An estimated 19 million Americans suffer from depression every year, according to the National Institute of Mental Health. It’s a disorder with lots of unanswered questions. Recent news from The University of Manchester’s School of Psychological Sciences is showing progress in learning about brain activity and understanding why some people are more prone to depression than others.

Depression

Dr Roland Zahn, neuroscientist at the university explains: “During everyday life we constantly evaluate social behaviour and this largely affects how we feel about ourselves and other people. But the way we store and use information about our own and other people’s social behaviour are not well understood.”

Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to scan the brains of 29 healthy individuals, the research team found that social behaviour not conforming to an individual’s values evoked feelings of anger when carried out by another person or feelings of guilt when the behaviour stemmed from the individuals themselves.

Understanding how healthy individuals’ brains respond to feelings of guilt, the research team will research people suffering from severe depression, with whom previous studies have identified feelings of guilt have been abnormally active. Translating this insight into clinical research, they now have the tools to discover the key anatomical characteristics of the brain that may lie behind depressive disorders.

Here are some of my top picks of sites that provide trustworthy information and latest news about depression.

1. Depression.com

A site created by GlaxoSmithKline dedicated to understanding, treating and living with depression, this site provides and excellent insight to the condition. I particularly like their “Look, Listen and Learn” section in which you can answer questionnaires, create your personal treatment plan read what patients have to say.

Depression.com

2. RightHealth

Our partner site, RightHealth has a very logical and nicely presented section on depression, starting with basic facts and providing easy access in tab browsing to advanced reading, patient types and its community. I’m particularly impressed with the advanced reading section that features journals, research, case studies and clinical guides on depression.

RightHealth.com

3. QualityHealth

Also a partner site, QualityHealth’s section on depression really impressed me. It’s packed full of facts, recent news, videos, support groups and a glossary – all easily accessible on the depression homepage. The facts are quite astounding, it’s worth your time rolling the mouse over the numbers:

QualityHealth.com

Merchants offer 1344 depression products through HealthPricer.

It usually starts as a throbbing pain just behind the right eye and spreads to a consistent intense pain on that side of my head and then the nausea comes. And that’s me on the couch for the rest of the day, eyes shut, cool compression and waiting for the pain and nausea to disappear.

Along with 35 million Americans, I suffer from migraines. I don’t get them as often as I used to and I know my triggers – lack of sleep, too much red wine and stress. Migraines are slightly different for every sufferer – some get a preceding aura, others sense a strange light or unpleasant smell. The headaches can centre in different areas and some get abdominal pains.

The fact is that the exact cause of the migraine remains unknown. Recent news that a drug used to treat epilepsy, called Topamax, can also be used to prevent migraines, cutting back the recurrence of migraines by about 45% on average, proves that the medical community is still working on finding the right prescription drug to completely alleviate migraines.

Given there are so many Americans suffering from migraines, there’s lots of interest in learning more about the condition. Here are my top picks of trustworthy sites that provide information about migraines:

1. Wikipedia

Wikipedia has an extremely detailed page on the topic of migraines, providing information on what they are, how they occur, how they are diagnosed, the different kinds of migraines, treatments, studies and more. It is obvious that a group of medical experts have contributed and updated this page to keep it current.

Wikipedia migraine page

2. Neurologychannel

The neurologychannel provides all the information you’ll need about migraines in a very logical way.

Neurologychannel migraine page

3. everydayHEALTH

Our partner site, everydayHEALTH, has a number of great pages on migraine worth checking out. They cover what migraines are, the triggers, the anatomy of an attack, treating migraine headaches and a page worthy of a special mention: the migraine menu.

It’s a list of foods and additives that have been known to trigger migraines. For new migraine sufferers this is a great list to use to determine what, if any, foods trigger their specific migraines.

everydayHEALTH migraine menu

4. HealthCentral

Another of our partner sites, HealthCentral is also a phenomenal resource for information on migraines. In addition to the great written content, this site also includes educational videos and a weekly migraines podcast, called MigraineCast, on the topic.

HealthCentral migraine page

Merchants offer 2790 migraine and headache products through HealthPricer.

