The Internet And How It Has Changed Health
April 19, 2008 by Scott Wharton
Filed under Men's Health
The internet has brought forth many great things. One thing that it has helped in many ways is the flow of information of health affairs. Before you would have to thumb through encyclopedias, medical dictionaries, make phone calls and doctor visits if you needed to know something concerning your health. You may have seen on the last episode of South Park and Comedy Central where they lost all internet service. It was chaos, as chaos on South Park is. It gets you thinking of how dependent we actually are on the internet.
With web sites such as WebMD, iMedix, and Mamaherb offering information for everything that may ail you. If you have a funny ache or pain, you can get online and find out what it could be and just how serious it may be before running to a specialist and spending a bunch of money for something so simple as a hang nail or athletes foot. You can find out how to eat healthier and live healthier as well as exercise plans and what may be right for you.
Lets not forget though, the importance of good medical care. The information you may find online is just that. Information. Not proper diagnostics and facts of what you may have or need. Doctors visits are still important. Sometimes you may have a pain in one spot that can be diagnosed as one thing, but what could be causing that pain may be coming from something bigger.
Knowledge is power and it never hurts to get all the information you can before you take a large step in the wrong direction. The previously mentioned web sites, WebMD, iMedix, and Mamaherb are great site to check out and learn from. You won’t get a degree in medical science from them but you gain knowledge that can help around the house and family as well as when choosing a family doctor and just general health knowledge.
Very important message, Scott.
Thanks Alicia. I have 5W PR to thank for the idea. I just wish I would read through my posts before pressing the publish button, so I don’t have to edit through later.
Haha, you sound like me - I’d just finished editing two recent posts before I started surfing around the channel, ha. Anyway, I’d like to include this one (of yours) in next week’s Saturday Sanity at Mental Health Notes if you wouldn’t mind?
Of course I don’t mind.
Thanks a lot for the post. I never heard of Mamaherb before. the other two i know
i would add two more sites to that list http://www.mdjunction.com and http://www.dailystrength.org, but are great sites! (similar).
OK, I’m female and totally not the target audience of this blog, haha, but I thought I’d weigh in again after Jeff’s comment:
I, too, just discovered Mamaherb a week or so ago when they contacted my blog. I don’t know a great deal about them, but I do know they offer information about natural remedies (which is why Scott’s message in this post is so important!).
And, I agree with you about DailyStrength - it’s a great site, as well!
There are other health social networking and community sites like wellescent.com that are helpful. This sort of site can aid people to get more information about their conditions by connecting with people already living with them. Forums and chat allow for safe anonymous interaction and this is important.