My Health MD

Accutane® (isotretinoin or roaccutane) is one of the most potent weapons against severe acne that dermatologists prescribe. First introduced by the US drug manufacturer Hoffman-La Roche. But isotretinoin does come with a host of possible side effects. Before starting isotretinoin treatment, be absolutely certain you understand these side effects.

Dryness of the Skin and Mucus Membranes

Because isotretinoin shrinks the sebaceous glands, nearly everyone who takes it will experience dry skin to some degree. Your skin may flake or peel, your lips may get chapped, and your eyes and inside the nose might feel dry.

Miscarriage and Severe Birth Defects

Probably the most widely known side effect of Accutane treatment is the effect it has on a developing fetus. Accutane must never be used while pregnant. Even one dose of the drug while pregnant can cause severe birth defects.

Depression and Suicide

If birth defects are the most well known side effect, depression and suicide are the most publicized. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns Accutane may cause depression, psychosis, thoughts of suicide, and suicide.

High Blood Triglycerides

Before and during your Accutane treatment, your doctor will check your blood triglyceride levels. Triglycerides, which are a type of fat in your blood, can be effected by certain medications including Accutane.

What other side effects are associated with Accutane?

Accutane is one of the top 3 drugs sold in the US with the most reports of adverse side effects. Serious side effects include:

• Inflammatory bowel disease (IBS), ulcerative colitis, Crohn’s Disease, and rectal bleeding
• Clinical hepatitis and liver damage
• Spontaneous osteoporosis and decrease in bone density
• Bone fractures and delayed healing of bone fractures
• Muscle weakness
• Decreased night vision
• Temporary or permanent hearing loss
• Temporary high cholesterol
• Severe allergic reactions
• Miscarriages, birth defects, premature births, and deaths in babies whose mothers took Accutane while pregnant

Less serious side effects include:

• Sensitivity to sunlight
• Headaches
• Chapped lips
• Nose bleeds due to dry nasal passages
• Dry skin and dry eyes
• Temporary thinning of hair

Due to the number of adverse effects directly related to Accutane®, the FDA now requires all patients who take Accutane to sign a consent form. Since 1996, pharmacists are required to give patients a medication guide that details the risks associated with taking Accutane. Thalidomide and Mifeprex are the only other drugs that have required a medication guide.

Have you suffered from adverse reactions to Accutane?

Read more information on accutane lawsuit

Spiritual Healing is your ultimate weapon to boost your immune system and have a peace of mind and soul for good mental and spiritual health.

Now that I have your attention, I’m going to open your eyes with a very simple, easy to practice Self Spiritual Healing Techniques.

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An hour of it can compete with sixty years of accepted worship, according to the sincere reporter, peace and blessings of God be upon him.

The program highlights: Based on the truth contained in these course sections, with which readers will be intimately acquainted, with God’s assistance they will succeed in correcting all their inward and outward defects and faults. They will even, through most inclusive and simple methods, attain extensive access to good guidance toward individuals and society.

Mankind succeeds in removing his natural, traditional, or social wickedness when he identifies the root cause as promoting evil, and restrains it. He should, contrarily, efficiently strengthen the root cause for goodness and seek to intensify it.

Indeed we will not succeed in this process unless we methodologically understand the mentioned truths. And this Spiritual program will achieve just that. This is a healing guide book for spiritual warfare against wickedness, sinfulness, we got in or we have been put in by beings around us.
QH- Peace of Mind spiritual healing is based on the premise that no one can be truly healthy unless their mind, body and psyche are indeed operating in one sympathetic unit.

It is not enough to alleviate physical symptoms of illness or injury; to be completely healed one must also address the mental and spiritual symptoms as well.

What makes QH- Peace of Mind spiritual healing so unique from modern medicine is that spiritual healing addresses not only issues of the body, but of the mind and spirit as well, treating all three of these human phenomena as one cohesive unit.

What Problems Can QH- Peace of Mind Spiritual Healing Help?

Spiritual healing and prayer can have significant physical benefits.

QH- Peace of Mind Spiritual Healing helps people overcome substance abuse, such as Alcoholics Anonymous, are based on spiritual healing principles with help of God.

By working through the spiritual effects of past events, unhappy memories, childhood abuse, trauma and other factors that can cause substance abuse, the program offers people a way to not only kick their physical habit, but also heal the underlying issues that may be leading to that abusive behavior in the first place. By focusing on forgiveness, acceptance and understanding, QH- Peace of Mind spiritual recovery program offer some impressive statistics for success.

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According to health experts, we need about 30 minutes of aerobic exercise most days of the week. The benefits of this are too numerous to list but include:

* Heart health
* Increased energy
* Decreased obesity
* Improved mood

Exercise has been called “the best thing we can do for our body.”

We also need resistance training to build lean body tissue and strong bones. Resistance training increases the ability of our individual cells to accept sugar and insulin. Indeed, resistance training is seen by some as the antidote to insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and osteoporosis.

Stress in – stress out!
Despite all the benefits of exercise, it must be recognized that exercise is stressful. Exercise is work; it is a struggle against gravity and in the end, gravity always wins! That said, there are nutrients that can help us succeed in the struggle against gravity and help us meet our desired objectives of fitness and wellness.

First, we need energy to exercise (and then exercise gives us energy). Energy comes from metabolism, and the sensation of being energetic is “stored” in the nerves.

* Our polyphenol product Energy Now! helps convert about 200 calories of energy from stored reserves per serving. This is the amount of energy we need to walk about two miles.

