Medicine

Nobody wants to get into a fight with a health insurer, but it may be worth your while. A recent Government Accountability Office report found that more claims problems stemmed from annoying but often straightforward billing and eligibility issues than from disagreements over whether care was medically appropriate. What's more, the odds are about 50/50 that if you appeal an insurer's decision, you'll win. When Natasha Friedus's son, Nofi, was born almost two years ago, her insurer refused to pay $1,500 of Friedus's $7,500 hospital bill because she hadn't gotten prior authorization for the hospital stay near her home in Seattle.

Until now, doctors have pretty much called the shots in the doctor-patient relationship. But change is on the way. Patients, say ahhhhh - it's about to be all about you. The new approach is called patient-centered care, and it's a very good thing, according to Dr. James Rickert, the founder and president of the Society for Patient Centered Orthopedics in Bedford, Ind. "It will mean better outcomes, more satisfied patients and lower costs," he...

Methadone, a potent opiate once used almost exclusively to treat heroin addicts, is increasingly being prescribed by doctors as a pain medication and abused by drug users searching for a cheap, easy way to get high, physicians and federal drug officials say. The drug, which comes in pill or liquid form, recently has come under scrutiny in the death of former Playboy model Anna Nicole Smith. A doctor in Studio City prescribed methadone to Smith for pain treatment before she was found dead Feb.

For busy people, time is money. And when you've got more money than time, the cost of an executive physical examination is kind of like the price of a yacht. If you have to ask, you can't afford it. Tom Gilmore arrived at L.A.'s Good Samaritan Hospital on a bright Friday morning, sporting a dark blue Nike warmup suit the hospital had sent.

I've heard that ionized water can cure whatever ails you. Sounds like snake oil to me. MIKE Los Angeles --- The product: Ionized water isn't exactly snake oil. (These days, very few beverages are snake-based.) But because water ionizers can cost several thousand dollars, consumers are right to wonder what they're getting. Water ionizers attach directly to your kitchen faucet. The devices will filter water, infuse it with minerals and zap it with an electric current.

It's September 1997, and you've got a monster headache. But according to your aspirin bottle, its contents expired in December 1996. Will the expired pills still do in the headache? Or worse, will they do you in? On both counts, probably not, say medical experts. Drugs like headache relievers merely become less potent--not dangerous--over time. The same goes for the majority of over-the-counter medications--they are not very likely to harm you even if taken after their expiration dates.

Some dialysis patients may be capable of stopping their uncomfortable and expensive blood-filtering treatments, if only their doctors would look for signs that their kidneys are getting better. In most cases of end-stage renal disease, the kidneys have been permanently ravaged by diabetes, hypertension or other conditions and won't recover. Dialysis provides the only way to cleanse the blood of waste products, unless the patient can get a kidney transplant.

Men at an above-normal risk of prostate cancer may be able to reduce their risk of developing the disease by taking a drug already on the market. In research reported Wednesday, the drug dutasteride, currently used to shrink enlarged prostates, was found to reduce the risk of prostate cancer by about a quarter in high-risk men. The medication, sold under the brand name Avodart, apparently caused small tumors to stop growing or even to shrink, researchers...

The Institute of Medicine recommends 1,100 milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids per day for women and 1,600 mg for men. Here's a look at the amounts and types of omega-3s found in selected foods: FoodAmount & Type of omega-3s 3 ounces of salmon1,000-1,500 mg of EPA and DHA 3 ounces of sardines1,000-1,500 mg of EPA and DHA 1 Smart Balance Omega-3 Grade A Natural Large Egg160 mg of ALA, plus 32 mg of DHA 1 Land O Lakes Omega-3...

-- It's worth noting that no exercises or diets specifically target belly fat - despite the promises of many infomercials. As Dr. Samuel Klein, professor of medicine and nutritional science at Washington University School of Medicine, explains, you can't shed any fat from your mid-section unless your entire body is losing weight. Aerobic exercise can remove fat from your belly and elsewhere, he says, but sit ups and crunches will only build up abdominal muscles, not remove fat. Toned abs are fine, of course, but they won't do a person much good if they're covered in fat, he says.