tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-90328746284063241312024-03-12T21:12:03.346-07:00health websitesUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-30872053995155653482012-08-11T05:49:00.002-07:002012-08-11T05:49:44.773-07:00Benefits of Buying Women Health Supplements from the Best Supplier<div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Would you like to consider buying women health supplements online? Do you know the benefits of buying women health supplements from the best online supplier? Well, the existence of women health supplements gives women chances to achieve their desired physical condition. As you certainly have known, not only do men but also women want to have a perfect body shape because a body shape has significant influences to their performance. Luckily, women health supplements are widely available on internet lately so everyone looking for women health supplements can buy the products without leaving their place. This condition is certainly beneficial for shoppers.</span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">However, in your attempt to buy women health supplements online, you have to manage to buy them from the best online supplier. There are three benefits that you will receive if you buy supplements from the best online supplier. The first benefit is ability to shop without being noticed or known by other people. If </span><a href="http://store.femnutrition.com/privacypolicy.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">privacy</span></a><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> is everything for you, you should buy supplement from the best online supplier because such supplier has high concern with customers’ comfort and convenience. Then, the next benefit is opportunity to save money on women health supplements since the best supplier usually prices their products cheaper than local store. You certainly will not miss any opportunity to save money because saving money on a product helps reducing your spending. As you know, if you could reduce your spending, you could have more money for your living. </span></div><div style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">Moreover, the third benefit is ability to find your desired products easily because the best online supplier has </span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://store.femnutrition.com/categories.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">various categories</span></a></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; line-height: 115%;">. When you have plenty options to choose, you can easily compare several options side by side thoroughly so you can find an option that best fits your needs. Therefore, the next time you buy women health supplements online, you had better buy them from the best online supplier.</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-79313582835985518462012-07-11T05:31:00.002-07:002012-07-11T05:31:13.221-07:00Travel Health<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">With summer on the horizon, it is a fair assumption that the number of people travelling will increase. Students often take this time to increase their exposure to other parts of the world, learn new cultures, and view their environment from different perspectives. An e<a href="http://chocolatbakery.blogspot.com/">xciting time</a> it is for these people who carry on their backs the anticipation of an exciting adventure in their immediate future.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Sometimes, however, the adventure can take a turn for the worst. Excursions into the jungle mixed with the exoticism of trying new foods can expose unsuspecting travelers to the dangers of foraging into unknown territory.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">For those of us who are lucky enough to have been born and raised in the western world, we do not have to face the daily challenges of contracting malaria or yellow fever from an infectious mosquito. This fact puts us at an even greater risk because our bodies are not used to the exposure. Consequently, we must understand the dangers of traveling and begin to take steps to protect ourselves.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">The key to maintaining a healthy and safe trip is planning ahead of time. Know and understand the place you are going to before getting on the plane. Ask yourself: What kind of civil infrastructure is in place there? What is the political atmosphere? Will I have running water? What kinds of diseases are prevalent there? Gathering information to help you answer these questions will make you aware of the situations you might face when you get there and will better prepare you for your adventures.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Be sure to visit your doctor at least 6 - 10 weeks in advance. He will be able to inform you of the specific health issues in your particular areas. In addition, he can give you information on how to protect yourself from the dangers of the region. If you are on medication or are suffering from a chronic illness, ask your doctor for a letter that outlines your conditions and symptoms, as well as, lists the medications you are taking to treat those symptoms. It is a good idea to customize the itinerary of the trip to accommodate your medication schedule. Also, make sure that your routine vaccinations are up-to-date.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-21878876710364332442012-07-11T05:30:00.004-07:002012-07-11T05:30:42.520-07:00Your Dog's Health Is At Risk!<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Dogs should be living to age 20 or more. That's their natural lifespan. But it's being cut short by chemical toxicity in their environment and in commercial petfood, which is fed (to a greater or lesser extent) to over 90 per cent of pets in modern society.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Whether you feed your dog fresh meat or home prepared food as your primary food source, if you're giving ANY commercial petfood to your dog, the chances are that you're cutting your dog's life short. Add to this the toxicity of most veterinary-prescribed and over the counter drugs, including your dog's vaccinations, cortisone (given for a multitude of problems), and parasite treatments (worms, fleas, ticks, mites and so on), and you've got a chemical cocktail which is causing premature ageing and death in companion animals all over the industrialized world.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Does it have to be this way?</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Pollutants affect us all to some degree, but there ARE a number of steps that you can take to minimise your dog's exposure to toxic compounds that affect your dog's health and longevity. There ARE chemical-free dog food programs. There ARE natural alternatives to most toxic drugs routinely given to your dog. And you CAN reduce the pollutants and chemicals that your dog is exposed to on a daily basis.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-39223983268060007762012-07-11T05:30:00.002-07:002012-07-11T05:30:21.674-07:00Fun Kids Websites For Summer<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Fruit and veggie gifts are the theme of this fun kids website, but if you are looking for a website that might appeal to your child when the long summer sets in and after with imaginative characters of fruits and veggies I found this one called "Lunchbox Bunch." The website is designed to sell products such as T shirts, greeting cards and storybooks for kids of all ages and through the teen years. In addition to lots of nutrition information, the website incorporates kids games and quizzes.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">It's fun to match a cleverly drawn vegetable character to your personality and name your favorites and have your friends join in the fun.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Kathleen Patalsky, creator of the website, is a young artist with an idea. Her press release states she has been a life-long vegetarian and is keenly interested in influencing the eating habits of children. She reaches out to kids and adults with her designs to promote eating more fruits and vegetables. She has designed, with considerable artistic talent, a collection of fruit and veggie characters with personality. They primarily appeal to children but many of the products can be enjoyed by adults as well.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">If teachers or parents are looking for a fun activity to do with kids, the website sells a packet of nutritional flashcards using the veggie characters. Children can fill in the outstanding nutritional qualities of the fruits and vegetables.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">You can send Kathleen an email if you are interested in the Tee shirts, storybooks and other products sold from the site.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">But this article is about the fun activities that you can create with your child when you go to this website. Many websites for kids have almost too much clutter and "noise." The beautiful colors and simple activities on this website are just enough to enjoy and not overwhelm them. An additional benefit is the healthful one. The parent can work into the viewing a nutritional lesson as well. The teens will just enjoy choosing a character they like. Reward them with one of the cute Tee shirts in their favorite fruit or veggie.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Try using your child's imagination on this website and make up your own activities. Ask your child which character is their favorite and why. Which fruit or vegetable is their favorite and why. Maybe your child can write a story using one of the characters. Look for the "Activities" page. Doing activities with your child may encourage them to use their imagination, increase their nutritional awareness, and eat more fruits and vegetables.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-64241099594152734582012-07-11T05:30:00.000-07:002012-07-11T05:30:03.464-07:00Employer's Suggestions to Maintain a Good Health of the Employees<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Employees or workers are the backbone of every workplace be it a small business firm or a multi-national company. For proper functioning of these organizations it is essential to keep the workers satisfied and happy to motivate them for better performance. And to satisfy the workers it is the responsibility of the employer to take care of all their demands which also comprises of their health. A proper health guide has to be arranged for every worker for their complete protection.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">The current recession has changed the work culture in the organizations drastically. They are now recruiting lesser number of people capable of multitasking. As a result of which the work pressure on a single person has increased a lot. Night shifts, overtime, street foods, indiscipline lifestyle has an adverse effect on the workers' health.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">To achieve their career goal, to earn more and to be successful workers often have to compromise with their health.It is the responsibility of the employers to extend their helping hand to create a better work environment workers which will help them to stay motivated for better performance.<br />
