Tax Time Rolls Around Again It’s time for our annual income tax article! The Internal Revenue Service lets you deduct medical costs as long as they are more than 7.5 percent of your adjusted gross income. If you paid for travel oxygen, a portable nebulizer or oximeter, it may be considered a medical expense. Other…
Second COPD Coalition Conference Shows Progress Made Tregistered on ClinicalTrials he recent second U.S. COPD Coalition Confer- ence, held in December, brought together people involved in the treatment, support, personal and legislative aspects of living with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease. It had been eight years since the first meeting. If you check with the www.uscopdcoalition.org…
Traveling News Traveling by Air: Key Travel Tips from Transportation Security Administration (TSA) There are times when TSA will physically inspect a piece of checked luggage. Locks that can be opened by security offi- cers using universal “master” keys are available at airports and travel stores nationwide. Do not pack wrapped gifts or bring wrapped…
Sharing the Health Good Times! I have a hint for users of BiPaP devices. I use a wig cap to keep the Velcro on the straps from snagging in my hair. I also heard about a valve that is placed between the can- nula and the concentrator tubing that allows you to adjust the flow…
Fibrosis File IPF Medication and Research News Gilead Sciences Inc. is halting the Phase III clinical trial of Ambrisentan in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) “due to lack of efficacy.” The biopharma- ceutical company said the decision follows an analysis of efficacy and safety data “which did not show evidence of a treatment benefit…
Ask Mark Carole from Canada writes, I’ve been thinking of purchasing an oximeter. My doctor doesn’t think it’s necessary and I might obsess with it. I would like to check my saturation and heart rate when I’m exercising at home, when I have the oxygen off and when I feel light headed. I would also…
Calling Dr. Bauer Dear Dr Bauer, My father’s doctor wants to put a needle through his lung to get fluid out. Could you give me some infor- mation about this procedure and if it is safe and effective? Laura from Florida A pulmonary specialist usually performs this special test. Normally, there is only a small…
Medicare Changes in 2011 The healthcare reform legislation signed into law by President Barack Obama profoundly changes the way care is provided. According to Medscape, “The Affordable Care Act seeks to dramatically expand the number of people who can afford healthcare. It does that by subsidizing the cost for those who can’t afford it, penalizing…
Respiratory News Recently, doctors at the Canadian Heart and Stroke Foundation discovered an early warning system in a protein called PIM-1. Dr. Sébastien Bonnet has established that PIM-1 cells can be used as markers of pulmonary hypertension. Physicians found the greater the PIM-1 levels, the more severe the pulmonary hypertension. With blood tests to…
Cooking with COPD Advance for Respiratory Care and Sleep Medicine brings you Save Your Breath: Cookbook for People with COPD, written by Elizabeth Page, respiratory wellness coordinator for Yavapai Regional Medical Center, Prescott, AZ. For more than 40 years, Elizabeth has cared for patients with respiratory ailments as an RT and asth- ma educator. This…