* Sublingual B-12 adds to our energy delivery system by nourishing the nerves. Have you ever had a day when you felt light as a feather? Conversely, have you ever had a day when you felt like you were weighted down with lead weight? Most of us have that experience from time to time. Much of the sensation of feeling energetic is related to the potential of our nerves to conduct energy. Vitamin B-12 facilitates that energy delivery so we have more “light as a feather” days.

Sublingual B-12 also helps in another way. When we exercise we contract one group of muscles and stretch an opposite group of muscles. Vitamin B-12 facilitates muscle stretching – so muscles can stretch with ease.

When muscles ache after exercise it is because we have exceeded the limits of the muscle group at that moment. As we learn to listen to our body we really have only two choices: either don’t exercise so we will never feel that pain or take discomfort as a signal that we need to increase our nutrient reserves. Adaptogens are a group of nutrients from specific plants known to help us resist the stress of exercise while speeding a return to “normal” after exercise. Adaptogens are non-toxic by nature. So, if you find yourself sore after exercise, take more adaptogens!

Of course, pain is one of the cardinal signs of inflammation (pain, swelling, redness and heat accompanied by loss of function). Nopalea contains anti-inflammatory bioflavonoids called Betalains. Reducing inflammation quickly can help our body repair and return to normal function more quickly.

My routine
I am often asked about my exercise routine and the supplements I take. The answer really depends on what goal I am working on at the moment. If I am preparing for an event (like a bicycle race or triathlon) I will train every day, but I will only work out with weights twice a week. On the other hand, if I am preparing to hike the Grand Canyon, I may run a few miles a day but increase my weight training to five days a week. However, I always begin my workout routines with four ounces of Adaptogen 10 Plus and four ounces of Nopalea.

I use Healthy Aging supplements and add Energy Now! just before performing – it really gives me a boost!

I don’t like to exercise but I really do like to play! As an adult my “play” is more structured and organized than when I was a kid. It is also much less frequent. Still, I know that the more I move, the more I will be able to move and the more I will enjoy activity. Conversely, the less I move, the less I will be able to move and the less I will want to move.

Happiness and self-esteem come from setting and achieving worthwhile goals. One worthwhile goal is to enjoy activity daily and use nutrients and nurturing to combat our inevitable opponent: stress!

By: Dr. Brazos Minshew

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QH- Peace of Mind started a Spiritual Healing program to combat problems usually could not be solved by traditional methods. The program consist of 4 stages; Signs – Diagnosis, Healing – Treatment, Protection and Purification.

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The risks are high when Americans turn to doctors and hospitals to remedy a situation that otherwise might have been prevented. This is why doctors and hospitals are the third leading cause of death in America, according to a study published by Dr. Barbara Starfield of the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health. Since the best way to avoid “death by hospital” is preventative medicine, this list is offered as a prescription for health and wellness.

This list was difficult to cobble together, as there are so many health and wellness blogs listed on the Web. But, certain criteria were used to whittle the list down to the blogs that you can enjoy. To that end, each blog chosen had to include contact information. After all, you don’t want to take advice from someone who wants to remain anonymous, do you? Additionally, a sense of humor didn’t hurt the choices below. Losing weight, getting fit, and learning about diseases is serious enough – a laugh or two can provide some good medicine along the way.

Finally, these top blogs were chosen for their popularity among users as well as their successes – both as professionals and as individuals who have changed or who are publicly changing lifestyles and overcoming their diseases and disabilities. The blogs are listed in alphabetical order within the topics listed below.

The Top Ten

These 10 bloggers offer commentary that’s the best of the best in the world of heath and fitness, arranged in alphabetical order:

1. Dr. Weil: Although Dr. Weil is more about integrative than alternative medicine, you’ll find a healthy mix of western and eastern medicine and health philosophies through Weil’s podcasts and daily Q&A. These features are just part of a larger site with many articles on topics such as aging, women’s health, cancer, and more.
2. eDrug Search Blog: This blog made the top ten, because it’s the only blog that we found that focuses entirely on medicines and the issues that surround them along with a drug database. With that said, you may not agree with the this site’s advocacy for licensed online pharmacies as an alternative to high drug prices.
3. GruntDoc: Allen Roberts works in a trauma center in Texas, and he’s a U.S. Navy doctor who was deployed with the U.S. Marines for four years. Both experiences lend an exciting and decidedly knowledgeable air to his posts. He’s decided he’s not a sociopath.
4. Half of Me: Jennette, also known as the “Pasta Queen,” has posted her way through losing over 186 pounds. Her book, Half of Me: The Last 200 Pounds are the Hardest, will be published in 2008. Her site offers insights into Jennette’s tenaciousness as she offers advice about diets, exercise, and recommendations for tools to lose weight.
5. Healthcare Blogger Code of Ethics: This blog is attached to a program that screens health care blogs and provides those blogs with a seal that validates a good code of ethics. Here, you can find blogs that focus on every aspect of health, and written by professionals or by those who have life experiences with various health problems. One of the aspects of the code includes reliability of information with citations for sources when appropriate and with the responsibility of changing inaccuracies when they are pointed out.
6. InsureBlog: Bob Vineyard, CLU, has fielded over 4,000 insurance related questions privately and in public forums over the past four years. He and four other professionals provide thought-provoking entries that all focus on health insurance policies and problems. They also have a nice list of links to other relevant sites. This site, along with Vineyard’s other site, probably provides the most down-to-earth and comprehensive information about health insurance on the Web.
7. My Cancer: In May 2006, Leroy Sievers began a Morning Edition commentary on his fight with cancer by saying, “My doctors are trying to kill me.” Sievers is now contributing monthly commentaries to Morning Edition, writing the daily “My Cancer” blog on NPR.org and voicing a weekly podcast. At this time, he leaves his blog to face surgery on Monday, 1 October.
8. The Health Care Blog: Matthew Holt has entertained and informed healthcare and executive audiences for more than a decade with stories about his more than 14 years experience in the healthcare industry. This blog reflects his style, his knowledge, and his expertise in the industry. In this blog he talks about everything you wanted to know about the healthcare industry, “but were afraid to ask.”
9. WebMD: This site has grown into one of the most comprehensive online portals for health care. To access the blogs, click on the “news & blogs” tab located in the upper right on the homepage. You can also focus on women’s or mens’ health and medicines at this portal.
10. WSJ Health Blog: This blog is lodged at the Wall Street Journal site, which means that you can find interesting and valuable information about the current health care field here. Jacob Goldstein, Scott Hensley, and other writers provide their professional insights into Big Pharm, healthcare policies, and more.

