YOU PROBABLY DIDN’T KNOW

Medicare supplement insurance policies kick in only after Medicare approves the care and pays its share. If Medicare denies a claim, your supplemental will, too.

If you have several skin cancers, some surgeons will remove only one at a time and allow several months between the surgeries. They do this because they are paid better if they remove the cancers this way rather than removing several at one time. Is this better for patients? Maybe, maybe not.

Genetics is important in your health history but not all powerful. We know that people can have a lot of control over the expression, or non-expression, of genetic tendencies. Because your parents were heavy does not mean you inevitably will be, too. Because one was an alcoholic or drug addict does not doom you to the same fate. You make choices every day that may speed up or slow down the expression of your genetic inheritance from your parents by what you eat and drink, how much rest you get, how much you exercise, how you deal with stress, and so on. Choose wisely.

It is certainly better for the surgeon’s bottom line.

Do you have multiple skin cancers? Medicare will pay your surgeon to remove only up to four skin cancers at one time. If you have more than four, your surgeon will not be paid for any ones removed after the first four. The others will have to be done another time. Why? I have no idea. It makes no medical or economic sense. Think of that when you contemplate turning all medical care over to the federal government.

unnecessary sun exposure, between 2000 and 2010, the incidence of the two most common skin cancers, squamous cell cancer and basal cell cancer, increased by more than 250 percent and 145 percent, respectively. Is there a lesson here?

If you get painful canker sores in your mouth frequently, there is a simple, effective solution: avoid sodium laurel sulfate (SLS). This is the substance that makes toothpaste foam. It damages the mucous lining in your mouth, setting you up for canker sores. Try a toothpaste, like Verve, that does not have SLS in it. You will cut down canker sores dramatically, possibly even eliminating them altogether. Who needs foaming toothpaste?

Vaping with electronic cigarettes has not been proven to be safer than smoking regular cigarettes. We are only beginning to appreciate the potential adverse health effects of vaping. It appears that, rather than helping cigarette smokers reduce their risks of smoking or quitting altogether, e-cigarettes are hooking a whole new generation on nicotine and exposing them to risks that are not yet fully understood. The verdict is still out on these devices.

Our physicians and medical professionals have been treating Central Floridians for years with a level of exemplary cardio care that comes straight from the heart. We’re in a new location now, but our hearts are where they’ve always been—in the right place—with you and the health of your family. New location! The Oaks Professional Center, 8575 NE 138th Lane Call