Activity 1
I looked at Mayo Clinic's symptom checker and found that it gave good general information about the topics I investigated. It did not have a lot of detail about any one topic. There were some basic suggestions for self treatment, such as suggestions for whether heat or ice, exercise or rest, over-the-counter medications, etc. were appropriate. I thought it contained some useful information.
I liked the Drugs.com site, and entered my medications to check for interactions. Everything looked good, which I expected, since I have a very attentive physician. The pill identifier is a great idea. However, I tried to find a couple of generic and store brand medications and it did not find them. There are just so many variations out there. I am sure it would contain all major brand name medications and commonly abused drugs, so hopefully a parent could use this as a resource if they found something in their child's possession.
Activity 2
Medline Plus would be useful for some people if they had no idea where to start in looking for medical services. The search parameters allowed only a search by county, so the listings were only limited to being in Harris County. I think Aetna's DocFind is preferrable, and also more specific and user-friendly. With DocFind, one can enter a ZipCode and find providers that are both in Aetna's provider group, and within a selected radius from the home of the patient. This is my preferred search location for finding care. Perhaps if one had an rare condition, Medline Plus would help find some possible provider names, which could then be checked on Aetna's site to see of they are included in our insurance plan.
Activity 3
I looked at My Family Health Portrait, but did not create the personal health record. In spite of the declaration that my information will not be stored or accessed by anyone but me, I am reluctant to enter that much personal information on a government website. The issue of privacy, especially in light of the current health care legislation pending in Congress, makes me very reluctant to download this information onto the internet. I do believe that it is important for family members to share health information between themselves, but I will not be using this forum for doing so. For a person doing genealogy research, it would be very useful to include any available information on health issues, so that it could be shared with other family members.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
#41 Wellness - Going Green - Part 2
I have been looking at the suggested websites for this activity, and have seen several ideas that will reduce energy consumption. Some of these suggestions are things we are already doing, some would be easy to implement, and some would be difficult or very time consuming to try to do.
We already have a few compact fluorescent bulbs in our home and are considering moving to the using of these in more of our fixtures. The CFLs use much less electricity and last longer, but are more expensive to buy and must be recycled to avoid dangerous mercury poisoning. My fear is that many people will not recycle these, and therefore the resulting pollution will be of greater environmental impact than the savings in energy use. I have found out that local Home Depot stores accept these bulbs for recycling, so that overcomes one major obstacle for me. According to the calculator on the city of Houston site, using CFLs could save us about $16 per month on energy costs
We also already follow several other of the suggestions made. We have a new washer and dryer, purchased this year, that are Energy Star rated. We set our AC at 80 degrees in the summer and use ceiling fans. We have turned down the temperature on our hot water heater, rarely use the dishwasher, and change our AC filter regularly. We do not have a programmable theromstat, but we do adjust the thermostat when we leave the house or at bedtime. Our house seems to be pretty weather tight, but there might be improvements that can be made in some areas.
The Consumer Reports Mileage Tips are a good place to look for improvement. We do not regularly carry cargo on top of the car, and we do combine trips to minimize driving. My car has sensors that remind me when tire pressure drops too low, and my husband checks the tires regularly. A harder change to make is to reduce speed, especially when one is in a hurry. I will try to do that to save some gasoline.
We already have a few compact fluorescent bulbs in our home and are considering moving to the using of these in more of our fixtures. The CFLs use much less electricity and last longer, but are more expensive to buy and must be recycled to avoid dangerous mercury poisoning. My fear is that many people will not recycle these, and therefore the resulting pollution will be of greater environmental impact than the savings in energy use. I have found out that local Home Depot stores accept these bulbs for recycling, so that overcomes one major obstacle for me. According to the calculator on the city of Houston site, using CFLs could save us about $16 per month on energy costs
We also already follow several other of the suggestions made. We have a new washer and dryer, purchased this year, that are Energy Star rated. We set our AC at 80 degrees in the summer and use ceiling fans. We have turned down the temperature on our hot water heater, rarely use the dishwasher, and change our AC filter regularly. We do not have a programmable theromstat, but we do adjust the thermostat when we leave the house or at bedtime. Our house seems to be pretty weather tight, but there might be improvements that can be made in some areas.
The Consumer Reports Mileage Tips are a good place to look for improvement. We do not regularly carry cargo on top of the car, and we do combine trips to minimize driving. My car has sensors that remind me when tire pressure drops too low, and my husband checks the tires regularly. A harder change to make is to reduce speed, especially when one is in a hurry. I will try to do that to save some gasoline.