Diet Blogs

Although some blogs listed below talk about fitness, the main focus is on diets. We don’t promote any diets, so don’t consider our choices as recommendations of the diets that any of these individuals espouse.

1. A Weight Lifted: If you’re tired of dieting, this blog might fit your lifestyle. The bloggers here talk more changing eating as a lifestyle, with plenty of good recipes. They also fit in some talk about diabetes and exercise.
2. Best Diet Tips: This is Carol’s main site that filters her blog entries at another site that she maintains. We chose this site, as it contains information about her diet story, before and after photos, diet comparisons, exercise, and more.
3. Diet-Blog: Several professionals filter the best of diet news and advice and combine this news with real-world application and opinion. The whole spectrum is covered – everything from body image to fast food.
4. Diet Blog: John lost 353 pounds through diet and body-building exercise. But, the focus here is on diet, with over 200 tips on health, and a sprinking of entries on weight loss surgery.
5. eDiet Blog: This blog is part of a larger portal that offers meal deliveries. You don’t, however, need to participate in that program to read information about diet and fitness from this site, which includes recipes, success stories, and advice.
6. Fitness, Diet, and Health: You’ll find entries in this blog about fitness, diet, exercise programs and gadgets, and health. This blog is written by a Weight Watchers user who provides life experience information with passion.
7. Hundred Day Head Start: Don’t wait for New Year’s day to begin your weight loss efforts – you can start now (a little less than 100 days from the end of the year) and join others with goals to lose weight through diet and exercise. There are no restrictions on what you can do to reach your goals.
8. Maria’s Last Diet: Dr. Kenneth Schwarz, a psychologist and psychoanalyst, and his wife Julie Schwarz, a psychology technician at Dutchess Psychology Practice, started this blog by setting down important ideas from diet and weight-loss research and studies concerning personal change. Julie interviews women who have lost weight, and they provide information that helps readers to overcome diet failures.
9. My Fitness Pal Blog: This blog is part of the site “My Fitness Pal,” where you can sign up for free for information beyond the scope of the blog. The blog is new, as it was started in August 2007. You might want to peruse the rest of the site to search diet and exercise databases.
10. The Lose Weight Diet Blog: You’ll find entries related to weight loss, diet, nutrition, and exercise in a manner that is “extremely interesting, insanely informational, and just all around super entertaining.” Expect a little sarcasm!

Weight Loss Blogs

The individuals who run the blogs listed below are in various stages of weight loss. Like the diet blogs, you’ll find before and after photos, and some maintain statistics about their weekly progress.

1. FatFighter Blogs: This site is a useful one for overweight individuals who want to chronicle their weight loss. The directory of sites range from “Dieting with Obstacles” to blogs about losing weight through surgery. This is also a great resource for those who want to find blogs that they can identify with, if you can’t find what you like in this article.
2. Half Man – My Journey of Fitness: This guy wants to be half the man he was in January 2007 – which means he wants to go from 380 pounds to about 190 pounds. Half Man fills his blog with images and photos that emphasize both his frustrations and joys and that makes this blog fascinating to read. Go cheer him on!
3. Jenn Loses Weight: Jenn chronicles her journey to a healthier lifestyle. Jenn began this blog in September, so it will be interesting to read how she does with her weight loss ups and downs as she progresses.
4. John is Fit: John is 41 years old, 6′ tall, and “295 pounds fat. Far from fit.” He hopes that by being honest with himself through a public format that he can get into shape. His journey is meticulous, so he’s a perfect model for keeping a journal about any weight loss and fitness journey.
5. Just Another Weigh: Jodi is stuck on the Weight Watcher’s method of losing weight, and her blog reflects her interest in that program along with exercise. She weighed in at 167.8 pounds, and her goal weight is 150 (she’s a tall 5’7″). While her blog is a great read, Jodi also provides numerous links to other weight-loss blogs on her site – this is a great resource for anyone interested in losing weight.
6. Livin’ La Vida Low-Carb: Jimmy Moore’s blog is popular among those individuals who want to lose weight via low-carb diets. On January 1, 2004, he made a New Year’s resolution to lose weight on the Atkins diet after weighing in at 410 pounds. In just one year he lost 180 pounds and he’s kept that weight off by making low-carb a permanent lifestyle change.
7. Lose the Buddha: After many years of ups and downs, Erin finally lost forty pounds. She went from somewhere in the 180s to 139 just this past month. her blog is interesting, fun, down-to-earth, and realistic. She’s the first person we found who talks about the fear of being skinny – rather, the fear of losing all that comfortable weight…
8. Mike’s Journal: Mike writes about his progress from an overweight couch potato to a runner and biker who lost 140 pounds. He includes the obligatory photographs, but the difference is that Mike’s wife is also involved in this process. Mike – along with his wife – is obsessed with fitness!
9. My Weight Loss Journal: This blog made the top ten because it’s fairly comprehensive and easy to digest, and because the topics range from cardio to weight lifting to diet. Kirk weighed in at 350 pounds when he began his journal, and his goal is to lose 150 pounds. You’ll find all his stats, a mdoel for those who want to lose weight with a wholistic method.
10. The Amazing Adventures of Diet Girl: Shauna is no longer on a diet, but she went from 351 pounds to half that size between 2001 and 2006. You can read about her adventures and her words of wisdom along with her links to other sites that will inspire you to emulate these losers! Great before and after pics as well – she’ll point out that she gained a neck and a husband in the process.
11. That Skinny Bitch: This is Melissa’s weight loss journey. She lost 81 pounds and then put the weight back on. Her blog is peppered with personal trials with her family (one child is autistic) and with her desire to become that skinny…well, she says it. You’ll also find some great recipes here.

