Life in General
Healthcorpus, an avatar to cure miscommunication
05/09/2013
Do you have an ache or health question? Would you like to know more about a body part or learn more about a health topic? With healthcorpus, you can click anywhere on the virtual body to show where it hurts and describe symptoms. That way you can better describe your condition to family, friends or your doctor. You and your doctor can also use healthcorpus to find the most relevant medical articles and information related to your selection.
Create a page and edit text – Start writing your health-related pages straightaway. Format as you like, include images and link to content on the web.
Click body to add a marker – Browse the human anatomy, find relevant body parts and click to mark the locations you want to highlight.
Drag marker to text – Drag and drop the marker into your text to link your note with the body.
Keep it private or share it – Once your page is written, you can keep it private, share it with a secret link via email, or share it with everyone as a public page.
Patients can use this free tool to communicate with their doctor, and the doc can use it to better communicate with patients. That’s important for several reasons.
Patients often complain that doctors don’t seem to actually listen to what they’re telling them, instead staring at a computer screen and tapping on a keyboard. Likewise, nearly 80% of patients forget what the doctor tells them as soon as they leave the office or are discharged from the hospital, and 50% of what they do remember is incorrect, according to this report in the Wall Street Journal.
Healthcorpus shows promise as a cure for miscommunication. Click here to see the sample I created using this text.
Top 5 ways Getting Older gets us down
05/08/2013
By Sandy Getzky
Few things in life are guaranteed, yet getting older seems to come with some rather predictable frustrations. I’ve assembled the top five ways that getting older can bring us down — and how to get over all that and live life to the fullest. Remember that no matter how drab things get: getting older always beats the alternative.
1. Body Pains
“Sometimes I call my grandson for a joint to help the joint pain”
As we get older we are constantly worried about: “what will go next?” These days it seems like hands go first. Typing becomes slower and more painful. Growing up I was told a stiff handshake was a sign of a strong, assertive individual. Now I meet people and just hope they go for the hug and spare my fragile digits. Read the rest of this entry »
How States are battling Obesity
01/24/2013
United States of Obesity: How Are States Battling Bulging Health Costs?
By Scott Kahan, M.D., Director, STOP Obesity Alliance, Obesity Medicine physician
There is no doubt that obesity remains a top health issue in the states as we enter 2013. According to the most recent “F as in Fat” report, a state-by-state obesity report card published by Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, obesity costs the United States up to $210 billion per year and obesity-related health conditions, such as heart disease and diabetes, are expected to rise significantly in coming years. With numbers like these, it only makes sense to ask: What are states doing to tackle obesity, and what trends are on the horizon in 2013? Read the rest of this entry »
Unpaid Caregiving in America
01/22/2013
According to AARP, 43.5 million Americans are caregivers, and although they do it out of love and obligation, caring for a loved one takes a personal and financial toll.
The economic impact is surprisingly high. It was over $480B/year in 2009, a figure that includes lost worker productivity, reduced earning capacity & retirement income, and increases in their own physical & emotional health and related costs. That’s about 3.2% of the U.S. GDP ($14.1 trillion in 2009). It’s more than the $361B in Medicaid spending. And it’s nearly as much as the $509B in 2009 Medicare spending. It’s also more than half of what we spend on defense. The burden is even worse for long-distance caregivers.
The infographic below details caregiving in the U.S. Read the rest of this entry »
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Fleas Navidog
12/24/2012
space
However you say it, or whatever you celebrate, I wish you a Warm, Healthy and Happy Holiday.
Wayne Caswell, Editor
Smart Car Features for Older Drivers
12/05/2012
Nearly Nine in 10 Seniors Drive a Car that Doesn’t Fit their Aging Needs
AAA research helps “silver tsunami” match vehicle features to health concerns
This photo by Henry Fountain pictures one of Google’s fleet of self-driving vehicles. The Lexus hybrid has a range-finder on top but otherwise looks reasonably conventional. We may eventually be able to buy cars that drive themselves (see comment below), and three states already license experimental models for operation on public roads, but until they’re commercially available, AAA offers advice on selecting car features for older drivers.
Washington, D.C., (Dec. 3, 2012) – With nearly 90 percent of motorists 65 and older suffering from health issues that affect driving safety, finding a car that not only adapts to conditions, such as lack of flexibility or muscle strength, while maintaining safety and comfort can be difficult. Data from a new AAA survey also reveals that only one in 10 senior drivers with aging health issues are driving a vehicle that has features like keyless entry and larger dashboard controls that can assist with such conditions.
To better equip the “silver tsunami” for driving safety and comfort, AAA has updated its Smart Features for Older Drivers resource to address a broader range of health conditions and include new data on 2012 vehicle features. As a leading advocate for senior driver safety, AAA launched Smart Features for Older Drivers in partnership with the University of Florida’s Institute for Mobility, Activity and Participation in 2008. In the update, Smart Features identifies vehicle features that optimize older driver safety and comfort, lists current vehicles with those features, and allows users to explore their individual needs through an interactive online tool. Read the rest of this entry »
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Before I die… Or before they do…
12/02/2012
Today I republish most of the content of a Huffington Post article that June Cohen wrote as part of TEDWeekends, a curated program about powerful “ideas worth spreading” each weekend.
The days between Thanksgiving and the New Year are always a time for reflection: On what’s been accomplished, on what remains ahead of us, and – most importantly – what matters most to you.
TED Fellow Candy Chang creates public art installations that explore the hidden landscape of near-death choices. Her work asks the audience, chalkboard-style, to fill in the blanks: “Before I die, I want to ________________.” Their answers have been, in turn: hilarious, heart-breaking, raw, real.
How to Find a Reputable Hip Replacement Specialist
11/01/2012
Image source: Wikipedia
In this X-ray, the patient’s right hip (left of image) has been replaced, with the ball of this ball-and-socket joint replaced by a metal head that is set in the thighbone or femur and the socket replaced by a white plastic cup (clear in this X-ray).
By Geoffrey Winterburn
A hip replacement is major surgery where part or all of a diseased/damaged hip is removed and replaced. Finding the right hip replacement specialist for you can seem rather daunting but there is plenty of advice out there to calm any fears and get you in the right hands.
Do you Need a Hip Replacement?
Before you begin to start your search for a hip replacement specialist, it is essential that you are sure that this is the best treatment for you. An artificial hip is not as reliable as a real one, and some problems can occur. 1 in 10 people report on-going hip pains after an operation and certain movements must be avoided to prevent dislocation. That being said, for many, a hip replacement will considerably improve the standard of living.
Many practitioners will advise you to persist with minor symptoms but a replacement may be considered if:
Senior Living Options & Costs Infographic
10/22/2012
As seniors age, they may need help with daily tasks. Helping them decide on appropriate living arrangements is critical to staying safe and healthy. Investing in home modifications and some sort of medical alert system is a cost effective way for seniors to feel safe and secure while living an independent lifestyle, as this infographic suggests. Read the rest of this entry »
6 Ways TV Might Be Killing You
09/22/2012
Reprinted with permission from Online Psychology Degree
According to the latest statistics, watching television is America’s No. 1 pastime, and Americans watch an average of four hours and 39 minutes of television every day. For people lucky enough to get eight hours of sleep a night, the time spent watching television eats up one-quarter of their waking life, and their life may shorten considerably unless they can summon up the nerve to unplug their big screens. So before you set your DVR to record the two-hour premiere of that new reality show where two competing families of forensic scientists swap their pets for medical experiments, consider these six ways watching television might be killing you.
1. Too much sitting:
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