There are different ways which would help the employers take care of their workers' health. Some of the tools for proper employee health care are as follows</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><b>Different Ways to maintain good health of the Workers</b></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">1. Maintain a healthy environment in the workspace with proper sanitation and cleanliness<br />
2. Make the workers feel comfortable with necessary arrangements like proper sitting place, air supply,healthy foods in canteen or cafeteria etc<br />
3. Assigning a suitable place where they can relax during breaks<br />
4. Suitable health insurance for every worker<br />
5. Try to show individual care for every worker by sharing their problems to give them mental support to handle the work pressure</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Often purchasing a health insurance for individual workers might become impossible for the employee to stay within their budget. To avoid such problems you can get hold of full health insurance for selected workers, group insurance benefits etc. It is better to improve the quality of health care with right treatment at the right time, better diagnoses,regular check-up etc which will help the minimize the health complications and reduce cost of treatments. Referring to the different online health resources can be beneficial to incorporate more useful ways for this purpose.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">It is also the responsibility of the worker to take proper personal care. Proper time management, healthy eating, adequate amount of sleep, regular exercise, releasing stress can help them to maintain a good health and keep them energized throughout the day.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-39311532212383607572012-07-11T05:29:00.005-07:002012-07-11T05:29:33.838-07:00What is Hot in the German, Health Based Internet Ventures<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">The German Health industry is pioneering many new fields and it is a good idea to keep a tab about the health websites and what they offer as hot selling products. This helps the local shops to get an idea about new products that work and it also helps buyers of these products to validate the popularity across the globe. Not many folks visit the foreign language websites. Hence they are not aware about this new technique of cross comparison of what the others in the other side of the world are considering as hot products. May be they are hot because of their ground breaking benefits. May be they are hot because they are highly debated. No matter what having an idea helps in multiple ways.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">The product categories are dealt with in this article rather than individual products:</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">1. <b>Pheromones</b>:<br />
This is a highly debated topic, after the discovery in Germany about the existence of the Sex Sense. This is a reaction caused due to the existence of certain bio-chemicals in the mate. Human study is inconclusive, but there are many products that sell like hot cakes for inducing this sense.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">2. <b>Low Carb Diet products: </b><br />
The shakes and bars are hot products in this category.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">3. <b>Weight Gain products</b>: funny as it may seem but weight gainers are hot sellers in these websites. The hot sellers are the muscle builders that don't add fat but rather that could create good muscles. This is a much sought item by male models.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">4. <b>Fat Burners</b>: The metabolic booster products are the other main top seller. The latest trend is the green tea based products.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">5. <b>Speed Booster </b>: these products are one more in high demand. Given the current active lifestyle people crave for, the physical body needs the extra boost to do the exercise on top of the long day of tiring work. Folks have become health conscious and they have discovered that rather than lead a life of a couch potato, it is better to have well built body. This needs the necessary energy to start the workouts and keep the muscles at work. This category is well publicized by the fitness clubs as part of their training.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">These five categories are topping the charts but there are more and more new products in the vitamins section making the charts. The pheromones seem to be a hip product for selling to teenagers and the young folks who are more active in you know what I mean.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-6967581205914622492012-07-11T05:29:00.001-07:002012-07-11T05:29:11.473-07:00Popular Health Websites<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">The technological world is changing so much that it's hard to keep up. Imagine; in the days of Little House on the Prairie, Dr. Baker made his house calls for the townspeople of Walnut Grove without a thought that one day doctors would be able to make house calls of sorts without leaving their office. Of course, their world was fictional, but the concept was not; and now, the new-age house call is just as nonfiction a tale as ever. There are many websites in present day that give you an enormous amount of information on ways to diagnose yourself, or even enlist the advice of a medical professional. So the next time you're feeling under the weather, maybe you'll be able to find refuge in some of these popular health websites.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">WebMD</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">WebMD is probably the most popular and trusted of the many health websites out there. I heard of this website many years ago in the same way many people do. One day, I was coughing up a storm, but my cough was more aggressive and painful than I was ever used to. I called for an appointment with my doctor but he couldn't fit me in until the next day, so I called the next best person - my best friend - to complain about my coughing fits. She told me that there was a website called WebMD that might be able to diagnose my symptoms, so I tried it out.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">As soon as I entered the site, I found a symptom checker icon with a picture of a body next to it. I clicked on the picture of the body and was taken to the symptom checker page which asked me first if I was male or female. Afterward, I answered questions about where I was experiencing pain. I clicked the chest area then answered a series of questions regarding the specifics of my chest pains. After my symptoms were determined by the checker, it was suggested that I call my doctor for an immediate appointment within 1 day. Since I had an appointment the next day, I went to find out that I had a sinus infection - not too serious, but enough to require antibiotics and prescription cough medicine for a month.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">WebMD labels itself as "the leading source for trustworthy and timely health and medical news and information." And aside from having this handy symptom checking tool, they offer up-to-date information on a variety of medical topics, and even have what they call "health centers" that focus on various medical conditions from acne and asthma to sleep disorders and strokes. In addition, they offer information on the top 12 health topics, the most common treatments, diet assessments, necessary nutrients, drugs, skin care and so much more - in sum, this website has an overwhelming wealth of information. With everything they have available, it is no wonder that many believe it is one of the best health websites available.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">KidsHealth</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">KidsHealth is another one of the many health websites available - and like WebMD it is very highly-ranked, said to be the most visited site regarding children's health. When you first enter the site, you are given three mini health websites to visit: the site created for adults, the one created for kids, and the one created for teenagers. I decided to start with the parents' website first to see what information they had available. On this site, they list a variety of links to choose from, depending on what you're interested in learning. Some of the links include infections, emotions and behavior, medical problems, and doctor and hospital information. Also, they give parents helpful tips in being able to positively care for their children as well as dealing with emotional and behavioral issues. In sum, this part of the site works to look at health from the parent's perspective to help them be a better health administrator to their child.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Of the three mini health websites, the kids' site offers the most kid-friendly information developed to help them learn with a little fun in tow. There are spelling bees related to health topics, recipes for health and fun foods, articles about growing up, understanding the body, and dealing with feelings, and even a glossary of medical terms written in very easy to understand definitions. There is a section of the site called "Watch Out" that discusses ways to stay safe around the house (gun safety, dog bites, and the rules of the Internet), outside of the house (bee stings, bike safety, and poison ivy) and emergencies and first aid. And a section called Kids Talk allows children to ask their own questions and have them answered for everyone to see.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Finally, the teens' mini site let's teenagers explore the idea of getting older and how they can relate to their bodies. The topics on their page include understanding the body, sexual health, infections, food and fitness. There is a section that discusses drugs and alcohol and the topics include the need to stop smoking, the affects of marijuana and other drugs, and even coping with an alcoholic parent. Like the kids site, they offer different recipes that are healthy and easy to make for teens, like lasagna, turkey chili, cornbread and oatmeal, and they also have a similar Q&A section that allows teens to have their personal issues resolved in anonymity. The three mini health websites are great ways to help people understand the health of those under 18 and allows them to comprehend in their own unique ways.