Over the last years, new technology has developed better methods of detection for fetal abnormalities, especially for diagnosis Down syndrome.
Down syndrome, it is a chromosomal malformation in infants and according to research, usually from 700 pregnancies, one infant can have this syndrome, with the highest incidence increasing with the mother’s age.
A new method of diagnosing Down syndrome, less dangerous than old ways of detection is nuchal translucency screening, which is an ultrasounds marker for prenatal diagnosis that measures the translucent space of fetal neck region (anatomic region between the skin and cervical spine).
Prenatal screening ultrasounds, which can evaluate the nuchal translucency, are more often used in the majority of university centers, where there are devices and specialized medical staff. Any pregnant woman, who wants to perform the test, should inquire about the best place that can do this especially since the investigation is harmless and does not cause any danger to the fetus or mother.
Nuchal translucency screening, it is performed at a fetal age, between 11-13 weeks and 6 days of pregnancy (optimum during the week 12), but never after week 14, because this test becomes irrelevant after this age. The results of nuchal translucency ultrasounds screening, are actually a statistical expression that correlates many factors such as:
-    Fetal age
-    Woman age
-    Ultrasound values of nuchal region (nuchal translucency).
Prognosis of age-related is quite disturbing, so every woman over 35 who wants a child should consider this. According to research, the risk of a pregnant woman the age of 35, to have a child with Down syndrome still remains from 1 to 270, even if the values of nuchal translucency are normal. In the eventuality that the test it is irrelevant for a 35 years old pregnant woman, the risk of having a child with a chromosomal abnormality significantly increases.
This test has a precision of about 80% in diagnosing of Down syndrome, which means that if a pregnant woman submits to the test, there is a possibility of 80 % to identify the disease an 20 % do not identify ( false-negative). So there is a 20% chance that Down syndrome is not diagnosed by this method and this woman might give birth to a child with this condition.
Even though Down syndrome is permanent, most patients can have a normal life. With a proper care and assistance they need, children with Down syndrome can have spectacular growth and development and can grow up healthy and happy.

Without a computerized system, the medical practice cannot operate efficiently in our days. Doctors cannot get good results and avoid errors based exclusively on physical medical procedures. To be on top and start as a professional, you need to be organized and possess easy access to information. Computerized systems have been shown to be a better approach in documentation and programming than conventional systems based on paper, helping doctors to save one hour per day. This is possible with EMR and EHR medical software, which helps doctors to be more organized and have a better evidence of the entire medical document.
EMR or electronic medical record it is a computerized system created in hospitals or in physician’s offices, organized at the level of a single service provider, which allows you to have access to information about health and also lets you store, modify and record data. The data of every patient can be entered into electronic medical record software that also works in combination with the PACS (picture archiving and communications system) in order to improve the productivity in the healthcare facility.
EHR or electronic health record includes a set of components that provides tools, through which medical electronic data are created, used and stored.  In other words, it is a system of recording, retrieval and manipulation of information, contained in medical records. The main purpose of an EHR is to provide documented medical records that ensure support for current and future patient care, by the same physician or other doctors. This documentary provides a way of communication between doctors that participate in the health-care of a patient. The main beneficiaries are patients through rapid diagnosis and treatment and doctors through highly efficient time saving techniques.
There are two types of EHR systems, namely EHR system and shared EHR system. The main purpose of local EHR system is to manage medical information about patients in a specific hospital, clinic or other medical unit. The purpose of shared EHR system (or SEHR) is to provide integration of healthcare information in a “local community care”, allowing transmission and receipt of information, as well as extracted and integrated fluxes.

