Caution – Monitor Your Exposure to Radiation

Posted on 10 February 2012 by Tom

Since they were discovered in 1895, x-rays have been used for many different purposes.   My first experience with x-rays was at a large department store in Cleveland about 1950.  A device called a shoe-fitting fluoroscope enabled me, a clerk and my parents to see whether I needed a new pair of shoes.  It used x-rays, a continuous stream of them,  to see my feet through my shoes as long as a button was pushed.  It seems as though I was one of the lucky ones who had used it, at least this far.  I guess I didn’t play with it as much as some other children did.  A number of them received radiation burns from overexposure.  However, anyone within about 10 feet of the device was at risk when it was used.

Since that time, I have been given chest x-rays in school to look for tuberculosis; the dentist used them for checkups and I had x-rays when I was hospitalized after an accident.  Back then, no one knew enough to be concerned even though early x-ray machines used higher doses of radiation than newer ones.  Now when x-rays are taken, doses are not only lower, but lead aprons are also used in an attempt to reduce collateral damage.  Also, technicians stay behind the scenes in shielded rooms.  Nevertheless, exposures continue to grow as CT scans have become more popular than simple x-rays.  Each CT scan is typically equivalent to several hundred  x-rays.  When you consider that it sometimes takes multiple scans to get a good one, and specialists may want to have ones from different angles, radiation can really add up.

Since it typically takes time for cancer to develop, it is difficult to predict the impact of these exposures.  Couple this with cell phones, high tension power lines, airport scanners, microwave ovens, and a growing amount of other electromagnetic radiation, and the outlook for risk does not look good.  My recommendation is to keep a log that itemizes scans and other exposures.  If possible, try to obtain an estimate of the incremental exposure from each one of them.  Then, put the results in a Lifelong Personal Health Record and share concerns with providers before getting additional scans.  Although CT scans certainly help to diagnose problems, minimizing exposure to any type of radiation is a good idea especially when there is so much that we do not know about their danger.

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Selecting Foods, Drugs and Supplements for Better Health

Posted on 31 January 2012 by Tom

We can be overwhelmed by the number and variety of choices faced in grocery stores and pharmacies.  Finding the best possible combination of foods, drugs and supplements is complicated for those seeking to obtain optimum performance and good health by playing human guinea pig.   Tradenames and distinctive packaging mask differences between competing products making comparisons of proprietary formulations difficult without chemical analysis.   Everyone else is at the mercy of their impulses.

Manufacturers abhor commodities and seek to differentiate their products so they stand out in the marketplace.  Trademarked brands are designed to be distinctive.  Consumers expect them to provide exceptional value; manufacturers expect them to command premium prices.  It is easy to see why there are so many foods, drugs and supplements that have ingredients combined into special, branded formulations.

Unfortunately, confused consumers lack time to navigate the myriad choices and select the best possible combinations.  Their goal is simply good health and longevity.  They think that everything from reputable sources is safe.  Yet for someone seeking a simple cold remedy, it can be easy to overdose by mistaking products that duplicate ingredients in other products they are taking.  Similarly, fortified foods duplicate vitamins that are found in other foods and supplements.  Studying labels is time consuming, but well advised.

Recent problems with fungicides in imported orange juice is indicative of how the products we buy have changed.  It is a lot more than the shrinking size of containers!!  I drink orange juice every day and have done so since I was a child.  Back then, the best orange juice was pure and hand-squeezed by my grandmother.  It was a standard that could not be surpassed.  Normally, we had juice that we mixed from water and frozen concentrate that likely came from the same place.  Commercial juices are now packaged ready to drink and typically contain juice that is blended from different sources.  It is mixed with  additives, some is from concentrates, and its consistency differs between “no pulp” and “most pulp.”

All the processing that foods undergo make me wonder about their nutritional value and uniformity.  I suspect that differences in soil and growing conditions cause a lot of variation.  I take supplements with my food, just in case.  Some day I hope to  make better selections by basing  decisions on better scientific research.  I expect that to be possible in the not too distant future.

In the meantime, if you get sick, keep a record of foods, drugs and supplements that could have contributed to your problem, and stay tuned for a planned post about tomatoes.

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Health, Management and Recordkeeping Perspectives

Posted on 31 December 2011 by Tom

A few years ago, I saw reports about people who needed health information to
receive emergency treatment.  I decided that I should have records for myself and my family.  Since then, I found that recordkeeping can be difficult to justify for an emergency that is unlikely to happen.  I needed to find other reasons to keep health records, and to make recordkeeping as simple and convenient as possible.  Persistence paid off as I found compelling reasons to add to my health record.  Besides over $1.2 Trillion in waste, more than 500,000 lives are lost each year, and many others are disabled because of medical complications.  Often information is not known by medical providers that could have helped them to make better, more informed decisions.   I believe that my Personal Health Record helps to keep me from becoming a statistic by promoting good communications with my providers and helps me to manage my diet, exercise and general care.