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">These two health websites are just a few of the many available. But they are the most popular in that they are densely populated with very helpful information. WebMD gives adults a vast amount of topics to choose from and covers almost every area in the medical profession allowing its visitors the opportunity to become educated in terminology they can understand. And KidsHealth gives adults, teens and children a way to understand health education, also without having to rely on physicians for definitions when they are not always available or easily understood. So if you are ever in need of medical information and don't know where to turn, I strongly suggest you consider these two health websites to enhance your understanding of you or your child's well being.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-7274682430745673682012-07-05T05:28:00.000-07:002012-07-11T05:28:50.754-07:00Pet Health Websites - Where to Look For Answers<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">When you have a medical question related to your pet, do you know where to look for answers? Many pet owners feel confused about where to get answers to their questions about their pet's health. The internet is a great modern day source to use. But with the advancement in technology comes a quantity of websites about pet health which can be overwhelming. A few sites I have found useful are: Petside, ThePetCenter, and WebVet.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><strong>Petside</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">If you own a cat or dog, this is a great site for you. If your pet is displaying some unusual symptoms and you want to get a diagnosis to whether it is a common problem or if you need to seek professional help, you can use the symptoms checker application. They offer helpful videos and informative articles related to current and seasonal concerns. You can also use the site's online store to purchase your 4 legged companion a gift.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><strong>ThePetCenter</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">This site is a new one that I discovered and now love. It covers everything from simple everyday fleas to complex radiology treatments. If you want a site that explains in detail how to determine the sex of a kitten to what to expect when you take your pet in for surgery, this may be the one for you. You can chat online with an online veterinarian about a question you have. If you need to find a local vet, they have an application for you to search for one. They offer an online store where you can purchase items from your pet's medicine to a skin product.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;"><strong>WebVet</strong></div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">One of my favorites is WebVet because I have found that it has a load of information on cats and dogs as well as birds and small pets. This site is a great site for a first time pet owner who has lots of concerns or for a long time pet owner who wants to keep up-to-date on pet issues and discoveries in the pet world. The articles they provide handle topics from disabilities to stress. You can even search for a pet friendly hotel for your upcoming vacation.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">The most important thing about finding a site is discovering one that you find has helpful advice regarding YOUR pet!</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-27944059971921535492012-07-01T05:27:00.000-07:002012-07-11T05:28:19.440-07:00Web Design Tips for Health Websites<div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">Health websites have a special way in which they should be designed because web surfers anticipate a certain type of website. Web design is very important and while many companies were not aware of this for quite some time it is now catching on that a website selling medical imaging supplies should be designed differently than a website offering medical advice. It all comes down to people and their expectations. We all have them and whenever we walk in a doctor's office we expect it to look a certain way. The same goes for a movie theatre, shopping mall, and other places of interest. We have expectations for the places we visit in person and the same goes for the websites we visit virtually. Websites selling medical surgical supplies should be conservative and informative and make it easy for you to buy products whereas another website that is about gossip can be colorful and fun.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">There are quite a few web design tips for health websites. One tip for health websites is for them to be designed in conservative colors like blue, black, dark green, and other similar colors. People visit health websites for a reason and they want the website to feel like a serious place. Organization is also important when it comes to designing a health website because people will most likely be visiting for informational purposes. As a result you want to have the information placed in a very organized layout so that visitors can find what they are looking for with minimal effort. Web surfers want instant gratification and if they don't find what they are looking for very quickly they will simply click off your page and head back to the search engine to try again. Because of this it is very important to have your website organized in a way that will keep visitors interested and on your page otherwise you will lose them.</div><div style="color: #333333; font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1em; padding: 0px;">So, make sure that when you are designing your health website you check out some other health websites that are popular and see what works and what doesn't. When you can use other websites as references you should because it will allow you to create an even better website with a design that will be outstanding and keep the traffic coming in to your site. Just always keep in mind that simple and straightforward is a lot better than creative and confusing.</div>Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-59209895067944052502012-06-24T00:57:00.002-07:002012-06-24T00:57:16.814-07:00Website Security and Your Business HealthAny business today would consider it foolhardy not to use an antivirus program on their office machines. Practically all businesses would also have some built-in redundancy for their data storage just in case there is a hard drive crash or other catastrophic failure caused by fire or flooding.
But what most business owners don't realize is that their websites are just as open to attacks by online hackers and viruses as their local machines. And especially if your websites are hosted on a "virtual server" meaning that multiple sites are hosted using the same hardware. Virtual services are attractive because of their low pricing but this form of hosting also leaves the other websites hosted on that server vulnerable to one bad apple.
For example, in May of 2007, over 90,000 websites were hijacked by cybercriminals to illegally install malicious software on visitor's computers when they clicked on the Google search results. A research conducted by StopBadware found that about 10 percent of those sites were hosted by one particular hosting company. This hosting company had nearly 250,000 malicious websites.
This incident is not a strike against virtual servers but to warn online merchants that you cannot depend on your web hosting company to secure your websites. This is your responsibility and you will have to accept the dire consequences if you are not proactive in securing your business sites.
Now there are several different methods that hackers can use to break into your website but here we'll look at three of the main web attack mechanism. These are SQL Injection, Cross Site Scripting and CRLF injection.
SQL Injection is one of the most common web attacks used today. Many web applications allow website visitors to submit and retrieve data from a database, one of the most common applications being a user forum. Every time forum members make a post this information is saved in a database to be retrieved later when the post is viewed. Databases make possible a website's ability to show payment information, company statistics, user data and a host of other types of information. The Internet as you know it would not be possible without databases.
SQL Injection is a hacking technique that sends false or illegal requests to a database in an attempt to manipulate the information in some way. Such attacks can allow the hacker to view information in the database or completely delete it. If you run a website with any such features such as search pages, login forms, shopping carts, contact forms or feedback forms, your web site is a candidate for SQL Injection attacks. The same fields that your website visitors are asked to fill out are open doors hackers can use to destroy your databases and expose sensitive data.
Cross Site Scripting is another very common hacking technique that takes advantage of vulnerabilities in a 'dynamic website' allowing the attacker to send malicious code to the end-user and extract data from the victim.
You see, a webpage is made up of HTML code and the actual text. So-called 'static pages' are created when the browser interprets this code to show a single-option page. But in order to give the user some level of control over how the page looks, web applications are used to create 'dynamic pages'. It is in such dynamic pages that hackers can inject malicious code and trick the user into running this script on their local machine in order to steal their sensitive data. These attacks come in the form of JavaScript, VBScripts, ActiveX and Flash making many users very careful about running these scripts from their browsers.
CRLF is simply the acronym for Carriage Return / Line Feed. When you use a word processor such as Microsoft Word, you can press the "Enter" key to go to a new line but no characters appear on the screen. However, if you choose to look at the hidden formatting you will see the symbols used for the CRLF.
A CRLF injection attack does not come through a security hole or the software run by the server but takes advantage of the way the web application was coded. For example, a hacker can input a statement into a form including the code for the CR and LF characters and the web application can then mistakenly take this for a CRFL that was used in the original coding itself. Part of the security measure to overcome this attack will be to filter out any CRFL code that a user can input at your website. Such attacks can completely disable a website.
The purpose of this article was not to make you an Internet security expert like myself, but to build your awareness that your business security shield must go beyond your local machine to your web sites. To simply bury your head in the sand hoping you will never suffer from such attacks is not only opening your business to unnecessary risk but being irresponsible owner.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-60887689594145629162012-06-24T00:51:00.003-07:002012-06-24T00:51:28.909-07:00Best Health Care WebsitesToday there are literally thousands of medical websites online. But which are the best health care websites? Which can you trust? Needless to say, you should be extremely careful which Internet sites you rely on for vital health information and advice! Following are three proven, reliable health care megasites which, by common consent, are among the most reliable and trustworthy.
