Golf, Exercise, and Health

I love to golf. If you walk while you golf, it's great exercise. Even if you're only playing nine holes, you can still get some great exercise if you walk instead of ride. If you're not a great golfer, then you may get extra exercise as you chase your ball through the woods. If you drive around in a golf cart, then you're really missing out on achieving your 10,000 steps a day. I try to walk whenever I can to achieve as many steps each day. Now that the weather is warming up, it's time to get my golf clubs out so that I can enjoy a break. I think it's time to look into some Golf Vacations!

I love to golf along the beach. Nothing beats the cool breeze, the ocean, and a great game of golf. One of my favorite spots is Myrtle Beach. It's been a while since I've been there, but I love the fact that it isn't too crowded. Arnold Palmer created some incredible courses out there. The scenery is so pleasant that you actually enjoy walking through the golf courses. Why ride if you can walk? A few years ago, I had a bad case of golfer's elbow (medial epicondylitis). Then, I developed tennis elbow (lateral epicondylitis)! I think it's time for a relaxing vacation. Sometimes you may find some great deals on some Golf Packages. Make sure to send me a tweet on Twitter if you find one!

Women and Mental Illness

What role does gender play in the diagnosis, course and treatment of mental illness? Are women more prone to mental illness? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health (OWH) has a report called "Action Steps for Improving Women's Mental Health." According to that report, women are twice as likely to suffer from major depression; three times as likely to attempt suicide; and they experience anxiety disorders two to three times more often than men. Why? What makes women so different from men?

CNN has a story about this interesting topic and highlights the personal stories of a few individuals. As technology improves brain imaging abilities and we gain a better understanding of how hormones affect our mood and cognition, are we as healthcare professionals moving in the right direction when it comes to the management of mental conditions?

Annoying Phone Calls

We all get annoying phone calls. There's no way to escape them. Is there any way to Trace That Phone Number? However, you may be interested to know that there are services that can help you remove some of these calls. One way is to ask your phone provider to block that specific number. I had to do that a few weeks ago because I continued to get calls from a 1-800 number that would call me in the middle of the night. Each time I would go to answer the call, the caller would hang up. It was essentially an automated prank call (or crank call if you prefer).

Trace That Number is one service where you can enter a phone number and get a fair amount of useful information. I've used this service several times and it's helped me identify mysterious callers. I've also used Google and other search engines to look up strange phone numbers, but often you end up reading about complaints against that same number. It doesn't always yield useful information. So, the next time you have to perform a Free Phone Lookup, give this service a try.

Now Part of the HCP Live Network

You may have noticed that this blog is now a part of the HCP Live Healthcare Professionals Network. You'll be hearing more about this over the next several weeks as things unfold. I'm very excited to be a part of this network (which includes bloggers like KevinMD). In the meanwhile, I invite you to explore my other blogs that are now a part of this network:

• Medicine and Technology
• Non-Clinical Medical Jobs, Careers, and Opportunities
• Medical Smartphones
• Mobile Health Computing