Saving Lives: Healthline to Debut Drug Notebook Social Platform

Want to know if anyone else has had an adverse reaction to a medication? If other consumers have side effects similar to your own? Healthline’s new Drug Notebook just may be the website to help you find answers.

Finding out more about your medication, as well as the experiences of others using the same prescriptions, just got easier with Healthline’s new Drug Notebook social platform. No longer will you need to rely solely on your pharmacist or prescription flyer side effect information. Now you can compare notes with thousands of others to find out drug interactions, side effects, helpful instructions, and more.

Healthline, one of the fastest growing online health services, is announcing today that they have formed a partnership with First Life Research, a social media search company, to add Social Search to the Healthline Drug Notebook, a suite of drug information applications that includes Drug Interaction Checker, Pill Identifier, Drug Comparison, and more.

Healthline is a consumer site that reaches over 100 million consumers each month in partnership with Yahoo, AARP, and Aetna, among others. In addition to providing information on the latest research in medicine, Healthline offers Health Learning Centers, a disease information database (Disease A – Z), a symptom checker (Symptoms A – Z), 3D Body Maps, videos and slideshows,

To add to their already burgeoning databases, they are adding a much improved user experience by integrating social media into their Drug Notebook. Healthline’s Social Search, which will employ First Life’s Treato platform, will map more than a billion posts from health forums and blogs around the web.

This new tool will cover more than 11,000 drug brands, providing multiple perspectives and insights into drug information that consumers want—and need—to know. Consumers can filter conversations by popular topics, related drugs and interact with graphical summaries to view the most popular topics and drill down into specific threads.

By clicking on the “See What Others are Saying” links throughout the Drug Notebook, consumers can search social media and forum discussions about the medications they take and compare conversations about side effects, therapy switching, interactions with other medications, costs and effectiveness.

“Health care is inherently social, and technology that builds from social connections, and encourages collaboration and conversation will lead to a better patient experience and improved outcomes,” said West Shell, III, Chairman and CEO, Healthline Networks. “Drug information is one of the top treatment topics consumers search for—this new social search we created with the Treato platform will allow consumers to better understand their medications, as well as other choices, side effects and effectiveness straight from current user conversations.”

The Drug Notebook social platform will provide detailed information on specific medications including:

Easy Navigation: Each drug has its own Drug Notebook home page that provides quick information and links to available social data

Comprehensive Search: A broad list of available data to search, including side effects, interactions, safety alerts, clinical information, commentary from other consumers using the drug and images

Find Common Drug Names: The top 10 brand and generic names used for the drug will be listed for consumers to easily identify the medications for which they are seeking more information

Narrow Searches via Topic filters: Ability to filter by topic area on each specific drug, allowing users to easily narrow their search

Visual, Graphical summaries: Illustrations showing the most popular topics associated with the drug, frequency of posts on a specific topic and more

Sharing Options with Social Media Tools: Links for users to share any Healthline Social Search content.

In the future, the insights from Healthline’s Social Search powered by Treato will be expanded and integrated into Healthline’s full suite of search tools and condition-specific learning centers.

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Posted in: HEALTH

The Myth of a Perfect Holiday Season

Blogger Kate Hood, a flailing perfectionist, debunks the myth of the perfect holiday season, one that could only ever fit into the glittery confines of a snow globe.

My mother tells a story about how she once spent the night before Christmas assembling 100 tiny plastic escalator steps in Barbie's shopping mall. Her parents were both in the hospital and she didn't actually start shopping for presents until Christmas Eve. She says there was nothing left in the stores—she had to buy the last of the picked-over toys. She was exhausted, defeated, and very unhappy about the pathetic display of junk that greeted her children that Christmas morning.

Here is what I remember: "Barbie's shopping mall? YES!"

A perfect example of how much parents can beat themselves up over things that children don't even register. We see cheap plastic—but they see fun. We see amateur attempts at festive décor—but they see holiday splendor. We see failure—but they see magic.

We are obviously missing something...

And isn't this the season for it? Whatever the gift giving holiday, we are decorating and shopping and planning. And all the while, feeling like we could be doing it all SO much better.

Of course, we have these feelings of insecurity and inadequacy year-round. But there is something about the month of December that dials it up a notch…or twenty.

So the very first thing that you MUST do, is purchase some lifestyle and entertaining magazines. Already feeling like crap about your annual inability to adorn your front door with garlands? Martha Stewart is sure to make your holiday decor attempts look like those preschool crafts that you surreptitiously toss in the garbage when the kids aren't looking.

I don't know about you, but this overwhelming pressure to make things perfect gets the best of me far more often than it should. Starting with Thanksgiving, I find myself lamenting our lack of nice serving spoons. Then on a less superficial note, I also wonder when my children will be able to sit at the table for more than fifteen minutes and actually eat the holiday meal instead of requiring their own grilled cheese sandwiches. Our holiday dinners have never quite lived up to the ideal Norman Rockwell images of tradition.