1. Mayo Clinic
"The Needs Of The Patients Come First" has been the primary and the underlying principal of this world-renowned nonprofit healthcare clinic established by the Mayo brothers in 1889 in Rochester Minnesota. The company's huge website, at mayoclinic.org, provides diagnostic and treatment information on virtually every disease and ailment known, all of which are listed alphabetically.
If you click on, say, Acute Leukemia, the link takes you to a page offering an overview of the disease, as well as a listing of the various blood tests and other diagnostic methods available. The patient can then read details about treatment options which are available. One especially nice feature of the site is that it offers stories of real people who have won the battle against serious illnesses such as acute leukemia.
Additional features include complete profiles of the various doctors who are serving at the Mayo Clinic and the capability to make online appointments with them. You can also refill prescriptions and view and pay bills on the site.
2. WebMD
Webmd.com is an amazing source of online medical information. True to its punch line, "Better Information, Better Health", this website has a lot to offer. For starters, it can be used to locate a specialist or a hospital close to your home location. If you are planning to take a drug that is new to the market, then you definitely need to visit the review section to find details about it before starting to use it.
On the WebMD home page you can find a number of attractive slide show packages dealing with topics varying from how to increase the chances of pregnancy, to a recommended thirty minute workout schedule, to a slide show on dental fixes. There are lots of medical news tidbits as well as an Expert column that enables you to send a query to an expert. You can even post your own tips and advice on the message board. If you are overweight and planning a diet, then use the BMI calculator to find your ideal body weight and a calorie calculator to find how many calories you burn during half an hour walking expedition. The site has many other diagnostic features and services? too many to list here. Overall, it's terrific place to begin most kinds of online medical research. In fact, you may not need to look any further.
3. Revolution Health
Revolution Health (revolutionhealth.com) is an amazingly comprehensive health information website. Take a few minutes to look it over - it's a resource you should probably bookmark. Registration is required but this merely requires that you provide your email address and set up a password. For this small investment in time you will have access to doctor-finding and rating tools, hospital comparative rating charts, disease/medication/treatment research tools, health risk assessment, exercise tracking tools, a 6-week healthy living program, many free newsletters, and much more. You can also sign up for a Premium Membership which provides a "Health Assistant and Advocate" to counsel you in dealing with virtually any type of health question or concern, from finding treatment options to dealing with your health insurance provider. It's a very cool, very useful site and you could spend many hours profitably perusing it.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-40900063728521320602012-06-24T00:51:00.000-07:002012-06-24T00:51:07.252-07:00Healthcare Websites Go SocialSocial media is an essential part of the marketing mix for brands. According to a recent marketing forecast by Forrester Research, social media marketing will grow at an annual rate of 34% faster than any other form of online marketing. Companies are using social media tools to monitor conversations about their products, competitors and industry and engaging with their customers while building relationships.
Popular networking sites including MySpace, Facebook and Twitter are social media websites which are most commonly used for socialization and connecting friends, relatives, and employees. Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and the use of RSS is becoming increasingly prevalent online.
Facebook is a freely accessible social networking website where users can join networks organized by city, workplace, school or region to connect and interact with other people online.
Twitter is a free social networking service that allows its users to send and read each others' updates, known as tweets. Tweets are 140 character, text-based posts that are displayed on the author's profile page as well as the follower's page. Users can send and receive tweets via the Twitter website, a mobile device or external applications.
YouTube is a video sharing website where users can upload and share videos.
RSS stands for Really Simple Syndication. It's an easy way for users to have news and information updated on their own Web sites or other device, instead of just linking to that information. Such information delivered this way is called a feed.
Social Media has penetrated the web in a big way even the healthcare industry has embraced the concept, examples of which are the Health Canada website and the CMA.ca website. The Health Canada website offers a link to the their Twitter Page, that provides consumer product recalls, advisories, foreign product alerts and media releases, Social Bookmarking, allowing you to share interesting web pages and RSS feeds The CMA.ca website offers YouTube Videos, a link to their Twitter page and RSS.
Web-based and social media tools are making it easier to get health information, find doctors, make appointments, keep records, and get support. YouTube is now making transcribed videos available for the visually impaired.
One of the latest steps on the healthcare front involves a partnership between Telus Mobile and Microsoft. TELUS technology opens the way for Canadians to manage their personal healthcare records electronically. Powered by Microsoft HealthVault, TELUS health space is a cutting-edge, high-security data storage and sharing service where individual Canadians will be able to keep all their personal healthcare information, such as lab results and prescription information, in an online database for access over any Internet connection.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-67002888737540026682012-06-24T00:46:00.002-07:002012-06-24T00:46:40.960-07:00Popular Health WebsitesThe technological world is changing so much that it's hard to keep up. Imagine; in the days of Little House on the Prairie, Dr. Baker made his house calls for the townspeople of Walnut Grove without a thought that one day doctors would be able to make house calls of sorts without leaving their office. Of course, their world was fictional, but the concept was not; and now, the new-age house call is just as nonfiction a tale as ever. There are many websites in present day that give you an enormous amount of information on ways to diagnose yourself, or even enlist the advice of a medical professional. So the next time you're feeling under the weather, maybe you'll be able to find refuge in some of these popular health websites.
WebMD
WebMD is probably the most popular and trusted of the many health websites out there. I heard of this website many years ago in the same way many people do. One day, I was coughing up a storm, but my cough was more aggressive and painful than I was ever used to. I called for an appointment with my doctor but he couldn't fit me in until the next day, so I called the next best person - my best friend - to complain about my coughing fits. She told me that there was a website called WebMD that might be able to diagnose my symptoms, so I tried it out.
As soon as I entered the site, I found a symptom checker icon with a picture of a body next to it. I clicked on the picture of the body and was taken to the symptom checker page which asked me first if I was male or female. Afterward, I answered questions about where I was experiencing pain. I clicked the chest area then answered a series of questions regarding the specifics of my chest pains. After my symptoms were determined by the checker, it was suggested that I call my doctor for an immediate appointment within 1 day. Since I had an appointment the next day, I went to find out that I had a sinus infection - not too serious, but enough to require antibiotics and prescription cough medicine for a month.
WebMD labels itself as "the leading source for trustworthy and timely health and medical news and information." And aside from having this handy symptom checking tool, they offer up-to-date information on a variety of medical topics, and even have what they call "health centers" that focus on various medical conditions from acne and asthma to sleep disorders and strokes. In addition, they offer information on the top 12 health topics, the most common treatments, diet assessments, necessary nutrients, drugs, skin care and so much more - in sum, this website has an overwhelming wealth of information. With everything they have available, it is no wonder that many believe it is one of the best health websites available.
KidsHealth
KidsHealth is another one of the many health websites available - and like WebMD it is very highly-ranked, said to be the most visited site regarding children's health. When you first enter the site, you are given three mini health websites to visit: the site created for adults, the one created for kids, and the one created for teenagers. I decided to start with the parents' website first to see what information they had available. On this site, they list a variety of links to choose from, depending on what you're interested in learning. Some of the links include infections, emotions and behavior, medical problems, and doctor and hospital information. Also, they give parents helpful tips in being able to positively care for their children as well as dealing with emotional and behavioral issues. In sum, this part of the site works to look at health from the parent's perspective to help them be a better health administrator to their child.
