“There are over 65 million Americans between the ages of 30 and 49, creating an enormous opportunity for the sale of critical illness insurance products,” states Slome.  “These adults understand the risk of being diagnosed with cancer or having a heart attack.  They simply have no knowledge that an affordable financial solution like critical illness insurance exists but we are going to change that starting in 2011.”

The industry trade association established in 2009 just announced a free education campaign for insurance and financial professionals.  The trade group is waiving the $98 membership fee offering free sign-ups which includes access to the Association’s online Learning, Marketing and Sales Center.  The Center provides access to sales training modules, industry research, marketing and sales tools.

“We plan to educate 10,000 insurance professionals during the year and to significantly jumpstart product awareness and ultimately sales,” Slome adds.  “Every agent or broker who has clients in their 30s or 40s will benefit by understanding how simple it is to offer and sell this highly affordable form of protection.”The free membership offer will be continued for at least the first six months of 2011.  For more information or to sign-up for free membership, visit the Association’s website http://www.criticalillnessinsuranceinfo.org/free .

According to the American Heart Association this $545 billion increase in costs for treating heart disease and stroke is largely due to the aging of the population.

“The burden of heart disease and stroke on the U.S. health care system and American families will be substantial,” said Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance. 

The projected increase in costs will be based on the current rate of heart disease adjusted for changes in the overall age of Americans and the anticipated racial mix of patients.

Experts noted that these estimates do not take into account the additional costs for those who have more than one condition, or new treatments that might come along,  To curb this rise in costs, the panel said that effective prevention strategies are needed if we are to limit the growing burden of cardiovascular disease.

American Heart Association CEO Nancy Brown said in a news release that “unhealthy behaviors and unhealthy environments have contributed to a tidal wave of risk factors among many Americans. Early intervention and evidence-based public policies are absolute musts to significantly reduce alarming rates of obesity, hypertension, tobacco use and cholesterol levels.”

Right now, 36.9 percent of Americans have some type of heart disease, including high blood pressure, coronary heart disease, heart failure, stroke and other conditions. By 2030, that number will rise to 40.5 percent of the population, or about 116 million people, according to the report.

The biggest increases are thought to be in stroke, up 24.9 percent, and heart failure, up 25 percent.

Between 2010 and 2030, the cost of caring for patients with heart disease will go from $273 billion to $818 billion, the panel predicted.

In addition, heart disease will cost billions more in lost productivity, increasing from about $172 billion in 2010 to $276 billion in 2030. These losses include days missed from work or home tasks because of illness, plus lost earnings due to premature death.

There are also a number of low-cost, high-value cardiovascular protective therapies that are available but are underutilized in routine clinical care that could also help to reduce the burden of cardiovascular disease.

These include keeping blood pressure and cholesterol under control, not smoking and maintaining a healthy lifestyle, which means eating a healthy diet, getting exercise and keeping your weight down. These strategies have been proven to substantially reduce the risk of heart disease.

For more information on affordable critical illness insurance protection which can provide a tax-free lump sum cash payment upon diagnosis of a heart attack or stroke, viasit the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance’s website <a href> http://www.crititcalillnessinsuranceinfo.org </a>.

According to a new study, meat lovers face increased risk of cancer of the throat and stomach than people who limit their intake of steaks and hamburgers.

According to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, about 21,000 cases of stomach cancer and 16,640 cases of esophageal cancer will be diagnosed in 2010. 

Researchers found that among nearly 500,000 older U.S. adults followed for a decade, only a small number developed cancers of the esophagus or stomach. However, the risks were relatively greater among those who ate a lot of red meat, or certain compounds generated from cooking meat. 

Overall, study participants in the top 20 percent for red-meat intake were 79 percent more likely than those in the bottom 20 percent to develop esophageal squamous cell carcinoma — a cancer that arises in the lining of the upper part of the esophagus. 

The findings, reported in the American Journal of Gastroenterology, do not prove that red meat promotes the two cancers, the researchers emphasize.

However, the scientists report that the results add to what has been an uncertain body of evidence on the link between red meat and esophageal and stomach cancers. 

A 2007 research review by the World Cancer Research Fund and American Institute for Cancer Research, both non-profit groups, concluded that red and processed meats were associated with a “limited suggestive increased risk” of esophageal cancer. 

Researchers followed nearly 500,000 adults ages 50 to 71 over roughly 10 years. At the outset, participants completed detailed questionnaires on their diets — including the methods they typically used for cooking meat, and the usual level of “doneness” they preferred — as well as other lifestyle factors.

