Just as clothing styles come in and out of fashion, diagnoses go through fads as well. While this is rarely true of diagnoses issued by traditional healthcare practitioners, health-related Internet sites (particularly those promoting alternative medicine) and some practitioners of alternative medicine may be susceptible to these diagnostic trends. One such fad diagnosis is lactose intolerance, which is sometimes blamed for everything from hyperactivity to joint pain.

Image credit: Pouring milk splash via Shutterstock

Health Highlights is a biweekly summary of particularly interesting articles from credible sources of health and medical information that we follow & read. For a complete list of recommeded sources, see our links page.

• Why the iPad Matters for Healthcare | The Health Care Blog

  The iPad has the potential to be truly useful for healthcare. Thomas Goetz offers an optimistic forecast.

• Health Tweeder. A Neat Visual Tool… But is it Useful? | Laika’s MedLibLog

  Jacqueline reviews Health Tweeder, a visual tool to aggregate twitter messages on specific health topics.

• How Risky Are Social Networking Sites for Kids | Dr Shock MD PhD

  The results of an online survey published in the journal Pediatrics found that claims of unwanted sexual solicitation or harassment associated with social networking sites don't appear justified. Dr Shock reviews the results.

• What is the difference between health and healthcare? | Jay Parkinson + MD + MPH = a doctor in NYC

  Jay Parkinson predicts what will happen when the business model of "sickcare" – transactions between payors and providers – becomes squeezed between federal and state regulations, and the implications of such an event for brands entering the health space.

• Exercise Reduces Anxiety In Sick Patients | Healthcare Hacks

  A recent study in the Archives of Internal Medicine finds that regular exercise can be effective at reducing anxiety. Fred Lee runs through the results.

• Even Though Adults Still Need 8.5 Hours of Sleep Each Night, Most People Sleep 6.5 | The Patient Report

  Cheree Cleghorn reviews the results of a recent poll on U.S. sleep habits and questions why we’re a nation of sleep-deprived people.

• Is Self-Guided Research Dangerous to Your Health? | The Decision Tree

  Thomas Goetz discusses self-guided or personalized research – patients using social media to decentralize and distribute health data, and using that information to make informed decisions.

• Worrying: WordPress shut down a Blog of a Student Critizing the Naturopath Christopher Maloney | Laika’s MedLibLog

  The complementary and alternative medicine movement has a great deal of influence over healthcare consumers. Jacqueline expresses worry over the tactics recently taken by alternative practitioners to silence critical science writers.

Health Highlights is a biweekly summary of particularly interesting articles from credible sources of health and medical information that we follow & read. For a complete list of recommeded sources, see our links page.

• How distractible are you? The answer may lie in your working memory capacity | Cognitive Daily

  Dave Munger pays attention to a recent study on memory capacity and mental focus.

• Genetics of Cancer Resistance | Dr Shock MD PhD

  Dr Shock reviews fundamental concepts in genetics and highlights a study providing alternative explanations for cancer resistance.

• Why Does My Child Need a Flu Shot? | Doctor David’s Blog

  Dr. David Loeb covers recent flu-related news and discusses a study on drugs designed to treat influenza. His advice: prevent the flu with a flu shot.

• FDA OKs First Human Trials of Embryonic Stem Cells – Geron Biotech | The Medical Quack

  Barbara Duck reports that the Federal Drug Administration has approved the first human trials of embryonic stem cells to treat a small group of spinal cord injury patients.

• How to make EBM easy to swallow: BMJ PICO | Laikas MedLibLog

  Cliff Notes for evidence-based medicine? Shamsha Damani reports that the British Medical Journal (BMJ) will be publishing summaries for published research articles.

• Reality Deniers | Science-Based Medicine

  Homeopaths deny chemistry, acupuncturists and chiropractors deny anatomy, energy therapies deny our understanding of physics and energy – they all deny the validity of the scientific method.

Health Highlights is a biweekly summary of particularly interesting articles from credible sources of health and medical information that we follow & read. For a complete list of recommeded sources, see our links page.

• Colours affect mental performance, with blue boosting creativity | BPS Research Digest

  Which color do you like: red or blue? The BPS Research Digest blog reviews a recent study that assesses the contrasting effects of the colors red and blue on mental performance.

• State of Health In the United States, 2008 | Open Medicine Blog

  Dean Giustini examines the 20 specific health indicators proposed by the Institute of Medicine to measure the overall health and well-being of Americans.

• Probiotics | Science-Based Medicine

  Dr. Mark Crislip provides an exposition on the science and spin of probiotics.

• How to Find a Good Doctor … An Expert Doctor Tells You How | ThePatientReport.com

  The Patient Report.com documents a New York Times article that provides a quick education on how to search for a doctor.

• How Alternative Medicine Fails Us | Sciencebase Science Blog

  David Bradley asks to a pharmaceutical science expert to comment on a post criticizing an herbal remedy and reader comments.

Health Highlights is a biweekly summary of particularly interesting articles from credible sources of health and medical information that we follow & read. For a complete list of recommeded sources, see our links page.

• What is alternative medicine, anyway? Rumble in the Jungle | WhiteCoat Underground

  In Part I, PalMD tried to define alternative medicine. Part II was an attempt to clarify Part I. With Part III, it’s personal. Simply a must read.

• Doctor Anonymous Live on BlogTalkRadio

  Dr. Anonymous streams live every Thursday night at 10 PM EST. Call in or chat live. Don’t miss it!

• Health 2.0: Explosion | Scott Shreeve, MD

  Scott Shreeve highlights a few video feeds from the Health 2.0 conference. The first video — the conference opening presentation — is awesome.

• Combining OA journal articles and social networking tools | Open Access News

  Peter Suber reports that BioMed Central, an open access publisher of biomedical literature, has added an option to post articles to social networking sites. BioMed Central is one of several public access resources I mentioned previously.

• The 10 Rules of Aging Well | Mark’s Daily Apple

  Live well and age gracefully. Mark gives us the 10 rules to live by.