Medical Tourism: The new catchword to health

Broadly, the term medical tourism can be defined as traveling to farther outposts to avail of quality medical care. Nowadays, several countries have emerged as preferred destinations for medical tourism due to their tremendous technological leaps in the same. Mostly, the patients can hail from as far as America, EU, Canada, Japan or the Middle East. The countries who find themselves on the tourism radar are India, Singapore, Philippines and Costa Rica, Colombia and the like. Usually, these are the countries which have been associated with local medicinal knowledge dating back to thousands of years. Countries like India had ancient surgery systems in place introduced first by Charaka, a surgeon par excellence. Coming to the present, people travel all over from western countries to these newly emerging treatment destinations because of the low cost factor. Some of the complex surgical procedures employed are joint replacement (knee/hip), heart surgeries, dental surgeries and cosmetic surgeries. The reason why people opt for countries mentioned above is the amazing speed with which the surgery scenario has changed. The medical tourism is here to stay because of the technological superiority these countries have achieved in recent years. The techniques are simply superb and unbelievably priced if they are compared with the western countries. Another reason why the people from the western nations opt for such procedures is that the time taken is considerably lesser compared to their own native countries. The people arriving in countries like India get the human touch as soon as they contact any surgeon of their choice. According to a survey done recently, the cost of the surgeries done in countries like India, Thailand and South Africa is one-tenths of the cost of surgeries in America, Canada or EU. Thus, medical tourism is proving to be a revenue-boosting mechanism for the countries mentioned earlier. A proper evaluation is done to decide on the location, the cost of the treatment and this also involves the legal aspect of the treatment done. A typical procedure is followed where the medical tourism provider is contacted who asks for certain details. These include local Doctor’s opinion, medical history, the nature of the ailment and the diagnosis. A proper advice is sought on the medical treatment and expenditure and other things among the patient’s accommodation is discussed. All these aspect are then taken care of by the concerned person who provides you with the adequate suggestions. There is another reason, why the patients from abroad opt for this kind of treatment and that it’s insurance aspect. Back home, they have found out that unreasonable restrictions exist on the choice of the facility, surgeon and any other thing connected with that.There is another reason why the patients opt for the treatment in the above mentioned countries. It is the skills and the precision with which the surgeons in these countries carry out their operations. The kind of expertise and knowledge they have while dealing with complex or simple surgeries is something which is widely appreciated in the world today. That is why some of the popular medical tourism destinations include Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil and Turkey etc. These countries especially stand out due to the proven expertise in cosmetic surgery. A latest report on the net says that about 70% of the middle and upper class people opt for these types of surgeries. Besides that, Colombia also provides quality cardio vascular care and transplant surgery.

New Revolutionary Plaque Busting Supplement Shocks Investigators! According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control, each year about 700,000 people suffer a stroke, the leading cause of serious, long-term disability in the United States. The American Heart Association estimates that over1 million Americans suffer a heart attack each year. About 700,000 of these will be first-time heart attack sufferers. Traditional Medicine’s War on Heart Disease Continues to Fall Short Despite spending billions of dollars and having the most sophisticated health care system the world has ever known, one American dies every 33 seconds from heart disease! We have lipid-lowering drugs (Lipitor, Crestor, etc.) to reduce cholesterol. Aspirin and Warfarin (Cumadin), to thin the blood. Anti-hypertension medications for reducing high blood pressure. Bypass surgery, and angioplasty to help clear blocked arteries. However, there is a price to pay for covering up symptoms with potentially dangerous drugs and risky