critical illness

The Social Security Administration controls the two disability programs: The Social Security and the Supplemental Security Income that offer help to those who are afflicted with disabilities. These are the most popular and the biggest of many similar associations. Though they are dissimilar in many ways, they perform the same function of helping disabled people who qualify certain criteria to be eligible for assistance.

If applying for disability reimbursements, the Social Security Office will verify your medical background to ensure qualification, but most often the amount received hardly meet your expenses.

The other means of obtaining disability benefits are by way of insurance companies. In such cases, if you are unexpectedly disabled, your insurance will dole out financial help. The company will pay you a percentage of your total income from the disability policy that you have taken, a sum that will look after when you are down and out.

You will not be required to approach the Social Security Office or convince them of your disability to receive any assistance. The Social security Disability program has nothing to do with the disability insurance that you take from an insurance company.

In the website “About Disability Insurance” it states that the basic idea of a disability insurance policy is to substitute 45 % to 60% of your total income free of tax, if you happened to fall sick or become so disabled that you are not in a position to earn any money. Disability insurance policies vary from one insurance company to another. Do not look for the cheapest; ensure that you take the best, because a cheap policy will not give you a decent monthly benefit.

There are a variety of disability insurance policies the two main ones being the short-term policy and the long-term policy. The short -term insurance is part of the other insurance benefits of another policy, and generally provides you with an income in the initial stages of your disability. Such disability insurances offer coverage for some week and will not stretch for more than a two year time period.

But in the long-term disability insurance, you are covered for many years and such policies are generally incorporated as a part of certain packages of their employment benefits. But there are a lot of people who take disability insurance policies separately.

You then have the Own-Occupation Disability Insurance policy that states; when you are helpless to carry out the functions of your regular occupation, this will be considered as the occupation that you were involved in when you became disabled, the insurance company will give you a claim on it even if you happen to be working elsewhere later.

Yet another very popular disability policy is the Income Replacement Insurance. In this policy, if you are incapacitated to carry out your duties due to illness or injury and you are not engaged in any other occupation the insurance will pay the claim.

The employee benefits also have another disability policy integrated into their package called the Gainful Occupation Coverage where if you are sick or injured and are unable to carry on with your work, or cannot do any other work for which you are qualified, you will be paid the claim.

You never know what is in store for you, so it would be a good idea to be armed with a disability insurance policy for yourself.

Coma refers to a state of unarousable psychological unresponsiveness in which the subject lies with eyes closed and shows no response to external stimuli or inner need. Involuntary functions like heart-beat and respiration continue, though they may be irregular due to some concurring or causative disease. Deep coma refers to a state where corneal, pupillary, pharyngeal, tendon and plantar reflexes are all absent. Reflex eye movements are usually preserved in lesser degrees of coma. Semi-coma refers to that state where an individual responds to a painful stimuli by groaning, opening the eyes or with irregular respiration. The Glasgow Coma Scale is used to quantify the severity of coma by measuring eye -opening, motor response and verbal response. Coma may be caused by brain lesions, trauma, metabolic abnormalities, infections and drugs or physical agents.

The modern management of coma consists of removal of the cause; ensuring proper respiration and circulation; care of skin, bowels and bladder; control of infection; and surgical intervention if required. Ayurvedic medicines can be given as additional supportive therapy in order to reduce the duration of coma, facilitate early recovery and prevent long term disability. The Ayurvedic treatment of coma consists of giving supportive therapy to preserve and maintain life and treating the known cause. Medicines like Arjun (Terminalia arjuna), Pippali (Piper longum), Kantakari (Solanum xanthocarpum), Kutki (Picrorrhiza kurroa), Kutaj (Holarrhina antidysentrica), Bhumiamalaki (Phyllanthus niruri), Gokshur (Tribulus terrestris), Punarnava (Boerhaavia diffusa) and Triphala (Three fruits) are used to maintain adequate functioning of important organs like the heart, lungs, liver and kidneys. Medicines like Nardiya-Laxmi-Vilas-Ras, Maha-Laxmi-Vilas-Ras, Siddha-Makardhwaj-Ras and Hem-Garbha-Ras are used to maintain adequate body circulation of blood.

