The Insurance Shell Game: Are You Their Next Mark? Insurance companies are a business. A big business. With billions in revenue and assets. Their business model is simple: pay out less in claims than you earn in premiums. How do they manage this? They would respond through sophisticated actuarial and risk assessment. Personal injury attorneys may give a different answer: pay as little as you can, as late as you can. Insurance companies know most of their policyholders are not insurance attorneys. They know the average person has difficulty understanding the ...

If Debt Consolidation Sounds Too Good to Be True, Trust Your Instincts Americans have historically loved to rack up debt -- so much that the average household has nearly $15,000 in credit-card debt. But today's staggering consumer debt loads are usually about a lot more than shopping sprees. The economy has taken a very serious downturn, bringing job losses and the disappearance of accompanying medical insurance benefits. Sinking house values have wiped out homeowners' equity. In this unstable financial climate, people have maxed out their credit to handle medical ...

A rarely prescribed asthma drug is easier to use and just as effective as conventional treatment with inhalers, according to a new study led by the University of East Anglia (UEA). Publishing tomorrow in the New England Journal of Medicine, the researchers followed 650 patients with chronic asthma for two years. They found that tablets called leukotriene receptor antagonists (LTRAs) managed the disease equally successfully as steroid inhalers and other 'preventer' inhalers when used in addition to steroid inhalers. LTRAs - sold under the brand names 'Singulair' (montelukast) ...

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, in collaboration with researchers at Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine, have made a critical discovery that may lead scientists to abandon the use of broad conventional ethnic labels—African-American, Hispanic, and Caucasian—to estimate a patient's genetic risk for disease. This first-of-its kind study conducted with diverse patients receiving care at a single urban academic medical center, marks an important step in the clinical application of personalized medicine. The data are published online in the peer-reviewed ...

New Law Gives FDA Tools to Fight Food Contamination This year, one out of every six Americans will get a food borne illness or disease. While many of those who become sick from eating contaminated food will suffer flu-like symptoms, others will become much sicker. According to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), of the estimated 48 million people who will become ill, more than 100,000 will require hospitalization and as many as 5,000 will die. In an effort to reduce the frequency of food borne illnesses, an important new law was signed by the President this past ...

"The rich-get-richer effect," is famous not only in sociology. It applies to the success of innovators as well. But if attention is paid only to people who are already at the top, how are scientific revolutions possible? A new publication investigating careers of Nobel Prize winners gives insight into this stunning phenomenon. "Attention is a scarce resource in today's society," says Dirk Helbing, professor at ETH Zurich, and Bernardo Huberman, Director of the Social Computing Lab at HP, immediately adds: "We live in a world where information overload is normal. Attention ...

Using age alone to identify those at risk of heart disease or stroke could replace current screening methods without diminishing effectiveness, according to a groundbreaking study published today in the open access journal PLoS ONE. Existing screening methods which include measuring cholesterol and blood pressure are expensive and time consuming. The authors of the new study from Barts and The London Medical School say that this finding could save thousands of lives by making it easier for more people to have access to preventive treatment. The new study compared screening ...

Construction Defects Are Serious Concerns in the Pacific Northwest After a ten year run, the 25-story McGuire apartment complex located in Seattle's Belltown neighborhood is scheduled for demolition thanks to construction defects that would cost more to fix than the building is worth. Rusting cables with ends that were never coated with anti-corrosion agents vein the tower's concrete slabs and pockets in the building's concrete foundation were never properly sealed, leading to the tower's demise. The McGuire tower has been vacant for some time, and within 12 to 16 months, ...

The number of children dying a violent death has fallen substantially in England and Wales over the past 30 years, reveals research published ahead of print in Archives of Disease in Childhood. But the authors warn that, while the figures are encouraging, there is no room for complacency because at least one child or young person still dies every week as a result of assault. The public inquiries following the deaths of Victoria Climbié in 2000, Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman in 2002 and Peter Connelly in 2007 were critical of the ability of child protection services ...

Women who develop cerebral aneurysms are less likely to have taken the oral contraceptive pill or hormone replacement therapy, suggesting taking oestrogen could have a protective effect, reveals research published in the Journal of NeuroInterventional Surgery. Cerebral aneurysms, weaknesses in the blood vessel walls of the brain which cause the vessels to balloon, occur more frequently in women, and it has been suggested that female hormones may play a role in their development. If the cerebral aneurysm ruptures, because the ballooning wall bursts, this can be life threatening ...

In May 2009 Alex Membrillo and business partner Stephen Popov co-founded Cardinal Web Solutions (CWS). The company has quickly grown into a one of Atlanta's most successful Interactive marketing agencies, grossing over $700,000 in revenue during 2010. Currently the #1 "Atlanta SEO Company" on Google, CWS's services include Atlanta SEO (search engine optimization), pay per click advertising, Website design, e-mail marketing and social media management. Cardinal Web Solutions is located in Norcross, GA, part of metro Atlanta, and services all industries and ...

Scientists are reporting development and successful testing of a new way to determine whether cola drinks — advertised as being made with natural ingredients and sold at premium prices — really do contain natural flavoring. The report appears in ACS' Journal of Proteome Research. In the study, Pier Giorgio Righetti and colleagues explain that cola drinks purportedly made from natural cola nuts are becoming popular and are sold in many natural food stores. Genuine cola "nuts" are seeds from the fruit of the cola tree, which is native to African rainforests, and they are ...