We have come a long way from when our ancestors roamed the earth on foot, hunted
for roots, berries, fish and game, and drank from streams and lakes.  Hunger and thirst were factors, but an uncertain food supply made it necessary for them to eat whenever and whatever they could.  Diet was not a consideration.  Foods were eaten near their source when nutritional value was at its peak.  How different things are today for those of us with abundant supplies and thousands of choices.  However, there is a downside.  Our foods are sprayed and mixed with preservatives, shipped hundreds or thousands of miles, stored for
weeks, months and even years, and subjected to degrading heat during processing.  All this gives cause for concern since, with the varied quality, no one knows for sure what their best choices really are, and whether vitamins and other food supplements are needed.  Despite years of research, results remain inconclusive leaving us to make arbitrary decisions.  This leaves keeping track of weight and other health indicators to decide whether or not they were satisfactory and reasonable.

Similarly for an increasingly sedentary populace, lack of exercise has become an
increasing challenge.  Eons ago people typically lived to their teens and twenties and were constantly running to catch or evade wild animals.  Lack of exercise was not
an issue.  Now people live long enough to grow old and for their bodies to wear out from exercise.  There are tradeoffs between obesity, diabetes, cancer, cardiovascular disease, and hip and knee replacements.  Records are a good place to keep track of the amount and type of exercise.

Diabetes and heart disease run in my family.  When I started to see things in myself that I had seen in my relatives, I decided that it was time to take action.  Weight gain had been virtually imperceptible over many years.  Periodically, I went on diets, but they never lasted.  Now with a personal health record, I have a place to log and track my progress.
Seeing results has given me the incentive to set objectives and stay with the program.  I have been practicing portion control and eating a healthier and greater variety of foods.  I have also been adding supplements when I learn about deficiencies that people like me typically have, but am careful not to overdo them.

Doing more things for myself makes it important to manage what I am doing, keep records and inform doctors and other providers about things they may need to know.

Posted in Data Entry, Home Remedies, Managing Medications, Reasons to Have PHRs, Wellness and Disease Management | Leave a comment

Computer Assisted Self Care is in Our Healthcare’s Future

Posted on 6 December 2011 by Tom

That sounds much better than watching costs continue to escalate and relying on an overloaded healthcare infrastructure.  In any event, radical changes lie ahead.  We believe progress that has already been seen is nothing compared to what is coming.  It is time to start preparing for a healthcare revolution.

People are beginning to keep health records for themselves.  Results are getting better and easier.  Some people are buying scales, blood pressure and glucose monitors, and exercise tracking devices that feed results to their computers.  Capabilities will grow as systems become interoperable and interconnected.  This will enable data to be collected and results to be sent automatically to those who need it.

Recipients can even be computers.  After they digest data, computers can explain options and risks and suggest a top choice which might indeed be to visit a doctor.  The final decision, however, will be the patient’s.   This is not a departure since patients do not always do what they are told, and they often start with their own diagnosis and treatment before trying something else.  Surprisingly, in some states, patients can already order their own blood tests on the Internet.

Just as there is a hierarchy of support for computer systems, the division of healthcare
services will become more organized and efficient.  Already, people are finding that they can do many things for themselves with help from their computers.  This provides Tier 1 support.  Mini-clinics and urgent care centers are springing up in such places as pharmacies and grocery stores (Tier 2); and Tier 3 is reserved to handle the most difficult cases using higher trained professionals and specialists.  Improvements in the Internet will make it easier to escalate a case to the right place for the best possible outcomes.  Likely this will lower costs, too.

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World AIDS Day 2011

Posted on 1 December 2011 by Tom

Today (December 1, 2011) is a day of awareness and solidarity with those having this dreaded disease.  Despite considerable progress fighting the AIDS virus (HIV), there seems to be a long way to go.  As with cancers, many medications and interactions must be managed.  Use of LIFELONG Personal Health Record software can be helpful.  For anyone who has not already taken advantage of our special offer, please go to  http://www.lifelongphr.com/blog/?p=55  to find out how to receive a 50 percent discount.

Also, we found a very informative article about AIDS on MSNBC.com.  http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45478404/ns/health-aids/?GT1=43001   You are encouraged to read it.