surgical procedures. Certain blood pressure drugs are known to increase the risk of heart attack and stroke by 5 fold and others have side effects, which include congestive heart failure. ( The National Institute of Health (NIH) estimates that only 10% of bypass heart surgeries are needed. And up to 10% of those having bypass surgery die from the procedure. According to an article in the Jan. 9 issue of Neurology, the blood thinner Warfarin- also known as Cumadin – causes brain bleeding and is serious and growing concern. Warfarin (Cumadin), the main ingredient in rat poisoning, is often prescribed to prevent blood clotting and help combat the most common type of stroke, known as ischemic stroke. However, warfarin itself has been linked to brain hemorrhage and stroke caused by ruptured blood vessels and subsequent bleeding in the brain. All of these medical therapies are designed to alleviate the symptoms of arteriosclerosis, plaque filled arteries and poor blood flow. Unfortunately, while they do reduce the symptoms, they don’t correct the cause of heart disease, plaque build-up and clot formation. And they’re also associated with potential, sometimes life threatening, side effects. Cardiovascular disease risk can be greatly reduced by modifying lifestyle and adding nutritional supplements proven to support cardiovascular health (vitamin E, a good multivitamin/mineral formula, fish oil, and CoQ10). Most of us are aware that eating a healthier, more balanced diet, not smoking, and exercising regularly are big steps in reducing heart disease. But, sometimes even a healthy life style isn’t enough. It’s Really Scary When We Learn That- Forty percent of all heart attacks occur in people with no known risk factors; they have normal cholesterol and blood pressure, aren’t over weight, don’t smoke, and try to eat healthy. A study published in The Journal of the American Medical Association (3/6/2002) indicates that exposure to air pollution can cause some 10,000 fatal heart attacks a year in the U.S.! There’s no getting away from arteriosclerosis, plaque build-up, and heart disease risk. Ever hear about the marathon runner, aerobics teacher, or general “health nut” who collapsed with a heart attack while exercising? Life isn’t fair sometimes; even folks who try to be healthy are no-match for the ravages of arteriosclerosis. The body contains some 60 miles of arteries and veins, yet one blocked vessel and BAM, you’re on your back from a heart attack or stroke! Yes, you should eat a balanced diet, exercise on a regular basis, manage your stress, take a good optimal daily multivitamin/mineral formula with vitamin E, and fish oil; and perhaps some CoQ10 (if you have high blood pressure or heart disease or it runs in your family). But is this enough? It’s a good start, but you may need to do more. How do blood clots form? Blood clotting is a natural process that allows the blood to thicken and form a clot or thrombus of blood cells. When a blood vessel is injured, platelets clump together and strands of the blood protein fibrin glue them together in order to stop the bleeding. Eventually the clot helps form a protective scab over a healing wound. If our bodies did not have the ability to clot blood, we would bleed to death after even a minor cut, which was often the case with hemophiliacs. But sometimes blood clots form even when a person has not been wounded or cut. A thrombus (blood clot/plaque build-up) can form in an artery. It could then block the flow of blood and cut off oxygen supply. This can trigger a heart attack. In the brain, blood clots also block blood and oxygen from reaching necessary areas, which can result in senility and/or stroke. A piece of the blood clot could form in one of the heart’s chambers and then travel through the bloodstream, lodging in either an organ or an artery and cutting off the blood supply from that point, causing an embolism. An embolism is especially dangerous when it ends up in a lung. The chances of developing thrombi or blood clot increase as we age. Although the human body produces more than 20 enzymes for making blood clots, it produces only one enzyme—plasmin—for dissolving them. The problem is, as we age the production of plasmin slows down, making the blood more prone to coagulation (clotting). To make matters worse, fibrinogen levels rise as we age. And high levels of fibrinogen levels usually lead to increased platelet aggregation, blood clots, and eventually heart attack or stroke. In fact, high fibrinogen levels are considered a more dangerous risk factor for heart attack and stroke than high cholesterol. A study of 2,116 men