Medicines like Panchamrut-Parpati, Kutaj-Parpati and Suvarna-Parpati are used to prevent the formation of harmful toxins in the gastro-intestinal tract. Medicines like Maha-Manjishthadi-Qadha, Saarivasav, Punarnavadi-Qadha, Gokshuradi-Qadha, Punarnavadi-Guggulu and Gokshuradi-Guggulu are used to help excrete toxins from the blood through the urine. Triphala, Sukshma-Triphala, Triphala-Guggulu, Chandraprabha-Vati, Panch-Tikta-Ghrut-Guggulu and Ras-Manikya can be used to treat and eliminate infection.

Brain lesions can be treated using medicines like Kanchnaar-Guggulu, Punarnavadi-Guggulu, Pathyadi-Qadha, Panchamrut-Parpati, Shallaki (Boswelia serrata), Abhrak-Bhasma, Raupya-Bhasma, Trivang-Bhasma, Suvarna-Bhasma and Heerak-Bhasma. Metabolic disorders can be treated using medicines like Haridra (Curcuma longa), Daru-Haridra (Berberis aristata), Yashtimadhuk (Glycyrrhiza glabra), Amalaki (Emblica officinalis), Nimba (Azadirachta indica), Manjishtha (Rubia cordifolia), Saariva (Hemidesmus indicus), Patol (Tricosanthe dioica) and Patha (Cissampelos pareira). Drug toxicity can be treated using medicines like Sutshekhar-Ras, Bhunimbadi-Qadha, Arogya-Vardhini, Gokshuradi-Qadha and Punarnavadi-Qadha.

Lastly, Ayurvedic medicines can be given to actually strengthen and activate the nervous system tissue. Medicines like Ashwagandha (Withania somnifera), Yashtimadhuk, Brahmi (Bacopa monnieri), Jatamansi (Nardostachys jatamansi), Mandukparni (Centella asiatica) and Haridra are also very useful for this. Other medicines like Tapyadi-Loh, Ekang-Veer-Ras, Sameer-Pannag-Ras, Maha-Vat-Vidhwans-Ras, Vish-Tinduk-Vati and Maha-Yograj-Guggulu can also be used for this purpose. Ayurvedic medicines can thus play a very important and useful role in the successful management and treatment of coma and semi-coma.

Disability insurance is one of the most important types of coverage a person can have. It protects a person’s ability to work and earn an income. If an injury or illness prevents you from being able to work, Disability insurance will pay you a monthly benefit for each month that you remain unable to work. Sounds simple, but many professionals never actually give this any thought. Because of the complexity associated with debilitating injuries and illnesses, Disability insurance must be complex as well, especially the underwriting process.

Consider that Disability insurance is insuring your ability to work and therefore insures your income as well. When purchasing Disability insurance there are limitations to how much monthly benefit a person can obtain, which is directly impacted by the amount of money earned. There is a big misconception that a person can buy as much coverage as they are willing to pay for, but this is not the case. Therefore, part of the underwriting process will include providing proof of income. Traditionally, insurance companies will require applicants to submit tax returns, Profit and Loss forms, and/or recent pay stubs. Depending on the amount of benefit being applied for, some companies have “Quick issue” programs available, where no proof is required. However, anyone applying for Disability insurance should expect to be required to provide proof of income.

Being that Disability insurance pays benefits when a person is unable to do his/her job, insurance companies will also base a portion of their underwriting on a person’s occupation and specific occupational duties. This is done through a classification based on the risk associated with each occupation. Although every insurance company has their own system, they all work in the same context – the lower risk occupations are rated with higher numbers (6 vs 3) and pricing will be lower with higher occupation classes. Additionally, depending on your occupation, the benefits and optional riders traditionally available with Disability insurance may be limited as well. Interestingly enough, each company evaluates risk their own way and therefore occupation classes do vary throughout the industry’s leading carriers. For example, a Landscape architect may be considered very low risk with one company and medium risk with another – sounds simple but the price difference may be substantial.