Of the three mini health websites, the kids' site offers the most kid-friendly information developed to help them learn with a little fun in tow. There are spelling bees related to health topics, recipes for health and fun foods, articles about growing up, understanding the body, and dealing with feelings, and even a glossary of medical terms written in very easy to understand definitions. There is a section of the site called "Watch Out" that discusses ways to stay safe around the house (gun safety, dog bites, and the rules of the Internet), outside of the house (bee stings, bike safety, and poison ivy) and emergencies and first aid. And a section called Kids Talk allows children to ask their own questions and have them answered for everyone to see.
Finally, the teens' mini site let's teenagers explore the idea of getting older and how they can relate to their bodies. The topics on their page include understanding the body, sexual health, infections, food and fitness. There is a section that discusses drugs and alcohol and the topics include the need to stop smoking, the affects of marijuana and other drugs, and even coping with an alcoholic parent. Like the kids site, they offer different recipes that are healthy and easy to make for teens, like lasagna, turkey chili, cornbread and oatmeal, and they also have a similar Q&A section that allows teens to have their personal issues resolved in anonymity. The three mini health websites are great ways to help people understand the health of those under 18 and allows them to comprehend in their own unique ways.
These two health websites are just a few of the many available. But they are the most popular in that they are densely populated with very helpful information. WebMD gives adults a vast amount of topics to choose from and covers almost every area in the medical profession allowing its visitors the opportunity to become educated in terminology they can understand. And KidsHealth gives adults, teens and children a way to understand health education, also without having to rely on physicians for definitions when they are not always available or easily understood. So if you are ever in need of medical information and don't know where to turn, I strongly suggest you consider these two health websites to enhance your understanding of you or your child's well being.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-76496265246230294372012-06-23T00:59:00.001-07:002012-06-24T01:00:21.967-07:00Log On For Health - Creating an Online Health ResourceHow many times have you heard someone say, "Well, as long as I have my health..." Indeed, good health is of paramount importance for all the obvious reasons. It is common practice to stock our medicine cabinets; take vitamins every day; try to eat square meals; and search out a job that offers health benefits. In other words, striving to live well is a way of life.
These days, new medicines and break-through treatments are on the news all the time, and popular diets and exercise fads come and go faster than you can say "Weight Watchers." Let's face it. Despite our desire to stay healthy and in shape, it is getting harder to keep all the information straight and to make smart decisions.
Therefore, more and more people are turning to health related websites. Whether you are looking for prescription drug facts, a list of physical symptoms, directions to a hospital, or a link to a current heath article, a resourceful health website can provide answers in a quick and efficient manner.
Gone are the days when folks relied on their family doctors to keep them informed about health topics. Today, doctors are always pressed for time and it can take weeks to schedule a face-to-face meeting to talk about treatment options or any other health issue on your mind. An informative site can fill in where doctors leave off and provide instantaneous advice and facts about a wide range of health concerns.
For example, a health website may include:
facts about prescription drugs
details about specific surgeries and treatment options
a list of medical specialists and health care facilities in your area
"Ask the Expert" columns
information about clinical trials of the past and present
links to popular health-related articles
interactive tools such as calorie counters; body mass calculators, quizzes
forums, chat rooms, and message boards covering a wide range of topics
When it comes to your health or the well-being of your family, you do not want to waste time searching for information or waiting for the phone to ring to receive a nurse's diagnosis. Logging on to a helpful website-whether it covers general health subjects or is focused on a specific medical issue-can save you precious time and hours of worry. And certainly, for those who do not currently have the benefits of a health insurance plan, the computer may be the only way to gather necessary advice.
The best health websites are user-friendly and up-to-date. The goal should be to create a comfortable online environment that is helpful, interesting, and, above all, reliable. Often, visitors will log on when they have pressing questions or nagging concerns and they will expect concise answers in a matter of minutes.
If your company is part of the healthcare field, consider extending yourself beyond your office walls and providing a worthwhile service for the general public. A website created to address timely health topics will not only bring recognition to your company's name, but it will also serve your community at largeUnknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-29515752183444177852012-06-23T00:59:00.000-07:002012-06-24T00:59:38.235-07:00Take Benefits With Daily Health Care Tips by Online Healthcare SitesPeople routinely need daily health care tips, especially for people suffering from conditions and people taking care of others suffering from diseases. Daily health tips are not essentially aimed at teaching everything about the health care facilities and researches. However, they can be very helpful, when it comes to managing specific conditions and diseases. The tips and advice aimed at patients of serious conditions and their caretakers can be real lifesaver. This is because, they usually come with the dos and don't that you must be knowledgeable about. They are of good value, when they come from recognized sources.
Why subscribe to daily health tips? Everyone can benefit from the knowledge and advice delivered by such content. There are several thousands of such newsletters, websites and blogs available everywhere in the internet. Spend some time Googling and you will come across several hundreds of them. However, not every one of them is a good, authority source. You have to be careful about where you receive the tips from. Get advice from someone who is a doctor, physician or health care expert and not from someone who pretends to be one. How can you determine it? By opting to read from trusted sources.
Tips for health can be anything from lifestyle management, food & drinks, etc to exercise and medication. You can find well-rounded information on selected topics. For example, if you have someone with heart failure in your home, you can opt to receive daily health care tips specially aimed at cardiac persons. The tips may sometimes look trivial, but can be life saving at times. Think about a tag, with details of medication, essential contact numbers, etc. It can be a real lifesaver while you face a medical emergency at a place away from your home.
However, online health tips are not entirely for persons with different conditions. They are also for people who are perfectly healthy and are looking for ideas and suggestions to manage healthy lifestyle. Subscribe to the daily health care tips blogs, newsletters, etc and make sure you get the daily dose of advice, tips and suggestions. You don't have to implement all the ideas and tips. It is not possible too. Because, different people have different ideas about health care, vitamins, exercise and the like. After you know what you are comfortable with, you can get these daily health tips to stay motivated towards a healthier you.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-16860048872520664092012-06-22T00:58:00.000-07:002012-06-24T00:59:07.123-07:00Are Health Insurance Multiple Quote Comparison Websites Useless? Read Ahead and Find OutThere are many persons who feel that regularly obtaining insurance quotes from the World Wide Web is an unnecessary task. They feel that this is only going to complicate matters. The ideal method, they feel, is to wait for the expiry of the term of the insurance before searching for estimates or quotes.
This would have been the best way to proceed had your insurance rates been locked throughout the year without any scope for change. However, health insurance service providers often change terms and conditions and this leads to a change in the cost of insurance. There are many factors that contribute to the change. Do not think your health insurer is bothered about your health.
Profitability and market share are more important for insurers. They will make changes to the policy if they feel that they are losing money in the business. Insurers behave as if it is their birth right to earn high profits at the cost of the insured. In such a scenario, why should you follow misguided sense of loyalty and not even search for estimates of health insurance offered by other insurers?
If you keep track of the estimates, you will be in a position to take quick decision when the change in terms and conditions does take place. Of course, your consent is necessary but do you really have a choice?
If your health insurer adopts take it or leave it attitude, then you will have to get another plan and coverage immediately. Can you just decide this important financial decision in a span of a few hours? This can be done only if you have done the groundwork and are aware of the latest trends in the market. Only then can you utilize the same to enhance benefits.
There is no other research tool that offers the fantastic benefit that these quotes offer. For starters, the quotes are available for free. Secondly, there are no obligations involved. You do not become legally bound to deal with any particular insurance company.
