According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control there are 26 million Americans with diabetes, and an additional 79 million with “pre-diabetes.” These figures are estimates which were released on Wednesday, explaining that just about one out of three adults in the U.S. has a condition in which blood sugar levels are higher than normal. This condition, known as ‘pre-diabetes’ can greatly increase the person’s risk for not only type 2 diabetes, but also for stroke and heart attack.

Cinergy Health is a provider of alternative and affordable health care protection coverage which believes that preventing illness is the key to leading a longer and healthier life.

In the winter months Cinergy Health is aware that there is a tendency for people to get sick more often than at other times of the year. Most people that get sick complain of things like sore throat, runny nose, fatigue, fever and headaches. There are two main possibilities when it comes to explaining these symptoms. One explanation is that the person has developed a common cold, which is caused by a virus, and which there is very little modern medicine can do about. If you are made sick by a virus, better just call in sick, get into bed, drink lots of liquids, including tea, juice, soup, and whatever else makes you feel better. Warm drinks full of vitamins and other nutrients are great, making chicken soup a good choice. OTC meds can also help you relieve some, most, or even all of your symptoms.

If your illness is bacterial, though, antibiotics can help you fight and beat the illness. Strep throat is one illness which is common and always treated with antibiotics. Since there is a fear that that the streptococcus bacteria will spread to other parts of the body, causing complications worse than the sore throat itself, strep is always treated, even though it will most of the time go away by itself in a few days.

Dieting is a complex thing, although many people treat it otherwise. Every person’s body is different, and has different functions and needs. People often create a diet that they feel is best for them, but it is very important to consult with a nutritionist before following through. Companies such as Cinergy Health work to provide affordable health care and advice on topics such as these.

If the issue at hand is not major, and you just feel that you tend to have an unbalanced diet which consists mainly of fats, you may want to consider changing your snack habits; and that doesn’t mean cutting back on all snacks. It is true that mindless snacking can increase your weight, but thoughtful snacking can actually greatly benefit your health. Smaller meals and planned snacking can actually help control unnecessary eating during the day. Instead of grabbing cookies, a slice of cake or chocolate, try planning in advance, and bringing nuts, raisins and similar foods to work with you. These foods are rich in vitamins and protein, which helps your metabolism reach its full efficiency.

Throughout a woman’s life, her body is constantly changing and going through specific cycles. These cycles can have a direct effect on a woman’s anatomy. Many women encounter strange bumps, dimples and other differences in their breasts, and are immediately concerned that it may be breast cancer. While it is important to be aware of any small changes that may occur, it is not always realistic to jump to this scary conclusion.

There are actually four types of lumps which can form in the breast tissue: cysts, fibroadenomas, pseudolumps, and cancer. Cysts are harmless sacs of fluid which form in the breast, and may change in shape or size throughout the menstrual cycle. They are common in women over the age of 30. Fibroadenomas are harmless round lumps made of benign cells. They are common in teenagers and younger women, and often occur during pregnancy. Pseudolumps are also harmless, and are usually made of scar tissue or dead fat. These usually occur after a surgery or the shifting of a rib. All of these lumps can be identified by your doctor or other health care provider, and may be surgically removed if bothersome. While there are conditions that are in no way alarming, it is extremely important that you consult with a specialist immediately after noticing any kind of change in your breast, especially if you have reached a menopausal age. Cinergy Health offers affordable health care coverage of the highest quality, allowing most people access to excellent health care providers with whom to consult whenever necessary, including in cases of breast anomalies and changes.

Cinergy Health, a leader when it comes to offering consumers affordable, quality health-care coverage, is partnering with many states’ insurance departments to set standards of practice so that consumers can be completely informed about their choices when it comes to purchasing health care plans.

Helping to meet a great need to disseminate information during this confusing time of rapidly changing health care choices, Cinergy Health is looking to “raise the bar” of the standards for all companies which provide health care coverage, with a special emphasis on limited benefit health insurance, or mini-meds.

Mini-meds can be an excellent alternative for many health care consumers, offering reduced premiums for reduced coverage of both inpatient and outpatient services. Cinergy health mini-med coverage is typically less expensive than what traditional insurance coverage costs, and could be the perfect match for individuals and families who either do not have health coverage, or do not qualify for coverage.

The standards which Cinergy Health now adheres to, and to which they would like to see other companies comply with, in order to ensure consumers the best possible choices, are as follows:

•    Clearly stated advertising explaining fully the limits of mini-med plans compared to traditional insurance plans.     Cinergy would like to see the advertisements plainly identify the insurance company underwriters.

•    Training agents to follow a set script which takes their customers through easy to read and understand written materials explaining in plain language the benefits and limitations of the policy.

•    Making quality control a priority and establishing strong QC policies.

•    Improving the training programs of insurance agents.

•    Precise and detailed descriptions of the monthly costs of the health plan to consumers, so that they can compare easily what they are paying for to other plans.