There are hundreds of sites offering medical information, but most of the sites are re-sellers or agents of some drugs or some industry, their reviews may be bias or related to/ use of the product that they want to sell. Check to see if the information is not having any vested interests, the information is current (less than few years old). then look for the author of the post or article (i.e. doctor, subject expert, nurse, psychologist). Checking the credentials of the author is essential to make sure the information is accurate and written by a health professional or an expert in the field. Here are some of the websites that are good for checking medical related information.

Medline Plus
(https://www.medlineplus.gov/)
This site is from U.S. National Library of Medicine which is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health. The main features of MedlinePlus are, a drug and supplement look-up, an illustrated medical encyclopedia, and current health news headlines and links. the health topics include health, wellness, disorders, and conditions. You can learn about prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, herbs, and supplements. The site contains videos on topics such as anatomy, body systems, and surgical procedures. You can test your knowledge with interactive tutorials and games. You can also check your health with calculators and quizzes. The site also has a Medical Encyclopedia, consists of articles and images for diseases, symptoms, tests, treatments.

John Hopkins Health Library
(http://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/healthlibrary)

This site contains a guide to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of conditions from A to Z. Various diseases and conditions, tests and procedures, recipes, nutrition information, prevention guidelines.

Healthfinder
(http://www.healthfinder.gov/)
This site is also very helpful for finding reliable health information and the site draws on more than 1,600 government and non-profit organizations to point you to current information. You can also find health guides, health-related news by topic, and a directory of health-related organizations.

Healthcare
(http://www.healthcare.gov/)
This site provides information from over 4,000 private health plans offered by over 200 insurers, across all 50 states and the District of Columbia. There is an Insurance Finder tool, that will help you to find the health insurance best suited to your needs – whether it’s private insurance for individuals, families, and small businesses, or public programs.

Mayoclinic
(http://mayoclinic.com/)
This is not a Governmental organization, the site is owned by the Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. The Site is a product of efforts by more than 3,300 physicians, scientists and researchers from Mayo Clinic, and provides in-depth, easy-to-understand information on hundreds of diseases and conditions.

Webmd
(http://www.webmd.com)
WebMD gives various health information, tools for managing your health, and support to those who seek information. The site offers well-crafted articles on health, food, and exercise. The site also offers a list of calculators like Fitness Calorie Counter, Food Calorie Counter, Due Date Calculator and so on.

Sites related to specific topics

Women’s Health
(http://www.womenshealth.gov/)
The site offered by National Women’s Health Information Center with a vision “All women and girls achieve the best possible health”, is specially dedicated to women. The top trending health topics on this site include Breastfeeding, Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), Menstruation, HIV and AIDS, Lupus, Pregnancy, Iron-deficiency, anemia, thyroid disease, heart disease and stroke.

Cancer Related

Sites offering cancer-related information are The American Cancer Society (cancer.org), National Cancer Institute (cancer.gov), Association of Cancer Online Resources (acor.org) and Cancer Care (cancercare.org).

Heart disease

Sites offering heart disease-related information are American Heart Association (americanheart.org), National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (www.nhlbi.nih.gov) and Congenital Heart Information Network (tchin.org).

Diabetes

Sites offering diabetes-related information are American Diabetes Association (diabetes.org), the National Diabetes Education Program (ndep.nih.gov), Joslin Diabetes Center (www.joslin.harvard.edu), and Diabetes Monitor (diabetesmonitor.com).

Alzheimer’s disease

Sites offering Alzheimer’s disease-related information are Alzheimer’s Association (alz.org), Fisher Center for Alzheimer’s Research Foundation (alzinfo.org), and Alzheimers.gov (Alzheimers.gov).

You can also see thousands of information online by searching on a search engine. But the reliable content is especially important for this type of topics. University and medical school’s have there owned websites, with web addresses ending in .edu. You can easily find such sites online by analyzing the domain and look for the web addresses ending in .edu.  There are some well-known and trusted health websites from not-for-profit groups that focus on research and teaching the public about specific diseases or conditions. You can easily identify such websites by domain, as they end in .org. Anyone can register such a ‘.org’ site and now the ‘.org’ the address also used for commercial purpose, check the reliability and authenticity of the website by visiting the about page of the site. Which site are you using to find medical information? Is it reliable? What do you think about such kind of free medical information related websites?