This ensures that your freedom to make the right choice is not affected in any manner. Finally, you can simply dump the entire thing and continue with the existing plan. There is nobody to stop you or ask you why you did not make the change despite obtaining quotes.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-69481398353001170942012-06-16T00:58:00.000-07:002012-06-24T00:58:38.918-07:00Obtain Cheap Health Insurance Quotes OnlineThe best method of finding cheap health insurance quotes is through the internet. If one is searching for cheap quotes, the internet is the answer to that problem. There are many sites that deal with premium quotes. A customer can visit any site and find the type of quotes required. The online sites belong to the brokers who assist the customers to obtain the reliable and dependable companies. The brokers make it easy and fast when finding the insurance companies. They are reliable brokers because they only deal with insurance companies that have good reputations.
There are useful online websites that act as brokers for insurance companies. The process of comparing insurance quotes has been simplified due to the presence of online sites. Nowadays, it is easy to make comparisons of the insurance quotes since guides are available to assist customers. They provide customers with affordable insurance from firms with a good reputation. The entire process is done online while sitting at home taking a cup of tea. There is no need of moving or walking to the insurance companies. Online services have enabled everyone to access the insurance services from anywhere as long as there is the availability of computers and internet connection.
The websites are useful to customers in budgeting for the insurance services. By use of a free health insurance quote, customers can save a significant amount of money by use of these brokers. After getting a convenient insurance company, there is a possibility of a good budget and save money for other expenditures. This is your chance to take a step and get insurance cover against your health problems in the future.
It is easy to search for free quotes online since no hassling. People may wonder about the process of getting online free health insurance quote. It is as simple as typing the word free quotes and the search engine provides all the information. The search engine is reliable since it simplifies the task of finding health insurance companies. The insurance companies will first be displayed starting with the top companies. The online brokers assist in finding the cheap health insurance quotes that fit in ones budget. The websites are not only useful in finding cheap insurance services but also they assist in getting quality services. There is a need to make a comparison of the health quotes before settling for one. This will assist in making the best choice of insurance company.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-40930780438165406262012-06-11T00:57:00.000-07:002012-06-24T00:58:08.600-07:00Pet Health Concerns - Information Equals WellnessPet owners tend to have a few things in common, one of which is a desire to provide their animals with the best life they can possibly enjoy. This sense of responsibility encompasses everyday care and maintenance of your pets health, as well as dealing directly with any problems or questions that arise. To do this, the pet owner needs to arm herself with the best, most up to date information on the common wellness issues facing her pet, whether it's a cat, dog, or some other animal.
There is a veritable encyclopedia of knowledge available across the internet on various websites about cat health problems, pet health information, dog health questions, and things like diabetic and all natural dog food. Unfortunately, pet health information can be good or bad, depending on the source, and your veterinarian is always your best guide for real advice on topics like flea control, weight problems, and skin, coat, eyes, and dental care.
There are, of course, reputable companies that provide valuable insight into your pet's health, including such well known brands as Innova, Pedigree, and Science Diet. Some important issues like whether to feed your dog dry or canned food can be researched from their informative pet health websites. Again, filter all of the information you receive through your pet's vet.
Vaccinations are a crucial component of your pet's ongoing wellness, and diseases like rabies, viruses, and the flu can be prevented by following your vet's recommended schedule. in addition, flea and tick control can not only keep your dog comfortable, but also prevent such things as Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever. Worms, like Hookworm and Ringworm, are also simple to prevent and treat, which is another good reason to visit your pet's animal clinic regularly.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-33029840296739781292012-06-10T00:56:00.000-07:002012-06-24T00:56:50.413-07:00Healthcare Marketing and Medical Websites - How Patients Find Their Specialist DoctorsDiscussion of Recent Results of the study: How Patients FIND specialists.
* Medical Websites: 45%
* Internet Listing: 10%
* Yellow Pages (book) 2%
* Word of Mouth 17%
* Brochures at Referring
* Physician's Office 11%
* Prescription from
* Primary Care Doc 15%
What have we learned?
The old Yellow Pages is no longer in use. As most doctors will have internet presence in the next 5 years the best way to look up a doctor is through an internet listing. Yes, Yellow Pages definitely has an online version and so do at least 5 other major listing directories. Google Business is great! It allows patients to see the doctor's address on the map when they type in their search.
Word of Mouth: Talking about a Positive Experience as a patient
Word of Mouth... well, if you had a great patient experience in the office, short waiting time, excellent staff, and you were able to effectively be treated for your condition? Wouldn't you want to share your experience with others? Wouldn't you want to respond to "I have these awful headaches" with... "I know this amazing Neurologist in New Jersey! He's amazing. Other doctors consider him to be a Thought Leader, a true expert in his field. I had these cluster headaches for the longest time and now I don't. This doc knew everything about my condition. And you should have seen his office, it's so clean... and I waited only 5 minutes before I was seen by a Nurse Practitioner."... it kinda leaves the question to ponder... 'Why aren't doctors making sure patients have a positive experience?'
Medical Brochures: Do you read them? Have you ever been to your primary care office and while waiting for those 45 minutes you picked up a few brochures? It's quite amazing that almost half of patients eventually do go to the specialist after seeing his brochure.
Prescriptions are self-explanatory. You go to a doctor, he writes a referral to a specialist.
Medical Websites
But what of those medical websites? Isn't it an amazing way to talk about a doctor's experience, his office, and to read up on the expertise in treating YOUR condition? Do you know how many doctors in the US actually have a medical website? Less than 20%
With so much competition in the medical field, it's no wonder patients are completely unaware of WHERE to seek medical help. Why aren't doctors getting smarter to help patients find them?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-63115287250086182362012-05-28T00:55:00.000-07:002012-06-24T00:56:16.132-07:00Can Social Networking Cause Depression?Internet Use
The Internet is commonly used for retrieving information. The amount of information seen online is endless, and the accuracy is questionable. But people continue to turn to the Internet to look for answers. But is this a good thing, particularly for those suffering from diseases and illnesses like depression?
Internet usage varies from one person to another. Some addictive users of the Internet tend to look at more sexually gratifying websites and gaming websites. Such websites are linked to people who already are depressed. However how do social networking sites affect addictive users of the Internet?
Social Networking
Medical practitioners continue to play a vital role in providing medical information to depression sufferers given the emergence of health related social sites. Networking sites allow people to communicate with other people on a global scale. People are given the opportunity to find old friends or make new ones. This new world of socializing online, gives depression sufferers many platforms such as medical blogs, live health chat, videos and much more.
Social Networking Can Cause Depression
It seems that people are substituting the Internet for normal social activities. Playing in the street with the neighbors is now a thing of the past; people are now turning to social networking sites to play games with their neighbors in the virtual space. This level of disengagement can expose some people to depression. Some people cannot control their Internet use, which in turn leads to feelings of distress and functional impairment of their daily activities. Men generally show more addictive tendencies than women in Internet use, and younger people show more addictive tendencies than older people. Given this, should social networking be banned to those suffering from depression?
No, Social Networking Doesn't Cause Depression
Some people, who use the Internet and social networking sites more often than others, have already been diagnosed with depression. Factors that correlate to depression and result in addictive behavior include gambling, alcoholism, and weight problems. There are other circumstances that conclude to depression which cause people to head to the Internet and social networking sites. Such circumstances that are required to be further examined include personal, social, professional, and health circumstances that influence mental health.
