Health Internet Information When I started practice, patients would often come into the office to ask about their symptoms or condition showing me an article fromReader’s Digest that they happened to see. Today, the information available to us for symptoms or diagnoses is abundantly available through the internet. Not only are there numerous reputable sites regarding how to keep healthy through diet, physical activity and lifestyle modifications, there are also sites that explain your particular condition and how it is best managed by you. A good example of this is The Heart and Stroke Foundation site for individuals with those conditions or at risk for them. You can now become an expert in helping to manage your own health and medical conditions, as well as your health-care providers’ involvement. This internet access has been a great help to doctors, as well. Using special programs, they are able to constantly keep up with diagnostic information, current therapies, potential drug interactions and other important data. Emerging Technologies Cochlear implants and even retinal implants have been used successfully for individuals with certain hearing and vision impairments, but now such brain computer interfaces are being developed to modify motor control by persons with Parkinson’s disease and brain implants and for persons paralyzed with spinal cord injury. For patients with COPD, sleep apnoea and cardiac conditions, personal pulse oximetry devices are now being made available that can measure not only oxygen saturation levels, but also temperature and blood pressure to a smartphone app. While most of these technologies help in diagnosing and treating our medical conditions, it is important to remember that prevention is still the best remedy; this means that it’s still important to lead a healthy lifestyle, follow a healthy diet, actively manage weight control and keep as physically fit as you can. By far the most important thing which you can do is at least 30 minutes of physical activity most days of the week. Although exercising all of your body muscles is important, most experts agree that for seniors, a brisk but comfortable walk each day either all at once or in shorter periods is the best thing you can do, not only to reduce the risk of many medical problems, but also in helping to control and improve many existing conditions. So now I’m going to go on my treadmill for half an hour. It’s cold and windy today and I’m longing for my return to the Florida beaches for my exercise. 34 | www.snowbirds.org
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