Time has changed we are living in a world where anything happen to anyone. A huge list of virus, bacteria, fungus kills a big number of people and even a small mosquito can define our fate ! We don’t know what’s happening inside our body and mind. Our eating habits changed, our workout habits changed, our job profile changed, climate changed and the food and drink we are using is also changed. The result- disease ! In this contest we have to prepare ourselves to change our lifestyles, track our health, keep our body and mind calm even in touch working environment using technology. These special article is all about wearable technology, how it is and how it changed our lifestyles.

Wearable technology 

Things have changed a lot, even a small strap on your hand can track your steps, distance, calories burned, active minutes, hourly activity and stationary time. This small device on your hand can automatically track your activities like running, sports and aerobic workouts, then displays the summaries in a smart phone app ! Surprised !, wait, the device can automatically track how long and how well you sleep, give you a bedtime reminder to form good habits and in the morning wake up peacefully with a silent alarm ! Again the device tells you calls and texts that you received in your phone.

Now wondering what about your body parts. A small device will tell you how working out more can impact your resting heart rate, a key indicator of cardiovascular health. By measuring your heart rate all day and during workouts, the device will tell you more accurately  how much calorie burn. And thinking about charging the device, a single charge gives you up to few days or a week of battery life. Here we are going to check out some of popular Wearable technology devices, that can transforms our life’s.

Fitness watch

Fitbit Blaze
Fitbit Blaze watch uses SmartTrack to automatically recognize and record exercises. You will get an on-screen summary of each workout after you complete it, you can check the Fitbit app on your smart phone to see how you’re progressing toward your weekly exercise goals. You can start a workout on your tracker and get step-by-step instructions and coaching right on your wrist. You can choose from sport modes like running, biking and cardio, to see real-time stats on display. Other features are you ca nview notifications on screen, like calls, texts, calendar events and push notifications from apps like Gmail, Facebook and more. It is easy to adjust the volume and play, pause or switch songs from your smartphone with a simple tap.Using heart rate, Blaze shows your time in light, deep and REM sleep to help you better understand your sleep quality. You can connect Fitbit Blaze with the GPS on your phone to map your routes and see run stats like pace, distance and time on display. Fitbit Versa has Amzon Alexa built-in to to get quick news and information, check the weather, set timers and alarms, and control your smart home devices.

Pebble Watches
Pebble Time is a long-lasting, water-resistant sports watch that’s thinner, lighter, and stronger. It’s a fun wearable that makes staying active, sleeping smarter, and nurturing healthy habits easier. Find the motivation and insight you need to get active, sleep well, and stay in touch with a smartwatch that makes living healthier fun and easy.

Health Monitors

Pebble Health
Pebble Health tracks when you fall asleep, wake up, and how much deep sleep you’re getting. Knowing how you sleep will help you to arrange your sleep timings, better sleep will help you meet your fitness goals even faster. Smart alarm figures out the best time to wake you based on your sleep cycle, up to 30 minutes before your alarm, so you’re less groggy and more energized to tackle the day. Pebble Health automatically tracks your steps, distance, active time, and calories burned;  it sends you quick summaries right after an activity. When it comes to your overall fitness, follow your heart, means you can keep track of how intense you’re performing with a quick glance on Pebble watches with a built-in heart rate sensor. Your heart rate stats sync seamlessly with Pebble health, so you can see how well you’re doing over time.

Fitbit Alta HR
Fitbit Alta HR auto detects workouts like running, elliptical, biking and more, and logs them to your dashboard. Use heart rate zones to see how hard you’re working during exercise and dial your effort up or down. The device automatically track your sleep duration and consistency. Then wake up peacefully with a silent alarm.Receive call, text and calendar notifications on display, so you never miss the messages that matter. Get friendly on-screen messages that encourage you to reach mini-goals of 250 steps each hour. About battery life- a single charge gives you up to 7 days of battery life.

