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Issue No. 100
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November 10, 2015
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Cooler temperatures are rolling in and it seems as if the number of Saturdays until Christmas are getting fewer and fewer. If you're counting it's 6 - crazy! Yesterday it was July, Christmas is near, but let's not overlook the month of thanks and of giving.
Your schedule has a lot to do with the chaos of time. And, as in our business, busyness translates into opportunity. But, in the efforts of busy and business, during this month of thanksgiving, let us find time to slow down, soak in the fruits of our labor and enjoy what has been created.
Now serving ALL of Texas Agriculture -
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National Diabetes Awareness Month
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November is American
Diabetes Awareness Month
Diabetes is one of the leading causes of disability and death in the United States. If it's not controlled, diabetes can cause blindness, nerve damage, kidney disease, and other health problems.
One in 12 Americans has diabetes - that's more than 25 million people. And another 79 million adults in the United States are at high risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The good news? People who are at high risk for type 2 diabetes can lower their risk by more than half if they make healthy changes. These changes include: eating healthy, increasing physical activity, and losing weight.
How can American Diabetes Month make a difference?
We can use this month to raise awareness about diabetes risk factors and encourage people to make healthy changes.
Here are just a few ideas:
1. Encourage people to make small changes, like taking the stairs instead of the elevator.
2. Talk to people in your community about getting regular checkups.
3. They can get their blood pressure and cholesterol checked, and ask the doctor about their diabetes risk.
4. Ask doctors and nurses to be leaders in their communities by speaking about the importance of healthy eating and physical activity.
The vision of the American Diabetes Association is a life free of diabetes and all of its burdens. Raising awareness of this ever-growing disease is one of the main efforts behind the mission.
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improved quality - increased provider accessibility - continued low costs
EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 1
With TACT You Get More!
We have heard you and know that you want better provider coverage, more access to your doctors and facilities.
We have worked very hard to find YOUR solution! We are excited to announce our new partnership with CIGNA!! Effective December 1, you will have access to all the providers and facilities CIGNA has to offer! This will be a long term relationship, providing the solution to make sure our members receive the best care available! Watch for more information and updated ID cards soon!
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HHS Announces Forum on Pharmaceutical Innovation, Access, Affordability
and Better Health
The Department of Health and Human Services announced a public forum to explore pharmaceutical innovation, access, affordability and better health. Below is the text of the invitation:
Modern medicine, including new pharmaceuticals that cure or help combat life threatening diseases, continues to deliver significant benefits for patients. And in general, the development of new, innovative medicines has been good for both patients and our economy. However, the high and growing cost of drugs has created hardship for families, employers, and states. Specialty medications represent only 1% of all prescriptions but, in 2014, these medications resulted in over 31% of all drug spending. Secretary Burwell is asking stakeholders to share information as to how to address this complex problem. The forum will bring together consumers, providers, employers, manufacturers, health insurance issuers, representatives from state and federal government, and other stakeholders to share information and discuss ideas to increase access to information, drive innovation, strengthen incentives and promote competition. We seek your views on how to foster a health care system that leads in innovation, delivers the most affordable, highest quality medicines and results in healthier people. During the forum, we will hear from a broad range of stakeholders on opportunities to improve patient access to affordable prescription drugs, develop innovative purchasing strategies and incorporate value-based and outcomes-based models into purchasing programs in both the public and private sectors. We acknowledge this is a multi-faceted problem with no one solution, but there is a significant benefit - to all of us - of working together to find a solution.
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Summer Bird Flu Outbreak Will Not Affect Your
Thanksgiving Turkey
PHILADELPHIA (CBS ) - With Thanksgiving right around the corner, consumers may be wondering if the turkey supply will be affected by this summer's bird flu outbreak.
The outbreak destroyed eight percent of the nation's turkey supply, according to Rachel Cloninger, Assistant Vice President of Poultry at PennAg Industries Association. She says Pennsylvania was not affected and supply is healthy, with more than 8.5 million turkeys raised in the state every year.
"Our industry is strong. We do rank 10th nationally in turkey production," Cloninger says. "We have quite the scope to handle our production for the Thanksgiving holiday. She says birds can be shipped to areas that were hit hard by the bird flu, and since supplies are strong, there should be no shortages and no price hikes.
