• Get a durable power of attorney for medical care so that you can make health care decisions and review medical records.
  
• Request a complete facility profile from the State Health Department, Licensing and Certification Department for the facility you intend to use. Note the number of complaints, the fines assessed and whether the fines have been paid.
  
• Notice how many people in the facility seem to be in stupors or in bed or unable to walk or talk. If many patients fall into this category, be wary of over medication at the facility, especially with the psychotropic drugs Haldol, Thorazine, Mellaril and Prolixin.
  
• Visit at different times during the day, including meal times. Take notice of the types of food and nutritional balance. Dehydration is a problem, so make sure water is available at all times and that it is easily accessible to the patient.
  
• Be sure the patient is actually seen by the doctor and talk with the doctor personally. If the doctor is difficult to contact, bring in another doctor to examine the patient.
  
• Take seriously any complaints the patient has about mistreatment by the staff. Don't accept the facilities statement that the patient is old and doesn't know what's going on.
  
• Check the patient's body for bedsores, particularly the tailbone, feet and hips. Stage 4, the most serious stage of bedsores, causes death in many cases.
  
• Report any signs of bad care to the state licensing office in your state that licenses and regulates nursing homes. Be sure to follow up on the complaint to insure accountability.

Overview of Ear Infections

Acute otitis media

Otitis media with effusion

Otitis externa (Swimmer’s Ear)

Acute otitis media (AOM)

• Pulling at ears
• Excessive crying
• Fluid draining from ears
• Sleep disturbances
• Fever
• Headaches
• Problems with hearing
• Irritability
• Difficulty balancing

Otitis media with effusion (OME)

• Problems with hearing

We are featuring a childhood/infant disease or condition informational post every other Friday. Today's topic is HIV/AIDS.

Definition

HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) is a disease that attacks and destroys the body's immune system. The immune system is the body's defense against diseases and sickness. If the immune system does not work well, a person can develop deadly infections and cancers.

AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome) is the most serious stage of HIV infection. This stage means the immune system of the infected person has been destroyed.

Being infected with HIV does not mean a person has AIDS, but rather that the person's immune system may be damaged, leading to AIDS.


Effects on a Child's Health

How HIV infection will affect a child's health differs with each child. Some children show symptoms of the infection as early as the year they are born; others may not show any signs of disease until much later. How old the child is when symptoms start to show is an important clue to how your child's health may be affected.

HIV makes your child's immune system weak and hard to fight off infections or cancer, and it can make your child more vulnerable to other problems and diseases. Sometimes it can even cause strokes. The medicines used to treat HIV can have many side effects. Medicine used to treat HIV can help, but not cure the disease. Some possible side effects of the treatment include:

• Fever.
• Nausea or being sick to the stomach.
• Fatigue or tiring often and easily.

• Free Nicotine Patches
• Give-a-ways and encouragement
• Lung function tests and oral cancer screenings
• Information about nicotine addiction and carbon monoxide levels

• Diabetes kills more Americans every year than breast cancer and AIDS combined.
• It is the #1 cause of blindness in adults.
• It doubles the risk of heart attack and stroke.
• 1 in 13 of all Americans have diabetes.
• 1 in 4 of those don't know it yet.
• 1 in 5 are on their way to getting it. Having a condition called prediabetes means you are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes in the next three to six years. People with prediabetes have blood glucose (sugar) levels that are higher than normal, but not high enough to be diagnosed as diabetes.

• Change your diet. People at high risk for type 2 diabetes can prevent or delay the disease by losing 5 to 7 percent of their body weight, or about 10 to 14 pounds for a 200-pound person. You can do that by eating healthier and being physically active for 30 minutes, five days a week.
• Increase your level of physical activity. Physical activity can help you control your weight, blood glucose, and blood pressure, as well as raise your "good" cholesterol and lower your "bad" cholesterol.
• Maintain a healthy weight. Being overweight or obese raises your risk of developing type 2 diabetes.
  
  Diabetes care begins with informed patients.
• Talk to your health care provider about how to manage your blood glucose (A1C), blood pressure, and cholesterol.
• Get a flu vaccine. For those with diabetes, it is important to ask for the "shot" version. Talk to your health care provider about a pneumonia (pneumococcal) shot. People with diabetes are more likely to die from pneumonia or influenza than people who do not have diabetes.