January through mid-November, I could care less about how things should be. So what is it about this time of year that makes me such a flailing perfectionist who tries to force everyone around her into Hallmark holiday moments?

We celebrate Christmas, so right after Thanksgiving we run directly into two often-contentious holiday traditions: tree decorating and a visit to Santa.

I have to confess right now that I'm a complete maniac about my tree. To say that I'm somewhat particular about how it looks would be like saying that Christmas at the North Pole is a bit chilly. I just really love a beautifully decorated tree and my desire for perfection borders on pathological.

Decorating a Christmas tree is supposed to be a fun family tradition. Why should it matter that 70% of the ornaments are hung on the bottom left corner? Who cares if someone wants to add their Star Wars action figures to the mix? And what could be more festive than three pounds on tinsel dumped on top of it all? Right?

No. I'm sorry. I just can't do it. It's a problem, and someday I'll get help. But in the meantime, we'll compromise with a "kids' tree" in the play room. There are others like me out there, so they understand. I just hope that the rest don't judge me too harshly.

Thankfully, I'm much better about the Santa visits. But learned to let that one go early on.

My oldest child was eight months old for his first Christmas, and it really was the perfect time to take him to have his picture taken with Santa. I dressed him up in a cute outfit and proudly watched as he patted the fluffy white beard and then smiled for the camera. He was adorable.

The following year, he had newborn twin siblings at home and a budding sense of stranger danger. As I dressed him up to visit the same Santa, I had feelings of foreboding that this year might not go quite so well. Sure enough, the line was long and he refused to sit in the stroller. Thirty minutes of hearing "no" every time he wanted to play with the fake snow made him decidedly cranky. And when we finally approached Santa's lap, he looked at me like I was about to hand him over to a jolly-looking ax murderer. A picture was snapped two seconds before he burst into tears, and I had to ask myself, “What the hell I was thinking?”

And year after year, I walk past mall Santas with wailing children on their laps. Of course in defense of all the parents standing in line with candy bribes and crossed fingers, there are plenty of children who LOVE seeing Santa. For every baby who screams and pees on him, there is another who giggles at his hearty ho ho's. And we can never be sure which way it will go. So we get in line and roll the dice.

Last year, my five year old and two four year olds begged to visit Santa (they also got into three fights during the our long wait in line and knocked over part of a display...but they didn't cry!). This year, unfortunately my oldest wanted nothing to do with it and hid under my coat while his brother and sister sat on Santa's knee and smiled for the camera. And this was completely unavoidable since I KNEW that Oliver didn't want to visit Santa. He told me that he didn't. But there was always the possibility that he might change his mind at the last minute... Honestly, I should have just taken the twins while he was in school.

At least I didn't force him to be in the picture. Which was mediocre anyway. I have of yet to see a good Santa picture since that first one six years ago.

In the end, I think we all do our best to create good holiday memories for our children. If they are sometimes a little forced, at least we know we had good intentions. If there are tears as parent go from bribes to threats while taking a picture for their holiday cards...well, it was a really nice shot of everyone together.

But in experiencing all of this for ourselves, we should open our eyes to the fact that EVERYONE falls short. No family is perfect, so no holiday season is perfect. It's an ideal that no one could ever achieve. A myth perpetuated by greeting card companies. A beautiful idea that could only ever fit into the glittery confines of a snow globe. Real life is messy. Not everyone can be Martha Stewart.

Even our own memories of happy holidays are part illusion. Because we're viewing them through the kaleidoscope of childhood wonder.

We remember tearing wrapping paper off the presents and eating candy. We can close our eyes and feel the excitement we had for this once a year celebration when wishes are granted and anything is possible.

Our parents, on the other hand, remember tantrums and sugar-induced meltdowns. They thought the meat was a bit overdone and rolled their eyes over Great Aunt So-and-So's diatribe on how children were disciplined when she was a girl. But they did their best and hoped it was good enough for us. And it was.

We need to remember that and realize that as long as we do the best for our own children, then that is good enough. For them AND for us.

The table decorations may not be up to glossy magazine standards...the serving spoons may be mismatched stainless...a display of Star Wars action figures might have suddenly appeared on the once perfect tree...and there may (will) be some tears...but if our hearts are full of love and good intentions, then that's good enough. That's life. And in it's own crazy way, that's pretty much perfect.

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Posted in: HEALTH

Deaths From Malaria Fall, But Funding Woes Loom: WHO

An increase in aid over the past decade, providing access to nets and medicines, has dramatically reduced deaths due to malaria, but the economic slowdown threatens to curb future progress.

LONDON (Reuters) - Malaria deaths have fallen dramatically in the past decade thanks to increased aid allowing more people access to nets and medicines, but the economic slowdown threatens to curb future progress, the World Health Organization said 
on Tuesday.