Support Communities
Information on illnesses such as depression is now readily available online. There are a lot of people who suffer from depression and have not heard of health related social networking sites. These sites are engaging, empowering and educating disease and illness sufferers. People have found excellent solutions on health related social networking sites. These sites are not replacing these professionals but instead aim to give illness suffers a voice, a voice to be heard by other disease and illness sufferers.
Online health communities bring people together, forming simple companionship, and sharing knowledge and information.
Quality of life improves when the illness sufferers are in control of their illness or disease, and online health communities provide illness sufferers this support. The greater the community, the greater the support. All health communities require growth, growth by visitors and growth by registered members participating in discussions.
The winner of a global social site containing a platform for various health communities is Social-medicine.org. Its aim is to connect people suffering from various diseases and illnesses and encourages people to share information for the benefit of helping each other with their health.
Social Medicine is a new world of social networking, that promotes exchange of knowledge, ideas and information, making user experience an energizing and a rewarding one.
Social-medicine.org is putting the social back into all things medical. Designed to help individuals dealing with particular illnesses, help share their thoughts, experiences, and knowledge with others who experience the same condition. It is designed to be a social, fun and a relaxed way to learn and share information. Its emphasis is on connecting people and has all the social networking features and functionality expected.
Social-medicine.org is differentiated from the other medical social networking sites as it primarily focuses on illness sufferers within the health communities. Social Medicine fosters a community support experience, where real people in similar situations come together, to circumvent negative feelings like disconnection and loneliness, and focus on improving self-esteem, understanding, communication, relationships, and peer support.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-24826706660628759582012-05-26T00:55:00.000-07:002012-06-24T00:55:46.432-07:00Patient-Centered Health Sites Improve Patient Outcomes and Physician SatisfactionIs your healthcare site patient-centered? If you think it is, how do you know? Have you measured what your patients (clients) think?
Being patient-centered seems to be a hot topic in the healthcare field over the last 6 or 7 years. I first read about it in the Institute of Medicine's report "Crossing the Quality Chasm." It appears a multitude of times in articles and websites about the Patient-Centered Medical Home for primary care providers. Dr. Carolyn Clancy, director of the Agency for Healthcare Quality, recently authored an article on this topic for "Patient Safety and Quality Healthcare."
Why is this such a prominent topic at this time? Dr. Clancy states in her article that "patients are the best source of information about their own bodies and about how they prefer to be treated. They should be active participants in decisions about their treatment...When patients play an active role in their healthcare, they are more likely to comply with their treatment-and enjoy safer care." From her point of view, the patient enjoys many benefits.
From my point of view, this is also a win for the healthcare site. For one, if the patient has a chronic disease, then the primary care physician will be much more successful in treating the patient. Instead of the patient coming in every month or so to "put out a fire," the well-managed chronic care patient can come in twice a year or so for a checkup and encouragement. Many physicians would rejoice at such success. After all, that is why most became physicians. The office manager at the primary care site may see it as a loss of income.
This is not likely to be so as pay-for-performance rewards will help offset the income and most offices will better be able to meet the needs of all their patients. Also, according to a 2005 article by Truls Ostbye in the Annals of Family Medicine, most primary care physicians don't have enough time in a day to handle the needs of their chronically ill patients, much less those with acute problems. Hence, time not used in "putting out fires" can be devoted to the needs of other patients who may not have been receiving the amount of care necessary. The physician's day will still be full.
For hospitals, as noted in another article in the March/April edition of "Patient Safety and Quality Healthcare," there will be lower costs in risk management. In other words, there will be fewer suits, lower insurance costs and improved patient loyalty. One local hospital used the approach to satisfying patients and families needs and concerns to rise to the top quartile of national hospitals in patient satisfaction. In fact, this year this same hospital was ranked by "Modern Healthcare" as one of the top 100 hospitals in the United States.
I have used the client-centered model to increase the number of clients that I serve and the number of sources of clients. For instance, just this month one of my satisfied clients referred me to a university to work with students seeking their Ph.D.s to help with their data analysis. I have already picked up two new clients. Further, this same client referred me to a medical research office at a local hospital where I will be helping with their data needs.
If this isn't enough to convince you that being patient-centered is a win for all involved then let me report the most important findings of a survey that I recently analyzed for a healthcare system. The survey of employees found that the most important characteristics they wanted in a physician were physician courtesy, staff courtesy, and physician reputation. An office with these characteristics will improve patient loyalty and thus improve outcomes for the office. Client loyalty is a key of any business (and healthcare is a business!); it improves profits since it is easier to serve repeat clients than to develop new ones.
How do you know if you are patient-centered in your practice or at your site? Is it enough to think that you are because you are offering services that articles focusing on the patient-centered services say are necessary, such as email visits and other IT solutions. I don't think that implementing services such as these will be enough. The only way to really know is to ask your patients; this approach, in fact, fits the patient-centered model. Should you just ask a patient outright about important qualities identified in the relevant literature? No. The best approach is to use a survey. Dr. Clancy notes in her article that fewer than 33% of primary sites use surveys to gauge their success in providing services. Hospitals are much better as CMS vigorously promotes surveys now.
Good surveys are developed by professionals, such as statisticians, with the help of the healthcare site employees. Developing your own survey with the help of a professional will yield results that provide a better fit and analysis of your site. For instance, suppose you want to measure courteousness of staff and physicians at your site. Just asking "Are the staff and physicians at this site courteous?" won't do, even if you use a 10 point scale. If the answer by the patient is generally negative, the question as asked won't provide you with any clue as to how to proceed to improve courteousness.
However, if you develop a survey on-site, you will probably come up with more pointed questions, such as "Are you greeted by the receptionist when you come to the office?", "Do you feel comfortable asking questions of nurses aides?", and "Does the physician answer your questions in such a way that you are satisfied with the answers?". Using a survey occasionally at your site will give you a benchmark to start with and track your success over time. With improved success you will see better patient outcomes and improved patient loyalty and word-of-mouth referrals, which will improve your income.
I believe that current literature is correct in emphasizing patient-centeredness. Emphasis on this topic will continue and more payees will base rewards on it. Adopting good businesses practices that use this approach (often termed Voice of the Customer) in continuous quality improvement models and Lean Quality Improvement models will yield excellent results. For many sites the journey towards patient-centeredness will require much effort and time. A good starting point is using professionally developed and analyzed surveys.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-17912336836082616262012-05-21T00:55:00.000-07:002012-06-24T00:55:15.571-07:00Soul Food Recipes Websites Offering Healthy Heart Cooking TipsSoul food recipes are growing healthier, to the delight of health experts and medical professionals. The popular southern cuisine have been a tradition of tasty eating for people for many decades. But the high calorie, fat and sodium have been a concern for health professionals. Traditional recipes have called for high amounts of fat, butter, salt and cream.
This has always worked to make food rich and tasty - but unhealthy. The ingredients have proven to contribute toward obesity, high blood pressure, diabetes and other health ailments. But newer websites offers visitors creative ways to cook healthy soul food recipes while keeping the robust flavors and taste people have come to love.
The experts do this by using natural herbs, spices and flavors to make the dishes interesting and entertaining. In addition, lighter cooking techniques is also demonstrated with free state-of-the art videos visitors can watch on demand. These newer websites is updated each day, so visitors can get the latest healthy cooking tips.
Many tech-savvy websites also offer entertaining video recipes and demonstrations by experts - of the top soul food recipes. The recipes are voted by readers and experts based on page views for the day. That means visitors get minute by minute updates on the most popular recipes.