Watson is an artificial intelligence computer system, which can understand the human language, and it was named after the first president of IBM, Thomas J. Watson. This computer can analyze 200 million pages of information and provide accurate answers in a few seconds.
IBM and WellPoint (insurance company) claim that, Watson can help people suffering from cancer, diabetes and chronic disease of the liver and heart, being able to help doctors to discover the most likely diagnosis. Also Watson works as a “secretary’ and helps doctors to see through supercomputer software, the history of the patients, recent results of tests and recommended treatments. A recent test showed that Watson can provide detailed information about patients, including where they live. For example, when he was “told” that one woman is pregnant, the computer IBM Watson immediately changed the suggested treatment. Watson keeps doctors informed with the latest discoveries resulting from studies.
WellPoint, the insurance company which is in partnership with IBM’s Watson that benefits from Watson intelligence, estimates that the technology will be adopted in 2012 in a series of clinics, where they will develop more pilot programs. At the beginning, the computer Watson would follow – literally- the courses of the University of Medicine from Michigan, where it is learning how to treat diseases, but especially how to establish a diagnosis. “He” also participated in studies and laboratories, and has begun to amaze specialists with the accuracy of its medical diagnosis. Watson computer, will attend these courses for 5 years and at the same time, he will be upgraded for performance, as technology evolves.
It is important to mention that after this period, Watson would become a medical expert, helping doctors. Furthermore, Watson computer will “teach” other computers with this software in a record time. Even more impressive is that Watson in a contest on a TV show. As it was concluded by the televised series, it can “beat” the knowledge of a human, not being connected to the internet; it is exclusively based on information recorded through learning for providing correct answers.

One of the most advanced diagnostic methods, used in medical imaging is computed tomography. CT provides detailed information of the tissues inside the human body. This method of investigation involves using a narrow beam of X-rays, which produces an image in transverse sections in the region of interest of the patient’s body. The working principles are related to  (as in the case of traditional X-ray) measurement levels of attenuation radiation electromagnetic, that passes through the patient’s body and image reconstruction of the investigated object using various screenings of cross-sections obtained thereof.
CT has various components such as: tunnel, X-ray detectors, mobile table that the patient is seated, X-ray source, screen, computer and software for image reconstruction and the equipment for image storage. The most modern CT allows continuous scanning while moving the patient table and achieving faster and higher quality images, using several detectors crowns, in case of multidetector tomography, also known as multislice tomography.
The purpose of computed tomography (or CT scanning) is to produce a cross section of a patient’s body (from the Greek “tomos” translated as to cut or cutting). This is achieved by rotating a thin beam, around the patient and, further, by measuring its intensity from the other side of the patient’s body by using a large number of detectors.
Computed tomography, has various advantages such as: an excellent image resolution and contrast, you have the possibility to choose between tomography and three-dimensional images, speed of development for the procedure which is relatively higher when compared with magnetic resonance, but you also have the possibility of using a contrast solution. This procedure is noninvasive, without causing pain, and in case of traumas, it can save patient’s lives, because of the accuracy of information provided.
Disadvantages of CT refer to the fact that the patient is exposed to higher doses of ionizing than conventional radiographs. Furthermore, the equipment is expensive therefore it is not available in all hospital units, but also the fact that the procedures are slower and more laborious than in case of a traditional radiography. CT is not indicated for pregnant women, and the quality the information obtained in some details of structures joint and spine, it is lower than that available in case of nuclear magnetic resonance.

In recent decades, surgical technologies have known an unprecedented development. The desire for extend miniminvaziva surgery to difficult cases, has led inevitably to the development of robotics. The disadvantages of laparoscopy are: view two-dimensional, counterintuitive movements, difficulties of hand-eye coordination. The biggest disadvantage of this procedure is represented by the limitation degrees of the abdominal wall. This downside has stimulated researches in this field to develop new surgical procedures.
DaVinci robotic system S has three major components. A first component is the surgeon’s console. The surgeon is placed comfortably at the console; he is looking into a 3D display with head position that simulates the position of open interventions, and acts through a joy-sticks placed at his finger-tip.
A second component is the video system, which contributes to creating three-dimensional vision through two video units and two sources of light, one for “the left eye and” and “right eye”, included in the same video camera. The monitor attached to the system, allows guidance, in real time of the surgeon, who is in fact, at the console. He is able to make landmarks on the display in the hall that can be viewed by the operator on the console screen.
A third component is a system that contains robot arms and which is placed above the patient, on the target organ. Initially, the systems include three robotic arms: one arm support room, two arms support tools.
Advantages of robotic system are:
•    3D view of the field operator: operator visualize three-dimensional field operator to compensate, thus the lack of tactile feedback;
•    Zoom digital of camera;
•    Stability of camera in the operator field;
•    Elimination of resistance give by the abdominal wall in laparoscopic;
•    Scaling movement;
•    Tremor filtration;

Disadvantages of robotic system are:
•    High costs: buying a robotic system is around 1 million Euros, initiation of the program involves the formation of specialized personnel and you have to bring a doctor for the first cases operated;
•    Large size robotic system;
•    Another disadvantage the risk of technical failure, because the robot is in fact a machine thus the risk of failure exists.