Manage Stress

Pip
(https://thepip.com/)
The Pip teaches you how to manage your stress better. It allows you to see your stress levels, connecting your emotions with engaging apps, teaching you not only how to recognize stress, but to know a life without it. The Pip comes with a selection of engaging Apps each integrated with My Pip – a cloud platform for better living. Each of the apps have been created to help you de-stress, refocus and learn to better manage stress. Launch one of the Apps and hold the Pip between your thumb and index finger as shown in the below picture. The Pip detects if you’re focused and relaxing, or if you’re stressed and your mind is wandering. This influences your in-App progress. The more you relax, the better you progress.The Apps respond to your changing stress levels, using both audio and visual feedback. At the end of your Pip session, you can review your Pip score; see a detailed breakdown of stress, relaxation and stress events; and add a note to your session. You can view a sample session results here.

Checking health anytime anywhere

Kardia
(https://www.alivecor.com/)
Wondering how to take a medical grade EKG in just 30 seconds. Here is a device Kardia that takes medical grade EKG (as they claims) and the results are delivered right to your smartphone. Now you can know anytime, anywhere if your heart rhythm is normal, or if atrial fibrillation is detected. Kardia is an easy way to detect atrial fibrillation so you can live your life with confidence. Just put your fingers on Kardia Mobile’s pads (a small card like device) no wires, patches or gels required.

Viatom
(http://www.viatomtech.com/checkme-pro)
Viatom contains few devices fused into one. The ECG Recorder, supports both cable and cable-free operation, has 500 Hz sampling rate and wide bandwidth. 30/60/90s of full disclosure waveform can be replayed. Professional ECG algorithm is able to provide, not only Heart Rate, but also QRS duration, ST segment, QT/QTC interval, and rhythm analysis. Pulse Oximeter has a built-in SpO2 sensor supports cable-free operation, external soft-cover SpO2 sensor is also available, external SpO2 ring sensor is also available, oxygen saturation, pulse rate and pulse strength are available. Sleep Monitor for OSA, Checkme is an ideal device for monitoring and screening sleep problems, such as Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), Comfortable wristband and soft-cover SpO2
sensor records SpO2 and Pulse Rate up to 10 hours. Thermometer- an integrated infrared temperature sensor with high accuracy and very easy to use and quick to get reading. BP Tracker- no need of blood pressure cuff, easy to use, it tracks your blood pressure variation, just takes only 20 seconds. Pedometer built-in high accuracy 3D smart sensor that accurately calculate steps, calories and amount of fat burned.

Device for meditation

Muse
(http://www.choosemuse.com/)
Muse is a brain sensing headband will elevate your meditation experience. It gently guides your meditation through changing sounds of weather based on the real-time state of your brain. This allows you to obtain a deeper sense of focus and motivates you to build a highly rewarding practice. Meditation has been scientifically shown to reduce symptoms associated with stress, depression and anxiety as well as improve focus, performance and quality of life.  Learn the essentials of focussed attention meditation, soundscapes include Beach, Rainforest, Desert and other, milestones and rewards to keep you motivated, create multiple accounts and share with family and friends, end of session results and graphs help measure progress, exercises contributed by meditation experts to help you learn.

Improve Your Workout

Gymwatch
(https://www.gymwatch.com/)
First connect via Bluetooth with the free Gymwatch app. Choose your favorites from my exercise catalog, Push-ups, bench press or pull-ups. You can create a custom workout or use one of existing templates. The app provide a suitable workout for every level. You can define your parameters such as weight, sets and reps. You can even adjust your pausing times flexibly. Attach a small device to your arm or your leg. Use two of them as a duo and train you upper and lower body simultaneously with weights, at fitness machines or freestyle. The device analyze your movements and provide you with immediate live feedback through your headphones or visually through your smartphone. The analysis improves your training professionally, this way your performance curve rises steadily.

What you think about these type of wearable apps? Is this the future of medical devices, that can stay with us and tell the hospital or doctors about our health conditions and diseases. Anyways technology has changed our daily life’s, the way we think, they way we are watching, they way we are eating, the way we are sleeping. Let’s wait to know is technology is a boon or a bane for us?