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12 More Reliable Sources of Health Information on the Web

The proliferation of medical information on the web makes it easier than ever for patients to be informed about their health. It’s also easy to be misinformed and confused by page after page of Google results that are often confusing and contradictory.

Last week I posted on Ten Reliable Sources of Health Information on the Web recommended by my healthcare network.

Today, I’m adding to that list:

1.  Health On the Net Foundation HON: Tina Polhman, president of the APS Foundation of America, reminded me of HON, a well-regarded NGO (non-government organization) that introduced a code of conduct for medical and health web sites (HONcode) that has been adopted by some 3,000 websites worldwide. HON also operates a website, @HON with a search engine that searches only HON certified sites.
2.  WebMD: My own doctor suggested I add this to the list. WebMD has a wealth of information on conditions, symptoms, causes, and treatments. It also offers a drug checker and sections on healthy living and family health.

Stroke, autoimmune disease, and brain injury are my own primary areas of interest and I offer a list on information sources on the resources pages of AnneSigmon.com.

A few of my favorites are:

STROKE

3. National Stroke Association

4. American Stroke Association, a division of the American Heart Association

5. Stroke Information from the Mayo Clinic

6. The Internet Stroke Center

AUTOIMMUNITY

7. Autoimmune Disease from Medline Plus

8. American Autoimmune Related Diseases Association, Inc. (AARDA)

9. Autoimmunity and Women’s Health

BRAIN INJURY

10. Traumatic Brain Injury Information Page

11. Traumatic brain injury, The Mayo Clinic

12. The Brain Injury Association of America (BIAA)

You can read more about each of these at:  https://annesigmon.com/resources/

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Don’t Miss This Nov. 14 Book Party Celebrating All Things Wild

Anne in Guatemala

 

It’s a jungle out there and I just can’t get enough of it!

Come help me celebrate publication of my story “Why I Still Travel to the Wild” at a book party sponsored by Left Coast Writers. It’s  on Monday evening, November 14, at 6 pm at Book Passage San Francisco store at the SF Ferry Building. (Just one block from Embarcadero BART.)

My story is a reflection on my (some might say stubborn)  determination to continue traveling to remote corners even after my health was compromised by a stroke and autoimmune disease. It’s just out in the  new anthology Chicken Soup for the Soul: Find Your Happiness. 

Join us for wine,  hors d’oeuvres and jungle-y treats plus, reading and a drawing for prizes.  Fellow author Nicole Guiltinan will join me.  It’s free and open to the public. Great opportunity to start your holiday shopping!

Address: Book Passage, 1 Ferry Building, San Francisco, CA 94111    Book Store phone: (415) 835-1020

 

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Alzheimer’s Conundrum: To Test or Not to Test?

There’s a thought-provoking article from Associated Press on the wire this week: Alzheimer’s debate: Test if you can’t treat it?

The gist of the debate is this: with today’s more sophisticated tests–such as the diffusion MRI–it’s easier for doctors to identify brain damage (in the form of plaques) that might suggest someone is developing Alzheimer’s disease. But the treatment options are limited and not terribly effective.

Some doctors urge more and earlier testing, believing it will lead to more effective treatment, both for patients who are shown to be developing Alzheimer’s (by starting treatment earlier) and for those who are not (by allowing both doctor and patient to focus on other possible causes and treatments).

Other doctors say there is no evidence that earlier diagnosis leads to a more favorable outcome and they worry about the costs of widespread early testing. Some patients worry what a test showing brain deterioration, even without symptoms, might mean for future employment, insurance or even senior housing options.

This story hit home for me on two fronts. After a couple of recent episodes that seemed more serious than “senior moments,” my 84-year-old mother is being sent by her doctor for tests this week. And, as a patient with an already-damaged brain from my stroke, I realize that I’m at higher risk for developing Alzheimer’s myself.

I’m squarely in the “I want to know” camp, both for my mother and myself.

