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April 2015
Inside This
Edition
Physically active middle-aged adults have low risk of
sudden cardiac arrest
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Physically Active Middle-aged Adults Have
Low Risk Of Sudden
Cardiac Arrest
Page 1-2
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1,000 Year Old AngloSaxon Recipe Can Cure
MRSA
Page 2-3
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Wear A Tracker Get A
Discount
Page 4-5
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Annuity Basics Part 6
Page 5
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Sudden cardiac arrest during
sports activities is relatively low
among physically active middleaged adults, according to research
in the American Heart Association
journal Circulation.
Sudden cardiac arrest is the abrupt
loss of heart function and usually
results from an electrical disturbance in the heart that stops blood
flow to other vital organs. Administering CPR immediately after the event, before emergency services arrives, can increase the chance of survival.
A review of 1,247 sudden cardiac arrest cases involving men and women ages 35 to
65 revealed that 63 cases (5 percent) were associated mainly with sports activities
such as jogging (27 percent), basketball (17 percent) and cycling (14 percent).
In two-thirds of the cases, patients had a previously documented cardiovascular disease or symptoms before the sudden cardiac arrest.
Researchers also found:

Compared with overall sudden cardiac arrests, sports-associated cases were more
likely to be witnessed (87 percent versus 53 percent) and involved CPR (44 percent
versus 25 percent) and ventricular fibrillation, a cardiac rhythm disturbance (84 percent versus 51 percent).

The rate of survival to hospital discharge was higher for sports-associated sudden
cardiac arrests at 23.2 percent, compared to 13.6 percent of broader non-sports
cases. People in the sports-associated group were more likely to be in public and
receive bystander CPR.
Controlling Debt
Good Debt vs. Bad Debt
Page 5-6
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10 Steps To Making A
Financial Budget And
Setting Realistic Finan
cial Goals
Page 6-7
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About BIFS
Thought For The Month
Page 8
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More than half of the cases (58 percent) occurred in sports facilities, such as a gym
or a stadium, and 42 percent occurred outside of sports facilities.
Men had a higher incidence of sports-associated sudden cardiac arrest than women, compared with the broader non-sports cases — possibly because more men
participate in sports.
When researchers applied their findings to the overall population of the United States,
they estimated 2,269 sports-associated sudden cardiac arrest events would occur
among men and 136 among women per year in the 35- to 65-year-old group.
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“Our study findings reinforce the idea of the high-benefit, low-risk nature of exercise in middle age and emphasize the importance of education to maximize safety, particularly as the population ages and more baby
boomers increasingly take part in sports activities to prolong their lives,” said Sumeet Chugh, M.D., the
study’s senior author and associate director for genomic cardiology at the Cedars-Sinai Heart Institute in Los
Angeles.
Researchers suggest promoting education for basic life support skills also can be beneficial. Of the sudden
cardiac arrest cases evaluated in this study, a larger percentage of survivors were in the sports-associated
group and more likely to be in a public place where they were more likely to receive bystander CPR, Chugh
said.
“For any kind of preventive intervention, education is very important and can be more efficient when provided
in a targeted manner,” he said.
The authors conclude that targeted education can maximize both safety and acceptance of sports activity in
the middle-aged group.
The research is based on the Oregon Sudden Unexpected Death Study, an ongoing community-based study
of out-of-hospital sudden cardiac arrests. The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute funded the study.
Thousand-year-old Anglo-Saxon potion kills MRSA superbug
London (CNN)It might sound like a really old wives' tale, but a thousandyear-old Anglo-Saxon potion for eye infections may hold the key to wiping out the modern-day superbug MRSA, according to new research.
The 10th-century "eyesalve" remedy was discovered at the British Library in a leather-bound volume of Bald's Leechbook, widely considered
to be one of the earliest known medical textbooks.
Christina Lee, an expert on Anglo-Saxon society from the School of
English at the University of Nottingham, translated the ancient manuscript despite some ambiguities in the text.
"We chose this recipe in Bald's Leechbook because it contains ingredients such as garlic that are currently investigated by other researchers
on their potential antibiotic effectiveness," Lee said in a video posted on
the university's website.
"And so we looked at a recipe that is fairly straightforward. It's also a recipe where we are told it's the 'best of
leechdoms' -- how could you not test that? So we were curious."
Lee enlisted the help of the university's microbiologists to see if the remedy actually worked.
The recipe calls for two species of Allium (garlic and onion or leek), wine and oxgall (bile from a cow's stomach) to be brewed in a brass vessel.
"We recreated the recipe as faithfully as we could. The Bald gives very precise instructions for the ratio of different ingredients and for the way they should be combined before use, so we tried to follow that as closely
as possible," said microbiologist Freya Harrison, who led the work in the lab at the School of Life Sciences.
