You probably know that the four leading causes of death are heart disease, cancer, stroke and chronic lower-respiratory diseases. These chronic degenerative conditions collectively account for almost two-thirds of all deaths and the large majority of health care dollars. Yet, it isn’t the condition that is the actual cause of death. Instead, wellness experts look at cigarette smoking, lack of exercise, poor eating habits and other detrimental habits and conditions as culprits.You probably know all the above information. And, you probably know that the treatments used to change those behaviors often include some strange remedies. But did you know that homeopathy may not cure anything other than anxiety? Did you realize that acupuncture may alter you life as well as your face when used as a natural facelift? And, although the FDA and the government may seem to move slowly on some wellness matters, did you realize that some grassroots movements may change how food is used and distributed throughout this country and across the globe? Read the rest of this entry »
Losing weight is difficult, especially if you’ve grown comfortable with the way you feel. But have you looked in a mirror recently? Has your comfort has become detrimental to your health? Being overweight significantly increases your risk of just about every disease known to mankind. Plus, your weight may contribute to riskier treatment and longer recovery if you do become sick or if you need surgery.
The following list is designed to help you lose fifty pounds within one year by changing unhealthy choices to healthy choices. If you do the math, this means that you can lose approximately one pound per week if you follow the suggestions listed below. Of course, you possibly could lose those fifty pounds within a month if you eat nothing but celery and exercise 24/7, but why think about torturing yourself to become healthy? Losing weight can become an agreeable challenge that may change your life for the better, but only if you don’t bite off more than you can chew (literally). Read the rest of this entry »
According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, nearly 113 million people currently use the Internet for health information. Many consumers, however, face a mass collection of generic, and at times unreliable, health information. The maze takes them through health portals, message boards, chat rooms and blogs. The consumer is left to sort through conflicting or irrelevant information, seldom finding information that is pertinent. But, a revolution in both technology and health care is providing a better solution.
Enter Health 2.0 in 2007, the year that open source technology crossed over into health care. The Health 2.0 conference held in September that year inspired the launching of a thousand sites (figuratively). The movement to create user-friendly medical experiences online began well before that date, however. Using Web 2.0 technologies such as wikis, mash-ups, video, blogs communities, and user-generated data, the trend, overall, was and is intended to help the consumer become better informed about that consumer’s health.
The following fifty sites provide patients (and their health care providers) with tools to help patients gain access to medical records, to share those records, to conduct research on a condition or to determine the best route for recovery. The sites are listed below are in alphabetical order beneath each category heading. While the sites are numbered, the numbering does not indicate that we favor one site over another or that they are listed in order of value. Unless noted, all sites are free for consumers to use. Read the rest of this entry »