The following information from HHS.gov/Health Care provides an overview of the coverage and services available to women now, and beginning in 2014 under the Affordable Care Act.

Applicable Now Under the Affordable Care Act

• 26.9 million women with private health insurance gained expanded preventive services with no cost-sharing in 2011 and 2012, including mammograms, cervical cancer screenings, prenatal care, flu and pneumonia shots, and regular well-baby and well-child visits.
• As of August 1, 2012 many health plans now cover additional preventive services with no cost-sharing, including well-woman visits, screening for gestational diabetes, domestic violence screening, breastfeeding supplies and contraceptive services.
• 24.7 million women enrolled in Medicare received preventive services without cost-sharing in 2011, including an annual wellness visit, a personalized prevention plan, mammograms, and bone mass measurement for women at risk of osteoporosis.
• 1.1 million women between ages 19 and 25 who would have been uninsured have coverage under their parent’s employer-sponsored or individually purchased health insurance plan.
• More than 2 million women enrolled in Medicare saved $1.2 billion in 2011 due to improvements in prescription drug coverage.
• Major federal investments in care innovations such as community health teams are improving the management of chronic diseases, which are prevalent among women.

 Applicable in 2014 and Thereafter Under the Affordable Care Act

• An estimated 8.7 million American women currently purchasing individual insurance will gain coverage for maternity services.
• Insurance companies in the individual and small group markets will no longer be permitted to charge higher rates due to gender or health status.
• 18.6 million uninsured women will have new opportunities for coverage through the Health Insurance Marketplace.
• State Medicaid programs will be able to offer more opportunities to women who need personal assistance or long-term care and wish to stay at home and in the community, rather than enter a nursing home.

Last Updated: July 30, 2013

According to an article recently published by HealthDay News, which was based on findings from researchers in Seattle, carbon monoxide gas can pass easily through drywall, and poison those living inside a home, apartment or condo. The report is published in the Aug. 21 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.HealthDay reports:

Researchers shared that this finding highlights the need for having carbon monoxide alarms in your home, since even checking your own appliances won’t guarantee that the lethal gas might not seep through your walls from another source.

“What this study tells me is that carbon monoxide does not stay put in a building, that the barriers between apartments or condos will slow down carbon monoxide, but do not stop it,” said Dr. Eric Lavonas, associate director of the Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Center in Denver. “Therefore, the best way to protect your family is to have a working carbon monoxide alarm in your home,” according to Lavonas, who was not involved with the study.

Carbon monoxide is a colorless, odorless gas found in car exhaust and in fumes from fuel-burning sources such as generators, charcoal grills, gas stoves and wood fireplaces. “Any source of combustion produces carbon monoxide of some degree, no matter how clean-burning your appliances are,” said study author Dr. Neil Hampson, with the Center for Hyperbaric Medicine at the Virginia Mason Medical Center in Seattle.

Unintentional carbon monoxide poisoning kills between 400 and 500 people per year in the United States. The only form of protection is a carbon monoxide alarm. “Carbon monoxide is undetectable to human senses. You cannot see it, you cannot smell it, and you cannot taste it, so you do not know you’ve been poisoned until you get sick and start getting headaches, vomiting or pass out,” Hampson explained.

Twenty-five states require residences to have these alarms, but 10 of these states now allow exemptions for homes that have no internal sources of carbon monoxide. Many experts are concerned that these exemptions will lead to an increase in accidental poisonings, particularly in multi-family dwellings, where walls between homes are shared.

To prove that carbon monoxide can go through walls, researchers placed varying thicknesses of drywall in a Plexiglas container to observe how quickly the gas could travel through the walls. Because the pores in the wallboard are 1 million times larger than a carbon monoxide molecule, the gas passed easily through the porous barrier. Painted drywall slowed down the gas only a bit.

Only alarms can detect carbon monoxide gas once it is in a home, but far too many homes either don’t have one or have one that isn’t functioning because the batteries have died or have been removed. According to Lavonas, only 30 percent of American homes have a working carbon monoxide alarm. In North Carolina, a state that has a law requiring the devices, only 67.8 percent of homes do, according to a study published in the American Journal of Public Health in 2012.

There have been many cases of poisonings in homes where carbon monoxide alarms were found, “but they either had no battery in them or they hadn’t even been taken out of the package,” Hampson said. “In addition to changing the batteries regularly, it’s important to check the expiration date on the alarm itself, he added.”When you change your batteries, you should look at the back of the alarm to see when the expiration date is. It’s either five or seven years, depending on the manufacturer,” Hampson explained.

Unlike smoke alarms, carbon monoxide alarms may be placed anywhere, from the bottom of the wall to the ceiling, and only one is needed per level, preferably located just outside the sleeping areas. Some alarms can be plugged directly into an electrical outlet or hard-wired, but both Hampson and Lavonas caution that if these are used, they should have a battery back-up. Most carbon monoxide poisonings occur during blackouts, when power is out, they noted.

If your alarm sounds, leave your home immediately, and call the fire department.

To learn more about carbon monoxide, visit the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Ira Dreyfuss with HHS HealthBeat, a production of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, shares about the food choices we tend to make after a poor night’s sleep.

Burgers, doughnuts, pizza. Stay up real late working or studying, and your body seems to crave them. Carrots and apples, not so much. Why is that?

At the University of California, Berkeley, Matthew Walker measured people’s food choices and imaged their brain activity after a night’s sleep and after a night with no sleep. He found people preferred junk food after the sleepless night, and their sleep-deprived brains showed less capacity to make good-for-you choices and more I-wanna choices.

“There’s a shift in the behavioral choices that people are making, and that seems to be co-occurring with those changes in brain activity.”

