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Low cost health and medical care More ways to guard your health and attend to basic medical needs for very, very low cost. REFERENCE (...continued from How to Live Well on Very, Very Little) Sponsor this page This page last updated on or about 5-29-07

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BACK to Introduction and Table of Contents: Part one of low cost healthcare

Hopefully you live in a developed nation which maintains a universal healthcare system of some kind, thereby maintaining the best balance of risks, costs, access, security, and innovation apparently available today for a given populace. Unfortunately, if you live in a third world country (or, amazingly enough, the United States), you likely instead face a patchwork of private healthcare entities which makes for many inefficiencies, minimal access and security, and so higher costs and often worse outcomes than a universal system.

So if you're a third worlder (or non-wealthy US citizen), you may face a pretty grim health insurance situation, both costs and benefits-wise.

As we US citizens and third worlders are in much the same boat here (and other country folks have little need for advice in such matters), I'll focus here just on our plight.

First of all, you MUST practice every form of preventive measures practical for your situation, to prevent getting sick or injured in the first place-- for your health system may well not treat you at all in such an event, or else cripple you financially for the rest of your life if it does, should you become afflicted with the wrong ailment. And when I say practice prevention, I don't mean just what you see on this page (or perhaps this one too), but what you can find out from other credible sources as well. This is vital. I realize such an ongoing and strenuous personal effort in research and behavioral change may well reduce your levels of personal productivity and satisfaction both at work and home, rule out much risk-taking in both entrepreneurial and recreational activities, stress relationships with both your friends and family, and so in the end cause you reductions in income and perhaps even have some adverse effects on your health themselves(!), but we really have no choice here, until something drastic changes in our native countries in this regard. Of course, there's always the option of getting rich to escape these circumstances-- but that's often a surprisingly difficult thing for honest folks without powerful business or political connections (or truly extraordinary serendipitous opportunities) to do, unless they inherit a fortune.

So what's the second recommendation, after putting up a continuous, near superhuman effort for prevention? Be as frugal as is practical, in order to build your savings. Savings may be your primary buffer against losses of income due to job loss and/or illness or injury. Hoarding as large a nest egg as possible is vital. Much more important than most people realize.

Third recommendation: Do the best research job you can to select a health insurance policy that'll fit your needs at a cost you can afford, and buy it. Believe it or not, medical institutions often charge folks without insurance twice as much as those with insurance, and for less care to boot(!) So simply possessing a minimal policy may well cut the bills you're charged in half (not counting your monthly premiums and deductible), as well as get you more and/or better care(!)

It appears that the most cost-effective health insurance choices for most of us are usually available through some sort of employee benefit package at the workplace. So be sure to add that to your considerations. Unfortunately, employers in the USA are drastically cutting back on such benefits, and/or strongly increasing the proportion paid by employees, circa 2003.

Fourth recommendation: If you're basically healthy, only rarely find yourself in need of medical care, or have only a few, primarily annoying health problems rather than serious ones, you may find it most cost-effective to use that nest egg I discussed previously to allow yourself a huge deductible in your healthcare policy. Such a big deductible will help you keep your monthly insurance premium as low as possible, without compromising your access to healthcare. Plus, since you'll end up paying the first few thousand dollars worth of medical charges a year yourself with such a large deductible, this may cut your paperwork burden as well (as there'll be little need to file for recompense if you know it falls within your deductible). In some cases (such as self-employment) you may be able to deduct the premiums from your income taxes at year end-- thereby effectively getting at least some of your healthcare free! And if your nest egg draws interest, you make a small amount there while it goes unused.

Note that I'm primarily directing the last recommendation above to relatively young and single adults. Parents and/or married couples may have lots more details and constraints to consider, and so I cannot speak to their situation at this time.

Low cost health and medical contents

Other books of this type include Ditch Medicine : Advanced Field Procedures for Emergencies [shop for this] by Hugh L. Coffee, Where Women Have No Doctor : A Health Guide for Women [shop for this] by A. August Burns and others, and the Oxford Handbook of Tropical Medicine [shop for this] by Michael Eddleston and Stephen Pierini.

HealthNet offers information concerning health matters in many developing nations, over both radio and telephone-based computer networks. healthnet.org is the generic URL.

More health and medical references include:

The Merck Manuals online
IFIC - Food Safety & Nutrition Information
eMedicine Disaster and Trauma eBook
MEDLINEplus Health Information from the National Library of Medicine
Human Sexuality Image Bank

Low cost health and medical contents

Possible signs of existing or potential chronic disease

Possible signs of acute conditions

Low cost health and medical contents

There's a few caveats to aspirin use. Like most other things, it is possible to overdose on aspirin, resulting in many possible problems, or even death. But the size of the dosage required for overdose is considerable. Children in general should not take aspirin. A small percentage of adults may be advised by their physicians to avoid aspirin, for a variety of reasons.

For more information regarding aspirin, check out the Aspirin studies page, the Aspirin Foundation, Aspirin overdose, The Chemistry of Aspirin, the Synthesis of Aspirin, and Google Search: aspirin

Low cost health and medical contents

One way honey does this is through the slow release of hydrogen peroxide. Manuka honey or Medihoney are other names for one type of honey now being sold for medical purposes.

Low cost health and medical contents

Low cost health and medical contents

In tests, disinfected Neobellieria bullata or Phaenicia sericata species maggot larvae were put into serious wounds (many of which had defied all other treatments) and held in place via dressing for one to three days, then removed. The maggot treatment substantially helped the majority of patients it was tried on, with half requiring no other surgeries afterwards.