Illness is the primary contributor to disability claims. Therefore the third and most heavily weighed part of underwriting is medical underwriting. Medical underwriting will traditionally require applicants to complete insurance medical exams and also provide an extensive medical history including information from previously seen physicians. Insurance companies will review normal lab work along with medical records. Since illnesses are the lead contributor to disability claims, a complicated medical history can cause complications in underwriting. If an applicant’s medical history is poor enough, then the application may be declined, require an increased premium or cause limitations to be implemented on the benefits offered. In most cases however, insurance companies use “exclusion riders” which basically exclude pre-existing conditions from being covered. If you have a pre-existing condition, you should expect it to be excluded.

It may be difficult to understand why insurance companies must review all of this information and sometimes exclude pre-existing conditions, but it is required in order for coverage to be available at an affordable price. If none of these factors, which all contribute to claims rates, were reviewed and taken into account, the pricing for coverage would have to be astronomical in order for insurance companies to be capable of paying claims. Debilitating illnesses and injuries are seldom simple. For this reason, Disability insurance underwriting must be complex as well.

There are several policies on the marketplace that offer coverage for various reasons. Critical Illness Life Insurance offers a coverage for critical ill conditions. If the policyholder is “diagnosed” with any type of illness that is long-term then the policy will payout “tax-free” lump sums of cash to the policyholder.

The Critical Life coverage provides a ‘list’ of diseases, including incurable illnesses that the insurance policy will defend.

In addition, if the policyholder fall victim to an accident or incident, the policy will cover the holder, if he is enduringly out of work. Most insurance policies will not cover holders that are suffering prior to taking out the policies. Likewise, if you are undergoing life-long illnesses or disease when you apply for Critical Illness Policies, you won’t be allowed to use the coverage to receive medical treatment. If you are having difficulty searching for Critical Illness insurance there are Brokers online that can help you find the coverage you need. The Brokers may find you coverage although you are currently suffering, however your premiums will probably be steep, but the coverage may be adequate.

Currently, the government is in the process of raising the age for retirement disability to “67.’ Out of the billions of people in the world, “1 in 5″ males has been diagnosed with some form of Critical Illness, and ‘1 in 6″ females have been diagnosed with Critical Illnesses. Since the government is making changes, we can never tell if changes will apply to Medicare and Medicaid, therefore getting Critical Illness Coverage and paying a bit higher Premiums may not be a bad idea.

Nowadays, due to chemicals, other types of pollutions and so forth there are thousands, if not millions of people suffer from Critical Ills. Recently, experts have claimed that the common age for ill patients is around “47.” Millions around the world everyday make the same fatal mistake. That mistakes is believing that they are singled out to stay healthy for the rest of their lives. Out of the millions, at least a few hundred fall ill everyday.

The statistics claim that “35″ percentage of males and ‘46″ percentage of females over the past few years were diagnosed with cancer, while another “78″ percent of patients that endured strokes only lived up to a year and then passed on. The cancerous patients lived as long as five live and then passed on. Just recently statistics showed that nearly 41,000 females in the UK alone were establish as having ‘breast cancer.” This means that over 130 females are at risk of death. The males in UK equaled more than 23, 000 diagnosed with “Lung Cancer” and lead to nearly 100 males dying. As you can see, Critical Ill Coverage may be more critical than we realize.

More often than not, a person will need to pay for transportation, medical costs, treatment centers, burial, and in-home medical treatment if they are diagnosed with diseases or terminal illnesses. The funeral arrangements alone nowadays will cost the average individual near “18, 000″ if not more. Few funerals cost less for the basics, however, Cremation prices today have increased even.

When the roads are rocky, Critical Illness Policies can provide you a wealth of hope. Critical Illness Coverage, I found to be one of the better insurance plans available on the marketplace. Most Critical Illness Policies will cover any Unremitting, Incurable, or other severe illness, which includes in-home treatment, outgoing patient care, ingoing care, and so forth. Furthermore, we can never tell when we will fall victim to incidents or accidents, therefore having the coverage now can save you later.