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By Betty Tryon, BSN
NOW Magazines -
National Diabetes Awareness Month, Thanksgiving - keeping an eye on what is eaten is of utmost importance to maintaining good health and good health habits. Your belly bulge may carry a huge price you hadn't counted on. There are two types of fat in the abdomen - subcutaneous and visceral. Subcutaneous fat lies directly underneath your skin. Visceral fat in the abdominal area lies underneath the muscles and wraps  around your organs. They both carry a risk for your health, when in excessive amounts, toward the possible development of high blood pressure heart disease, diabetes, cancer and other sundry illness. However, abdominal visceral fat can be more dangerous. An impressive study published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology concluded that central obesity (beer belly) carried as great a risk to your health as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day or having an extremely high cholesterol level. The results qualified as being globally applicable, since the study was conducted in five separate studies around the world. There were 16,000 participants with coronary artery disease. Those with central obesity were more likely to die from the disease than those with a different pattern of fat distribution. Men had a higher risk of dying than women. Another startling conclusion is that this discovery pertains even to those who have a normal weight and a small amount of belly fat. Why does belly fat carry such a great risk? According to Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, the study's lead investigator and director of the Mayo Clinic's Cardiometabolic Program, "Visceral (belly) fat has been found to be more metabolically active. It produces more changes in cholesterol, blood pressure and blood sugar. However, people who have fat mostly in other locations in the body, specifically the legs and buttocks, don't show this increased risk." There is a way to determine your risk by looking at your waist to hip ratio or WHR. Using the WHR you can determine whether or not you are more at risk for developing serious diseases. It's all about the distribution of fat. You can calculate your WHR by first getting your waist size by measuring with a tape measure at the smallest point. Get your hip measurement by putting the tape measure around the widest part of the hips. Divide the waist circumference by the hip circumference. Here are some of the indicators for your measurements: Male WHR close to 0.9 - Ideal. Very low health risk Female WHR close to 0.7 - Ideal Very low health risk
Male WHR 0.95 or less - Low health risk Female WHR 0.90 or below - Low health risk
Male WHR 0.6 to 1.0 - Moderate health risk Female WHR 0.81 to 0.85 - Moderate health risk
Male WHR 1 plus - High health risk Female WHR 0.85 plus - High health risk The WHR is an indicator, not a certainty. However, it makes good health sense to take the WHR test. Armed with this knowledge, you can start working on being your best healthy self. disclaimer - this article is for informational purposes only sources - http://health.us.news.com; www.medicalnewstoday.com
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915 Austin Street
Levelland, TX 79336
806-747-7894
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Texas Ag Coop Trust
Officers, Board of Trustees
Kimberly Tullo-Holcomb
TACT Executive Director
Lubbock, TX
Jim Turner, Chairman
Dalhart Consumers Fuel Association
Dalhart, TX
Bret Brown, Secretary/Treasurer
Ag Producers Co-op
Sunray, TX
Craig Rohrbach
Parmer County Cotton Growers
Farwell, TX
Dean Sasser
Farmers Coop Elevator
Levelland, TX
Tony Williams
Texas Cotton Ginners' Association
Austin, TX
Paul Wilson
United Cotton Growers
Levelland, TX
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National Diabetes Awareness Month
Are You Sugar Smart?
Do you know whether your blood sugar level is high? Chronic high blood sugar from undiagnosed diabetes can hurt your heart, nerves, eyes and kidneys.
Nearly 30 million children and adults in the United States have diabetes. In addition, 86 million Americans, have prediabetes - borderline high blood sugar that increases the risk for developing type 2 diabetes. If you have prediabetes, changing your lifestyle by increasing your physical activity and eating less fat and fewer calories may help you avoid diabetes. People at higher risk for type 2 diabetes include those who: - are 45 or older
- have a parent, brother or sister with diabetes
- are African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, Asian American or Pacific Islander
- are overweight
- are physically inactive
- have a history of high blood pressure, gestational diabetes, low HDL, cholesterol or high triglycerides
Visit this health site and click on "Do You Know Diabetes?" to take a type 2 diabetes risk test
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Next Issue: November 24, 2015
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