The worst complaints from patients regarding the procedure was that in some cases a bad smell accompanied it, while a few others seemed worried that some of the maggots might fall out of the dressing as the patient went about their normal business at home or elsewhere (this was out patient procedure in at least some cases).

Maggot treatment may eventually save considerable monies in hospitalization charges for some patients.

Low cost health and medical contents

Low cost health and medical contents

Low cost health and medical contents

In this method, a string of color-coded beads (called CycleBeads) keyed to a woman's monthly menstrual cycle is used as aid to show when sexual intercourse is likely to produce pregnancy and when it is not.

More information on this method is available at The Institute for Reproductive Health

Other forms of contraception as well as possible protection against sexually transmitted diseases include lemon juice and a new 'high speed' application condom, specially designed for developing countries.

Note that using two or more methods of contraception and/or sexually transmitted disease protection simultaneously where possible may be the most effective and reliable means of success in such matters.

Low cost health and medical contents

Low cost health and medical contents

Low cost health and medical contents

Low cost health and medical contents

So are there ways to reduce the risk of ever having kidney stones in the first place? Perhaps.

It appears folks who do a lot of sleeping on their sides tend to develop stones more easily than others. Sleeping on your back is better than your side. Sleeping on your stomach lowers the risk the most.

Of course, most of us change position a lot during the night, utilizing most or all these positions at one time or another. That's normal, and nothing to be concerned about. All I'm saying here is to reduce your risk of stone formation just try to avoid spending too much time sleeping on your left or right sides.

I'll try to post the supporting reference for this as soon as I can re-locate it.

Caffeine such as found in coffee, tea, and chocolate can reduce your risk of developing kidney stones or gallstones. It may also reduce your chances of getting colon cancer. It appears caffeine's effect of speeding metabolism/accelerating urine flow is the element responsible for stone minimization.

Moving around helps stones to pass through your system (smaller ones may do so without medical intervention). So a sedentary lifestyle may increase the time a stone stays inside you, allowing it to eventually grow too large to exit without hospitalization (and so we get yet another reason to exercise and lead a more active life in general).

Substantially reducing calcium in the diet is not usually recommended as a way to prevent stone formation, as too little calcium can actually increase your chances(!)

Recurrance of stones may be prevented by cutting back on the intake of salt and animal protein (meat). Drinking lots of water to increase urine flow, and minimizing infections of the urinary tract may also be good preventive measures against stone formation. One in ten US citizens will likely develop a kidney stone sometime during their life.

Excessive oxalate is found in roughly one fifth to one third of people with recurring stones. Oxalate is many times more important to stone formation than calcium. Plant-based foods are a major source of dietary oxalate, while animal-based foods offer almost none. Recent research indicates perhaps 50+% of excessive oxalate in the body may indeed come from dietary sources. Most people may normally be overloaded with calcium oxalate, but protected from it solidifying into stones by several factors, including the presence of citrate, and the throughput of water in the system (helping keep the mixture dilute).

Animal protein and fat appear to contribute to stone formation.

The protective bacterium Oxalobacter formigenes may be killed off in some people during lengthy use of antibiotics, thereby making them more prone to development of stones, unless the bacteria can be restored. Recolonization can be difficult. Natural colonization of people by the bacteria usually occurs around age three.

Some foods which taken to excess can increase chances of stone formation include meats, cranberry-based items, nuts, rhubarb, and spinach. Excessive vitamin C intake and dehydration can also contribute to stones.

The bacterium Oxalobacter formigenes naturally exists in most people's digestive tract, helping break down excessive amounts of oxalate. Excesses in oxalate can cause it to combine with calcium in the kidneys to form stones. People lacking Oxalobacter formigenes can be given their own supply in a single, one-time dose to enable this process for stone prevention or minimization. So far this procedure remains in the research stage, unfortunately.

Low cost health and medical contents

Low cost health and medical contents

Low cost health and medical contents

My newest content regarding diabetes is the page Possible tips, tricks, and leads regarding diabetes prevention, treatment, and cures-- some of which you (and even your doctor!) may be unaware. There's not much overlap between that page and the links below though-- yet. I'll try to integrate all this better when I get the time.

Low cost health and medical contents

Cancer prevention Various general-purpose preventive measures are offered elsewhere in this page. But here's some cancer-specific measures and cautions.

Cancer detection

Cancer treatments Please note folks that I strongly recommend that you get diagnosed and treated by a trained physician for your ailments, wherever possible. Keep in mind this page and its related pages are assembled primarily for the poorest folks of third world countries who may not have access at all to professional medical personnel. For all others, these pages are merely meant to offer additional resources and information to consider when trying to maximize the cost-effectiveness of their own health and medical decisions, hopefully in full consultation with professional medical personnel. Note that it can be very risky indeed to experiment totally on your own with various treatments only now being comprehensively tested in animal and human trials, such as many of the articles linked on this and other pages describe.

Indeed, some links presented here are considered truly relevant only to medical researchers and doctors of third world nations themselves, to hopefully help them help their patients in ways they otherwise might not be aware were possible.

So please do not take unnecessary risks with your health: consult your physician about such matters first wherever you possibly can.

Low cost health and medical contents

These are ideas brought up by research results which for one reason or another a person likely wouldn't want to try on their own until all other measures had failed or were unavailable to them for some reason.

Low cost health and medical contents

Fire prevention, handy extinguishing apparatus, and smoke alarms can be life-savers as well as wealth-savers.

Keeping buckets of clean dry sand stationed at various strategic places in your home will provide you with the capability to smother small fires of virtually any kind. Baking soda can also work in many cases.

Low cost health and medical contents

Other health and safety dangers

Low cost health and medical contents

Miscellaneous links possibly related and useful to low cost health and medical care but as yet unorganized

Low cost health and medical contents

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