found that those with high LDL (bad) cholesterol but low fibrinogen levels had only one sixth the risk for heart attack than the men with low LDL and high fibrinogen. The Good News Dr. Martin Milner, from the Center for Natural Medicine in Portland, Oregon, “In all my years of research as a professor of cardiovascular and pulmonary medicine, natto and nattokinase represents the most exciting new development in the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular related diseases,” Dr. Milner said. “We have finally found a potent natural agent that can thin and dissolve clots effectively, with relative safety and without side effects. In some ways, Milner says, nattokinase is actually superior to conventional clot-dissolving drugs. T-PAs (tissue plasminogen activators) like urokinase (the drug), are only effective when taken intravenously and often fail simply because a stroke or heart attack victim’s arteries have hardened beyond the point where they can be treated by any other clot-dissolving agent. Nattokinase, however, can help prevent that hardening with an oral dose of as little as 100 mg a day.Doctors and researchers around the world are hailing the plaque busting affects of nattokinase as nothing short of shocking.” For those with cardiovascular problems (high blood pressure, past heart attack, or stroke or elevated cholesterol levels) or a family history of heart related deaths please consider adding the all-natural supplement known as nattokinase. A new clot-busting supplement known as nattokinase is proving to be extremely safe and effective in reversing and preventing blood clots. Nattokinase is a potent fibrinolytic (anti-clotting) enzyme complex extracted and highly purified from a traditional Japanese food called Natto. Natto is a fermented cheese-like food that has been used in Japanese culture for more than 1000 years for its popular taste, and as a folk remedy for heart and vascular diseases. Research has shown that Nattokinase supports the body in breaking up and dissolving the unhealthy coagulation of blood. In fact, it has been shown to have four times greater fibrinolytic activity than plasmin. How was Nattokinase discovered? Japanese researcher Dr. Hiroyuki Sumi had spent many years searching for a natural thrombolytic, anti-clot agent that could successfully dissolve blood clots associated with heart attacks and stroke. Finally in 1980, after testing more than 173 natural foods, Sumi found what he was looking for. Natto, a traditional Japanese soy cheese, was dropped onto an artificial thrombus (fibrin) in a Petri dish and allowed to stand at 37ºC (approximately body temperature). Over the next 18 hours, the thrombus around the natto completely dissolved! Sumi named the newly discovered enzyme Nattokinase, which means “enzyme in natto.” Dr. Sumi remarked that Nattokinase showed “a potency matched by no other enzyme.” Researchers have found that Nattokinase is four times more potent than plasmin (in dissolving blood clots), and works even more effectively than Warfarin drugs because it continues to work for long periods of time, and it doesn’t produce any side effects. Research Shows nattokinase Reverses dissolves Blood Clots And Lowers Blood Pressure Research Animal %26 Human Studies Nattokinase has been the subject of 17 studies, including two small human trials. Dr. Sumi and his colleagues induced blood clots in male dogs, and then orally administered either four capsules of nattokinase (250 mg per capsule) or four placebo capsules to each dog. Angiograms (X-rays of blood vessels) revealed that the dogs that received nattokinase regained normal blood circulation (free of the clot) within five hours of treatment. Blood clots in the dogs who received only placebo showed no sign of dissolving in the 18 hours following treatment. Researchers from Biotechnology Research Laboratories and JCR Pharmaceuticals Co. of Kobe, Japan, tested nattokinase’s ability to dissolve a thrombus (blood clotting plaque) in the carotid arteries of rats. Animals treated with nattokinase regained 62 percent of blood flow, whereas those treated with the usual drug, plasmin regained just 15.8 percent of blood flow. Researchers from JCR Pharmaceuticals, Oklahoma State University, and Miyazaki Medical College tested nattokinase on 12 healthy Japanese volunteers (6 men and 6 women, between the ages of 21 and 55). They gave the volunteers nattokinase before breakfast, then tracked fibrinolytic activity through a series of blood plasma tests. The tests indicated that the natto generated a heightened ability to dissolve blood clots: On average, the volunteers’ ELT (a measure