An interesting addition to many websites is the addition of a seasoning dictionary, where the reader can see what seasoning goes with what foods. This is an important aspect of cooking southern food. Why? Because robust flavors is the hallmark of southern cooking.
The biggest mistake people make when seasoning is either too much, or too little. The seasoning dictionary helps cooks to accurately apply herbs, seasonings and spices... mistake free. The best way to prepare and enjoy soul food cooking now is the healthy way. More modern websites help visitors cook with flair, fun and health in mind.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-6799458188303131122012-05-15T00:54:00.000-07:002012-06-24T00:54:48.565-07:00Preventive Health Nutritional SupplementsThe effectiveness of nutritional supplements in preventing certain diseases and disorders from developing is still being researched today, so any claims or miracle statements that guarantee the prevention of certain diseases is generally considered fraudulent. Certain vitamins, however, do contain antioxidants that protect the body from free radical damage, making them potent and therefore legitimate preventive health nutritional supplements.
1. Antioxidant preventive health nutritional supplements
Antioxidant preventive health nutritional supplements include vitamins C, E, and beta-carotene-- a compound of vitamin A. Mineral antioxidants include zinc, selenium, and manganese. While it is likely improbable to rid the body from all free radicals, together, these vitamins and minerals help defend the body from oxidative stressors, working to increase the immune system.
2. How preventive health nutritional supplements work
Preventive health nutritional supplements can be packaged and sold as a sole-vitamin or mineral, or can be compounded together as complete multi-vitamins and minerals.
Each vitamin and mineral has its own function in fighting free radicals: vitamin C protects and aids the utilization of proteins in the body; vitamin E protects fat in cell membranes; beta-carotene protects against free radicals formed by ultraviolet light; zinc guards against free radicals that may have slipped by other antioxidants; and selenium enzymes guard the energy producing part of the cells.
3. Diseases and free radicals
A combination of antioxidant vitamins is important (taken in the right amount and dosage per day) because free radicals are known to be connected to an array of diseases such as cancer, heart disease, arthritis, cataracts, and even early aging, to name a few. It is speculated that a regular and complete intake of these preventive health nutritional supplements can greatly lower the chances of acquiring such diseases, as well as slow down the degenerative process.
The problem with preventive health nutritional supplements is that it is hard to know for sure if a certain disease would have occurred if a person was not taking the supplements in the first place, or the other way around. At this point, science cannot conclude that supplements are "cures" for many diseases. However, supplements have been proven to prevent deficiencies, such as scurvy. Preventive health nutritional supplements, therefore, should be seen as a health insurance for the body with no absolute guarantees.
Important reminder
Preventive health nutritional supplements are not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration Board, and therefore, it is safer to go with a manufacturer that is GMP-compliant to assure the ingredients and product claimed in the label contain the right amount and dosage. GMP compliance also assures that the product does not contain any contaminants.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-17400903789582313292012-05-10T00:53:00.000-07:002012-06-24T00:54:19.993-07:00Comparing Child Care Websites Like Kids HealthI was browsing around the net for medical information and ran across this great site called Kidshealth. I knew it had to be a special site right off the bat because of its high ranking in Google (yeah, I know this is not a sure-fire way to tell ... but still!). What really sold me on the site, though, was the site itself. It is a really informative place for people of all ages to find out a great deal of information on various aspects of health and life.
Here are reasons to consider it:
#1: There are three different sections. There is the parent's section, the teen's section and the kid's section. And they are all appropriate for their audience. For example, in the parent's section, you will find tons of ways to feed your children the appropriate food, talk to them about their bodies, and it even touches on more serious topics like helping your children stop smoking. The teen's section gets into topics such as sex, infections and peer pressure to drink, smoke and does drugs; and the kid's section has cute spelling bees and other quizzes that both entertain and educate children about their well being.
#2: They give great advice. I'm always leery about seeking out information on the Internet because I'm never sure about the source providing the information. But this site is awesome in that the information is being provided by the Nemours Foundation's Center for Children's Health Media, an organization that was created in 1936 by Alfred I. DuPont as a way to help improve children's healthcare. I must say that they are maintaining his intentions by providing advice on how to stay in good physical and mental health. For parents, they teach you how to talk to your children and cope with emotions and behavior. For teens, they talk about ways to deal with pressure from friends. And with kids, they talk about ways to stay safe when away from home.
#3: They have a great Q&A section. Their question and answer section for each portion of their website is wonderful because it presents real-life concerns that people have expressed in relation to their own lives. And what is cool as that the kid's section also has one. This is important because children think and ask questions in a very different way than adults do. And they deserve to have their questions answered in a similar fashion to the way they think - this is the best way to ensure comprehension.
In addition to the above reasons I love the site is its user-friendliness. It is a really simple to navigate, which is great for the kids. And there is nothing on the site that is inappropriate - all questions asked on the site are screened first before the question, or an answer, is posted.
So what else is there to love? I think the sheer idea that there is a health website dedicated to kids that teaches everyone who deals with them - including them - how to cope with their lives is a wonderful thing. There definitely need to be more sites out like this one that are dedicated to understanding physical and emotional health and maintaining overall well being. If there were, the world would potentially be a better place, right?Unknownnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9032874628406324131.post-55812032531461917622012-04-29T00:53:00.000-07:002012-06-24T00:53:46.801-07:00Healthy Weight Management: Ways to Find The Best Programs Which Promote HealthIf you have been dealing with weight related problems, you can take advantage of any one of the various programs which promote healthy weight management. These programs aim to give you useful information, effective techniques, and different steps on how to achieve your goal, whether it be as losing weight, gaining weight, or maintaining the healthy weight you have already achieved.
Considering that the body's metabolism changes throughout our lifetimes, and slows as we age, strategies to keep metabolism functioning at the optimum level must be kept in mind. As we get older, muscle mass decreases, and this causes the slowing down of the rate at which calories are burned. Knowing this one important fact can make all the difference in maintaining a healthy weight. In the past few years, it has been discovered that the essential amino acid, leucine, plays a key role in muscle retention. Since leucine is unable to be synthesized by humans, it must come from the foods we eat, specifically from protein.
Consuming the proper amounts of protein and leucine is especially critical when one is on a weight loss regime; without the proper amount of protein, and especially leucine, one may lose weight and fat, but muscle will also be lost. To burn the fat and yet keep the muscle is one of the keys to losing weight as well as inches. Additionally, keep in mind that one pound of fat occupies a larger volume than does one pound of muscle. As we become fitter and stronger, the weight loss may not seem as dramatic. This is the time to get out the tape measure and keep track of inch loss rather than weight loss alone.
Another essential element in healthy weight management is sleep. Something as simple as getting a good, long night of sleep could prevent weight loss or weight gain. Studies show that this is especially true for women. If a woman gets less than 5 hours of sleep a night, she has approximately a 30% chance of gaining weight. When we are asleep, the body repairs and rejuvenates at the cellular level, and without enough time to complete all the critical functions, our health suffers.
The best source for locating these healthy weight management programs is the internet. With the use of search engines online, you can find and read a lot of health promotional programs that are available, in conjunction with all the other details that you will need to know about these programs. You can find details about them in various health websites, health related blogs, and in some health related forums. It is also important to check the sources of the information to know if these sites are reliable and can be trusted. Reading reviews from those who had tried certain health programs could also help you decide which one might work for you.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com