With the Summer Olympics underway, I thought we’d stick with the athletic theme for our product highlight this week. The first product that came to my mind was Lamisil, to treat athlete’s foot. For those of you that want more details: Athlete's foot, also called Tinea Pedis, is a parasitic fungal infection of the epidermis of the human foot. The term "athlete's foot" refers to the disease and not the organism (fungus) that causes it. (source: Wikipedia).

And it’s not just professional athletes that may get it. Your local swimming pool or the showers in your gym may be breeding grounds for fungi. And most of us visit these facilities or have partners that do – oh yes, it is contagious. Athletes foot can be a precursor to fungal nail infections if not treated. And when that happens Lamisil is prescribed.

The American Podiatric Medical Association has all the information you need on athlete’s foot.

APMA.org

Some Facts (source: www.athletes-foot.eu)

Typically there are two kinds of fungi responsible for causing athletes foot. These are Trichophyton and Epidermophyton.

People with diabetes are said to be up to three times more likely to contract athletes foot than non-diabetics.

The term 'athletes foot' came about as the condition is more commonly associated with athletes than other people. This is because they perspire more, thus increasing their chances of developing athletes foot. Not only this, but athletes using shared shower and changing room facilities in their bare feet increase the chances of athletes foot been spread and contracted.

Cotton socks can reduce the chances of developing athletes foot as cotton absorbs sweat.

What the Experts Say about Lamisil (Novartis brand name)/terbinafine

Below are links to MDs providing information about Lamisil/terbinafine

Healthline
Mayoclinic
QualityHealth

Section of page on Lamisil from QualityHealth.com

HealthPricer Network of Merchants Offering Lamisil

Depending on the strength of Lamisil you have been prescribed, there are a number of merchants offering Lamisil through HealthPricer.

HealthPricer.com

A study carried out by researchers at Johns Hopkins University found that 41 per cent of men and 53 per cent of women in the United States were not getting enough vitamin D – which we can only get by exposing our skin to sunlight. This in itself does not seem alarming. The finding that low vitamin D levels are linked to the development of heart disease, diabetes, hypertension and some cancers is, however, frightening. This study, started on more than 13,000 men and women in 1988 found that those with the lowest levels of vitamin D had a 26 percent higher risk of death.

This is the sort of health news that touches all of us. With the barrage of health information and news online, who do you turn to and who do you trust to deliver the truth? Here are some of the sources I use to read about the latest medical news.

1. Science Daily

Science Daily is a site for a wide range of research news. Its “health and medicine” category is an excellent source for the latest news on medical breakthroughs and research.

Science Daily

2. MedHeadlines

This online news source has a staff of medical experts writing regular articles on health and medical topics. MedHeadlines, as the title suggests, also provides the latest news and information that relate to health.

MedHeadlines

3. Medical News Today

Medical News Today is also excellent at featuring the latest medical and health news. One feature that I like on this site is the rating system. They ask professionals and consumers to rate the articles and as you can see in the below article, the articles gain regular ratings.

Medical News Today

All these sites have extensive libraries of information and archived news and videos on a wide range of topics that I would suggest you look at.

23.6 million people in the United States, or 8% of the population, have diabetes. The online world has transformed how we look up information and connect to people. That is certainly the case for diabetics, and their families and friends, that have questions they want answers to. I certainly know this as I had gestational diabetes when I was pregnant and I had lots of questions that I forgot to ask my family doctor and the dietician. So, like many of you, I turned to the net.

Here are my picks:

1. MDJunction

Looking to connect with people with diabetes online? You may have questions they know the answer to or vice versa. MDJunction, the health-related social network, has groups dedicated to both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

MDJunction

2. CafeMom

For those of you with gestational diabetes, CafeMom has a group for you. As an aside, it’s well worth joining for connecting with moms to talk about all kinds of things to do with you and your kids.

CafeMom

3. American Diabetes Association

The American Diabetes Association is the go-to organization for all kinds of information about Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Everything from how to deal with the condition, risk factors involved in not handling the condition properly, nutrition and recipes, and a diabetes risk test for non-diabetics.

4. WebMD

WebMD is also a great resource for all information on diabetes, including videos, health checks, the latest news on diabetes, diabetes Q&As, even a diabetes glossary. This site has everything you can imagine about diabetes.

WebMD

Merchants offer 1280 diabetes products through HealthPricer.