Sunday, October 28, 2012

5 Important Things That You Should Know About FDA Reporting

Medical device manufacturers, device distributors, and healthcare facilities are required to submit annual reports to the Food and Drug Administration(FDA) regarding the safety of medical devices or other products. Although this process is time consuming and requires a lot of data gathering, it does have a great influence on the overall wellbeing of the US healthcare system.Read below to find out why FDA reporting for safer these products is important.
1. Although the FDA does put drugs and medical devices through a safety test before approving their release on the market, only a small batch out of each product is tested. Some issues may remain undiscovered during the testing period and appear only when the medical product is used at a larger scale. Reports submitted by manufacturers or by healthcare facilities can help the Administration intervene in time, before too much damage has been caused.
2. Personally assessing every single medical product is a virtually impossible task to accomplish, even for a large organization such as the FDA. The manpower and the amount of money the Administration would have to invest in order to do this are unimaginable. The annual reports submitted by manufacturers and device users help the Administration to focus only on situations that have proven to be dangerous and not waste time or money on evaluating perfectly safe medical equipment.
3. Reports submitted by medical device manufacturers and distributors help the FDA stop the release of certain, potentially hazardous, pieces of equipment to the general public. This can prevent people from getting hurt or even lose their life. Even if the device or drug has already been used on patients, the FDA still has the ability to limit its usage so no further harm can be caused.
4. Reports submitted regarding unsafe products help the FDA weed out the faulty medical products or correct their malfunctions if possible. In this way, the Administration strives to improve the overall safety of these products used in the United States and to increase the faith of the general public in FDA approved products.
5. By accepting reports from various sources, such as healthcare providers, manufacturers, distributors, and patients, the FDA can easily store and analyze data regarding a large variety of these products. The database the Administration has created based on the reports it receives allows any interested party to research the safety of a certain medical device or drug. The fact that report data is made public helps promote a safer and more transparent healthcare system, which both medical professionals and patients alike can trust.
The FDA reporting for safer products program was created as a means to make the US healthcare system a more secure environment and to protect the wellbeing of American patients. Taking into consideration all the reasons listed above, the importance of submitting reports to the Administration regarding unwanted effects of medical products in undeniable: it reduces costs, it saves time and most importantly, it guarantees the safety of these products available on the market.

Sunday, October 21, 2012

5 People Who Would Benefit

Bloodborne pathogen (BBP) training is an educational course meant to teach people ways in which they can protect themselves and others from these deadly microorganisms. Listed below you will find some information on which professions most require this type of training and which people would mostly benefit from knowing efficient infection control methods.
• Anyone working in the healthcare system from doctors, dentists and nurses to hospital maintenance and cleaning staff should attend a BBP training program. This type of training is especially important for healthcare workers because they work with sick people that can easily spread or be infected by BBPs. Laboratory workers should also participate in this training program, because it teaches them how to properly handle and store blood or other bodily fluids products. For most US healthcare professionals, BBP training is not only beneficial, but also a requirement.
• Lifeguards, first aid workers, people in the mountain rescue division, or anyone else who deal with injured people as part of their daily work routine should also attend a BBP training program. People who are involved in these activities often deal with victims with bleeding wounds, so it is vital for them to know how to protect themselves and how to avoid getting in contact with infected bodily fluids.
• People working in tattoo or piercing parlors would also benefit from bloodborne pathogen training because they work with needles and other sharp instruments; because of this, they have higher chances of getting in contact with contaminated blood or other bodily fluids. BBP training teaches them how to properly store and disinfect equipment as well as what type of protective equipment to wear when dealing with customers.
• Not only human blood or bodily fluids carry pathogens; animals can be carriers as well and they can pass along these pathogens to humans. Because of this, veterinaries, farmers, slaughter house workers, hunters, or anyone else who works or comes in contact with live or dead animals would greatly benefit from attending a BBP training program. Adequate training is especially important for people working in these fields because animals sometimes carry BBP that can be more harmful than regular pathogens and cause more serious diseases, such as the avian or the swine flu.
• Although bloodborne pathogen training is most useful for people working in the fields presented above, this training also has benefits for the average citizen. You never know when you might the skills provided in the bloodborne pathogen training program, so it is always better to be prepared. If your line of work does not require you to have a bloodborne pathogen training certificate, you can simply watch videos or read courses online and learn all the information completely free.

Sunday, October 7, 2012

Fitness Myths to Stop Believing Right Now

Whether you're looking for a six pack or trying to lose a few extra pounds, it's important to let go of a few common fitness myths that keep people from really reaching their goals.
First is that you need to stop eating to get a six pack or lose weight. I want to clear this up right here, right now. Starving yourself is not the solution to getting the body of your dreams. The key to burning fat and losing weight is complicated, but it often revolves around monitoring the glycemic index of the foods you eat so that don't have insulin spikes and crashes. It also involves avoiding processed carbohydrates and sugars that are just empty calories and are stored in the body as fat.
The second one is that you need to realize that bouncing on the treadmill for hours every day isn't going to help you lose weight or build strength. The body grows and becomes stronger when you take the time to push yourself past your limits and then relax back into your comfort zone, time and time again. This is called High Intensity Interval Training, or HIIT for short. Instead of jogging on a treadmill for an hour every day, which only exerts yourself around 70%, why not practice sprinting for 10 second, then jogging for 30 seconds as your HIIT routine cycling over and over again?
The third one is to hold your breath to help you squeeze out that last rep when you're weight training. As they say at Gold Medal Bodies, your body doesn't take anything seriously when you're holding your breath. That's one reason why yogic traditions have relied so heavily on breathing techniques like Ujjayi breathing. So breath, relax, and do what you can with your breath.
The fourth one is to make sure you get enough sleep. This is one of the most underrated fitness tips since these days most people feel pressured to work non-stop like a wind-up toy. But that's not how humans really function. When we have even the smallest amount of sleep-debt, we're going to have trouble functioning. Believe it or not, you'll function so much better when you get 7 or 8 hours of rest. It will improve just about every area of your health.
The fifth one is that your training for the sake of getting more reps or more weight. No, you're actually training for the sake of being stronger in your everyday life. Remember, the gym is just the place to hone your skill, it isn't the skill in itself. Ultimately, you probably just want to be strong and fit in your time outside the gym so that you can have the body you want and be able to perform the activities you need to on a daily basis.
So, stop believing these fitness myths. Replace these common misconceptions with what's really going on. Remember, never to deprive yourself or torture your body. Treat it with respect and it will serve you well throughout your life.
But what if you still can't figure everything out?