Nutrition

Unlike the diet blogs listed previously, nutrition blogs focus on how to prepare and eat healthy foods for a nutritional lifestyle.

1. Balanced Health and Nutrition: Rebecca Scritchfield has academic training in nutrition and more than twelve years experience in the health and wellness field as a trainer and instructor. She began this blog for friends and family who wanted to eat their way to health with a balanced and nutritious diet.
2. Eat This!: This blog approaches every aspect about food. If you’re not satisfied with this blog, you can visit the home site where many individuals blog about health, diet, and nutrition.
3. Nutrition Blog: This blog is part of a larger portal focuses on nutrition and food. You can find topics here that range from AIDS and HIV to vitamins and minerals.
4. Protein Power: Dr. Micheal R. Eades and Dr. Mary Dan Eades provide two different blogs, but they’re both focused on nutrition. Both blogs contain some great images, recipes, and philosophies.
5. Louis’ Fitness & Nutrition Blog: Louis Moore, M.S. writes about updates and headlines in the fitness and nutrition field, healthy recipes, exercise descriptions and pictures, inspiring quotes, and whatever is on his mind at the moment. Moore has designed and led fitness programs for youth, adults, seniors, persons with disabilities, and now specializes in women’s fitness.
6. Nutrition Frenzy: Amanda Herrington is a successful fitness model and career woman who offers advice on how to meet your goals health and fitness goals with ease. The focus is on nutrition, so that you gain energy to work on that body!
7. Onibasu: This blog highlights topics relating to health, nutrition and Chinese medicine. Topics include Autism, mercury chelation, raw diets, raw dairy, traditional diets, WAPF (Weston A. Price Foundation), acupuncture, kefir, kimchi, probiotics, and fermentation.
8. The Nutrition Help Blog: This blog is dedicated to cutting through “nutrition myths and nonsense” to deliver useful real-world nutrition information. The author, Brad Pilon, has just written a book about nutrition entitled, Stop, Eat, Stop.
9. The Provocative Nutrition Blog: Dina Khader, a private practitioner in nutrition counseling, offers her thoughts and news about cutting edge nutrition for optimal health.

Walking & Hiking

One of the best exercises in the world is walking. Although you might consider ‘walking’ as moving from the couch to the fridge, the individuals who write the blogs listed below are a bit more ambitious. Some merely count their steps each day, while others hike obscure trails.

1. Cutter’s Blog: Cutter loves bicycling, but he’s also into hiking, walking, backpacking, and kyaking. This blog focuses on hiking destinations in southeastern U.S., including the “South Beyond 6000,” or the 40 peaks in the Southern Appalachians that rise 6000 feet or more above sea level.
2. Discover Walking: This blogger has an affinity for walking, and shares that enthusiasm with readers through tools for walking, paths, and methods that are easy and enticing enough to make the unwilling walker to want to walk.
3. Fat Man Walking: Steve Vaught chronicles his, beginning with his fateful decision to walk across America to lose weight and regain control of his life. Although he lost weight, was part of a documentary and a book deal, he faced divorce and a few other trials. Steve also mentions several other people in his latest entry who have faced weight-loss issues and how they conquered them. Although the ‘journal’ is sporadic lately, the site is a great tool for inspiration.
4. Just a Thought: Margie Hunter is 51-years-old with three kids and a husband who writes a sports column. While she chronicles much of her life through her blog, her focus is on walking and health. Some of her entries are simple, with interesting stats about odd facts, but she always provides stats about her weight, calories burned, steps walked, and the weather.
5. Modern Hiker: Casey, this blog’s author, is “60% Geek, 40% Granola.” Located in southern California, Casey provides information about the area’s walking and hiking areas, but he also is interested in the latest walking and hiking tools (that’s the ‘geek’ part). He writes about gadgets for a local TV show, and he also provides great photos for the armchair hiker.
6. Nordic Walking USA: Nordic Walking is low-impact fitness walking using specially designed, lightweight poles. The poles relieve stress on the lower body, which creates less pressure on ankles, hips and knees. This blog introduces Nordic walking and offers advice, information, and tools for this activity.
7. Two-Heel Drive: Tom Mangan fills his blog with personal interests as well as information about his walks and hikes. Although he’s located in northern California, his interests go well beyond that area. Great link resource for other walking and hiking enthusiasts. Like Casey in the “Modern Hiker” above, Tom is a writer; so, his entries are very interesting.
8. Walking Blog:
9. Walking Notes: Bryan White lives in Melbourne, Australia, and he writes about walking as a form of exercise and as a way of getting from A to B. Bryan logs his weight, daily steps, and provides inspiration through his blog entries.