To learn more about Critical Illness Policies it pays to go online, since traveling around will only provide you limited resources. Online you can get Quotes and support by qualified Brokers that will help you find the best plans. Furthermore, Critical Illness is often offered when a person or family takes out Life Insurance. Therefore, the policies are often compliments of Life Coverage, and only cost a few dollars more in most instances. The few dollars now can provide you wealth when Critical Ill comes knocking at your door.

In the time it takes you to read this sentence, the bills from a critical illness may have forced yet another American to file for bankruptcy. Some 1.4 million Americans will file for bankruptcy in 2009, which equates to about three every minute.

Medical problems contributed to over 60 percent of all bankruptcies in the United States and a Harvard University study found that more than three-quarters (77.9 percent) had health insurance at the start of the bankrupting illness. This study was performed prior to the current economic downturn and will likely understate the current burden of financial suffering.

What is taking place? And, what do consumers — especially middle class families — need to know to prevent calamity?

A decade or two ago, people who suffered heart attacks died. No longer. Cancer was prevalent but not as common as today. If you had a stroke, chances are you were not likely to resume a more normal life.

But all that has changed. Early detection of critical diseases, better medical care and new prescription medications and more rapid emergency treatment enables millions of Americans to survive critical illnesses. Survival however comes with a steep cost.

Critical illness are striking more Americans every single year. Consider the following: 1.4 million Americans are diagnosed with cancer (American Cancer Society). An estimated 785,000 Americans will have a first heart attack and some 600,000 Americans will experience their first stroke (American Heart Association). The vast majority will survive.

The financial consequences of surviving a critical illness are something few people are prepared for. Most health insurance policies come with deductibles and co-pays, that can be as much as $5,000 a year. Prescriptions are not just costly, they are rarely fully covered.

And, here is something you likely have not considered; while you are undergoing treatment or recovering for an extended period of time, you will still have to pay your health insurance premiums. You’ll pay insurance, rent or mortgage, credit card bills, school tuition, real estate taxes, food and utilities.

According to the Harvard study, many families with health insurance found themselves under-insured and responsible for thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket costs. The average out-of-pocket cost was $17,749 for all medically bankrupt families. Because most health insurance is linked to employment, a medical event can trigger loss of coverage. For patients who initially had private coverage but lost it, the family’s out-of-pocket expenses averaged $22,568.

In the late 1990s, a new financial product was developed to help consumers cover expenses associated with critical illness. Appropriately, it’s called Critical Illness Insurance. This specialized insurance provides a lump-sum, tax-free payment should a policyholder suffer from certain specific critical conditions. Some 600,000 Americans now have this protection purchased on an individual basis or through a plan offered by their employer.

The cash payments which can range from $10,000 to as much as $1 million are paid as a single, lump sum as soon as the individual is diagnosed with a covered cancer, stroke, paralysis or a heart attack. The cost for protection is based on the individual’s sex (men pay more than women), age at the time of application, health conditions and whether one uses tobacco products.

As an example, a male age 40 (non-smoker) seeking a cash benefit payment of $10,000 would pay between $180 and $200-a-year for critical illness insurance. Smokers will pay about 50 percent more. A female age 50, purchasing $20,000 of coverage, will pay about $350 a year. Rates for smokers increase significantly after one reaches age 50.

Deciding how much critical illness insurance protection to buy is clearly a personal decision. A simple way to approach the matter is to multiply your monthly mortgage payment by 24 (2 years worth). Imagine the peace of mind of knowing you’ll be mortgage-payment free while you recover and undergo treatment.

A number of insurers will issue up to $50,000 or critical illness insurance coverage without a medical exam. Referred to as simplified issue, this is a good way to go for the vast majority of individuals. It is also the most affordable and a good place to start the processing of considering this highly important form of protection.

Households worrying about their current financial situation and contemplating reducing their insurance cover should contact their insurer or broker. That is the advice of one insurance expert who believes this is the best route to take, saying, “Rather than leaving your family with no benefits if the worst happened, you can scale back and make savings that way.”

Another useful tip is to try to avoid over-insuring a house or car, especially at a time when replacement costs of buildings fell in the past year. People have been urged to check the Society of Chartered Surveyors latest rebuilding cost survey.

It was also advised to shop around between the different providers for the best deals to see whether additional savings could be made. However, people should bear in mind that policies do become more expensive the older they get.