So, if you get enough sleep, you may choose better and eat more healthfully.

The study, which appeared in the journal Nature Communications, was supported by the National Institutes of Health.

Learn more at healthfinder.gov.

Each year, more than 300,000 cases of Lyme disease are reported to the Centers for Disease Control(CDC), making it the most commonly reported tick-borne illness in the United States. The new estimate suggests that the total number of people diagnosed with Lyme disease is roughly 10 times higher than the yearly reported number.

“We know people can prevent tick bites through steps like using repellents and tick checks. Although these measures are effective, they aren’t fail-proof and people don’t always use them,” said Lyle R. Petersen, M.D., M.P.H, director of CDC’s Division of Vector-Borne Diseases. “We need to move to a broader approach to tick reduction, involving entire communities, to combat this public health problem.”

This community approach would involve homeowners trying to kill ticks in their own yards, and communities addressing a variety of issues. These issues include rodents that carry the Lyme disease bacteria, deer that play a key role in the ticks’ life cycle, suburban planning, and the interaction between deer, rodents, ticks, and humans. All must be addressed to effectively fight Lyme disease.

Most Lyme disease cases reported to CDC through national surveillance are concentrated heavily in the Northeast and upper Midwest, with 96 percent of cases in 13 states. Lyme disease is transmitted to humans through the bite of infected black legged ticks. Typical symptoms include fever, headache, fatigue, and a characteristic skin rash. If left untreated, infection can spread to joints, the heart, and the nervous system.

CDC recommends people take steps to help prevent Lyme disease and other tickborne diseases by:

• Wearing repellent

• Checking  for ticks daily

• Showering soon after being outdoors

• Calling your doctor if you get a fever or rash

For more information on Lyme disease, visit www.cdc.gov/lyme.

Source: Centers for Disease Control, CDC

While this site focuses on the needs of parents and teachers of children 3-7 years, the following article speaks to fostering a positive body image in a child’s teen years,a concern for all parents.The article comes to us from Tina Marconi;  Tina is  the content manager for “babysitters.net”. For  further discussion, you can reply to her at “marconi.tina0 AT gmailDOTcom”.

The process of going through puberty is a rite of passage for every human on the planet, and is a concrete sign of your child’s physical maturation. Unfortunately, it’s also a time of dashed self-esteem, and negative body image in many kids, especially teen and tween girls.

Fostering a strong, positive sense of self-worth and a good body image may seem like a delicate balancing act, but there are steps you can take to help your teenager mature into a poised, confident and self-assured young adult.

Start Early

The foundation for a strong, positive body image in your teenager begins when she’s a child. Before the teenage years arrive, bringing with them the nagging fears and insecurities of puberty, start talking to your little one about different body types, acceptance and the appreciation of a healthy body. Make a point of discussing the unrealistic images she absorbs from the media and the collective societal scrutiny of celebrities and public figures. The ideas your child has about body image when she reaches her teen years will be shaped by what she’s already learned, so don’t wait until she’s a pre-teen to start this essential conversation.

Watch Your Own Speech

More than almost anything else, your children will learn how to interact with the world and how to view it by observing you. If they hear you constantly speaking ill of your shape or bemoaning a few extra pounds, they will absorb those insecurities and begin to reflect them. Make a point of speaking positively about your body, even when you feel insecure. Not only will it help you model a positive body image for your kids and teenagers, it will also boost your own sense of self-worth by cutting out negative, critical thinking.

Listen When She Talks About Her Body

When it seems like you and your teen are speaking a completely different language, figuring out how she feels and the standing of her self-confidence can seem like an insurmountable task. Teens naturally become a bit more withdrawn and reticent in their quest for independence, but you may not be as cut off from your teen as you think. Make a point of listening to her when she speaks, especially about herself. If she makes self-deprecating comments about her body, even in the form of a joke, you’ll know that it’s time to have a serious conversation about self-esteem and body image.

Encourage Her to Get Involved

Teenagers that are involved in their community or peer group through sports, clubs and other activities, have something to focus on other than their changing body and the way they feel about themselves. Organized sports, athletic programs and social or academic clubs can have a very real impact on a teenager’s self-esteem, so make a point of encouraging her to get involved with things that she’s interested in and pursue her hobbies in an active, engaging way.

Emphasize Physical Activity for Fun

As childhood obesity rates skyrocket and bring along with them a host of attendant health problems, encouraging kids to engage in active play and sports programs seems like a natural solution. Sedentary activities can increase a kid’s likelihood of gaining an unhealthy amount of weight, but focusing on physical activity for the sake of adhering to the narrow definition of beauty can lead to very real problems as your kids become teenagers as well. Rather than emphasizing the importance of exercise as a method of weight loss, make a point of praising the fun and exciting attributes of getting up, out and moving.

Help Kids Form Healthy Relationships With Food

Using food as a reward or a punishment, insisting that they clean their plates or withholding food can all contribute to unhealthy, skewed attitudes and a troubled relationship with food. Allow your child to eat when she’s hungry and stop when she’s full, and avoid treating food as something inherently bad or unfailingly positive. Foster an environment in which food is viewed as fuel, not a reward or a punishment.

Helping your teen to establish and maintain a positive body image doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a lifelong process that begins when she’s a young child and will continue well into her young adulthood. Realizing that there will be peaks and valleys in your child’s view of her body is important, as is helping her to realize that unrealistic standards are not only unattainable, but also unhealthy and dangerous.

About Tina: Tina Marconi is a the content manager for “babysitters.net” & loves  writing  articles on different parenting advice. You can find one of  her  recently posted articles “ at http://www.babysitters.net/blog/how-to-foster-a-positive-body-image-in-your-teen/> “