My mom lives independently, alone, in a retirement home with good services and a great medical staff. She has resources in place, with help from my sister and me, to navigate occasional choppy waters of forgetfulness and confusion–those “senior moments” that seem to multiply with the years.  But if there’s more to it than that, we all want to know. My sister and I will need to plan for the more intensive care she’ll need. More important, Mom can direct the decisions. If Alzheimer’s is likely, I want Mom to have her say while she still can.

And for me, there’s no question I’d want to know, as early and in as much detail as science allows.

The most terrifying moment of my life came on the morning of my stroke when I felt my mind slipping away, my thoughts scattered like dandelion seeds in the breeze.

“My mind was like cotton candy, everything I’d ever known obscured in a swirl of sticky pink sugar.”

-Excerpt from A Stroke of Bad Luck

I won’t ask to be tested anytime soon, and not without a good reason. My days are already woven with orange-juice-in-the-microwave, hair-gel-on-the-toothbrush moments, courtesy of brain damage from my stroke. These “synapse lapses,” as I like to call them, increase with fatigue, stress, with illness, then taper down when I’m feeling well.  I’ve come to take them in stride. On most days, there’s more clarity than chaos, and that’s enough for now.  But if things should get worse, you betcha I’ll want to know what’s gong on, PDQ.

How about you?

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12 Safety Tips for Managing Your Meds

Healthy hard bodies whose ills amount to the occasional cold or case of shin splints from overdoing the marathon circuit don’t need advice on managing medications. For rest of us these common sense tips on drug safety can apply to everyone, but are but are crucial for stroke and autoimmune patients, anyone with impaired memory, or chronic illnesses that involve multiple meds.

1. Take a notebook to the doctor’s office and write down all instructions–preferably the same notebook each time. (Have a little fun–choose a notebook with cartoon characters or my personal favorite, the skull and crossbones in vivid pink by Peter Pauper Press.)

2. Know what you’re taking. Ask the doctor:

  • the name of the medication
  • what it’s for
  • how to take it (how often? what times? with food or without?)
  • how long to take it
  • what side effects to expect
  • whether there may be interactions with any other medications

Pay attention to the answers and write them down.

3. Make sure every doctor knows every drug you take, including any over-the-counter remedies. (No cheating ‘cause you don’t want the doc to know about those shyster weight-loss pills you ordered from late night TV!)

4. Watch out for drug interactions! Each time you receive a new prescription, ask the doctor about possible interactions with any other medications you’re taking, whether prescription or over-the-counter.

5. Find a pharmacy that’s convenient and seems to have a good safety culture (It’s hard, I know, with mass-market chains invading our neighborhoods like alien mother ships. Just do the best you can.)

6. Make sure you can open the bottle. If you have trouble opening child safety caps (like many stroke or arthritis patients, including me), ask for easy-open caps; but be sure to store to store them out of the reach of children.

7. Resist the urge to grab ‘n go. For every new prescription, take a minute to go over the instructions with the pharmacist before you leave the store. If you buy any new over-the-counter products, ask the pharmacist about interactions with your prescriptions.

8. Mail order? If you order prescriptions through the mail, make sure the service allows you to speak to  a pharmacist by phone if you have questions.

9. With every refill, check before you leave the store. Make sure it’s the right drug, the right brand, the correct dose, and in a bottle you can manage.

10. Have a set routine for taking your medicines.  I take my most important ones at bedtime after I brush my teeth. At pill-taking time, pause, clear your mind and pay attention to what you’re doing. (See related post STAR Check for Drug Safety.)

11. Store your medications properly. Read the package insert for instructions. Most medications do well in a cool and dry place, away from heat and light, and well out of reach of children. (Note: the warm, humidity of the bathroom is usually not the best place!) Some prescriptions require refrigeration. Don’t mix different medications in the same container.

12. Watch the expiration date. The dates are conservative and there’s almost always a little wiggle-room. But if you store your meds in the warm humidity of a bathroom they may degrade more quickly.  Discard medications that have become discolored or powdery or small strong.

Other Resources:

The Five Most Dangerous Medicine Mistakes that Way Too Many People Make

Please share your own tips for safe management of meds.