In its annual global report on the mosquito-borne parasitic disease, the WHO said international funding for the fight against malaria rose to about $1.7 billion in 2010 and $2 billion in 2011, the highest annual amounts ever reached.

But this is still far short of the estimated $5 billion to $6 billion needed each year to achieve the WHO's target to reach zero deaths from malaria by 2015.

"The increased funding has resulted in tremendous progress," the United Nations' health agency said.

The estimated number of deaths from malaria dropped to 655,000 in 2010, 36,000 lower than in 2009.

"While this represents significant progress, the mortality figures are still disconcertingly high for a disease that is entirely preventable and treatable," the report said.

Malaria is endemic in more than 100 countries worldwide but can be prevented by the use of bednets and indoor spraying to keep the mosquitoes that carry the disease at bay.

Effective malaria drugs known as artemisinin-based combination therapies, or ACTs, can cure the infection but access to these medicines is often hampered in poor countries where funding is limited and health services are patchy.

Total eradication of the parasitic disease, which is spread through the bites of infected mosquitoes and threatens about half the world's population, is still a long way off. Some think it could take another 40 to 50 years.

The WHO's report said a huge scale-up in malaria control programs between 2008 and 2010 had meant that enough insecticide-treated mosquito nets were distributed to be able to protect more than 578 million people at risk of the disease in the worst-hit region, sub-Saharan Africa.

A total of 11 countries in Africa saw a more than 50 percent reduction in either confirmed malaria cases or malaria hospital admissions and deaths in the past decade, and a drop of more than 50 percent in malaria cases was also found in 32 of the 56 malaria-endemic countries outside Africa during the same period.

Morocco and Turkmenistan were certified by the WHO in 2009 as having eliminated the disease.

"The results set out in this report are the best seen in decades," WHO's director general Margaret Chan said in a statement with the report. "After so many years of deterioration and stagnation in the malaria situation, countries and their development partners are now on the offensive."

But the report projected that with many international donors suffering recessions or very slow economic growth, funds to fight malaria may fall in 2012 and 2013 and could drop to an annual $1.5 billion by 2015.

Even this forecast was an "optimistic scenario" it said, since many donors have not yet finalized what their future commitments are likely to be.

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Posted in: HEALTH

ADHD Drugs Pose No Risk to Heart Health in Adults

Drugs used in the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been deemed heart-safe for use in young and middle-aged adults.

Drugs used in the treatment of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) have been deemed heart-safe for use in young and middle-aged adults. Researchers from Kaiser Permanente Northern California in Oakland found no link between the use of the drugs in adults, and an increase in the risk for serious heart-related events, such as heart attack and stroke.

The new study is the second in a series of three commissioned by the U.S. government regarding the risks associated with such popular stimulant ADHD drugs as Ritalin, Adderall, and Concerta, and non-stimulant drug Strattera, as well as the generic versions of these medications.

The latest study follows the first in the series that was published just last month, which focused on the use of such drugs for the treatment of ADHD among 1.2 million children and young adults, ages 2 to 24, which yielded similar results. Both studies were recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

The studies were commissioned due to numerous reports of adverse affects associated with ADHD medications from both doctors and patients that were recorded in a federal database. The U.S. Food and Drug Administation (FDA) estimates that about 1.5 million people took ADHD medications in 2005, among whom 32 percent were adult patients.

An issue of major concern has been that the drugs can raise blood pressure and heart rate, both of which increase the risk for serious cardiovascular events and heart disease. Because age is a factor for increased risk of heart-related conditions, their have been growing conerns regarding whether the drugs pose a danger to adult lives.

For the study, lead researcher Laurel Habel, a research fellow in epidemiology at Kaiser Permanente’s division of research, and her colleagues, analyzed data on more than 150,000 adult patients ranging in age from 25 to 64 who were taking ADHD medications.

Overall, their findings revealed that in nineteen years of follow-up, these patients were had no greater likelihood of suffering a heart attack, stroke, or sudden death due to use of the drugs than did adults who were not on the medications.

While the findings did initially suggest that adults taking ADHD drugs had a 3 percent increased risk of serious heart-related events when compared with those who had never used the drugs, further investigation provided some interesting results.

After analyzing all heart events among both groups, and accounting for other risk factors associated with heart disease, such as age, race, smoking and obesity, the use of ADHD drugs was actually linked to a lower risk of heart-related events than that of non-users.

However, Habel cautioned that the study results do not show that ADHD drugs provide protection against serious cardiac-related events. She pointed out that the evidence shows that people who takes these medications may have better general health, or may live healthier lifestyles than those who do not take the drugs.

This could be due to the tendency of individuals who take medications to have greater concerns about their health, which may mean that they have a lower risk for heart problems in general, compared to people who do not take medications. She noted, “I don’t want the message to be that these drugs are completely safe. I don't think our study can really say that. What we can say is that we don’t think there is a substantial increase in risk of heart problems from these drugs.”

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Posted in: HEALTH