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Low T? Test Before and During.

Many men above 45 are under the influence of the “Low T” marketing. Testosterone is the holy grail of energy, positive mood, and sexuality! Go get the latest and the greatest gel, transdermal patch, oral formulation, or injection to boost your T! The T market is forecast to reach $5 billion by 2017.

Men using testosterone boosting therapies should know if the therapy works. Get your T levels tested and watch your numbers grow! Hopefully.

The Bug Stops Here

Get-the-bug-outHospital Acquired Infections, such as MRSA, C. diff and pneumonia present major problems to hospitals, skilled nursing, rehab and long term care facilities. Hospital infections alone cost $9.8 billion a year according to JAMA Internal Medicine September 2013. We have no data on the scope of the problem in ALFs, but infections are very common.

In the U.S., hospital acquired infections (HAIs) afflict nearly 2 million patients and kill approximately 99,000 people annually (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)). Every year an estimated 1.7 million Americans develop a new infection while hospitalized.

A study on Clostridium difficile Infections (CDIs)… Continue reading

Obamacare and Medicare

Obamacare-MedicareObamacare and You: If You Have Medicare…

If you have Medicare, you will not have to make any changes to your health insurance coverage as a result of Obamacare.  You can continue to rely on Medicare to help pay your hospital, physician and other medical expenses.

You will still have the option to choose between traditional Medicare or a Medicare Advantage plan (such as a Medicare HMO) offered in your area, and among Medicare prescription drug plans.  If you are on Medicare, and low income, you may also qualify for extra help with premiums and cost sharing.… Continue reading

FAQs and Explainers Help Consumers Understand Obamacare

Obamacare=ACA or does it?Many Floridians are now looking for information about what the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will mean for them.

Here is an expanded list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) to help consumers better understand the ACA, also known as Obamacare. Through more than 150 questions and answers, the collection provides guidance to consumers about the law and how it applies to people in different circumstances. The questions address such topics as “Who is eligible for Marketplace premium tax credits?” and “What is a grandfathered plan? How do I know if I have one?”

You can also read “Obamacare & You” one-page… Continue reading

Hepatitis A Virus Test

Hepatitis-AHepatitis A is a liver disease caused by infection with the hepatitis A virus (HAV), and its symptoms include vomiting, diarrhea, and yellowing of eyes. The infection usually goes away on its own without treatment and does not cause long-term (chronic) illness; very rarely, hepatitis A can cause life-threatening liver failure.

Hepatitis A spreads when people eat food or drink water that is contaminated by stool (feces) that has the virus in it. In rare cases the virus is spread by contact with infected blood or blood products.

You can be infected with HAV only once. After that, you have… Continue reading

Premium and Tax Subsidy Calculator

LabFlorida has published The Kaiser Family Foundation’s health insurance calculator to provide estimates of the insurance premiums and tax subsidies available for people who want to buy health coverage through the new state health insurance marketplaces.

By entering their ZIP code, income, age, family size and other factors into the calculator, consumers can get estimates of the tax subsidies and insurance premiums available to them if they were to purchase insurance through the marketplaces, or exchanges, beginning on October 1, 2013.

Use the Calculator now

Testing for Hepatitis C Infection

Hepatitis-C (HCV) TestingHepatitis C is an infectious disease affecting primarily the liver, caused by the hepatitis C virus (HCV). Chronic infection can lead to scarring of the liver and ultimately to cirrhosis, liver failure, liver cancer or life-threatening esophageal, gastric varices, upper gastrointestinal hemorrhages and other problems.

HCV is spread primarily by blood-to-blood contact associated with intravenous drug use, poorly sterilized medical equipment and transfusions. About 150–200 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C.

The virus persists in the liver in about 85% of those infected. Most people don’t have symptoms, and it’s common to have hepatitis C for 15 years… Continue reading

HPV/Genital Warts Testing

Infection with the HPV virus is common and infects at least 50% of all people who have had sex. It may go away, sometimes unnoticed, but some types of HPV can lead to cervical cancer or cancer of the anus or penis.

HPV stands for human papillomavirus, but there are actually more than 100 related viruses in this group. Each HPV virus is given a number or type. The term “papilloma” refers to a kind of wart that results from some HPV types.

HPV lives in the body’s epithelial cells. These are flat and thin cells found on the skin’s… Continue reading

Hepatitis B or C? How We Test It?

Hepatitis-BJust like hepatitis C hepatitis B is a virus that infects the liver. Most adults who get hepatitis B have it for a short time and then get better. This is called acute hepatitis B.

Just like with C you can have hepatitis B and not know about it. You may have no symptoms. If you do, they may feel like you have a flu. The problem is: you can spread it to others, and those others may have a worse problem with it than you do.

Chronic hepatitis B can damage your liver. Babies and young children infected with… Continue reading