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Perspectives on Blood Tests

Posted on 30 November 2011 by Tom

Blood tests are a big deal for many people.  Some pass out at the sight of blood, and I cannot think of anyone that likes to be stuck with needles.  Yet, blood tests are an important part of medical diagnostics and testing.

Although I have no knowledge about the history behind blood tests, I can remember that
my grandfather who was a doctor did his own tests on blood in his office.  He put vials of blood in a little centrifuge that separated solid particles from clear liquid.  He also put samples of blood on glass slides and examined them under a microscope.  Whatever he was doing remains a mystery.  However, it obviously was a crude beginning to what all the major laboratories are doing today.  Nevertheless, I believe that we still have a long way to go to reach the potential benefits that blood tests can bring to us.  This is partly because no one has all the time or skills that they would like to have.

A friend of mine told me about an experience that he had.  One of those numbers on his blood test report was flagged as being “out of range.”  This triggered further investigation.  The first question was whether this could’ve been due to some type of laboratory error.  When this was ruled out, the doctor scheduled further testing and finally arrived at a potentially serious conclusion.  The problem that I have with all this is that the condition that was flagged in the blood test was found later to have been gradually worsening for several years or more.  No one had ever looked for trends from one test to another.  Had they done so, the problem might have been diagnosed sooner and treatment could have begun before it became more serious.

This has been a lesson for me.  I had already started to ask for my test results a couple of years ago.  Now I will also look at them and compare results.  With my doctor and everyone else in the healthcare industry under stress and cost pressure, I really cannot expect someone else to do all of this without my help.  I can summarize my findings and report them in my LIFELONG Personal Health Record.  That will make it easier to share what I find with my doctor.

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Exploiting Synergy between Wellness Programs and Lifelong PHR

Posted on 15 October 2011 by Tom

If you have a Wellness Program and have not introduced your employees or clients to personal health records, we believe that you are missing an opportunity.  We have put a brief introduction to the subject on our website at:  http://www.lifelongphr.com/wellness.htm.

A primary objective of our company is to introduce analytics to healthcare consumers.  Using Lifelong PHR to monitor and track changes in the body are expected to enhance the ability to proactively and routinely identify medical concerns.  Conditions can become serious and difficult, if not impossible, to overcome if treatment is not begun in time.  We believe that self-testing will provide important data that can be entered into Lifelong PHR, compared on a regular basis to flag anomalies, and  discussed with medical professionals as soon as they are discovered rather than waiting for the next regularly scheduled physical examination.  Data that is captured in Lifelong PHR can also be useful in evaluating the performance of a wellness program in satisfying company and personal needs and objectives.

We look forward to working with others on this important effort.  If you are interested, please let me know.

Tom Rockwood (tom @ lifelongphr.com)

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Data Mining To Revolutionize Healthcare

Posted on 11 October 2011 by Tom

Personal Health Records Are Jumpstarting the Process.  If you buy things on-line or shop at a grocery store, pharmacy or some other place with a “loyalty card,” you have been exposed to data mining.  Your needs and buying habits are being tracked to enable marketing and sales messages to be targeted and personalized.  The same capabilities will enable healthcare to identify health conditions that require treatment before they become severe and difficult, if not impossible, to treat.  Unfortunately, paper records are holding back progress.

Yes, data mining requires digital data.  Super computers look for all kinds of correlations and match interests and needs with what is available to satisfy them.  Before data mining, we were often given questionnaires to fill out that created simple profiles that could crudely match us with what was available for sale.  Retailing has gotten more and more sophisticated.  Now we learn about things that complement what we have already purchased, sales on things that we looked at, but did not buy, and are given ideas from what others who seem like us are doing.

Healthcare, too, needs to figure us out.  However, human bodies are the ultimate in complexity.  Symptoms often have multiple causes.  Patients do things without telling their doctors.  They fail to follow through on things that doctors tell them.  They are exposed to many things that they are not aware of or that are beyond their control.  This includes bad genes from ancestors.  Whatever the reason, we need to do whatever we can to give those who help us what they need.  This requires better, more complete information to help them make good decisions.

The sooner we put information into a personal health record, the better.  If it takes twenty years to convert health records from paper to paperless digital records, a lot of important information will likely be lost in the meantime.  We need to fill that gap now and get in the habit of keeping personal health records that will complement what providers are digitizing.  We live in a world where teachers are using defibrillators to save lives of their students and anyone can buy one for $1,200 or find them on planes and in small local parks.  If we are expected to become the first line of defense, we need to keep track of what we are doing so when we need help, the professionals will know what we have been doing.  Personal health records will help match care to what is needed.  They will become an important step in bringing the benefits of data mining to patients.