However the majority of these constraints will be resolved over time and the robotic surgical system will be reliable in most routine procedures with lower costs.

Every day more women die from breast cancer, either because it was not detected on time or due to lack of special equipment for treating this disease in its final stage. According to researches, breast cancer comes second in taking the lives of women, the first malady to kill women being cervical cancer. Chances of complete treatment can be 100%, if it is detected on early stages.
Sonoelastography is an imaging technique that uses ultrasounds which analyze the tissue’s elasticity. This method allows detection and locates tumors, when they have different elasticity than the surrounding tissue, being complementary to mammography, two dimensional ultrasound, nuclear magnetic resonance and Doppler examination.
Elastography captures an image similar to ultrasound, but it is actually a combination of two images. Thus, besides the classic image given by ultrasound (ultrasonograma), in elastography, the technician is getting another image of compression, which is elastograma. In case of an elastography to the breast, the ultrasound device is pressed lightly on the breast to achieve a compression of breast tissue.
The second pictures in elastography, capture the reflection of sound waves in a state of compression. Because  malignant tumors behave so differently from benign in case of compression, the combination generated by the computer between  the first image under compression, reveals more complex information than it would have been provided by the first image alone.
According to a study on elastography, the results of this method correctly identified benign and malignant tumors with a rate of almost 100%. This method of diagnosing breast cancer has thus several advantages: it is completely non-invasive and non-irradiated, involves low cost and very short time to obtain the results, because it offers immediately the information about the nature of the lumps; using elastography you can reduce the number of biopsies made an actual necessity (biopsy analysis is an invasive method used for cancer diagnosis and it is also expensive requiring at least two weeks in order to get a result). But, if you are using these methods separately, elastography can have several limitations. The main disadvantage it is that, by increasing the pressure applied on the breast while performing the elastography, the results are influenced by the interpretation of the elastography image as well as by the score of elasticity.

April is National Autism Month. Autism afflicts more than 3 out of every 1,000 children in the United States. Symptoms of the disorder include a deficit in social interaction, communication and repetitive interests. Autism causes children to develop more slowly than their peers, although the earlier that autism is detected, the more treatable it becomes.

The cause of autism is unknown. In the 1950s, many people believed uncaring neglectful mothers caused the disorder, whose neglect made their children turn inward. At another point, people believed vaccinations were causing autism but that theory has been widely debunked. Today, many believe there is a strong correlation between genetics and autism with an environmental factor. The environmental factor remains unknown.

The degree to which a child experiences the signs and symptoms of autism varies depending on the child. When diagnosing autism, doctors look for delayed communication in young children. For example, if the child does not communicate in anyway, including babbling before turning 1, or the child does not respond to his or her name. Other indicators include poor eye contact, emotional attachment to one particular toy and not being able to combine words.

While autism cannot be cured, it is treatable. Most children with autism respond to a behavioral program that is highly structured. Programs are extremely comprehensive and some even require a closely watched gluten free diet. Other common treatments include Applied Behavioral Analysis, Floortime, Occupational Therapy, Speech Therapy and Verbal Behavior Intervention. The goal of all therapy paths is to develop the autistic child into a full functioning individual who is able to live on his or her own.

There is still much to learn about autism but raising awareness and funds for the disorder are primary for continued research studies.

Many people wonder how to achieve wellness. Mental fitness is a new generation of meditation which helps the brain to develop fast and achieve effectiveness. Mental fitness has two basic principles, namely variety and curiosity. There are many ways to train your brain, and these include mental games; for example, chess, Sudoku, crosswords and also video games. This category of brain training improves your speed reactions and the memory capacity of the brain. These games are based on vocabulary development, logic and math, and are recommended to be play 15 minutes per day.

Another way to work your brain is to communicate, better said narrate events from your life. Stories are a way of strengthening your memories, interpret your events and share stories. Try to tell stories every time you have the occasion, be entertaining and fascinating, because some basic storytelling will keep your interest, as well as the interest of your audience awaken.

