How to Use Social Media for Health

Tools such as YouTube and Facebook help build relationships, spread new information, and keep people entertained, but they are not tools people immediately think of when trying to improve cardiovascular health or achieve a healthy weight.

Social media, however, can be a great resource for improving one’s health. It makes sense – an incredible amount of tools, information and support are available online. Using social media for health does not require exercising while blogging, just smart techniques and dedication.

http://mashable.com/2009/03/14/social-media-health/

The Importance of Social Media in Medicine

The Rise of the Social Pathologist: The Importance of Social Media to Pathology

By Admin | Published: 2011/05/27

Eric F Glassy. “The Rise of the Social Pathologist: The Importance of Social Media to Pathology.” Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine. Northfield: Oct 2010. Volume 134. 

Most people reading this editorial are older than 55 years and have the paper version of Archives of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine in hand. You surf the Web for news, perhaps buy a few items at Amazon.com, and exchange e-mail with friends and family. Social media or social networking probably seem best left to high school students. But you have seen its power by watching the demonstrations associated with the Iran election and the stream of user-generated images after the earthquakes in China, Haiti, and Chile. Real-time communication platforms like Twitter and Facebook had spread the word about what was happening within these nations, long before the mainstream media reported the story. The Chinese government, for example, first learned about the earthquake in the Sichuan province from its own citizens using social media.

These news stories may have led you to explore Facebook and Twitter, but the idea of opening your personal life-let alone your professional one-to Internet commentary seems perverse and an invitation to disaster. But there is no denying that social media-an umbrella term for the various activities that integrate technology, social interaction, and the construction of words, pictures, and audio―is becoming a force. At one point, Twitter was in the running to become Time Magazine’s ”Person of the Year.”

Social media is part of Web 2.0, the buzzword that refers to the evolution of the Internet from a passive viewing model (Web-as-information source) to a more personal and interactive experience (the participatory Web). A news story that is delivered online becomes social media if there is a place for readers to comment; the interactive component is the key. Internet applications now facilitate information sharing, interoperability, user-content generation, and collaboration, thereby democratizing knowledge and enriching the user experience.

 

For more, go to http://www.omnilogos.com/2011/05/27/the-rise-of-the-social-pathologist-the-importance-of-social-media-to-pathology/

 

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Video on what is Health Informatics

The Role of Bioinformatics in Stem Cell Research

Abstract

The technological breakthrough in the field of medicine is remarkable in the 21^st century. Rapid advances in the field of computers coupled with increasing computer literacy among professionals support the implementation of computer applications in medical practice. The mission of this paper is to create awareness amongst the medical fraternity the important roles of bioinformatics in stem cell research. 

Stem cell offers promising benefits from transplants and provides not only cell replacement therapy to treat debilitating diseases such as diabetes, Parkinson's and Huntington's disease but also the ever growing anti-aging medicine. Bioinformatics has a profound impact in medical sciences since its existence. It is the field where biology, medical science and information technology merge into a single discipline. The ultimate goal of the field is to enable the discovery of new biological insights. Major funding agencies and foundations all around the world have recognized the importance of bioinformatics to the future of health and health care and have taken steps to increase support and promote the field. As such it is believed that a knowledgeable approach toward Bioinformatics will embrace the future of stem cell research.

Research in medical

Medical informatics research activities have spanned the entire globe from Europe to Australia. Closer to home, both Singapore and Thailand are actively involved in establishing their own medical informatics research disciplines.

In Malaysia, however, activities in medical informatics are still lagging behind, despite the fact that the government is intensifying information technology usage through its Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC) projects.

By S.Abdul-Kareem, S.Bada and M.I.A. Wahid

http://jhi.sagepub.com/cgi/content/abstract/6/2/110