Friday, November 27, 2009
#41 Wellness: Going Green - Part 1
Activity 1
I have been looking at some of the energy calculators this evening and have found that the three websites listed vary greatly in the questions they ask, and the amount of detail they use in making their calculations. Also, since we have lived in our current house less than a year, it is difficult to calculate the average monthly usage. I could only use 6 months of data, which included the hottest months of the summer. Also, at least one of the sites lumped all SUVs in one group, and I am sure, calculated the energy use as very high. My small Toyota SUV, however, is fairly economical on fuel usage, and even the larger SUV my husband drives does better than many large SUVs and pickups. My husband and I seem to be about average in our consumption, according to the calculators given here.
As far as reducing our usage, I don't know how much more we can do. We have always limited unnecessary driving, combined trips, and tried to reduce our usage of electricity as much as possible. This includes regular maintenance on the vehicles, turning the thermostat to 80 degrees in summer and 70 in winter, regularly changing air conditioner filters, and otherwise trying not to be wasteful. I would like to recycle more, but there do not seem to be any places on this side of town to easily recycle plastics, glass, cans, etc. If one must drive a long distance to find a recycling location, the benefit is lost. We will continue to do the best we can.
Activity 2
I visited a farmer's market in Lufkin, TX with my mother-in-law a few years ago. I don't remember what we bought that day. I wish there were more convenient locations in our area for locally grown produce. The ones listed in the websites given are not on this side of town. I am interested in the new farmer's market in Humble, TX, but since it is only open on Wednesday morning, and I am always working at that time, I am not likely to be able to utilize it frequently. I might try to visit that one sometime when I am on vacation. I would definitely be interested in having a good farmer's market close to us.
I have been looking at some of the energy calculators this evening and have found that the three websites listed vary greatly in the questions they ask, and the amount of detail they use in making their calculations. Also, since we have lived in our current house less than a year, it is difficult to calculate the average monthly usage. I could only use 6 months of data, which included the hottest months of the summer. Also, at least one of the sites lumped all SUVs in one group, and I am sure, calculated the energy use as very high. My small Toyota SUV, however, is fairly economical on fuel usage, and even the larger SUV my husband drives does better than many large SUVs and pickups. My husband and I seem to be about average in our consumption, according to the calculators given here.
As far as reducing our usage, I don't know how much more we can do. We have always limited unnecessary driving, combined trips, and tried to reduce our usage of electricity as much as possible. This includes regular maintenance on the vehicles, turning the thermostat to 80 degrees in summer and 70 in winter, regularly changing air conditioner filters, and otherwise trying not to be wasteful. I would like to recycle more, but there do not seem to be any places on this side of town to easily recycle plastics, glass, cans, etc. If one must drive a long distance to find a recycling location, the benefit is lost. We will continue to do the best we can.
Activity 2
I visited a farmer's market in Lufkin, TX with my mother-in-law a few years ago. I don't remember what we bought that day. I wish there were more convenient locations in our area for locally grown produce. The ones listed in the websites given are not on this side of town. I am interested in the new farmer's market in Humble, TX, but since it is only open on Wednesday morning, and I am always working at that time, I am not likely to be able to utilize it frequently. I might try to visit that one sometime when I am on vacation. I would definitely be interested in having a good farmer's market close to us.
Friday, November 20, 2009
#40 Fitness
I have spent some time looking at all the suggested websites for this activity. As usual, I have been reminded of the need for regular exercise. All the suggested websites contained useful information. Mayo Clinic is always an authoritative source for information, and I liked the primusweb.com site, too.
I did fairly well at exercising regularly during the Live Healthy Challenge, but have slowed down recently for a number of reasons. I have started trying to walk more regularly in the last week or so. I know that I need to exercise, but it is just hard to find the time to do it. This assignment is a good reminder of the need to do so.
I don't know how much value is to be found in the Health Age Questionnaire. The calculator puts my life expectancy at 97.5 years. That is probably a bit optimistic. Some of the questions were a bit vague, and on some of the questions, none of the possible answers were correct for me. This would obviously influence the results of the survey. The calorie requirements calculator says I should be eating about 2000 calories per day. I'm not certain I am estimating my activity level correctly, so this also might not be accurate. My BMI showed about what I thought it would, but once again, the information gathered is incomplete. For instance, no allowance was made for bone structure or physical conditioning. The only variables were age. height and weight. In spite of that, the BMI score is probably the most accurate of the three.
This exercise is a good reminder of the need for exercise. The survey results were a bit surprising, but given the number of variables, should probably should be taken with a grain of salt.
