Prevalence and Impact of Thyroid Disease

More than 12 percent of the U.S. population will develop a thyroid condition during their lifetime.

  • An estimated 20 million Americans have some form of thyroid disease.
  • Up to 60 percent of those with thyroid disease are unaware of their condition.
  • Women are five to eight times more likely than men to have thyroid problems.
  • One woman in eight will develop a thyroid disorder during her lifetime.
  • Most thyroid cancers respond to treatment, although a small percentage can be very aggressive.
  • The causes of thyroid problems are largely unknown.
  • Undiagnosed thyroid disease may put patients at risk for certain serious conditions, such as cardiovascular diseases, osteoporosis and infertility.
  • Pregnant women with undiagnosed or inadequately treated hypothyroidism have an increased risk of miscarriage, preterm delivery, and severe developmental problems in their children.
  • Most thyroid diseases are life-long conditions that can be managed with medical attention.

January is Thyroid Disease Awareness Month

Most people have heard about the thyroid gland but may not have been taught about the huge importance this gland plays in our bodies. The thyroid gland is a small, butterfly-shaped gland that is located at the base of the neck. This gland influences the function of our most essential organs in the body: brain, liver, heart, kidneys and skin.

The thyroid’s primary job is to make hormones that are secreted into the blood stream and carried to every tissue in our bodies. The body uses this hormone for metabolism, digestion, regulating body temperature, and much more. It is vital to ensure your thyroid gland is healthy and functioning to its proper capabilities.  

The only sure way to be diagnosed with this disease is to have a blood test performed that measures your thyroid hormone levels. It is highly recommended that if you or the individual you serve is a senior over 60 that a thyroid-stimulating hormone test be administered. This test measures if the gland is working properly or not. Anyone can develop a thyroid problem; however, it is more prominent in older women.  

There are various forms of treatment for Thyroid Disease: medication, iodine, hormones, therapy and surgery. This all depends on the type of disease that is occurring. These treatments can help greatly improve a person’s quality of life. Caregivers and loved ones should know the signs/ symptoms of thyroid disease and contact a medical professional for assistance as needed.

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Preventing Birth Defects

preventing birth defects

Preventing birth defects is more important than most people realize. People rarely want to think about the possibility of their baby being born with birth defects, but it happens more commonly than you might think. It’s estimated that around 120,000 babies are born every year with birth defects — and that’s in the United States alone. That amounts to roughly one in 33 babies being born with birth defects. Because of this, January has been designated as National Birth Defects Prevention Month.

The Importance of Prevention

Birth defects can affect every part of the body, from the foot to the brain. Some birth defects can easily be addressed and won’t affect the baby’s life or their quality of life, such as a cleft lip. Others can be much more serious, such as heart defects or hearing loss. To prevent such birth defects, you have to know what causes them. The following are some of the common causes of birth defects:

  • Drinking alcohol, doing drugs, or smoking during pregnancy
  • Having uncontrolled diabetes before and during pregnancy
  • Being obese during pregnancy
  • Being infected with certain viruses during pregnancy, such as the Zika virus
  • Certain medications
  • Experiencing an elevated body temperature during pregnancy
  • Being of an older age during pregnancy (which can increase the risk of chromosomal abnormalities)

How to Prevent Birth Defects

First of all, live as healthily as possible during your pregnancy — stop smoking and drinking and don’t take any drugs. Make sure that you see your primary healthcare provider in California routinely. They can advise you on what medications you can and can’t take. Finally, make sure to introduce plenty of folic acid into your diet.

Folic acid contains folate, which helps ensure that your cells function properly and is necessary for forming your red blood cells and DNA. Folate can also help prevent various birth defects as well as prevent heart disease and anemia.

Spread Awareness on Preventing Birth Defects This Month

If you’re planning on having a baby, take precautions to prevent birth defects. For more health advice, be sure to contact us at The Benefits Store today.

Glaucoma Awareness: What You Need to Know

glaucoma awareness

There are several types of eye disorders that are referred to as glaucoma. However, they all cause vision loss in the same way. The disorder occurs due to the buildup of fluid around the front of the eye.  This buildup causes pressure that damages the eye’s optic nerve and can result in eventual blindness.

Fortunately, there are ways to treat glaucoma, which is why generating awareness is so important. January was designated National Glaucoma Awareness Month.

Why Is Glaucoma Awareness So Important?

Glaucoma can lead to permanent blindness. In fact, it’s the leading cause of blindness in people over 60 years old. There is no cure.