Posted in Nationwide Exchange of Health Information, Reasons to Have PHRs | Leave a comment

Incentives to Try and Buy Lifelong PHR

Posted on 26 September 2011 by Tom

For those of you who have been hesitating and procrastinating, now there is an incentive for you to make your move.

For a limited time, the software is now available at a retail price of $9.99.  You can get it even cheaper and pay $4.99 if you enter “DISC5″ in the REFERRAL CODE.  (Compare this to the cost of a Co-Pay or pack of cigarettes or an unhealthy meal.)

This will pay for an unlimited license to use the current product.  Provide your contact information and you will be eligible to take advantage of improvements that are currently under development.  However, when we make major version changes, these will probably be available only through a subscription or upgrade pricing.

I like to call this “a Window of Opportunity.”  It will not close immediately, but this is a perfect time to buy copies for yourself and those you care about.

We want YOU to be healthy.  We are tired of paying for sickness including what everyone else is contributing to our taxes, product costs and insurance premiums.  We believe that Lifelong PHR in conjunction with Wellness Programs will help to make a big difference in healthcare costs and performance.  If you are not part of a Wellness Program, ask your doctor or others for suggestions.  Check our website.

One final thing.  Although we have no way to enforce this, if you try Lifelong PHR and decide to buy it, WE EXPECT YOU TO USE IT REGULARLY to record healthcare activity from here on.  (Enter data that you think you will need and what is comfortable for you.)  If you can fill in past information so much the better.  If you have comments and suggestions that you would like to share with us, even better still.  Once you get in the Lifelong PHR Habit, we believe that it will be hard to break.  Get started now.

Thank you for your interest and participation.

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Healthcare is Experiencing a Paradigm Shift in Its Relationship with Customers (Patients)

Posted on 26 September 2011 by Tom

Sy Sims, the renowned  New York discount clothier always said in his commercials that “An educated consumer is our best customer.”  This philosophy seems to be catching on in the healthcare community.  Doctors, drug companies, and other providers are recognizing the need to build awareness of what they contribute and the dangers of neglect.  Their livelihood depends on communicating this successfully.

Yesterday (Sunday, September 25, 2011), WPIX Channel 11, one of New York City’s local television stations, hosted “PIX 11 Health & Wellness Expo.”  An associate of mine and I were two of the attendees.  The expo was held at Manhattan’s Javits Convention Center.
Although smaller than many tradeshows that I have attended at Javits, this one was very well attended and contained an excellent cross-section of doctors, authors, hospitals, and specialized fitness and other service providers.  There was a mixture of excellent
presentations, demonstrations, interesting and informative displays and opportunities for attendees to have personal interaction with experts.  Even the regional grocery chain ShopRite that I have used for over 30 years was represented by several people including a nutritionist.  They had a large display of healthy products and free educational materials to help customers use them effectively.

Besides looking for ideas to help me improve my own health and healthcare, I wanted to see what opinions I could gather about Personal Health Records and the importance of having one.  First, I could not find anyone providing a personal health recordkeeping solution of any kind.  However, doctors provided a very surprising reaction.  They were quite positive.  Not a single one expressed concern about the quality and usefulness of information collected and managed by people without medical training.  I actually came away with validation for what our Lifelong PHR software is designed to accomplish.  (Maybe they have learned that patients don’t need detailed technical information and won’t try to step on their toes.)

One doctor volunteered how “medicine is fragmented” and “no one puts everything together.”  He went on to say that “everything is connected” and something such as weight gain can impact multiple systems in a person’s body.  As a specialist in respiratory health, he cited the connection between the aftermath of the World Trade Center attack with airborne asbestos and other dangerous pollution that probably has affected everyone within “a 50-mile radius.”  People may not realize it,” but damage has not just impacted respiratory systems.  Symptoms are indicative of damage that has ultimately extended to many other parts of the body.  All of this needs to be reconciled.

Whether it is pharmaceutical companies advertising their drugs, drug chains and other retailers promoting value-added services or doctors showing how they can promote wellness, there are many parts to healthcare that need to be managed successfully.   From the size of the crowd at the Javits Center, it looks as though there is a growing number of responsible people who see that they have a role to play in improving their health and wellness.

We are ready and available to help.  Lifelong PHR consolidates essential health information in one place where is stays there and is readily accessible.  We start by helping novices; then we help users check comparative data that they have collected and look for
anomalies.  These are indicators of health issues that can grow and become life threatening.  Keeping Personal Health Records is an example of the things everyone must do to help their doctors.  Please visit www.LifelongPHR.com to learn more.

Posted in Reasons to Have PHRs, Wellness and Disease Management | Leave a comment