Mental fitness can also be achieved by reading different books. Books are indispensable, because they are filled with infinite intriguing characters, information and facts, and imagining different time periods, cultures and peoples will train your mind, so you will start making connections between modern life and the characters in the book. This should keep your mind occupied, and relive you from stress, while training your neurones.

Another way to achieve wellness is to give up TV. It is recommended to watch TV only 4 hours per day because the TV can stand in the way of forming social relationships, and you can often load yourself with negative energy and get into a bad mood, particularly if you watch the news. Instead, you can use this time to do other activities that engage your mind, such as learning something new, changing your hobby and paying more attention to things around you.

Mental fitness is a program that helps us become more aware of ourselves: physical, mental and emotional. Due to this reason, you should focus on three basic principles, memory, visualization and reasoning, and work every day to these three components, so that your brain will work well in any situation.

Every time, I have to decide on health insurance company or plan, it brings me chills.  The options, at least to me, are too convoluted to make selection decision simple.

Then it dawned on me that here I am having trouble in deciding plan or thereby an insurance company; what do people in other countries have to do.  For example,Canada has more of a single payer system. UK has a government controlled program, French has similar. Then you have America which is fully private system for common public and countries like India where the insurance system is still evolving.

I am a bit familiar with US system as a user and also I have spend significant amount of time to think of ways to improve the healthcare system – many of those are articulated here over the period of 2007 to 2010.

If Canada,UK, France and others have socialized medicine, do they have insurance industries?  Why do they need?  What is the selection challenge, citizens of these countries face?

Trying to learn a bit at the surface level, I ran into an UK based company Avia http://www.aviva.co.uk/health-insurance/    I really liked there page on individual insurance where they provide a very simple tabular form for various insurances and who might need them.  I think it is intuitive and clear for common people to read, understand, and decide.

I am now intrigued and might want to check out what types of insurance needed arise in other countries, what options are available, and how easy it is to understand these options.

On a closure note, I would share my silly experience.  I once needed a pair of spectacles.  So, called the insurance company which is quite big.  The insurance I have is quite good and comparable to majority of the people carry.  They did tell me that I have vision insurance.  When I asked them, they said they only offer coupons towards glasses from stores like Wal Mart.

I asked them if there is any difference between these and what I can get from the Sunday paper coupons?  I wonder if that would be a cheaper insurance plan.  To be fare, they do cover eye diseases pretty well.

Your house has a consistent influence on your well being and on your behaviour, but especially on your life. When you do not like where you are living, you can lose your wellness and that is why it is necessary to arrange your house; however, you want. This way, you can turn your house into your best friend.

One of the ways to achieve wellness in your home is to choose the right colours. Colours have a strong influence on your perception and your good mood. They can inspire us, fill us with positive energy or negative energy, so choosing the right colour for each room is necessary, if you want to feel better when you work, play or do any other activity; and for this, you must be in harmony with the colours around you. The right combination of shades and tones turn any room into a warm, welcoming and beautiful place. There are three types of unsaturated colours also known as primary colours (red, yellow, blue), secondary colours (orange, purple, green) and tertiary colours (yellow-orange, yellow-green, blue-green, violet and burgundy).

Here, are some examples of colours you have to use in your house:

-Yellow may also be called the colour of the sun, activates, invigorates, gives you confidence, positive energy and the capacity to be concentrate, thus, it is ideal to use this colour in your work room.

-Orange represents energy and joy of living; therefore, it is indicated to use these colours in your bedroom.

- Red or colour signal, is expressing confidence and dominance. This colour is not recommended for bedrooms, it symbolic meaning connects to hyperactivity and can cause insomnia. Also, if you sleep in a room full of red, you might not wake up as rested as when sleeping in room with pale colours.

-Blue it is a peaceful colour, and it is ideal for those who work in stressful environments.

-Green it is associated with harmony and it is perfect for bathrooms and bedrooms, because this colour has a calming effect.

-Purple it is the colour of imagination. Used in a room, the purple colour creates a luxury ambiance which is surrounded by mystery. But be careful; do not use a lot of purple because it can be extremely tiring.

Every house should tell a story, a story about you or your conception about the house, so you can take advice from a designer or you can follow your own intuition.