Faster than Walking

If you plan to become a runner, any one of the blogs listed below can help you toward your goal. Some writers are beginners, and others are hardcore trail runners.

1. A Dumbbell In A Home Gym: Although Nicole began her weight loss program with diets, her main love is exercise, especially her bike. And, although she started with a home gym, she now participates in a local public program. She definitely has some strong opinions about diets and about exercise, and you can take them or leave them. But, she has a certain charm that seems almost unavoidable. She’s lost about 100 pounds in two years, which is quite a feat.
2. A Runner’s Blog: Sean Lloyd keeps track of his progress as a resolute runner in 2002 to a marathon participation in 2006 and beyond. He invites readers to “watch the highs and lows of running from a middle-of-the-pack perspective.”
3. Fat to 5K: Emil writes about his goal to go from 367 pounds to a slim runner. At the end of September 2007, he ran 1.8 miles without taking a single walk break – at 336 pounds! He’s lost thirty pounds since July 2007 with a rigorous exercise routine and diet.
4. Half-Fast: “Vanilla” writes an entertaining blog about her running skills, where she claims that she’s neither fast nor slow but always in the middle of the pack. Great advice on treadmill use and other sage tips.
5. JogBlog: This is one of the only active jogging blogs on the Internet. Cathy started jogging in January 2006 after she quit smoking, and she now does races. She provides vegetarian recipes and information about her “running essentials” on this site, as well as a rather candid blog about her jogging activities.
6. Miscellaneous Ramblings of a Slow Poke: “Pokey” is a 30-something mother of two boys who chronicles her desire to become a runner.
7. Old Man Running: The title says it all. Allen Leigh is a 71-year-old self professed “geezer” who chronicles his reentry into distance running. He’s been running for 34 years and have never had a serious injury from running.
8. Run Brigitte Run: A 46-year-old vegetarian mother of five girls (the last one at age 42!) writes about her weight-loss trials. She walks, she goes to the gym, and she used to run. She seems to be working back to the running, while keeping a daily FitDay summation of her caloric intake and activities. Very down-to-earth and inspirational.
9. The NYC Running Blog: Although this blog is for New York City runners, it’s a great resource for any urban runner. You can gain insight into the activities here and adopt them for your city, or you may just pack your bags and move to NY to participate in all the running events.
10. Trail Running Blog: This blog is for the serious trail runner, with notes about other trail runners and various trails and how to conquer those paths.

General Fitness

The following blogs cover a wide range of fitness, including developing and maintaining a fit mindset. Some topics include pilates and yoga, and others touch on avenues that lead to strength training.

1. Centerworks Pilates Blog: Aliesa R. George, founder of the Centerworks Pilates Institute, writes about all things pilates in her blog. She also touches on health and stress management.
2. Cranky Fitness: Crabby McSlacker is a hoot, and her posts on this blog comprise a “real-world guide to diet, exercise, health, and whining.” Although not a professional fitness expert, Crabby has the key to humor and to pertinent and interesting information, including before and after photos of her crabbiness. My, she lost some weight!
3. Fit Buff: Mind and body fitness, aimed at both genders, single or married. This blog is part of a larger portal, where some members post blogs about their fitness training. You can catch a glimpse of those pages through the blog, where the authors post “currently browsing” entries with links.
4. Fitness Destinations: This blog, written by Aaron M. Potts, goes all over the board with various fitness tips and advice. But, that’s a good thing if you want to pick up new tips and exercises to vary your routines. Potts spent 3 years as a personal trainer, so he can share his classic health, fitness, and weight loss information, as well as on-going updates based on his own continuing efforts to find new ways to stay in shape.
5. Fitness & Health with Dr. Gabe Mirkin: Dr. Mirkin is a sports medicine doctor, fitness guru, and radio host who writes tips for your healthy lifestyle.
6. Go Workout Mom: Written by a mom for moms, Cindy Posey offers ducation about physical fitness terms, exercises, and health and provides a simple step-by-step plan to start the journey at home. She’s ingenious – have you thought about doing squats while cleaning a toilet? We didn’t think so…
7. This Life: This blog belongs to Dr. Monte Ladner, who is the host of the Fitness Rocks podcast. He retired early from medical practice and now he spends his days sharing his enthusiasm for fitness with whoever will listen.
8. New World Blog: This blog is sponsored by My Yoga online, and you’ll learn much about this practice through the writers who offer their knowledge. Explore the entire site to find free videos for short workouts. Truly a yoga goldmine.
9. Trinity Yoga: This link leads to the blog portion of this site, which also contains forums and information about the Trinity Yoga classes.
10. Workin on my Fitness: Sue believes that if you’re not happy, then you’re not eating right or exercising. She’s not a professional, but she’s passionate about fitness, and she shares everything she’s learned. Although she was only a size 9 when she started her quest, it might help to remember that she was originally a size 2. Some people are very tiny!

Physical Health

The following blogs focus on cancer, heart disease, and diabetes. All are written either by professionals or amateurs. The only thing that most of them have in common is that they have had the diseases that they write about.

