Not too long ago while I was catching up on my mountain of RSS feeds in Google Reader, I was perusing one of my favorite health-related blogs, DiabetesMine. I really enjoy reading DiabetesMine, authored by the wonderful Amy Tenderich, mainly because she has successfully created a community around those living with diabetes. Earlier this year when Amy got some time in the spotlight, it really started my brain motors turning about how we can spread the word about health issues in society and how people who are passionate about seeing change can catch the interest of many.

Amy is doing that again with the 2nd Annual DiabetesMine™ Design Challenge. She writes:

“[the] competition [is] designed to foster innovation in diabetes design and encourage creative new tools that will improve life with diabetes.”

The great part about this competition is that it incorporates many different elements related to the improvement of technology focused on helping people stay healthy and having the upper hand when it comes to handling their diabetes.

This contest is no small event either - it’s being supported by MedGadget, (Internet journal focused on highlighting emerging medical technologies), world famous design firm IDEO and probably most importantly, by 2 young brothers who have been living with Type 1 diabetes and are eager to see some changes in technology. And if the idea of being able to enter your design into this potentially industry changing opportunity doesn’t urge you enough, there are also other very nice prizes:

Two of the most enticing design concepts will win a package of prizes to help further their creative efforts: $1,000 in cash, some pro-bono professional advice from world-renowned design experts, and free access to the next Health 2.0 conference for one adult winner.

Please take some time to think about how you can contribute - submit your idea, spread the word! This is absolutely the epitome of how I want to help change the health world. Let’s add in excitement, innovation, design, passion, technology and social media! Let’s gather our minds and great ideas together so that we can live comfortable and QUALITY lives!

As you all know, I’m all about making use of emerging web technologies to further health communications. One of the most useful web tools that I have grown completely enamored with is Twitter, the micro-blogging platform that has become useful in many different ways.

My awesome health sciences librarian friend P.F. Anderson, recently conducted a demo of Twitter’s usefulness in the health arena. The parts on Twitter being used for activism and exercise really put a smile on my face! I’m pretty sure as time goes on, more uses will emerge, especially for health communications.

Patricia also blogs about emerging technologies at Emerging Technologies Librarian, which is also on my blogroll

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A few months ago with one of my early blog posts, I highlighted a new innovation in personal computing, the Asus EEE PC. Taking one look at this small, laptop-lookalike, I began thinking about its usefulness in our personal lives as well as a practical tool for “doing good” - similar to the XO Laptop. Other than wanting poverty to be reduced and people to have quality shelter and food, I want people to be informed. Much of the questions on anything you may have can be found on the Web - I’m passionate about leveling the field and closing the digital divide and I truly believe that increasingly mobile technology can help to achieve that.

One of my Twitter buddies, Sam Harrelson, popped up on my radar as an actual owner of one of these machines. I asked him if he would be kind enough to do a review of the EEE PC and he happily agreed. Now, with all of the emerging web technology coming out every few months (literally), I asked if he had video recording capabilities because, let me tell you, I’m loving the usefulness of video these days. Lucky for me (and you) he did! Here are the questions I asked him:

1)   What initially attracted you to the EEE PC? Were there certain computing needs that you felt it fulfilled?

2)   One of the most obvious aspects of the computer is its size – what are the pros and cons of the EEE PC’s mobility (e.g. wi-fi access, portability, etc.)?

3)   Based on your experience with the computer, what sort of users do you think would most benefit from what it offers? All ages?

4)   In one of my  first few blog posts, I wrote on how the PC could be used for “good” initiatives, e.g. health communication campaigns – what do you think the possible benefits of smaller computers can have to help close the digital divide?

5)   What recommendations would you give  for anyone interested in purchasing an EEE PC?

And without further ado…

Thanks again Sam!

Today’s second tip for women’s health has to do with calcium, bone health and osteoporosis.

Osteoporosis is a disease that thins and weakens bones to the point where they break easily. Hip, spine (backbone) and wrist bones are often involved. It is called a “silent disease” because bone loss happens without much notice. Having a bone break easily or getting a little shorter is often the first sign of this disease. While osteoporosis can strike at any age, over half of all women over age 65 have it.*

This video, created by Vie Fitness introduces the basics to osteoporosis prevention:

So to recap the ways in which you ladies can prevent osteoporosis:

1. Exercise! (mainly weight bearing activities like walking, low impact aerobics and dancing)
2. Increased calcium and Vitamin D consumption
3. Cut out excessive drinking and smoking
4. Regular checkups with your doctor

*Information from the National Women’s Health Information Center

(Due to Internet technical difficulties, this first tip is a day late - look for the second tip later today)

Whether you are newly pregnant or are thinking about starting a family, getting the proper nutrition is vital to maintaining a healthy pregnancy. One of the important nutrients in a healthy pregnancy is folic acid.

Get 400 micrograms (or 0.4 mg) of folic acid daily. Eat foods fortified with folic acid, take a multivitamin, or take a folic acid pill to get your daily dose. Taking folic acid in a pill is the best way to be sure you’re getting enough. Including 0.4 mgof folic acid (or folate) in your diet before you get pregnant and in the first three months of pregnancy can help prevent some birth defects. If you don’t get enough folic acid, your baby’s spine may not form right. This is called spina bifida (spy-nuh bif-uh-duh). Also, your baby needs folic acid to develop a healthy brain. Many doctors will prescribe a vitamin with folic acid. But you also can buy vitamins or folic acid pills at drug and grocery stores. Some foods rich in folate include: leafy green vegetables, kidney beans, orange juice and other citrus fruits, peanuts, broccoli, asparagus, peas, lentils, and whole-grain products. Folic acid is also added to some foods like enriched breads, pastas, rice and cereals.