It’s vital that you catch glaucoma in the beginning stages if you have it. One of the reasons why it can be successfully treated before permanent blindness sets in is because glaucoma only affects one eye at first. Although you can’t restore lost vision, there are medications, surgeries, and laser treatments available that can help by slowing down the progression of glaucoma.

Diagnosing the condition in its beginning stages can help prevent you from going blind.

What Are the Signs of Glaucoma?

There are two kinds of glaucoma: open-angle and acute angle-closure. Open-angle glaucoma symptoms include blind spots and tunnel vision. 

Acute angle-closure glaucoma has many symptoms, including:

  • Blurred vision
  • Eye pain
  • Eye redness
  • Headaches
  • Light halos
  • Nausea

If you begin experiencing any of these symptoms regularly, you must go to an eye doctor right away for an eye exam. The sooner your glaucoma can be diagnosed, the sooner it can be treated. Not all cases of glaucoma result in symptoms right away, which is why you should schedule a regular checkup with your eye doctor in Southern California as you grow older.

January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month

Increasing glaucoma awareness is critical to making sure people maintain their eyesight, especially as they grow older. Be aware of glaucoma symptoms and schedule regular visits to the eye doctor.

For more about health awareness, visit us at The Benefits Store today.

Why Glaucoma Awareness is Important

It’s a silent disease

Open-angle glaucoma, the most common type, has no symptoms. Without treatment, those affected will slowly lose their peripheral vision. As glaucoma remains untreated, people may miss objects to the side and out of the corner of their eye.

It gives others a voice

National Glaucoma Awareness Month helps patients cope. It’s a time to let them share their stories.

It’s important to spread the word

The main objective of this month is to keep people in the know about this disease. Not everyone is aware of how easily they can be affected. Eye care organizations use this month to address the risks and provide treatment tips.

Glaucoma is a leading cause of vision loss and blindness in the United States. Glaucoma has no early symptoms — that’s why half of people with glaucoma don’t know they have it. 

The only way to find out if you have glaucoma is to get a comprehensive dilated eye exam. There’s no cure for glaucoma, but early treatment can often stop the damage and protect your vision.   

Anyone can get glaucoma, but those at higher risk include: 

  • Everyone over age 60, especially Hispanics/Latinos 
  • African Americans over age 40 
  • People with a family history of glaucoma 

Join the National Eye Health Education Program (NEHEP) in encouraging people at higher risk for glaucoma to make eye health a New Year’s resolution by getting a dilated eye exam. 

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Birth Defects Awareness

Birth defects are health conditions that are present at birth. Birth defects change the shape or function of one or more parts of the body. They can cause problems in overall health, how the body develops, or in how the body works.

There are thousands of different birth defects. About 120,000 babies in the United States are born each year with a birth defect. The most common birth defects are heart defects, cleft lip and cleft palate, Down syndrome and spina bifida. While there’s been lots of research, we still don’t know the causes of some birth defects.

Some birth defects are caused by genetic conditions. Genetic conditions are passed from parents to children through genes. The baby could get something from his mother, his father, or both parents that can cause a birth defect.

Saving babies through birth defects prevention and research

Every 4 ½ minutes, a baby is born with a major birth defect in the United States. That’s 1 in 33 babies. Birth defects are structural changes in one or more parts of the body that are present at birth. Examples include heart defects, neural tube defects, microcephaly, and gastroschisis.

  • 1 in 10 pregnant women report using alcohol during the past 30 days, and 9 in 10 women report using one or more medications in pregnancy, despite the fact that we lack sufficient evidence on safety for 9 out of 10 medications.
  • The majority of the world’s population today is not covered through folic acid fortification and efforts to implement fortification in lower-resourced countries face complex obstacles.

Popular diet could increase risk of birth defects

New research demonstrates that consuming a low-carbohydrate diet during pregnancy may increase the risk of certain birth defects by 30 percent.

A new study finds a link between low-carb diets and birth defects.

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are malformations of the brain, spine, and spinal cord. They develop before birth and include spina bifida, wherein the spinal column does not close completely, and anencephaly, wherein large portions of brain and skull are missing.

Research carried out over decades conclusively demonstrated that folic acid can reduce the risk of babies being born with NTDs.

As soon as the fortification began, cases of birth defects plummeted. Adding folic acid to food prevents more than 1,300 NTDTrusted Source cases each year in the United States.

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