Over the next decade, 215 study participants developed esophageal squamous cell carcinoma; that included 28 cases among the bottom 20 percent for red-meat intake, and 69 cases in the top 20 percent.

Another 454 men and women were diagnosed with gastric cardia cancer. There were 57 cases among participants with the lowest red-meat intake, and 113 in the group with the highest intake. 

When the researchers accounted for other factors — like age, weight, smoking and reported exercise habits — participants who ate the most red meat were 79 percent more likely than those with the lowest intake to develop squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus.

According to researchers at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, in New York, and Lund University, in Sweden the test findings are quite significant for men. 

The research findings could have important implications for determining which men should be screened after the age of 60 and which may not benefit substantially from continued prostate cancer screening. 

Prostate cancer is one of the primary critical illnesses impacting men explains Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance.  The national trade organization educates consumers regarding important health issues. 

The study analyzed blood samples from 1,167 men born in 1921 that were collected between 1981 and 1982. All men were carefully followed until they had reached age 85 or had died. 

After studying various biomarkers, the researchers found that the PSA level was a highly accurate predictor of long-term risk. PSA testing has been recommended for the early detection of prostate cancer for many years; however this new data suggests a baseline PSA could determine who should and should not continue to be screened for prostate cancer. 

According to the study, 126 men were diagnosed with prostate cancer, and of those, 90 percent of deaths occurred in men in the top 25 percent of PSA levels at age 60. The researchers concluded that men with a PSA level above 2 ng/ml at age 60 should be considered at increased risk of aggressive prostate cancer and should continue to be screened regularly. 

Men with a PSA level below 1 ng / ml had a 0.2 percent chance of death from prostate cancer. The researchers concluded that men with PSA levels in this range, which is about half of all men, should be considered at low risk of prostate cancer death and may not need to be screened in the future. The study also indicated that some men found to be at low risk may actually have prostate cancer; however it is not likely to cause symptoms or shorten their life by the age of 85.

According to a research abstract presented at the annual meeting of the Associated Professional Sleep Societies participants who reported a habitual daily sleep duration of eight hours or more including naps were 15 percent more likely to have metabolic syndrome.

This relationship remained unchanged after full adjustment for potential confounders such as demographics, lifestyle and sleep habits, and metabolic markers. Removing participants with potential ill health from the analysis slightly attenuated the observed association. Although participants who reported a short sleep duration of less than six hours were 14 percent more likely to have metabolic syndrome in the initial analysis, this association disappeared after controlling for potential confounders.

Researchers noted that the most surprising aspect of the study was that long sleep – and not short sleep – was related to the presence of the metabolic syndrom.

The study involved over 29,000 adults, making it the largest study to assess the relationship between sleep duration and the presence of metabolic syndrome. Participants were 50 years of age or older. Total sleep duration was reported by questionnaire.

We can recommend that long sleepers reduce the amount of overall sleep they achieve, which may in turn have beneficial effects on their health one medical expert noted. Programs can be developed to modify sleep in an attempt to reduce the health burden on elderly populations, who are already at higher risk of disease.

Researchers found that people who suffer from cardiac arrest in some neighborhoods of Fulton County in Georgia — which is home to the city of Atlanta — are up to three times more likely to die than in other neighborhoods. They’re also less likely to have bystanders perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on them.

The neighborhoods with the highest cardiac arrest death rates tended to be poorer and less educated, with more black residents, the study authors noted in their report in the June issue of the Annals of Internal Medicine.

According to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance nearly 800,000 Americans will have a first heart attack in 2010 and some 470,000 will have a recurrent attack.

The findings have national public health indications experts explain. They show that it is time to change our thinking on how and where we conduct CPR training if we are ever going to change the dismal rate of survival from cardiac arrest,” the study author said.

The researchers at the University of Michigan estimated that 15 lives could be saved in Fulton County each year if the neighborhoods with the lowest rates of CPR had the same rates as those neighborhoods with the highest.

To improve cardiac survival rates that have been stagnant for 30 years, CPR training should be more basic and available to the people who are most likely to witness someone experiencing cardiac arrest, they note.  Health care resources are extremely limited. To make improvements, we need to understand where and how best to make change.

Their findings are based on a review of clinical trials involving more than 39,000 participants.  Prior studies experts explain have linked low blood levels of a chemical lowered by folic acid to lower rates of stroke. 

Stroke is one of the three major illnesses impacting older individuals according to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance, the national educational organization.