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The book included an instruction for the recipe to be left to stand for nine days before being strained through
a cloth. Efforts to replicate the recipe exactly included finding wine from a vineyard known to have existed in
the ninth century, according to Steve Diggle, an associate professor of sociomicrobiology, who also worked
on the project.
The researchers then tested their recipe on cultures of MRSA, methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, a
type of staph bacterium that does not respond to commonly used antibiotic treatments.
The scientists weren't holding out much hope that it would work -- but they were astonished by the lab results.
"What we found was very interesting -- we found that Bald's eyesalve is incredibly potent as an antiStaphylococcal antibiotic in this context," Harrison said.
"We were going from a mature, established population of a few billion cells, all stuck together in this highly
protected biofilm coat, to really just a few thousand cells left alive. This is a massive, massive killing ability."
Diggle said the team also asked collaborators in the U.S. to test the recipe using an "in vivo" wound model -meaning it's in a live organism -- "and basically the big surprise was that it seems to be more effective than
conventional antibiotic treatment."
The scientists were worried they wouldn't be able to repeat the feat. But three more batches, made from
scratch each time, have yielded the same results, Harrison said, and the salve appears to retain its potency
for a long time after being stored in bottles in the refrigerator.
The team says it now has good, replicated data showing that the medicine kills up to 90% of MRSA bacteria
in "in vivo" wound biopsies from mice.
Harrison says the researchers are still not completely sure how it works, but they have a few ideas -- namely,
that there might be several active components in the mixture that work to attack the bacterial cells on different
fronts, making it very hard for them to resist; or that by combining the ingredients and leaving them to steep in
alcohol, a new, more potent bacteria-fighting molecule is created in the process.
"I still can't quite believe how well this 1,000-year-old antibiotic actually seems to be working," Harrison said.
"When we got the first results we were just utterly dumbfounded. We did not see this coming at all."
She added: "Obviously you can never say with utter certainty that because it works in the lab it's going to
work as an antibiotic, but the potential of this to take on to the next stage and say, 'yeah, really does it work
as an antibiotic' is just beyond my wildest dreams, to be honest."
Lee, who translated the text from Old English, believes the discovery could change people's views of the medieval period as the "Dark Ages."
"The Middle Ages are often seen as the 'Dark Ages' -- we use the term 'medieval' these days ... as pejorative
-- and I just wanted to do something that explains to me how people in the Middle Ages looked at science,"
she said.
Would you wear a tracker to get an insurance discount?
For the first time ever in the United States, a life insurance company is offering a discount -- if you're willing to
let it track your health, location and body.
It's increasingly popular to wear a fitness tracker that measures your footsteps, heart rate or body movements. Now, the life insurance company John Hancock is offering deal if you'll wear one: 15% off in some
cases.
The company unveiled its optional, new program Wednesday morning. John Hancock is partnering with Vitality, which many people probably know as one of those work-related wellness programs. The program is available in 30 states.
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If you sign up for this, John Hancock will send you a
free Fitbit monitor. That's a tiny, pill-shaped device
that some people wear in sleek-looking bracelets to
track how far they walk/run, the calories burned, and
the quality of sleep.
That means the insurance company would know exactly when a customer does a sit-up, how far she runs
-- or when she's skipped the gym for a few days.
The program works like other "customer rewards" programs at restaurants and retailers. Your actions earn
points that place you in one of three levels -- silver,
gold or platinum.
The healthier your lifestyle, the higher you go, and the
steeper the discount. And it changes as your health data gets analyzed.
Points can also qualify customers for discounts at Hyatt (H) hotels, Royal Caribbean (RCL) cruises, Whole
Foods (WFM) grocery stores, and REI outdoor gear stores.
"We're introducing a whole new approach for life insurance that rewards and recognizes people for healthy
living," said Mike Doughty, John Hancock's president, at a presentation in New York City on Wednesday.
First, the upside: That 15% discount might amount to about $91 a year. Life insurance is generally much
cheaper than health insurance, and this program could make it even less expensive.
But it's not much of a reward for wearing a leash all year.
That's based on data from independent insurance agents at Trusted Choice. Industrywide, the average cost
of a $500,000 term life insurance policy for a 65-year-old, non-smoking man is $611. It's slightly cheaper for
women of the same age, so the savings are smaller.
At Wednesday's event, Vitality marketing executive Tal Gilbert said people are hard-wired for short-term rewards, rather than things that have a longer term impact.
"The idea is to give you much more immediate payoff," Gilbert said.
It's the insurance industry's way of trying to incentivize people into buying life insurance.