Enjoy National Women’s Health Week! For more information, please see the National Women’s Health Information Center

Hello ladies! I wanted to let you know that today (Mother’s Day - how fitting) is the start of National Women’s Health Week! That’s right, an entire week devoted to ensuring that you stay healthy and knowledgeable about the things that impact your health.

To kick off this week’s event, the Department of Health and Human Services along with the National Women’s Health Information Center, is sponsoring the 5th Annual WOMAN Challenge! The 8 week challenge is designed to encourage women and girls to walk 10,000 steps or engage in 30 minutes of physical activity each day. Women can choose to walk one of six “virtual routes” across the country.

What I love about this challenge is that it really gives all who want to participate the tools to succeed and get encouraged - through emails and opportunities to share successes. Also there is the opportunity to join or create teams so that you have others around you to share in the motivation. That is what improving your health is all about, staying continually encouraged and motivated to do what’s best for yourself.

I want everyone to understand that it is always in your reach to attain goals of good health! They always say knowledge is power right? That’s why I absolutely love what can be achieved through the Web - it’s information at your fingertips that can be applied to our lives and that’s my aim with Pulse & Signal. This is especially true for all the women out there who are multitasking with all sorts of things to take care of - take time out for yourself and your well-being.

In honor of National Women’s Health Week and the WOMAN Challenge, I am going to post a series of women-focused health tips each day from Monday to Friday and do a wrap up on Saturday. Check back here everyday to get some information that you might not have known about women’s health.

For more information, please visit the websites for the WOMAN Challenge and National Women’s Health Week.

[This post can be seen as a continuation of what I was thinking about when I posted on slowing down]

For the past few weeks I have been mulling over in my head the notion of balance and how it applies to my health. Ever since I can remember, I have been a type of an overachiever. Constantly looking for ways to improve myself, say something better, and write something better - especially if I was really interested in a certain something. Since I started writing about the convergence of modern health communication and social media/personal technology, my brain has been on fire with ideas and thoughts. I have re-ignited my passion for health…and once I get passionate about something, oh boy, I go full speed ahead!

Since getting more involved with aspects of social media and getting to interact with so many great people, I found myself paying less and less attention to things like getting adequate sleep (sometimes 3-4 hours a night) and not eating properly. I felt like things were going alright, despite increasingly frequent bouts of sluggishness during the day and nagging chest pains. I shrugged it off for a while until 3 weekends ago, when I was enjoying a bed and breakfast in Va and I woke up in the middle of the night with a rapid heartbeat, shortness of breath and acute numbness down the left side of my body. To be honest, I thought it might have been the last few minutes of my life - especially knowing about the chest pains I had been experiencing the weeks prior (that I of course told myself I would get checked out eventually). Long story short, I was rushed to the ER and was released a few hours later with a clean bill of health. Nothing clinically wrong, but I knew this was my warning sign…a wake up call of sorts.

Now, I know there was a NY Times article about this sort of thing - bloggers dying or having heart attacks - and I wanted to distance myself from the media frenzy and not be another person talking about the same thing, despite its obvious importance to our culture and it being my specific interest. However, this was a personal event for me and one that I wanted to share with my readers. Sometimes you have to live through a situation in order to feel inspired and when I feel inspired, I want to share it with others, hope you don’t mind.

I came away from this event, reorganizing my time and what I did with it. Spending more time with the people I care about, focusing on my goals to revamp/update the way we view our health and communicate about it (health education, promotion…more on that later) and having quality interactions with people who are passionate about something. I bet you’re thinking that this is where I say “life is short” - actually that is a moot point in my opinion. Let me tweak that phrase a bit and say life is an opportunity - the quality of which is up to you. Whether you are here reading this because you are wired up to the gills with social media interests or just want to get a better idea of where your health fits into a busy lifestyle - one thing remains the same…you make use of this opportunity called life by taking care of yourself.

Thanks for listening.

One of the people I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know in the world of social marketing (applying marketing principles to behavior change) is Nedra Weinreich. She has been successfully operating Weinreich Communications for over 12 years. Her wisdom and experience continue to inspire and motivate me, so I am more than pleased to announce her annual Social Marketing University training series coming to the Washington, DC area this June - here are the details:

“This is a great introduction to using social marketing to bring about health and social change.

The training lasts 2-1/2 days, with the last half-day focusing on Next Generation Social Marketing. If you are a social marketer who already knows the basics and are interested in expanding your bag of tricks to include newer marketing methods using social media and other technologies — many of the things I write about on [Spare Change] — you can register just for the last day.

Social Marketing University
June 2-4, 2008
George Washington University
Washington, DC

Next Generation Social Marketing Seminar
June 4, 2008, 9:00 am - 12:30 pm
included in registration for SMU
OR register separately for seminar only

Complete information about the topics to be covered, hotel reservations, registration fees and what past participants have said can be found on the Social Marketing University information page.”

Unfortunately the early bird special cutoff date has recently passed HOWEVER, I spoke with Nedra and she has graciously offered readers of this blog a $50 discount toward the full training, using the code: PULSE

I am definitely looking forward to meeting Nedra when she comes to the East Coast next month!

According to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI):

“High blood pressure (HBP) affects more than 65 million—or 1 in 3—American adults. HBP often has no warning signs or symptoms. Once it occurs, it usually lasts a lifetime. Uncontrolled high blood pressure can lead to heart and kidney disease, stroke, and blindness.”

This month, take some time out for yourself and get your blood pressure checked.

My grandmother used to tell me “Prevention is better than cure” - it makes sense here. Why wait until a problem occurs?

For more information, check out these resources from NHLBI:

• Your Guide for Lowering High Blood Pressure
• Facts and Detailed Information on High Blood Pressure
• Your Guide to a Healthy Heart (PDF)