Researchers at the UCLA Stroke Center in Los Angeles identified 13 well-designed clinical trials of folic acid and stroke. Participants in all the trials had been diagnosed with conditions such as kidney and heart disease, as well as stroke.

There were 784 strokes among 20,415 participants taking folic acid, compared to 791 strokes reported among 18,590 people who did not take the supplements.

The analysis which was published in the American Heart Association’s journal Stroke, settles the question about whether folic acid supplementation leads to a major reduction in stroke.  “The answer is ‘no,’” the lead researcher reports.

Still, the researchers suggest more research into folic acid and stroke, particularly for men and those in the earliest stages of heart disease. Data from both of those groups suggested there might be an effect, although researchers could not determine whether or not that was due to chance.

Those potential benefits appeared in trials carried out in countries whose food supplies were not fortified with folic acid. In the U.S., the benefits of folic acid supplementation may have already been achieved through food fortification. In an effort to reduce the birth defect spina bifida, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration required the addition of folic acid to all enriched cereal-grain foods starting in 1998.

According to medical researchers concluding the largest study of the procedure so far this is good news for Americans.

The colonoscopy is considered the gold standard for colon cancer screening and is used in millions of people every year.  Until now, it has not been clear how its widespread use impacts the disease’s overall death toll.

The new report, based on close to 2.5 million Canadians, shows that for every one-percent increase in colonoscopy use, the risk of death from colon cancer dropped three percent.  According to the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance there were 1.4 million new cancer cases in the United States.  Approximately 10 percent were colon cancer cases.

During a colonoscopy exam, the doctor inserts a slim, flexible tube into the rectum. A camera at the tip of the tube shows the inside of the colon and allows the doctor to identify small cell clumps that might one day turn into a cancer tumor. The tube, or scope, can also be used to biopsy or remove the abnormal cells.

For their study, researchers used healthcare databases from Ontario, Canada, to link colonoscopy rates and colon cancer deaths in the province over 14 years. 

They followed more than 2.4 million people, who were between 50 and 90 years old at the outset of the study and did not have colon cancer. By 2006, about 1 in 100 had died from the disease, which mostly attacks older people.

Over the same period, as colonoscopy rates nearly quadrupled, the risk of dying from colon cancer tapered steadily, even after accounting for factors such as income and age.

A new study suggests they may have poorer long-term survival odds than their thinner counterparts if they do develop the disease.  The findings are reported in the journal Clinical Cancer Research.

The report suggests that excess weight may particularly affect male survivors’ long-term prognosis.  The study of nearly 4,400 U.S. adults treated for colon cancer conducted by researchers at the Mayo Clinic found that obese patients were one-quarter to one-third more likely to die over the next eight years than their normal-weight counterparts.

The relationship between obesity and survival appeared stronger among men — possibly, the researchers speculate, because men are more likely than women to have their excess body fat concentrated in the belly.

Abdominal obesity is particularly linked to hormonal effects that, in theory, could contribute to colon cancer development or the cancer’s aggressiveness.

However, whether and how obesity, per se, affects colon cancer survival remains unclear. The current study points to a relationship between obesity and long-term survival, but does not prove that excess body fat directly affects a patient’s prognosis.

The researchers say the findings suggest that people treated for colon cancer should try to maintain a body mass index lower than 30, the cutoff for obesity. Body mass index, or BMI, is a measure of weight in relation to height.

People may think, ‘I already have cancer. What difference does my weight make? notes Jesse Slome, executive director of the American Association for Critical Illness Insurance.  This study suggests the cancer may behave more aggressively if you’re obese.  Milder obesity, however, was linked to a 24 percent higher risk of death.

The study found that fewer women had their blood vessels injected with dye so that blockages are visible on an X-ray.   Cardiologists presenting the research at the American College of Cardiology meeting in Atlanta, said women should be treated with all recommended strategies, including invasive ones.

Some earlier studies have also suggested that women have a higher risk of death after a heart attack than men, but it is unclear why. Biological differences might explain it, researchers said, but there were also substantial differences in the treatment regimens women received.

The researchers analyzed data on more than 3,500 patients who were treated for heart attacks between January 2006 and December 2007.

An estimated 785,000 American men and women will have a new coronary attack tgis year according to the non-profit American Association for Critical Illness Insurance which tracks data related to heart disease, cancer and stroke.

 The women, who made up almost one-third of the patients, were nine years older than the men on average and had more health problems. 

The study found women received fewer effective treatments for heart attack. Women were almost twice as likely to die during the initial hospital stay and during the following month.