Essential online services will let you stay in tune with your body’s condition
Nash David
“A man too busy to take care of his health is like a mechanic too busy to take care of his tools.”
—Spanish Proverb
Health is a gift, and good health no less than divine blessing. In our rapidly changing world, disease and illness is as common as the stars in the sky. Besides, although urban India is known abroad for cheap and effective healthcare options, awareness is vital for a healthier society. Good health is synonymous with joy. Mention disease and sickness, and you just can’t avoid gloom and despair. We’ve all been through testing times where a near or dear one is battling a threatening condition, a problem, or is facing a stubborn illness that just refuses to get cured. The result—panic, uncertainty and all the associated rush of emotions.
The average Indian lives in a small town that may not have access to an endocrinologist, oncologist or maybe even a dermatologist. How much do you think your average neighbourhood practitioner could educate you on the Zollinger-Ellison Syndrome? Although critical in the scope of this article, we shall not dwell on statistical proof that indicate the shockingly high number of quacks around—let’s just say that all of us need to be aware, equipped and educated on health conditions. While the onus of treatment will always lie with the medical fraternity, it is our duty to be literate in every sense. If not for ourselves, at least for our loved ones, our friends, our relatives, our colleagues, we need to be educated.
For probably the first time, we hope you never desperately need the information in this article. However, in case you are in a situation where you want to learn more about a particular condition, look no further. We present you with two valuable sites, filled and over flowing with resources that you would find handy in unfortunate events. The first is Google Health and the second, WebMD.
Google Health
A tool to collaborate your health records, Google Health doesn’t stop just there. You will also find valuable information on health conditions, with the recommended general treatment. When you enter the medications that you take, Google Health automatically tells you the potential drug interactions that you need to be careful about. This is valuable information, especially for the next doctor treating you.
Registering
Google Health, like most Google services is free-to-use and requires nothing more than a Google account. If you already have a Google account, then you need nothing more to be set up.
Creating A Profile
To start using Google Health service, go to www.google.com/health. Enter your Google ID and password. On the home page, you will see links for notices, drug interactions, conditions, medications, allergies, etc. Enter your details in the section for Profile details. Fill in as much data as you have, so that it helps the next doctor that you visit and gives him as much information as possible.
Conditions
Once you click on Conditions, select all the medical ailments that you suffer from. You can do so by selecting them from the list provided.
Medication
Similarly, after you enter all the conditions and allergies that you suffer from. This will help your doctor to be careful with his prescription, so you do not develop any unfavourable reactions. For example, if you have an allergy to Vaseline, he would avoid cream based preparations, and rather prefer tablets or capsules.
Vaccinations
On the link for vaccinations, you can enter all the inoculations and vaccinations that you have undergone, so that your doctor has a history of all prophylactic treatments and courses you have undergone.
The aim of Google Health is not to treat you, but to provide you with an efficient means of storing your health records. Although currently it would not be possible to use it to its full potential, in its present shape it proves to be highly effective in the US, where the site has strategic partnerships with reputed hospitals and clinics. Nevertheless, the pool of resources is still available to you. Besides, if Google decides to tie up with hospitals in a similar way in India, then that would be an added boon that’s worth waiting for.
WebMD
The other site that we present to you is WebMD.com. This site from the very view of the home page appears to be one power packed with information and not for a moment does it let you down.
On this Web site, the most helpful and informative tool is the symptom checker, which approaches your ailment using a graphical interface. Once you select your gender, you get a diagram of the human body, with main sections highlighted when you hover the mouse around. Say, you have a back ache. First select the back view. Next, click on the part of your back that’s giving you trouble. You will see a list of symptoms associated with the back.
On selecting ache, you will see a list of possible causes for your pain. Although this may feel mysterious, just click on any one symptom and all your doubts will vanish. You will see a tab titled overview. This tab tells you about the symptom. Similarly, View All Symptoms tells you about all associated symptoms that can be informative.
Well, we do have doctors all around us, then why look online? Certainly, doctors are the final answer to our health woes, but did all the confident support for them just fade away? We need awareness! The intention of presenting this article is to increase awareness of health issues, and to do away with myths associated with diseases.
nash.david@thinkdigit.com