The advice comes on the back of survey findings of 1,000 people that showed that 70 per cent of those asked had seen their household income fall during the last twelve months. Other results showed that 45 per cent of people said they had fears that they or their partner could lose their job in the next year and 40 per cent revealed that their biggest financial concern was making the mortgage repayments.

People are now looking to reduce their insurance payments by slashing or cancelling their motor and home insurance companies cover. As many as 13 per cent of those questioned had already annulled one or more insurance policies, with a quarter of that number admitting that motor insurance was one they had dropped.

Not only are motorists breaking the law by driving uninsured, they are also taking a huge financial gamble should they have an accident.

Other insurance policies that were being dropped included 28 per cent of people cancelling their life insurance, 22 per cent stopping critical illness cover and 10 per cent discontinuing payments on their income protection policy.

The number of people cancelling their life insurance policy is a major worry due to just 43 per cent of the Irish population already holding it. Important polices for those with a dependent partner or children, like critical illness cover and income protection were also held in small numbers, even before the trend in people cancelling insurance policies.

Insurance is designed to protect a person and the family from disasters and financial burdens. There are many kinds of insurance of which, the basic and most important is considered to be life insurance. It provides for the dependants after your death.

Since there are certain financial commitments you need to meet throughout life and do contribute in some way to the family income, you need to provide something even in death–to secure the home, help the family meet expenses for a while, protect dependant parents, or secure the children or spouse.

Financial obligations could include funeral expenses, unsettled medical bills, mortgages, business commitments, meeting the college expenses of the children, and so on.

How much insurance a person needs would vary, depending on lifestyle, financial needs and sources of income, debts, and the number of dependants? An insurance adviser or agent would recommend that you take insurance that amounts to five to ten times your annual income. It is best to sit down with an expert and go through the reasons why you should consider insurance and what kind of insurance planning would benefit you.

As an important part of your financial plan insurance provides peace of mind for any uncertainties in life.

1. Life insurance correctly planned will on premature death provide funds to deal with monies due, mortgages, and living expenses. It offers protection to the family you leave behind and serves as a cash resource.

2. It secures your hard earned estate on death by providing tax free cash which can be utilized to pay estate and death duties and to tide over business and personal expenses.

3. Life insurance can have a savings or pension component that provides for you during retirement.

4. Some policies have riders like coverage of critical illness or term insurance for the children or spouse. There are certain rules regarding eligibility for riders which you will need to determine clearly.

5. Having a valid insurance policy is considered as financial assets which improves your credit rating when you need health insurance or a home loan or business loan.

6. In case of bankruptcy, the cash value as well as death benefits of an insurance policy is exempt from creditors.

7. Life insurance can be planned such that it will cover even your funeral expenses.

8. Term life insurance has double benefits, it protects and you can get your money back during strategic points in your life.

9. Insurance protects your business from financial loss or any liabilities in case a business partner dies.

10. It can contribute towards maintaining a family’s life style when one contributing partner suddenly dies.

Insurance is vital to good financial planning and security but you would need to assess your personal risk and long term commitments. Insurance stands a person in good stead throughout life and can be used in case of emergencies during a life time by requesting a withdrawal or loan.

Critical illness cover was introduced as a protection insurance by companies in the late 20th century as a way of assisting anyone who became seriously ill or suffered a bad accident. It was designed to pay out a lump sum on diagnosis of a particular set of circumstances. It really came about due to the progress medical science made as many people made a recovery from illness or injury that in the past may have resulted in death.

Before critical Illness was introduced many people had their lives ruined as they could not work again but had no means to support themselves. The set of circumstances you can claim for include a stroke, heart attack, various forms of cancer, loss of sight or limbs, injuries from serious accidents that may mean you spend your life in a wheelchair and some other circumstances depending on which company you took out the cover with.

The money paid out is Tax Free at present although the government could always change this in future. In many cases critical illness is taken out to pay off debts such as a mortgage but many couples also see it as a way of protecting their lifestyle in the event one of them is unlucky enough to make a claim. A claim is only paid out if the policy holder survives 28 days from diagnosis so many couples also take out life assurance so as not to be financially embarrassed should death occur.