But there are immediate privacy implications.
First, the pendulum swings both ways. If you don't exercise that tracker will rat you out -- and you'll lose the
discount. Trackers are simply a way for insurance companies to more accurately judge you. And as they get
more accurate (measuring cholesterol, blood sugar levels), so will the judgment.
Second, that personal data -- your heart rate, preferred exercises, what gym you visit and when -- ends up on
insurance company computers. And these databases are a target for hackers, who steal this information and
sell it on the black market to identity thieves and fraudsters.
This past winter, insurance giant Anthem was hit by massive data breach when hackers snuck into its computers. Shortly after that, the large American insurer Premera revealed that hackers broke into its computer
systems too -- and that of Vivacity, a work wellness partner.
John Hancock marketing executive Brooks Tingle told CNNMoney the company and Vitality would not sell or
share health data to any other entity. He also said it would live encrypted on company computers inside the
United States.
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Annuity Basics Part 6
What is an equity-indexed annuity?
An equity-indexed annuity is a combination of a fixed and a variable annuity. The marketing pitch usually
goes something like this: Equity-indexed annuities give you the best of both worlds.
Guaranteed return: As with a fixed annuity, you get the low-risk appeal of a guaranteed minimum return
(usually 2% to 3%).
With some upside: But, as with a variable annuity, you also have a shot at higher gains if the stock market
rises, since an equity indexed annuity's return is also tied to the performance of a benchmark index, such as
the Standard & Poor's 500.
What are its advantages?
With an equity-indexed annuity, you get to participate in the upside when the stock market is climbing, but
you also protect yourself against the downside since you'll earn a guaranteed minimum return even if stock
prices fall.
In short, an equity-indexed annuity may pay a higher return than a standard fixed annuity would, but have
less risk than a variable annuity.
What are its disadvantages?
They're complex: Equity-indexed annuities are very complicated investment vehicles, and they come in a
wide variety of forms. Their complexity makes them extremely difficult for investors to understand, and marketing pitches can often be deceiving.
They don't always match a indexes' full return: They also don't necessarily give you the entire return of the
market index they're tied to. Different equity-indexed annuities calculate your gains in different ways. For example, some give you only a portion of the index's overall return, or set an annual cap - and most exclude
dividends. So if the market returns are a big draw for you, make sure you know exactly what you're getting.
Fees: Then there are surrender charges. In some indexed annuities, surrender charges can run as high as
20% and last for 15 or more years. So you may not have access to all of your money without paying steep
penalty charges for a long, long time.
How do I know if buying one is right for me?
If you want to reap some of the benefits of market returns, but don't want to take on all of the risk and volatility of the stock market, you might want to consider an equity-indexed annuity.
But make sure you read through the terms carefully and consider all of the fees involved before you buy
Controlling Debt Part 2
Good debt vs. bad debt
Sometimes it makes sense to borrow - a lot of times it doesn't.
It's almost impossible to live debt-free; most of us can't pay cash for our homes or our children's college educations. But too many of us let debt get out of hand.
Ideally, experts say, your total monthly long-term debt payments, including your mortgage and credit cards,
should not exceed 36% of your gross monthly income. That's one metric mortgage bankers consider when
assessing the creditworthiness of a potential borrower.
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It's far too easy to spend more than you can afford, especially when you pay by credit card. The average U.S. household with at least one credit card carries nearly a $15,950 in credit-card debt (in 2012), according to CreditCards.com,
and personal bankruptcies have hit record highs in recent years.
Of course, avoiding debt at any cost is not smart either if it means depleting your cash reserves for emergencies. The
challenge is learning how to judge which debt makes sense and which does not and then wisely managing the money
you do borrow.
Good debt includes anything you need but can't afford to pay for up front without wiping out cash reserves or liquidating all your investments. In cases where debt makes sense, only take loans for which you can afford the monthly
payments.
Bad debt includes debt you've taken on for things you don't need and can't afford (that trip to Bora Bora, for instance).
The worst form of debt is credit-card debt, since it usually carries the highest interest rates.
Sometimes the decision to borrow doesn't hinge on how much cash you have but on whether there are ways to make
your money work harder for you. If interest rates are low, compare what you'll spend in interest on a loan versus what
your money could earn if it were invested. If you think you can get a higher return from investing your cash than what
you'll pay in interest on a loan, borrowing a small amount at a low rate may make sense.
10 steps to making a financial budget
Learn how to budget by following these 10 steps on how to bring your spending under control.
1. Budgets are a necessary evil.
They're the only practical way to get a grip on your spending - and to make sure your money is being used
the way you want it to be used.
2. Creating a budget generally requires three steps.
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Identify how you're spending money now.