of how long it takes to dissolve a blood clot) dropped by 48 percent within two hours of treatment, and volunteers retained an enhanced ability to dissolve blood clots for up to 8 hours. As a control, researchers later fed the same amount of boiled soybeans to the same volunteers and tracked their fibrinolytic activity. The tests showed no significant change. The Benefits of Nattokinase on Blood Pressure Human Studies Nattokinase extract was tested on human volunteers with high blood pressure. Blood pressure levels were measured after the test subjects took Nattokinase, which was administered orally for 4 consecutive days. In 4 out of 5 volunteers, the systolic blood pressure (SBP) decreased on average from 173.8mmHg to 154.8mmHg: A 19-point drop in systolic blood pressure! Diastolic blood pressure (DBP) decreased on average from 101.0mmHg to 91.2 mmHg; Almost a 10-point reduction in diastolic blood pressure! How safe is Nattokinase? It is very safe when used according to the recommended dosage. However, people with ulcers, recent or pending surgery, or recent major trauma should not take Nattokinase. Anyone who has ever had neurosurgery or ischemic stroke in the previous six months should not take Nattokinase, as well as those who have had intracranial bleeding. Because this supplement is so potent in its anti-clotting abilities it shouldn’t be used with other blood thinning drugs (Cumadin), unless monitored by a doctor. Otherwise anyone not on blood thinning drugs or having upcoming surgery and wants to reverse the formation of blood clots (plaque) can add nattokinase to their daily supplement regiment. Conclusion The traditional Japanese food Natto has been used safely for over 1000 years. The potent fibrinolytic enzyme nattokinase appears to be safe based upon the long-term traditional use of this food as well as numerous scientific clinical studies. Nattokinase has many benefits including convenience of oral administration, confirmed efficacy, prolonged effects, cost effectiveness, and can be used preventatively. It is a naturally occurring, food based dietary supplement that has demonstrated stability in the gastrointestinal tract, as well as to changes in pH and temperature. Nattokinase: Supports normal blood pressure Helps reduce elevated blood pressure Prevents blood clots from forming Dissolves existing blood clots Dissolves fibrin and reduces fibrinogen levels Enhances the body’s production of plasmin and other clot-dissolving agents, including urokinase thus reducing risk of heart attack and stroke. for more information about heart disease and Dr. Muphree visit treatingandbeating.com About Dr. Murphree Dr. Murphree is a board certified nutritional specialist and chiropractic physician who has been in private practice since 1990. He is the founder and past clinic director for a large integrated medical practice located on the campus of Brookwood Hospital in Birmingham Alabama. The clinic was staffed with medical doctors, chiropractors, acupuncturists, nutritionists, and massage therapists. The clinic combined prescription and natural medicines for acute and chronic illnesses. He is the author of 5 books for patients and doctors, including “Treating and Beating Fibromyalgia and Chronic Fatigue Syndrome,” “Heart Disease What Your Doctor Won’t Tell You,” and “Treating and Beating Anxiety and Depression with Orthomolecular Medicine.” In 2002 Dr. Murphree sold his medical practice and now maintains a busy solo practice specializing in fibromyalgia, chronic fatigue syndrome, heart disease, mood disorders, and other chronic illnesses. for more information about heart disease and Dr. Muphree visit treatingandbeating.com He can be reached toll free 1-888-884-9577 or at 205-879-2383 References: 1.Soy intake shown to reduce mortality rate from cancer and CVD. Nagata C. Ecological study of the association between soy product intake and mortality from cancer and heart disease in Japan. Int J Epidemiol. 2000 Oct;29(5):832-6. 2.Fujita M, Nomura K, Hong K, Ito Y, Asada A, Nishimuro S. Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1993 Dec 30;197(3):1340-7 Biotechnology Research Laboratories, JCR Pharmaceuticals Co., Ltd., Kobe, Japan. 3.Clinical trials.gov. Epidemiology of Coronary Heart Disease in Men Aged 40 and Over. August 2004. National Institutes of Health. Sept. 13, 2004. 4.Suzuki Y, Kondo K, Ichise H, Tsukamoto Y, Urano T, Umemura K. Dietary supplementation with fermented soybeans suppresses intimal thickening. Nutrition. 2003 Mar;19(3):261-4. 