1. Chronicles of a Cancer Patient: Rather, the chronicles of a cancer survivor. Dave Hahn was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s Lymphoma in July of 2005. He went through 6 months of ABVD chemotherapy, and he came out alright in the end. While he survived his trials, he wanted to keep this journal available for anyone who might face the same problems as he did.
2. Diabetes.Blog.com: This blog is a companion to the Diabetes Monitor. The blog addresses issues that are brought up in their forums, problems and questions that diabetics might have, and even talk about pets with diabetes.
3. Diabetes Mine: Amy Tenderich discovered that she had Type I diabetes about four years ago. Now she shares her trials and tribulations with readers who may have questions about their diabetes. None of the material is qualified medical advice, but Tenderich is postive, upbeat, and can stand her own with what she knows about this disease.
4. Dr. Len’s Cancer Blog: Dr. Lichtenfeld is Deputy Chief Medical Officer for the national office of the American Cancer Society. His blog reflects his knowledge on recognized guidelines for the prevention and early detection of cancer and guidelines for nutrition and physical activity for cancer survivors.
5. Embrace Your Heart: Eliz Greene suffered a massive heart attack when she was seven months pregnant with twins. She survived a ten-minute cardiac arrest, the cesarean delivery of her twin daughters, and open-heart surgery. Now, she’s on a mission to change the way the world sees heart disease in women.
6. Medicine World: This site is maintained under close supervision of a physician, who is American board certified in medical oncology, hematology and internal medicine. Through updated entries, you can find information about breast, lung, colon, and prostate cancer, diabetes, hypertension, asthma and more.
7. MyDiabetesCentral.com: This blog is just one of many resources provided by Healthcentral.com. Dr. Bill Quick, a diabetic doctor, shares his insights, humor, and knowledge about Type 1 diabetes, Type 2 diabetes, insulin, diabetes education, clinical trials, and diabetes websites.
8. MyHeartCentral.com: This blog also is part of the Healthcentral.com site, where four experts share their knowledge about heart health and heart disease. To access the blogs, visit the left column and click on an experts profile.
9. Scott’s Diabetes Journal: Scott Johnson was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in April of 1980. He recognizes the incredible mental struggle of living with diabetes, so he shares his struggles and successes through his blog.
10. The Diabetes Blog: This blog shares many stories, myths, rumors, and information about all types of diabetes, diabetes medicines, and exercises and diets that focus on this disease.

Strength Training

This list was constructed under the mindset that strength training includes body building, powerlifting, and muscle building. Which means that you can simply firm up, or you can enter the next weight-lifting contest that comes to town.

1. Skwigg’s World: Renee’s blog is an extension of her site, which details what she eats, her workouts, and photos of animals, her husband, and before and after shots that show the results of her training with various workout programs. Not for the faint-hearted, but inspirational for those who want to achieve some beautiful strength.
2. Steve in a Speedo?! Gross!: There are more than a handful of triathalon blogs out there, but Steve’s blog was chosen because he has a sense of humor, he talks about his sex life, and he loves to share his pain. In other words, he’s for real.
3. Strength and Fitness:
4. Strong Lifts: If you want to lose fat as you build muscle, then this blog is up your alley. The author, Mehdi, got into strength training in 1997 and it became a passion for him. Check out his home gym – a little rugged, but functional!
5. Trying Fitness: “Because you’ve tried everything else.” This site covers it all, from bodybuilding to powerlifting and from anti-aging to food. This site is broad yet comprehensive.
6. Weight Training Exercises Blog: Mateen, an exercise and strength training enthusiast, provides a blog within a larger site that includes articles on strength training, bodybuilding, and muscle building. If you’re interested in this form of exercise, you may stay on this site for hours.

Medical Outlooks

The following blogs are written by doctors. The focuses range from insights into strange surgeries to Big Pharm to emergency room situations. Great blogs for voyeurs or for those who really want to know what goes on behind those curtains…

1. A Fortunate Man: Dr. Andrew Brown is a middle-aged general practicioner who works for the National Health Service in a UK urban environment. While Dr. Brown tends to wander among categories, the entries are worth reading simply because the medical environment differs so much in the UK than it does in the US.
2. Doctor Hébert’s Medical Gumbo: The “gumbo” part has more to do with location. Doctor Hébert is in Louisiana, and he has a personal interest in the Katrina aftermath as well as a political bent. But, his entries provide an interesting insight into these topics from a medical perspective.
3. Fat Doctor: This mom, stroke victim, and overweight physician blogs about her work. She provides funny yet thoughtful insights into her reactions to her job as well as valuable information about what to expect from various conditions. But, she’s sworn not to offer medical advice. You also can find numerous resources at this site to other blogs that vary from medical to “fat blogs” to personal favorites that have nothing to do with either one of the previous topics.
4. In the Pipeline: Derek Lowe, the author of this Corante blog, achieved his BA from Hendrix College and his PhD in organic chemistry from Duke before spending time in Germany on a Humboldt Fellowship on his post-doc. He’s worked for several major pharmaceutical companies since 1989 on drug discovery projects against schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, osteoporosis and other diseases, and now he writes about the Big Pharm industry, including drug research, intellectual property law and financial strategies.
5. Kevin, MD: A practicing primary-care physician “tells it like it is.” By shining a light on physician frustrations that the mainstream media may ignore, Dr. Kevin Pho hopes to get one step closer to resolving issues such as the death of primary care, defensive medicine, malpractice, reimbursement, Big Pharma and health care reform.
6. MedPundit: This blog is linked by many other medical blogs, and once you begin reading you might see why it’s so popular. The running commentary on medical news by a practicing physician is just one appeal. The many links that might prove useful for someone who seeks information about a wide range of topics is another.
7. Placebo Journal Blog: This blog is an extension of the magazine, Placebo Journal, and the e-newsletter, Placebo Gazette. The writers allow readers to communicate in real time to discuss current healthcare issues.
8. Scalpel or Sword?: A funny, sometimes irreverant look at life through the eyes of an emergency room doctor in Texas. Not only will you learn a lot about emergency medical procedures, you’ll also learn about some of the personal and ethical problems that this doctor – and probably many others – face in their jobs.
9. Tales from the Emergency Room and Beyond…: A Canadian nurse who works in an emergency room provides her insights into her job. This blog reads more like a novel, so make yourself comfortable and enjoy the trauma!
10. Trusted MD: This blog, which covers everything from exercise to health care policies, is lodged at a portal that also offers more blogs on various health care issues. You must register first to read them, but registration is free.
11. Unbounded Medicine: If you’re faint-of-heart, don’t go here. Otherwise you’ll find yourself riveted by photographs of various medical procedures that aren’t that pretty. But, if you’re fascinated with the scalpel and strange diseases, then this is the spot for you. You can also find blog entries about the strange and amazing, much like a magazine you’d find at the grocery store check-out. Only these stories are true.