Evaluate your current spending and set goals that take into account your long-term financial objectives.
Track your spending to make sure it stays within those guidelines.
3. Use software to save grief.
If you use a personal-finance program such as Quicken or Microsoft Money, the built-in budget-making tools
can create your budget for you.
4. Don't drive yourself nuts.
One drawback of monitoring your spending by computer is that it encourages overzealous attention to detail.
Once you determine which categories of spending can and should be cut (or expanded), concentrate on
those categories and worry less about other aspects of your spending.
5. Watch out for cash leakage.
If withdrawals from the ATM machine evaporate from your pocket without apparent explanation, it's time to
keep better records. In general, if you find yourself returning to the ATM more than once a week or so, you
need to examine where that cash is going.
6. Spending beyond your limits is dangerous.
But if you do, you've got plenty of company. Government figures show that many households with total income of $50,000 or less are spending more than they bring in. This doesn't make you an automatic candidate
for bankruptcy - but it's definitely a sign you need to make some serious spending cuts.
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7. Beware of luxuries dressed up as necessities.
If your income doesn't cover your costs, then some of your spending is probably for luxuries - even if you've been considering them to be filling a real need.
8. Tithe yourself.
Aim to spend no more than 90% of your income. That way, you'll have the other 10% left to save for your big-picture
items.
9. Don't count on windfalls.
When projecting the amount of money you can live on, don't include dollars that you can't be sure you'll receive, such
as year-end bonuses, tax refunds or investment gains.
10. Beware of spending creep.
As your annual income climbs from raises, promotions and smart investing, don't start spending for luxuries until you're
sure that you're staying ahead of inflation. It's better to use those income increases as an excuse to save more.
Setting realistic financial budgets
Most people avoid creating a financial budget and fewer still stick to one. But it doesn't have to be painful.
If you're the type of person who always has plenty of cash, knows exactly where every penny goes and never has trouble
paying bills, skip this chapter. You're either too rich or too smart to need it.
For the rest of us, unfortunately, making - and sticking to - a budget is the essential tool for ensuring that our money gets
used the way we need it to. Even if you're in the happy situation of having plenty of income, the homework involved in
drawing up a budget can be instructive, since you may find that you are spending more than you wish on items like
DVDs, electronic gadgetry or restaurant meals.
Drawing up a budget is usually pure drudgery enlivened only by the reality of staring your foolish spending habits in the
face. Why do you have a luxury sound system if neither you nor your spouse listens to it? In fact, one of the chief impediments to budgeting is that most people would rather not know how they really use their money.
It's bad enough to learn this kind of information on your own. It's even worse when a spouse or significant other finds out,
since it usually confirms his or her worst fears - and provides new ammunition for future "discussions."
Take heart. Any spending mistakes you're making are probably common and not impossible to kick. Moreover, the bulk
of budgeting's pains are at the beginning.
After you have a budget in place - and you've fine-tuned it with a couple of months of actual spending - tracking your expenditures becomes almost automatic.
If your boss at work were to ask you for an analysis of the department's spending, you'd figure it out quickly enough.
Budgeting your household should be approached in the same businesslike fashion. A variety of electronic tools can
make the process easier.
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BARTLETT INSURANCE & FINANCIAL SERVICES prides itself on unparalleled service
and performance. We are committed to providing unbiased advice and prudent strategies
for your financial future. Our services are always tailored to your unique needs. We provide estate planning, risk management, cash flow analysis, investment management, retirement planning, and tax planning and management, life insurance, health insurance,
disability insurance, med-supplements and long term care insurance. Our approach allows us to serve you without compromise. Our reward is satisfied clients!
At Bartlett Insurance & Financial Services, we treat our clients with courtesy and integrity. We guarantee realistic, honest financial advice that achieves results. We will lead you
on a course to financial freedom. Our years of experience and notable expertise ensure
Tamara Bartlett—Owner that your financial future is in good hands. Our consistent track record of uncompromising ethics instills confidence and trust. We use cutting edge technologies to ensure up to
the minute information from the financial world. This allows us to respond quickly, and give you the most
relevant information and perspective. BIFS is proud to be partnered with experts in the field such as CPA’s,
Accountant’s, Attorney’s and Elder Law Attorney’s to provide you the most expert advise.
Bartlett Insurance & Financial Service
Grafton, WV 26354
Phone: 304-265-5307 or 304-692-0208
Email: [email protected]
Website: www.bartlettIFS.com
Thought For The Month
April Showers Bring May Flowers
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www.bartlettIFS.com .
Your feed back is appreciated.
We appreciate all our clients! This is just a small way of saying thank you for your loyalty and support!
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