Scientists are reporting an in-depth analysis of how the caffeine in coffee, tea, and other foods seems to protect against conditions such as Alzheimer's disease and heart disease on the most fundamental levels. The report, which describes the chemistry behind caffeine's antioxidant effects, appears in ACS' The Journal of Physical Chemistry B. Annia Galano and Jorge Rafael León-Carmona describe evidence suggesting that coffee is one of the richest sources of healthful antioxidants in the average person's diet. Some of the newest research points to caffeine (also present ...

At a time when cosmetics, shampoos, skin creams, and other personal care products already are going green — with manufacturers switching to plant-derived extracts and other natural ingredients — government regulators in Canada are adding to the woes of the silicone-based ingredients long used in these products. That's the topic of an article in the current edition of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN), ACS' weekly newsmagazine. C&EN Senior Correspondent Marc S. Reisch points out that manufacturers have used silicones for decades in an array of personal care products. ...

If small business owners want to avoid costly mistakes, it pays to consult with others. That's the finding of new research from the University of Cincinnati that will be presented both nationally and internationally – first on May 6-8 at the Family Enterprise Research Conference in Grand Rapids, Mich., and again on June 15-18 at the International Council of Small Business Conference in Stockholm, Sweden. The research was conducted by one-time entrepreneur Jeremy Woods, currently a doctoral student in UC's College of Business. With this research, Woods has set out to ...

The National Trust has launched a campaign to raise GBP600,000 to save the "time capsule" home of the man who made motoring affordable for the British masses. The Morris Motor Company was started in 1910 when bicycle manufacturer William Morris, later Lord Nuffield, turned his attention to cars. Three years later the two-seat Morris Oxford 'Bullnose' was introduced, helping change the lives of thousands of ordinary people with the dawn of mass-produced vehicles. As his fortune grew, Lord Nuffield became increasingly aware of the contribution he could ...

Mapping the fat distribution of the healthy human brain is a key step in understanding neurological diseases, in general, and the neurodegeneration that accompanies Alzheimer's disease in particular. Antonio Veloso and colleagues, from the University of the Basque Country in Leioa, Spain, find a new technique to reveal the fat distribution of three different areas of the healthy human brain. Their work is published online in Springer's journal, Analytical & Bioanalytical Chemistry. The human central nervous system has an abundance of lipid molecules - some are structural ...

COLUMBIA, Mo. – As the presence of social media continues to increase as a form of communication, health organizations are searching for the most effective ways to use the online tools to pass important information to the public. Now, researchers at the University of Missouri have found that nonprofit organizations and community groups appear to be more actively engaged in posting health information and interacting with the public on Twitter than other types of health-related organizations, such as health business corporations, educational institutions and government agencies. "Twitter ...

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- A team of researchers at MIT has found a way to manipulate both the thermal conductivity and the electrical conductivity of materials simply by changing the external conditions, such as the surrounding temperature. And the technique they found can change electrical conductivity by factors of well over 100, and heat conductivity by more than threefold. "It's a new way of changing and controlling the properties" of materials — in this case a class called percolated composite materials — by controlling their temperature, says Gang Chen, MIT's Carl Richard ...

etyres has launched a puncture repair gauge that helps mototrists whose tyres have been damaged by potholes dodge the cost of expensive replacements. The gauge is available to download and print from the etyres website today. With Britain's roads blighted by a pothole plague following two consecutive harsh winters, motorists are increasingly suffering from punctured tyres.  However, many minor punctures can be repaired for a fraction of the cost of a replacement tyre and motorists can find out if their tyre can be repaired by downloading a puncture repair gauge from ...

Exercise both reduces the risk of a heart attack and protects the heart from injury if a heart attack does occur. For years, doctors have been trying to dissect how this second benefit of exercise works, with the aim of finding ways to protect the heart after a heart attack. Researchers at Emory University School of Medicine have identified the ability of the heart to produce and store nitric oxide as an important way exercise protects the heart from injury. Nitric oxide, a short-lived gas generated within the body, turns on chemical pathways that relax blood vessels ...

COLUMBUS, Ohio – Women with congestive heart failure who repress their emotions, especially anger, are more likely than emotionally expressive women to experience symptoms of depression associated with knowledge about their disease, according to new research. Coping styles of women in the study influenced how depressed or anxious they felt. The less they talked about or expressed their emotions, the more likely they were to have symptoms of depression and anxiety. When Ohio State University researchers examined the influence of knowledge about their illness on the patients' ...

Boots Treat Street has announced it has been short listed for the Retail Week Technology Awards Internet Technology of the Year award. Boot Treat Street is a relative newcomer to the industry, so this nomination is good recognition for it early on, especially within such a respected community. Winning the award could see Boots Treat Street gaining a lot of new interest, but just being nominated is still good recognition for the company. The Retail Week Technology Awards includes 60 finalists, with some of the biggest names in retail being included. A panel of expert ...

CHICAGO --- Staying up late every night and sleeping in is a habit that could put you at risk for gaining weight. People who go to bed late and sleep late eat more calories in the evening, more fast food, fewer fruits and vegetables and weigh more than people who go to sleep earlier and wake up earlier, according to a new Northwestern Medicine study. Late sleepers consumed 248 more calories a day, twice as much fast food and half as many fruits and vegetables as those with earlier sleep times, according to the study. They also drank more full-calorie sodas. The late ...

How much exercise are overweight and obese people getting? More than many might think, according to research findings by nurses from Case Western Reserve University's Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing. They reported their findings in the Journal of the American Academy of Nurse Practitioners article, "Exercise and exercise intentions among obese and overweight individuals." Deborah Walton Smith, who is now a senior lecturer at Gonzaga University, undertook the exercise study while a graduate student at Case Western Reserve. Also collaborating on the study were ...