Alternative Health

Surprisingly, there are very few quality alternative health blogs on the Web. Most ‘alternative health’ blogs are attached to plugs for alternative medicines or they don’t contain contact information, or both. Outside of Dr. Weil’s blog (listed above in the top ten), the following blogs provide the widest range and the best information.

1. Acupuncture Blog: This blog is maintained by the Acupuncture Massage College, and it approaches topics such as acupuncture methods, pilates, stress management, Chinese herbal medicine and more.
2. Deepest Health: Eric Grey, a student, offers a blog dedicated to exploring Classical Chinese medicine. As he studies Chinese medicine, he passes on his knowledge in posts that are intelligent, well-written, and provocative.
3. Massage and Bodywork Blog: Although this blog addresses the massage therapist, it’s an interesting read for the patient or client who chooses massage as a therapy. This blog is written by Julie Onofrio, who has been a massage therapist for seventeen years.
4. WakoWa Wellness Blog: Wako Takayama, MA, certified acupressure practitioner, offers a blog through the WakoWa Wellness center site. While her practice is rooted in Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), Five Elements theory and Acupressure modalities – shiatsu, reflexology, tui na and gentle pressure acu – her work also incorporates stretches and body-awareness principles based in yoga, as well as learnings from meditation.

There are several mesothelioma treatment options including chemotherapy, radiation, and surgery.

There are several types of treatment available for patients with mesothelioma, some recommended more frequently than others. The most commonly used treatments are surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation therapy. In addition, some experimental treatments are becoming more widely used, or are showing some encouraging results in clinical trials. These treatments include photodynamic therapy, gene therapy, and immunotherapy, among others.

Most of these treatments are not used in isolation. In many cases, treatment may consist of a combination of therapies. For example, surgery to remove as much of the cancer as possible may be followed by radiotherapy or chemotherapy to remove residual cancer cells. This is one of the most common treatment options for mesothelioma among those who are candidates for surgery.

If you or a loved one have been diagnosed with mesothelioma it is likely you’re interested in the various treatment options available. Working with your doctor to create the best treatment plan is an important step. Knowing what the treatment plan will do to help treat the cancer often helps patients and their families understand the process and feel more comfortable.

We offer a complimentary informative packet that includes all the information on our Web site and additional information about available treatment options that you may take with you continually educate yourself and those around you about mesothelioma. Click here to receive your packet overnight.

A number of alternative therapies can also be combined with traditional treatment options. Many patients choose to add alternative therapies such as massage, acupuncture, or TENS therapy to their conventional treatment approach in an effort to enhance or compliment the treatment process. A variety of alternative therapies, including aromatherapy, meditation, or yoga, are often added to a treatment regimen to provide pain relief and foster relaxation.

Mesothelioma Cure

Though a cure for mesothelioma does not currently exist, many patients elect to undergo treatment to combat the cancer. Patients may also wish to participate in clinical trials conducted to test up-and-coming treatments and medications before they are released and recommended for public use. Clinical trials are extremely important in the search for a mesothelioma cure. Knowledge gained from study results greatly help medical professionals come closer to the discovery of a cure for mesothelioma.

5-Year Survival Rates for Mesothelioma.

Certain doctors such as Dr. David Sugarbaker have actively pursued better treatment options for mesothelioma patients and have been instrumental in the quest for a cure. Utilizing a multi-modal approach, Dr. Sugarbaker has made great strides in mesothelioma treatment and has increased survival rates for mesothelioma patients.

Learning that a cure does not exist can be discouraging to mesothelioma patients and their loved ones, but stories of survivors continue to surface, instilling hope in those affected by the cancer.

Mesothelioma Surgery

Surgical treatments for mesothelioma include three main types – diagnostic surgery, curative surgery, and palliative surgery. Some types of surgery fall into more than one category.

Surgery can only be performed during mesothelioma stages I and II.

For example, thoracentesis may be used as a diagnostic procedure, and as a palliative treatment to provide symptomatic relief. Only curative surgery can potentially remove all cancer from a patient with mesothelioma.

However, for curative surgery to be effective, it is particularly important that mesothelioma be diagnosed as early as possible. Unfortunately, mesothelioma is not usually diagnosed until it reaches Stage III or IV, when surgery is not an option.

Mesothelioma Chemotherapy

Most forms of chemotherapy involve the intravenous administration of drugs such as Alimta and Cisplatin. Chemotherapeutic drugs are targeted to kill cells that are rapidly dividing by interfering with processes that occur during cell division.