Many people misunderstand the need for life assurance as it is really designed to help those left behind. Imagine a typical family with 2 wage earners who have a child or children. One of them suffers a critical illness or dies. How does the one left behind cope with mortgage payments, other loans, money for clothing, food costs and utility bills if they have no cover in place? Very often the answer is they can’t and have to rely on State Benefits and of course many homes are re-possessed due to not being able to afford the mortgage payments.

Critical illness policies now include free child cover up to the age of 18 and is typically 25% of the original cover. It can be used to fund private medical help in the event of a successful claim for both the parent or the child. Every young family or person should consider this very seriously as a way of protecting themselves from relying on others to cater for all their financial requirements if something happens.

Before taking out any form of protection insurance, make sure that you consult a professional advisor who will be able to help you make the right choice.

A number of drugs interfere with digestion and the absorption of all foodstuffs and of most vitamins and minerals, resulting in deficiencies which, in turn, cause some damage to every part of the body. Several drugs, such as sulfanilamide and aminopterin, called vitamin antagonists, are effective because they replace vitamins in cells and enzyme systems without performing their functions; when these drugs are no longer needed, their toxic effects can be overcome by eating foods rich in the B vitamins. Dicumarol, given to retard blood clotting, inactivates vitamin A; and its effectiveness can be increased by giving this vitamin. The toxicity of isoniazid, used in treating tuberculosis, is prevented by vitamin. Penicillin also increases the need for vitamin B6, and can cause brain damage which this vitamin is said to prevent. Young children given the antibiotic tetracycline develop unsightly yellow pigmentation on their teeth, thought to be due to the destruction of vitamin E.

Streptomycin makes manganese unavailable and keeps it from being used in many vital enzyme systems, thus causing paralysis, convulsions, blindness, and deafness in infants, and dizziness, ear noises, and loss of hearing in adults, all said to be prevented if manganese, supplied by wheat germ, is added to the diet.

Oral antibiotics have brought on hemorrhages and multiple B-vitamin deficiencies by destroying valuable intestinal bacteria, which synthesize vitamin K and the B vitamins. The fungus Monilia albicans then frequently develops and may grow not only in the intestines but also in the vagina, lungs, mouth (causing thrush), or on the fingers and under the fingernails; sometimes it induces ulcers in the colon, or large intestine,89 but severe itching around the anus is generally its most annoying symptom. Although such an infection frequently continues for years, it can be prevented or corrected by unusually large amounts of the B vitamins; and often it disappears from the intestine in a few days after bacteria have been supplied by taking yogurt or acidophilus milk or culture. Such fungus infestations can occur without antibiotics if the intake of B vitamins is low, but rarely in the intestine.

Diuretics, given to increase the flow of urine, bring about such a marked loss of potassium, magnesium, the B vitamins, and apparently all nutrients that dissolve in water.

Although research indicates that drug toxicity can be largely prevented by an adequate diet, the problem is to know which nutrient or nutrients may be required in excessive amounts to meet the increased needs caused by different drugs. It may never be known how all the medications now on the market affect vitamins, minerals, enzyme systems, and other body compounds. For example, approximately 12 per cent of patients given certain drugs containing benzothiadiazines have developed diabetes, but no one knows which nutrients to increase to prevent the disease. Dozens of drugs cause anemia by destroying nutrients needed for blood building and/or by breaking down red blood cells,99 but exactly how the diet should be varied to cope with each of the drugs is not known. Approximately 1,000 promising new drugs are released each year to be tested on patients; neither the physician nor the manufacturer knows what toxic effects may appear, and the patient is usually unaware that an untested drug is being given him.

Why did the thalidomide tragedy occur? The fact that nutritional requirements increase tremendously during pregnancy undoubtedly played some role. Other tragedies are being caused by giving pregnant women oral synthetic progesterone, which is resulting in girls being born with overdeveloped male sex organs, thus bringing untold anguish to parents and unimaginable psychological damage to the children themselves. Instead of determining sex by the time-honored method of a glance, the chromosome pattern of these babies must first be studied.