5.Prevent Heart Attack and Stroke with Potent Enzyme that Dissolves Deadly Blood Clots in Hours. Health Sciences Institute, March 2002. Hager, K. et al. Fibrinogen and Aging. Aging (Milano) 1994, 6:133-38. Heinrich, J. et al. Fibrinogen and factor VII in the prediction of coronary risk. Arterioscler Thromb 1994, 14:54-59. 6. Sumi H. Interview With Doctor of Medicine Hiroyuki Sumi. Japan Bio Science Laboratory Co. Ltd. Sumi, H. et al. “Enhancement of the fibrinolytic activity in plasma by oral administration of nattokinase.” Acta haematol 1990, 84: 139-43. 7.Suzuki Y, Kondo K, Matsumoto Y, Zhao BQ, Otsuguro K, Maeda T, Tsukamoto Y, Urano T, Umemura K. Dietary supplementation of fermented soybean, natto, suppresses intimal thickening and modulates the lysis of mural thrombi after endothelial injury in rat femoral artery. Life Sci. 2003 Jul 25;73(10):1289-98. 8.Maruyama M, Sumi H. Effect of Natto Diet on Blood Pressure. JTTAS, 1995. _ Nishimura, K. et al. Natto diet was apparently effective in a case of incipient central retinal vein occlusion. Japan Rev Clin Ophthalmol 1994, 88:1381-85.

World class medical facilities are available for chin reduction surgery in India with hospitals and specialized multi specialty health centers providing their expertise in the areas of cosmetic surgery, dental care, heart surgeries, coronary bypass, heart check up, valve replacements, knee replacements, eye surgeries, Indian traditional treatments like ayurvedic therapies and much more, practically covering every aspect of medicine combining modern treatments with traditional experience. Medical tourism is one of the best options available to people across the globe. Millions come every year to get treated and then enjoy their recuperative holidays across India. People from different walks of life cut across the entire span of the globe come here to have their treatments done with peace of mind. India provides chin reduction surgery and extensive range of cosmetic surgery that ranges from minor operations to major surgeries.   Chin reduction surgery   Chin reduction surgery is a relatively simple procedure that a cosmetic surgeon can perform to transform your appearance, create a more harmonious profile, and help you feel better about the way you look. In the sections that follow, you can learn about the criteria for ideal chin reduction surgery candidates, as well as the procedure itself, and the associated risks and benefits. The best candidates for surgery are individuals in good physical and mental health who have realistic expectations for the outcome of their procedure. Candidates should be at least 20 years old, as chin development is at its end. There also can be no evidence of any active diseases or significant, pre-existing medical conditions. The candidate must also be free of any bone disorders. Individuals who are not ideal candidates for surgery may, instead, benefit from facial liposuction to help redefine the contour of their profile.   The chin reduction procedure   In preparation for chin reduction surgery, the patient will want to avoid aspirin as well as any aspirin-containing medications. In addition, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs should be discontinued for at least one week prior to the surgery. These medications thin the blood and can prevent normal blood clotting and introduce an increased risk of bleeding and bruising. As with chin augmentation surgery, chin reduction surgery begins with the surgeon making an incision inside the mouth (near the lower lip) or under the chin. Using specialized instruments, the surgeon detaches the bone at the tip of the chin and then reshapes and removes the excess bone to properly proportion the contour. The tip is then repositioned with the remaining section of chin and held together using wires and plates. The incisions are sutured to complete the procedure.   It is important to note that the cost for each individual will vary depending on their need and requirements. Usually, cosmetic surgery would cost very high in the US. Whereas getting that same procedure done using similar quality parts in India would cost 40 - 60% less than the cost in the US, including the hospital stay, all procedure and physicians costs and transportation to and from India. The costs compared to UK are similarly lower by about 40 - 60%. This is mainly possible because of favorable currency exchange rates. The potential cost savings for medical tourists are huge and as a result are one of the more important factors in seeking treatment like chin reduction surgery in India.   To know more about chin reduction surgery in India:   http://tour2india4health.com/cosmetic-surgery-india.html   Submit your case details at:   enquiry@tour2india4health.com