350 Fifth Avenue New York, NY 10118-0110 Ask About Our E-mail Distribution! PRESORT STANDARD U.S. POSTAGE PAID North American You can receive Featurettes by e-mail daily, weekly or monthly by request. We can e-mail by your choice of topic or all stories as you may prefer. Address Service Requested Precis Syndicate, Inc. To make it even more convenient for editors to use our stories, NAPS has added an RSS syndication feed to our Web site. Simply hit the RSS button on our site for automated updates on available content. Please contact us to arrange to receive Featurettes in the format that works best for you at (800) 222-5551 or e-mail your request to us at printmedia@napsnet.com. We can provide Featurettes on CD-ROM or you can download it online at www.napsnet.com. Gary Lipton Media Relations Manager Phone: 1-(800)-222-5551 Fax: 1-(800)-990-4329 Web site: www. napsnet .com e-mail: printmedia@napsnet.com #2423 North American Precis Syndicate, Inc., 350 Fifth Avenue, 65th Floor, New York, N.Y. 10118-0110 Spend Smart On Eyewear Strategies For Improving Your Health Literacy (NAPSA)—Understanding your prescription labels is just one example of how important it is to improve your health literacy. Learning how to better communicate with your health care professional is perhaps the most important way to improve your health literacy. “Understanding medicine’s peculiar terminology and instructions can be difficult for even the most educated patient,” says William B. Applegate, M.D., MPH, FACP, Chair, American College of Physicians (ACP) Foundation, which strives to improve the health and welfare of patients and society through initiatives that provide patients with the information they need to understand and manage their health. “It can be nearly impossible,” adds Applegate, “for the millions who have difficulty reading, aren’t fluent in English, or have age-related vision or cognitive problems.” It’s important to create a basic plan before meeting with your doctor of internal medicine (internist). Before your appointment, make a list of: • your symptoms, which might include pain, fever, a lump or bump, unexplained weight gain or loss, change in energy level, difficulty sleeping, or feelings such as confusion or sadness • your medications, including prescription drugs, over-thecounter (nonprescription) drugs, vitamins, herbal remedies or supplements, laxatives and eyedrops • any assistive devices such as canes, walkers, scooters, hearing aids, reachers, grab bars and stair lifts. When listing symptoms, be specific. The list should include: According to a 2006 study published in Annals of Internal Medicine, 46 percent of adults misunderstand at least one prescription container label. • what the symptom is • when it started • what time of day it happens and how long it lasts • how often it happens • anything that makes it worse or better • anything it prevents you from doing. A physical exam and medical tests provide important information, but it is your symptoms that point your internist in the right direction. After your diagnosis, ask your internist to write down information about treatment choices. Ask your internist about the benefits and risks of each treatment option, such as what side effects may occur, how long the treatment would take and how likely it is that the treatment would work for you. If you do not like any of the options, ask if there are other choices. For more information about health literacy and tips for managing chronic conditions, visit www.foundation.acponline.org. (NAPSA)—In the hustle and bustle before the holidays, it is easy to forget about spending remaining dollars you may have in your flexible spending account. If you have money left in your account, now is the perfect time to schedule an eye exam or purchase a new pair of eyeglasses. Many Americans with flexible spending accounts use the money to get their vision checked. Provided by many employers, a flexible spending account enables you to use pre-tax income to pay for out-of-pocket health expenses, such as an eye exam or a new pair of eyeglasses. Since money is set aside at the beginning of the year, it’s important to check how much money you have left so you can be reimbursed for eligible expenses. Because your vision is so important, the Vision Council of America recommends scheduling an eye exam and utilizing the remaining money in your flexible spending account. Regular eye exams are the best way to ensure that your eyes stay healthy. An eye exam can also ensure that your prescription remains current, and you can even use your flexible spending account to purchase a new pair of eyeglasses. For more information about maintaining healthy vision or to find an eye doctor in your area, visit www.checkyearly.com. Delicious Ways To Eat More Fruits And Vegetables (NAPSA)—Eating the recommended five to nine daily servings of fruits and vegetables suggested by the United States Department of Agriculture can be easier—and more delicious—than you might imagine. O ne f lavorf ul w ay to help reach this goal is to serve a salad every day. The beauty of the following salad recipe is that you can get servings of both vegetables and fruit in one tasty dish. And you can vary the ingredients to keep it interesting and appeal to your family’s unique tastes. For example, substitute different nuts for the pecans, such as almonds or walnuts. Or try dried apricots, cherries, blueberries or raisins for the dried cranberries. Instead of the sliced pears, use sliced apples, oranges or mangoes. You can even add fresh torn spinach, sugar snap peas or any number of fresh, nutritious vegetables to increase the amount of vegetable servings. Dress it up with fat-free, antioxidant-rich vinaigrettes from Litehouse Foods, such as Harvest Cranberry, Raspberry Walnut or Pomegranate Blueberry. Containing no MSG and no preservatives, the dressings are made with hearthealthy canola oil and make your salad creations something special. Mixed Greens Salad with Pear and Candied Pecans ⁄4 cup pecan halves 2 Tbsp. sugar 1 pkg. (10 oz.) torn mixed salad greens 1 pear, cored and thinly sliced 1 ⁄4 cup sweetened dried 1 This delicious salad features pecans and pears, blue cheese and dried cranberries, topped with flavorful fat-free dressing. cranberries 1 cup (4 oz.) Litehouse Idaho Bleu Cheese Crumbles 1 ⁄2 cup Litehouse Pomegranate Blueberry Vinaigrette dressing 1. Cook pecans with sugar in small skillet over medium-high heat 3 minutes or until sugar melts, coats pecans and browns slightly, stirring constantly. Remove from pan; let cool. 2. Top salad greens with pear slices, pecans, dried cranberries and cheese. Drizzle with dressing just before serving. For more recipes, www.litehousefoods.com. visit