Healthcare Blogger Code of Ethics

Our third offering in the Healthcare Blogger Gallery is Medicana , our first featured patient blog (medicana.blogspot.com), authored by self-diagnosed hypochondriac Mauigirl.

(Yes, I got her permission before I said that!)

This is Maui’s submission information:

Your Name
Mauigirl

Email
Mauigirl52@yahoo.com

Name of Blog
Medicana

Website
http://www.medicana.blogspot.com

Description of Blog
Medicana is the medical website for hypochondriacs! It contains a wealth of information about diseases and conditions. Each major post presents a disease or condition in a simple, easy to read form, complete with symptoms, diagnosis and cure, if there is one - and most importantly, how likely it is YOU will get it. Although the content may be written in an informal and sometimes humorous way, every effort is made to get the facts right, and links are posted links to legitimate medical sources for further information. In between major postings, there are other tidbits of medically-related information. All of this information is interspersed with personal anecdotes and experiences.

Describe yourself
I’ve always been fascinated by medical subjects, as I grew up as the daughter of two medical writers. I have also (perhaps due to this background) always been a hypochondriac and feverishly search the Internet for clues whenever I have the simplest symptoms. As a result, I am familiar with all the medical terminology and love to research diseases. Friends often come to me with their medical issues and ask me to look things up for them. So I figured starting a blog about diseases would be a handy way to compile a reference for others. Naturally I’m not any kind of a medical expert so if anyone has a symptom that is concerning them they should always consult a real doctor and not just rely on my blog!

Favorite Tags
depression, neurological, blood pressure, parasites

Why do you blog?
I enjoy sharing information with others and feel the process of researching diseases and conditions adds to my own medical knowledge.

Why should readers read your blog?
To read up on specific diseases and conditions and understand they always have choices in their care.

Favorite Post:

Depression runs in my family; in fact, “it practically gallops,” with apologies to Joseph Kesselring, author of the play “Arsenic and Old Lace,” who first used the phrase.
My father had major depression at least three times in his lifetime; once in college, back when they just called it a “nervous breakdown;” and two specific times after he retired, with long periods of continuous low spirits in between crises.
His mother also was prone to depression, and was hospitalized in the 40’s and given electroshock therapy. And we found out well after he died that my father’s father had also suffered from depression and had committed suicide.
Luckily for me and my half-sister, we seem to have dodged the family tendency; perhaps the genes on our respective mothers’ sides were dilutive. Neither of us has had a major depression although we do have our periods of the blues from time to time. However, one of her daughters is bi-polar.
Why am I writing about depression here? Is it a condition that hypochondriacs tend to fear? No, but hypochondria can be related to depression. Two-thirds of hypochondriacs also have another psychiatric illness such as depression or obsessive-compulsive disorder.

Read more.

Reader Review:

My initial visit to Medicana occurred after Mauigirl first visited my own little corner of “teh intarweebs.” We share a mutual love of all things medical, and Maui has an innate (and amazing) gift for blogging about various medical issues with wit and intelligence. She is able to assemble an incredible volume of work regarding health related issues, and I have to give my non-medical-professional opinion that she does a remarkable job of explaining the issues in a clear and at times utterly amusing manner. I?m not sure if this is in spite of the fact that she’s a layperson or because of it, but regardless of the cause it’s a truly educational and entertaining read.

Two thumbs up!