I did fairly well at exercising regularly during the Live Healthy Challenge, but have slowed down recently for a number of reasons. I have started trying to walk more regularly in the last week or so. I know that I need to exercise, but it is just hard to find the time to do it. This assignment is a good reminder of the need to do so.
I don't know how much value is to be found in the Health Age Questionnaire. The calculator puts my life expectancy at 97.5 years. That is probably a bit optimistic. Some of the questions were a bit vague, and on some of the questions, none of the possible answers were correct for me. This would obviously influence the results of the survey. The calorie requirements calculator says I should be eating about 2000 calories per day. I'm not certain I am estimating my activity level correctly, so this also might not be accurate. My BMI showed about what I thought it would, but once again, the information gathered is incomplete. For instance, no allowance was made for bone structure or physical conditioning. The only variables were age. height and weight. In spite of that, the BMI score is probably the most accurate of the three.
This exercise is a good reminder of the need for exercise. The survey results were a bit surprising, but given the number of variables, should probably should be taken with a grain of salt.
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Wellness #39: Nutrition
I spent quite a bit of time trying to use NutritionData.com, but didn't like the site very much. Maybe part of the problem was that our internet connection at the branch is running slowly right now. I tried to use the BMI and Daily Needs Calculator, but it would never respond, so I didn't get any information from that.
I was interested in the article about ways to cut salt intake since my husband and I are trying to do that right now. Most of the information was familiar to me, so I don't think I really gained any new information. I was hoping for more concrete suggestions.
I tried searching the nutrition information on different fast foods. I was disappointed that Jack-in-the-Box and Whataburger were not listed, since those are probably our most frequently visited fast food restaurants. I found that a single slice of Papa John's pizza is nearly the same in fat, calories, and sodium as a Dairy Queen Homestyle Hamburger. Since I always have more than one slice of pizza, I guess the hamburger would be a healthier option.
I went to the Recipes.Sparkpeople.com site and tried to post a recipe, but it didn't seem very user friendly. I tried to enter a Fresh Apple Cake recipe, with cooking oil as my first ingredient. My cake recipe calls for 1 1/4 cup cups oil, but the site wanted me to use only a whole number, as in 1 cup, 1 tablespoon, etc. I couldn't find a way to make it accept a fractional amount. I didn't have time to continue, so I came back to it later on my home computer. It seemed to be responding a little bit better, but it still would not allow me to enter fractions. I entered an approximation of a cream cheese dip recipe, then adjusted it to use fat free cream cheese and reduced fat cheddar. It made a little difference in the nutrition calculations. The full fat version had 230 calories per serving, but the reduced fat version had 204 calories. I question the accuracy of these numbers because I think the fat free cheese would cause more reduction in calories than that. Since it was not the accurate recipe anyway, it doesn't tell me very much. I'm not posting the recipe because the site wouldn't allow me to enter the recipe with the actual amounts the recipe requires.
I did not find these exercises or these web sites to be very useful to me. I might play with them a little bit more, but do not believe I will use either of these web sites regularly.
I was interested in the article about ways to cut salt intake since my husband and I are trying to do that right now. Most of the information was familiar to me, so I don't think I really gained any new information. I was hoping for more concrete suggestions.
I tried searching the nutrition information on different fast foods. I was disappointed that Jack-in-the-Box and Whataburger were not listed, since those are probably our most frequently visited fast food restaurants. I found that a single slice of Papa John's pizza is nearly the same in fat, calories, and sodium as a Dairy Queen Homestyle Hamburger. Since I always have more than one slice of pizza, I guess the hamburger would be a healthier option.
I went to the Recipes.Sparkpeople.com site and tried to post a recipe, but it didn't seem very user friendly. I tried to enter a Fresh Apple Cake recipe, with cooking oil as my first ingredient. My cake recipe calls for 1 1/4 cup cups oil, but the site wanted me to use only a whole number, as in 1 cup, 1 tablespoon, etc. I couldn't find a way to make it accept a fractional amount. I didn't have time to continue, so I came back to it later on my home computer. It seemed to be responding a little bit better, but it still would not allow me to enter fractions. I entered an approximation of a cream cheese dip recipe, then adjusted it to use fat free cream cheese and reduced fat cheddar. It made a little difference in the nutrition calculations. The full fat version had 230 calories per serving, but the reduced fat version had 204 calories. I question the accuracy of these numbers because I think the fat free cheese would cause more reduction in calories than that. Since it was not the accurate recipe anyway, it doesn't tell me very much. I'm not posting the recipe because the site wouldn't allow me to enter the recipe with the actual amounts the recipe requires.
I did not find these exercises or these web sites to be very useful to me. I might play with them a little bit more, but do not believe I will use either of these web sites regularly.
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