July 6th, 2010 by DavedeBronkart in Better Health Network, Health Tips, Opinion, True Stories
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I love this — a website that could’ve ONLY been created by cancer patients. From ThinkAboutYourLife.org:
Find empowerment: Anything you can do to feel like you are taking control of your illness and treatment will help you. Think About Your Life was developed by cancer survivors. We have used the tools on this website in our own experiences, and we hope to inspire you do the same.
This website provides easy-to-use tools for each stage of the cancer journey to help you:
- Process your thoughts and feelings: Elizabeth shared the “Good Day, Bad Day” tool with her family to tell them how they could help her throughout treatment.
- Take control and make decisions: Amanda used her “One Page Profile” with her doctor to discuss the impact of treatment on her life.
- Think about the “what now” and the “what next”: The “Hopes & Fears” tool helped Susan think about the next few months of her life after treatment.
I learned about the site from its creator, Amanda George, who commented on a recent post about person-centered health. Hot diggety. Don’t you just love how the Internet lets us connect with each other and share ideas?
*This blog post was originally published at The New Life of e-Patient Dave*
July 3rd, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, Health Tips
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I like to pass on good tips, and these ways to simplify your life make a lot of sense. The constant stress we feel because life is so complicated isn’t good for our health. Here are six tips to have a simpler lifestyle:
1. De-Clutter Your Home
Look around. If you have piles of paper, too many “things” and nic-nacs laying around, it’s hard to think clearly and function. An open, clear space allows our minds to feel open and more peaceful. Tackle one room at a time. Be ruthless and donate or toss everything that isn’t useful, beautiful, or has special memories.
2. Limit Family Activities
Try to force family members to choose only those activities that are most important. Many of us are over-scheduled and have no time to “just see where the day will take us.” Thirty years ago no stores were open on Sundays and there wasn’t much to do except go on picnics or just hang out with friends and family. It’s okay to “veg out” and may even be good for your family’s health. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
July 3rd, 2010 by David Kroll, Ph.D. in Better Health Network, Health Policy, Opinion, Research
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To further emphasize my admiration for superb sci/med/health writing, I wish to add another writer to my growing blog category of “Journalists, Awesome.”
Via my drug abuse research colleague, DrugMonkey, my attention was drawn to a new Wired magazine article by Brendan I. Koerner entitled, Secret of AA: After 75 Years, We Don’t Know How It Works. I strongly recommend this long-form article for anyone in the field of substance abuse and dependence research, psychology and general clinical research, students of excellent science writing, alcoholics and their family members, and anyone who thinks that good science writing no longer exists.
I don’t want to influence your views any further, other than to say that since I poured my first whiskey and water for my grandmother when I was around 7, I’ve had a longstanding interest in why Alcoholics Anonymous helps so many alcohol-dependent folks kick the disease for decades while others trying the approach continue to crash and burn or otherwise abhor its very tenets, especially the “Higher Power” focus. The reader comments there also reflect this bipolar view of the unorganized organization. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Terra Sigillata*
June 30th, 2010 by Medgadget in Better Health Network, News, Research
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In a Thought Police kind of way, a new computer program can detect depression through your online writing.
Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, in Beer-Sheva, Israel, have developed a program that detects depression in text without obvious terms like “depression” or “suicide.” In a sample of 200 positively-identified texts out of 300,000 which were screened by the program, there was a 78 percent agreement between the program and a panel of psychologists. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at Medgadget*
June 30th, 2010 by Toni Brayer, M.D. in Better Health Network, News, Opinion, Research
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According to the Archives of Dermatology, there are people who are addicted to indoor tanning. That journal reported on a study of 421 university students in the northeastern United States. Using self-reported questionnaires, they screened for alcoholism and substance use as well as anxiety and depression. They also had a questionnaire about addiction to indoor tanning.
If you’re scratching your head (as I was), there’s a medically-accepted criteria known as CAGE (cut down, annoyed, guilty, eye-opener) that correlates with addiction, so they used this for “addiction” to indoor tanning also. They found that more of the kids who met the criteria for addiction to indoor tanning also had greater anxiety, greater use of alcohol, marijuana and other substances. Read more »
*This blog post was originally published at EverythingHealth*
