Vibrance is proud to participate with the Men's Health Network (MHN) carrying their weekly newsletter updates, surveys and support information. The Men's Health Network is a national non-profit organization whose mission is to reach men and their families where they live, work, play, and pray with health prevention messages and tools, screening programs, educational materials, advocacy opportunities, and patient navigation.
As we continue to celebrate October as breast cancer awareness month it is important to remember that men can get breast cancer too.
Breast cancer, with its nationwide pink ribbon campaign, is usually regarded as a women's disease, but we cannot forget that about 450 men die from it every year. Breast cancer is diagnosed in about 1,500 men in the United States each year.
Breast cancer is the same in men and women. Just like women, men have breast tissue that can develop abnormal cancerous cells. For both genders, family history is a significant risk factor–between 5% - 10% of men who have been diagnosed had a history of it in their family. Age and genetic predisposition are, among many others, additional risk factors.
KISS Drummer Peter Criss recently revealed his battle with Breast Cancer to Rolling Stone Magazine, click here to read his story. Shaft actor Richard Roundtree, NFL great Ernie Green, and Price Is Right announcer Rod Roddy experienced their own suffering from the disease.
To learn more about Male Breast Cancer and what you can do to detect the disease early visit MHN’s Male Breast Cancer Resource Center at: www.malebreastcancerresourcecenter.com/
On November 7th, Men's Health Network will be partnering with The Washington Redskins, GlaxoSmithKline, 13 Veteran Service Organizations and other partners to host the 2nd Annual Timeout for Veteran's Health Screening and Education Event.
LockerTalk.com, a straight-talking resource for men who experience urinary incontinence, is doing a survey of prostate cancer patients to better understand the impact of urinary incontinence on men like you. Take the survey here.
Women Against Prostate Cancer (WAPC), a national organization working to unite the voices and provide support for the millions of women affected by prostate cancer, has developed a fact sheet and resource page to address some of the most frequently asked questions related to prostate cancer and intimacy. Click here to download the fact sheet and learn more.
The 45 miles a week of training that marathon runners typically put in are great at lowering their risk of heart trouble, but runners may want to think twice about stepping up that starting line. Julie Deardorff of the Chicago Tribune takes a closer look at some of the risks of marathon running here.
You can read this story and others in the continuing series at: NYTimes.com
Enhanced Online Tools Make Comparing Medicare’s 2010 Prescription Drug and Health Plan Options Easier
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today announced that people with Medicare and family members can begin to review their 2010 coverage options through Medicare’s improved online tools. Beneficiaries will find several new enhancements on the Medicare Health Options Compare and Prescription Drug Plan Finder located at www.medicare.gov.
Improvements to the plan ratings, search features and plan coverage descriptions will make it easier for beneficiaries to compare their drug and health plan coverage for 2010. Beneficiaries will be able to make changes to their Medicare health and drug coverage during the open enrollment period, which begins on Nov. 15 and ends Dec. 31.
Medicare has offered consumer information on prescription drug coverage since 2005. Last year, CMS’ 1-800-MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) toll-free customer service representatives handled 3.9 million calls during the annual open enrollment period. During this same period, the Plan Finder Web tool received more than 31 million page views and logged over 680,000 online enrollments, a 32 percent increase over the previous year.
All Plan Finder and Medicare Options Compare users will be able to see plan benefits, drug pricing and other important information on more than 4,000 plan options that are available for open enrollment.
People without Web access can get the same information provided by the online plan comparison tools by calling 1-800 MEDICARE (1-800-633-4227) or by contacting their local State Health Insurance Assistance Program office (http://www.medicare.gov/Contacts/staticpages/ships.aspx) or other health advocacy agencies for free personalized counseling. Medicare’s customer service is available 24-hours a day and 7 days a week. English and Spanish-language customer service representatives are available. Translation services are available in additional languages and a TDD service is offered for the hearing impaired.
A 2010 Medicare & You Handbook, also available on www.Medicare.gov, will be mailed to the homes of all eligible beneficiaries this month. This publication provides all plan option information that is available using the Web tools.
Did you know that about 7.3 million Americans – or 1 in 8 couples – have difficulty conceiving?
If you are experiencing difficulty conceiving know that you are not alone and that there are resources available to help you along your path to parenthood.
With this in mind, Fertility LifeLines™ and Men’s Health Network have launched the In The Know: What No One Tells You About Male Fertility booklet, developed for men affected by infertility.
Click here to register at Fertility LifeLines™ and receive a free copy of In The Know: What No One Tells You About Male Fertility, or call the toll-free hotline at 1-866-LETS-TRY (1-866-538-7879). Current Fertility LifeLines™ members can order a free copy by calling the hotline.
