Dr. Internet, M.D.

The internet can be your worst enemy... and your best friend.

Last week, a good friend of mine was experiencing severe stomach pains and, like any technology-savvy person, went straight to WebMD.com. After filling out a quiz about her symptoms, her online doctor told her there were 28 possible conditions that were causing her discomfort and she should seek medical attention immediately.

Since she wasn't completely dependent on her online doctor, who was not only lacking personality but also a medical degree (not such minor details). She decided to call an After Hours service to speak to someone directly who was trained. The nurse she spoke with told her to take meds and attempt to go back to sleep and see a doctor in the morning if she was still in pain.

However, due to the continuation of the pain, she headed straight to the emergency room, and it's a good thing she did.

After a number of tests, the doctors determined that her appendix was on the verge of rupturing. This was one of the possibilities that her online doctor had listed. Good diagnosis, WebMD.

A few hours later, she was in operating room and had her appendix removed laparoscopically. The next day in recovery, she was speaking with her surgeon and shared her story of how it was the Web site (and the non-changing pain) that encouraged her to head to the hospital. Though her doctor did not encourage people to rely solely on the internet, he said that legitimate Web sites, such as WebMD, can really serve useful and have helped patients hone in on symptoms.

Football + Food = Failure

I honestly think the only vegetables I consumed this weekend were the lettuce and tomato on my hamburger. Well, unless the potatoes in the accompanying fries count. Oh yeah, they don't.

The Florida/Georgia game in Jacksonville, Fla. is known as the biggest cocktail party of the year, but unfortunately those cocktails aren't served with a nutrient-filled sidekick. Instead, they are partnered with calorie-packed, fried foods. All the restaurants have game day menus that are brimming with fast-cooking foods that accommodate the largest number of people but are lacking most essential food groups. Even the so-called "healthy options" were scattered with fried chicken and lots of creamy dressing.

In an article in Forbes, stadiums battled it out for which served the healthiest food. As well as suggesting options to cut calories when heading out to the ball game.

Things I learned from the game:
1. Eat before the game. No matter what, it is virtually impossible to find a healthy snack at a football stadium. It's an oxymoron if I've ever heard one.
2. Make your own tailgate, don't join another. By bringing your own munchies, you will know exactly what you are consuming.
3. When in doubt, drink water. It rids some of your hunger and chances are, you're probably pretty dehydrated.

You'll be sorry if you're sleepless

Rarely do I get enough sleep. Getting in six hours is honestly considered a "good night," and I'll still be exhausted the next day.

I've always just assumed that the only real effect is constantly feeling tired, but recently I stumbled upon an interesting article that proved I could be causing potential long-term damage to my body. Greaaat.

According to an article from the American Psychological Association there are about 40 million Americans who suffer from more than 70 different disorders related to lack-of-sleep.

After some extensive reading online about how important sleep is, below is an excerpt from from Harvard Medical School that includes some facts you might not know.

The Harvard Women’s Health Watch suggests six reasons to get enough sleep:

1. Learning and memory: Sleep helps the brain commit new information to memory through a process called memory consolidation. In studies, people who’d slept after learning a task did better on tests later.
2. Metabolism and weight: Chronic sleep deprivation may cause weight gain by affecting the way our bodies process and store carbohydrates, and by altering levels of hormones that affect our appetite.
3. Safety: Sleep debt contributes to a greater tendency to fall asleep during the daytime. These lapses may cause falls and mistakes such as medical errors, air traffic mishaps, and road accidents.
4. Mood: Sleep loss may result in irritability, impatience, inability to concentrate, and moodiness. Too little sleep can also leave you too tired to do the things you like to do.
5. Cardiovascular health: Serious sleep disorders have been linked to hypertension, increased stress hormone levels, and irregular heartbeat.
6. Disease: Sleep deprivation alters immune function, including the activity of the body’s killer cells. Keeping up with sleep may also help fight cancer.

Bottom line: get some zzz's. [Note: I need to heed my own advice, as it is currently 12:40 a.m.]

First is the worst, second is the best

At the University of Florida, football is like a religion.

Every week, pray to the football gods (Tim Tebow and Urban Meyer) and hope that they will lead us to glory. Last Saturday, although we added another win under our belt, we dropped to number two. Thanks a lot, Alabama.

Though we are by no means out of the running for anything, this led me to thinking about the role of the underdog, and how sometimes it helps not to be No. 1.

I've always been a fan of the team that isn't favored to win, and it turns out that many others think the same way. Here are two articles that agree and support the underdog:

The New Yorker
An independent blog

Well, on that note - GO GATORS!

Dangerous Diets

She chowed down on not one but two grapefruits in a row before class started two days ago. I had never spoken to her, as we sat on opposite sides of the room in this class, but after her rapid consumption I couldn't help but overhear her talking about this "miracle diet" she was on -- The Grapefruit Diet.

[http://www.cartoonstock.com/lowres/ear0947l.jpg]

According to an article on WebMD.com, this diet has been around since the 1930s and is considered to be a fast pass weight loss system -- with the average person losing about 10 pounds in 12 days. However, these 10 pounds are normally water weight and come right back upon return to your "normal" diet.

For some reason, this diet has acquired the name "The Mayo Clinic Diet," when in reality, the renowned Mayo Clinic does not endorse or promote this whatsoever, only that grapefruits are a good low-calorie addition to your diet, but not a good entire diet.

To those grapefruit dieters - realize that you are lacking many nutritious values -- I'd just stick with exercise and a well-balanced, well-rounded diet.

Glee is all the hype, literally

Tired? Need a boost? Just take pseudoephedrine, or decongestant drugs, like the cast of Glee did. It certainly hyped them up.

In the last episode, aired Oct. 7, the school nurse's character (well, actually a woman pretending to be a nurse) gave the cast decongestant drugs to enhance performance. As shown in the clip below, it definitely added extra spunk.

As an avid Glee follower, I was intrigued by this drug use, and immediately looked it up online after the episode. Turns out, it got a lot of backlash. Associated Content and Entertainment Weekly both published articles almost immediately talking about the negative mixed message this show is sending to viewers, most of which are high school students. Turns out, pseudoephedrine is involved in the production of Meth and is widely controlled and monitored around the nation. Is this really a message we want to be sending? I think not.

Is it wrong that mainstream media outlets are producing shows that support the abuse of over-the-counter drugs? Feel free to share your thoughts.

She knows her stuff

Her day begins at 2:45 a.m.

She has coffee and a pudding, thoroughly reads all daily publications, gets on the treadmill to run 8-10 miles -- then, she goes to the gym. After weightlifting and possibly a kickboxing class, she is the first one to open the doors to her office. Marta Montenegro is not only a certified personal trainer, strength and conditioning coach, with two masters' degrees under her belt, she is also the founder, publisher and editor-in-chief of SOBeFit Magazine.

[http://sobefitmagazine.com/default.aspx]

Marta came and spoke to our class on Thursday. She shared her insight and experiences about starting up one of the newest, trendy Florida health and fitness magazines, SOBeFit. Her magazine, with just three issues to date, has become quite the success and won five 2009 Charlie awards including the silver award for "Best New Magazine."

The magazine is great and packed with relevant, healthy advice. Marta says she has a loyalty to her readers to make sure all the content is safe and sends positive messages.

When asked her motivation to do it all, she responded with, "I just think that someone is training or working harder than me, and I want to beat that."

Like I said, she knows her stuff.