nonspecific but severe respiratory illness. A patient should be considered highly suspicious for MERS if they meet the following criteria:

• Acute onset of respiratory infection with fever (38C/100.4F) and cough

          AND

• Suspected pulmonary parenchymal disease (i.e. pneumonia, ARDS) with consolidation on chest xray

          AND

• History of travel from the Arabian Peninsula within the last 14 days

If any other source of fever is identified (UTI, other known community-acquired pneumonia, wound infection, etc…), the concern for MERS is significantly lessened.

Arabian Peninsula Most at Risk at This Time

Almost all cases of MERS have been in patients who are from or have recently traveled from or live in the Arabian Peninsula (Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Qatar). The few cases diagnosed outside of this area (specifically in the UK) were in patients who had either recently travelled from the Arabian Peninsula or in prolonged close contact with someone who met this criteria. No cases have been identified in the U.S.

At this time, no agency (CDC, WHO, etc.) has recommended restricted travel for individuals or denying entry to ill passengers. However, personal protection to prevent viral transmission is recommended for all travelers.

The usual handwashing and droplet prevention (i.e. covering mouth and nose when sneezing or coughing) is important. Also, individuals who are already ill should postpone travel plans. 
http://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/mers/index.html.

--Dr. Beth Phillips, MD
AirMed Director of Medical Operations

If the Travel Bug Bites You, Make Sure It’s the Healthy Kind

Travel Healthy With These 7 Tips

Germs know no borders. Whether you're going by boat, plane, train, or automobile, travel bugs are bound to greet you. Here are a few tips on how you can take a trip unscathed.

1) Stay hydrated. Hydration throughout your trip can prevent nasal passages from being irritated, and sipping on water assists with immune function.

2) Change seats. If traveling by plane during flu season speak with a flight attendant about relocating if someone near you is sick.

3) Skip the airline blankets and pillows. Your best bet is to bring your own as airlines typically only change these out every 18-24 months.

4) Vitamin up. Adequate levels of essential vitamins and minerals are important for optimal health. Zinc in the form of lozenges or syrup has been shown to reduce the length of a cold by a day, and taking it regularly might reduce the number of colds you get each year.

5) Sanitizer, Sanitizer, Sanitizer. Always travel with hand sanitizer. A study published in Clinical Infectious Diseases found that in an objective evaluation of public restroom environmental hygiene on 56 cruise ships, only 37 percent of selected restroom surfaces were cleaned daily.

6) Look to the plastic. Only drink from cups wrapped in plastic! You never know if the housekeeper was wearing the same gloves to wash the cups as she did to clean the toilet. (Unpleasant to think about, even more unpleasant to get sick because of it.)

7) It’s in the kit. Make your own travel medical kit in your checked bags to include over-the-counter items such as antibiotic and anti-itch creams, antihistamine and decongestant, anti-diarrhea and anti-nausea remedies, as well as something for heartburn and pain relievers that work for you.

Happy, healthy travels!


For more tips on how to save your life, visit airmed.com. 

Reduce Heart Attack Risk with Berries

More Berries Result to a Lower Risk of Heart Attacks

Eating three or more servings of blueberries and strawberries per week may help women reduce their risk of a heart attack by as much as one-third, report researchers.

Blueberries and strawberries contain high levels of naturally occurring compounds called dietary flavonoids, also found in grapes and wine, blackberries, eggplant, and other fruits and vegetables. A specific sub-class of flavonoids, called anthocyanins, may help dilate arteries, counter the buildup of plaque and provide other cardiovascular benefits, according to the study.

“Blueberries and strawberries can easily be incorporated into what women eat every week,” said researcher Eric Rimm. “This simple dietary change could have a significant impact on prevention efforts.”

Blueberries and strawberries were part of this analysis simply because they are the most-eaten berries in the United States. Thus, it’s possible that other foods could produce the same results, researchers said.

For the full story, Read More. For other ways to save your life visit AirMed.com.

Cancer Research Continues to Save Lives

There are 13.2 million cancer survivors in the United States. Yet, in 2012, more than 577,000 Americans died of cancer, meaning the battle is far from over. May is National Cancer Research Month, and we celebrate the ground being broken every day on this vital front from clinical trials to new drugs being approved.

The American Association for Cancer Research has created this helpful video to outline the challenges and triumphs we all face as a nation against cancer.


For other ways to help save your life, visit airmed.com.

Serious Heat Related Illnesses, What You Should Know

AirMed Advises About Heat Stroke and Related Illness

Heat-related illnesses are a spectrum of disorders ranging from relatively benign heat cramps to potentially lethal heat stroke.  These are due to environmental heat exposure, when the body’s ability to cool itself through its usual mechanisms (i.e. sweating, radiation) is overwhelmed.

HEAT CRAMPS, EXHAUSTION

Heat cramps are very painful muscle cramps, usually in the legs, that occur during exercise.  These are usually resolved with rest, cooling off, and replacing fluids and electrolytes.  Heat exhaustion is a bit more severe, and may be considered a precursor to heatstroke.  Symptoms include heavy sweating, rapid breathing and a fast, weak pulse.  In this case, the victim should be moved to a cool area (indoors, or at least in the shade) and clothing removed to promote heat loss (passive cooling).

Active cooling methods such as a fan and cold compresses to the torso, had, neck and groin will help significantly.  Again, fluids and electrolytes should be given.  Water alone may suffice in mild cases (heat cramps), but sports beverages such as Gatorade G2 or Pedialyte are preferred for more significant heat injuries.  Thirst is NOT a reliable indicator for the need for rehydration.

HEAT STROKE

Heat stroke is a medical emergency, and if untreated can lead to significant neurological damage or death.  This occurs when the body’s ability to regulate core temperature has been completely compromised, and body temperatures may exceed 40.6 °C (105.1 °F).  One of the hallmark signs of heat stroke is a change in mental status, such as confusion, slurred speech, or unconsciousness. 

Do NOT rely on the “lack of sweating” sign – that is not always true!  If someone is demonstrating signs of heat stroke, do not give them anything to eat or drink (they may aspirate these if they are semi-conscious), but do start other cooling measures while you are otherwise calling EMS or seeking medical care.

BEST TREATMENT

The best treatment for heat related illnesses is to prevent them from happening.  During the warmer months, reduce your risk by observing precautions to avoid overheating and dehydration. Light, loose-fitting clothing will allow perspiration to evaporate and cool the body. Wide-brimmed hats in light colors keep the sun from warming the head and neck and block the powerful radiation from hurting the eyes; vents on a hat will allow perspiration to cool the head.

Strenuous exercise should be avoided during daylight hours in hot weather, as well as remaining in enclosed spaces without cooling or ventilation.  When the outside temperature is 70 degrees Fahrenheit (21.1°C), the temperature inside the car can exceed 120 degrees (48.8°C), even when the windows are partially open.  NEVER leave children, elderly or disabled adults, or pets alone in a vehicle!

Medications and substances that inhibit cooling and cause dehydration such as alcohol, caffeine, stimulants, anti-cholinergics (i.e. for Parkinson’s disease) predispose individuals to heat related injury and illness.  Individuals at the extremes of age (younger than 5, older than 65) are also at risk.  

--Dr. Beth Phillips, MD, FACEP, FAWM, is AirMed's Director of Medical Operations and a regular contributor to this blog

http://www.awls.org/index.php

Tintinalli, Judith (2004). Emergency Medicine: A Comprehensive Study Guide (6th ed.). McGraw-Hill Professional. p. 1186. ISBN 0-07-138875-3.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/heatillness.html

Extreme Heat Guide, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

For other ways to help save your life check out AirMed.com