AlphaMale

Health info for the disabled

The US Centers for Disease Control has a new web page on Disabilities and Health.

Lots of information on staying healthy, the CDC work on disabilities, and latest news on staying healthy with a disability and CDC programs for the disabled.

Read about it here, or follow the link.

Is your augmentation worth the money?

Once a week, I stick a needle into myself and let a bag full of fluid drip into me.

This is not as much fun as you might think.

It costs a lot of money to do this, and I'm grateful that my health insurance pays for it.

This is called augmentation therapy. It's intended to protect me from the harsh and rapid lung damage that many Alphas suffer from.

There are many doctors who aren't convinced augmentation therapy is worth the money. These doctors are not evil. There's evidence to support augmentation's value, but no "proof". It's hard to prove a drug's value by classic long-term double-blinded studies when you're dealing with a rare disease.

But I still take my IV augmentation every week. because I want to have the assurance that I'm doing everything I can to keep my lungs healthy.

This week, a Cochrane Library review concluded that augmentation has no proven benefits, might actually be harmful, and shouldn't be prescribed. The report scared a lot of Alphas, who are worried about losing their therapy.

Some Alpha-1 experts examined the review. Their opinions will reassure Alphas.

Pre-existing condition? Not to worry

Alphas often can't buy the medical insurance they need.

When you need health coverage for your lung or liver disease, the "pre-existing condition" clauses in health insurance contracts have been impassable barriers.

Those days should be just about over.

Now, as a part of the Health Care Reform bill, you can get health insurance, even if you have a pre-existing condition. The insurance will cost the same for you as for people with no pre-existing conditions, and there are no income requirements.