Chemotherapy is an effective treatment option but comes with unpleasant side effects.

However, while cancer cells themselves divide rapidly, so do some types of healthy cells, causing some of the unpleasant side effects that are often associated with this form of treatment. Though older chemotherapy medications seemed to do little to fight mesothelioma, newer chemotherapy drugs are showing much promise.

A relatively new form of chemotherapy called heated chemotherapy is an option for patients with peritoneal mesothelioma.

This treatment is carried out following surgery, and involves the perfusion of heated chemotherapeutic medications into the peritoneum.

Mesothelioma Radiation

Radiation therapy, or “ionizing radiation”, is used to kill cancer cells and to limit the spread of cancer. For patients with mesothelioma, radiation therapy is most often used in conjunction with surgery.

Radiation is often used in conjunction with surgery.

However, in some cases radiation may be used as a stand-alone treatment to relieve pain and other symptoms associated with mesothelioma. In either case, it is rare for radiation therapy to provide more than short-term symptomatic relief.

Mesothelioma patients may receive one of two types of radiation therapies, depending on whether or not they are suitable candidates for either procedure.

External beam radiation therapy is the traditional type of radiation therapy, where tumors are bombarded with beams of radiation to kill cancer cells. Brachytherapy is a newer type of radiation treatment. It involves tiny radioactive rods which are implanted within a tumor to provide a strong, concentrated dose of radiation to tumors while doing very little damage to surrounding healthy tissue.

Photodynamic Therapy

Photodynamic therapy is a highly specialized and specific form of treatment that is most often used to treat skin cancers, some types of lung cancer, and pleural mesothelioma.

Photodynamic therapy uses light energy to kill cancer cells.

However, this treatment is usually unsuitable for patients with metastasized cancer; it is most effective in patients who have localized disease.

This type of therapy involves the use of light energy to kill cancer cells. In photodynamic therapy treatment, the patient is given an intravenous solution of a medication that makes cancer cells highly sensitive to a particular kind of light.

One to three days after this treatment, the patient is exposed to the light, and cancer cells that have absorbed the medication are killed.

Gene Therapy

Gene therapy involves using genetic material to specifically target cancer cells and make them more vulnerable to chemotherapy treatment.

“Suicide Gene Therapy” is the most popular form of gene therapy being used.

The main type of gene therapy being developed for use in mesothelioma patients is called “suicide gene therapy,” because it forces cancer cells to produce substances that cause their death.

When undergoing this type of gene therapy, the patient is treated with a non-infectious virus that has been altered with genetic material that makes them produce a particular protein.

Following this procedure, the patient is then treated with a chemotherapeutic medication that is specially formulated to be toxic only to cancer cells. This type of therapy has produced some promising results for mesothelioma patients, but it is still only available through clinical trials.

Immunotherapy is a type of treatment in which the patient’s own immune system is ‘tricked’ into killing cancer cells. A healthy, normally-functioning immune system does not kill cancer cells, because even though these are diseased cells, the immune system is unable to recognize them as being harmful.

There are two main types of immunotherapy: active and passive. In active immunotherapy, mesothelioma cancer cells are removed from a patient and then treated in a laboratory to turn them into a vaccine. Following this laboratory treatment, the patient is injected with the vaccine and if the treatment is successful, the patient’s immune system recognizes the vaccine as a harmful substance, thus recognizing the cancer as being harmful as well.

Passive immunotherapy is somewhat different in that it does not attempt to activate the patient’s immune system. Instead, it uses substances such as cytokines (molecules that direct and regulate the immune system) and other agents to help boost the patient’s immune response to their cancer.

The resources at Asbestos.com are here to serve and benefit those affected by asbestos exposure. One of the site’s main goals is to provide help and assistance to those coping with asbestos-related disease, and this includes informative materials that can be mailed directly to you.

To learn even more about the range of treatment options available to mesothelioma patients, please fill out the form on the right to receive a comprehensive information packet. You can also call 800-615-2270 with any questions or concerns – our well-informed staff is ready and eager to offer assistance on a wide range of relating issues.

Additional Treatment Resources

We provide extensive resources to educate and benefit those affected by asbestos exposure. One of our main goals is to provide help and assistance to those coping with asbestos-related disease, and we offer a complimentary comprehensive packet that can be mailed directly to you overnight. The packet allows you to take our Web site and additional educational information with you to share with your family wherever you go.

To learn more about the range of treatment options available to mesothelioma patients, please fill out this form to receive your packet. Our Patient and Family Advocates are also happy to answer any questions or address concerns you may have over the phone. To speak with an educated representative, please call 800-615-2270.

Sources:

1. Dodson, R. and Hammar, S. Asbestos: Risk Assessment, Epidemiology, and Health Effects. Taylor & Francis: Boca Raton. 2006.
2. Galateau-Salle, Francoise. Pathology of Malignant Mesothelioma. Springer-Verlag London Limited: London. 2006.
3. Pass, I., Vogelzang, N., Carbone, M. Malignant Mesothelioma: Advances in Pathogenesis, Diagnosis, and Transitional Therapies. Springer: New York. 2005.
4. http://www.cancer.org/downloads/PUB/DOCS/SECTION28/89.pdf
5. http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/medicine/genetherapy.shtml
6. http://marf.org/Documents/SymSlides/Steven%20Albelda,%20MD%20WM.pdf
7. http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/factsheet/Therapy/photodynamic
8. http://www.drugs.com/mtm/gemcitabine.html
9. http://www.drugs.com/mtm/navelbine.html

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