Possibly vitamin E would prevent the toxicity of this drug, which is still being sold, and make its use unnecessary, but as yet no one knows. When a drug must be taken about which little is known, it becomes of paramount importance to see that the nutrition is improved to the utmost. The attitude is all too prevalent that a drug is safe simply because a reputable doctor ” has prescribed it. The reason the law requires that most drugs be sold only on prescription is that they are dangerous.”

Let Your Physician Be The Judge

Drugs have received so much publicity that patients frequently demand that one or another be given them. Many a doctor, in order to protect his patients’ health, has wisely given a placebo, an inert tablet, perhaps of milk sugar, or a somewhat expensive injection of distilled water, which, incidentally, often achieves amazingly good results.

Although the American Medical Association has long pointed out that antibiotics are ineffective in treating virus infections, last year in our community a young mother who requested penicillin for slight sniffles died minutes later in anaphylactic shock. Unfortunately, this case is far from an isolated one. The reason for consulting a doctor is to obtain the advantage of his years of experience and specialized training. Let him be the judge of the medications needed; and if a drug does prove to be toxic, realize that neither it nor the doctor may be at fault, but, rather, the inadequacy of the diet.

Drugs induce stress. All drugs, by their toxicity, induce a condition of stress, which particularly increases the need for vitamin C, pantothenic acid, the antistress factors, and perhaps for everybody requirement. Because most drugs can damage the liver, the body’s demands for protein and vitamin E are also especially high. The more adequate the diet can be made, therefore, the more effective the drug, and the shorter the time it need be taken.

Physicians are often criticized for writing too many prescriptions, but none has ever been written for the person who maintains good health.

Mortgage protection is a major component of a life insurance needs analysis. By no means is it the primary reason for acquiring or keeping a life policy. There are several other components of needs analysis and benefits of this financial instrument.

Most persons are either in retirement or near to it when they pay off their mortgages. At this point, it is usually recommended that they reassess their life insurance needs due to the change in circumstances. However, this product maintains an important role in financial planning at any stage of life. The following are cogent reasons for maintaining your life cover after a mortgage payoff:

1) Immediate cash needs

These are expenses that must be paid immediately on the death of the insured. The most common is funeral expenses. Funeral expenses are important, but are often given too much prominence. The consequences of other immediate expenses are often much more severe. Other immediate expenses that must be considered include credit card debts, other loans, legal and executor fees, education trusts and emergency funds. Coverage of any medical expenses incurred before death is yet another vital reason to maintain life insurance.

2) Income protection for spouse or children

You could still have a responsibility to your spouse or children at the time you pay off your mortgage. In the event that you are a major contributor to household income, the responsibility would be even more acute. Having people depend on your income is arguably the most important motivation to acquire or maintain life insurance. How would your loved ones survive without you? They may have to mortgage or sell the house you just paid the mortgage balance on. Without life coverage, you might leave your dependents in a worse position and without accommodation.

3) Estate planning

Life insurance both creates and preserves an estate. Not everyone is concerned with the transfer of estate. Those who are would find life insurance a necessary tool, especially in the later years. The sum assured on a life policy creates an estate that is transferable tax-free. In many cases, the coverage can be used to mitigate the effect of burdensome estate taxes on the rest of an estate.

4) Other benefits contained within the life insurance plan

Sometimes life plans contain long-term care insurance or critical illness benefits. There are also accelerated death benefits and critical illness benefits that allow for payment of those expenses if they arise. Plans with these supplementary benefits are valuable way beyond the life insurance component.

If you had a term insurance plan covering your mortgage needs, it may be unnecessary to continue it if you already have permanent life insurance. This is completely different from suggesting that the entire concept of life insurance is unnecessary. If you had no other form of protection than your term plan, you should convert it to permanent insurance if possible. Should you have permanent life insurance, you can reduce the coverage amount in some cases or use the cash value to purchase a reduced paid-up plan.

Reassessment of life plans is necessary when changes occur. As we age, they play less of an income protection role and have an even greater bearing on estate planning needs. Paying off your mortgage would certainly precipitate another needs analysis. However, it may not be necessary to stop your life plan or even reduce your coverage because of this event.