Healthy Moms and Mother’s Day

Healthy Moms and Mother’s Day certainly go hand in hand. And we know healthy moms do research for online health tips.  Therefore, as a little Mother’s Day gift, FLASS will present a list of safety tips to help families seek secure and helpful online medical information. The gift comes with a caveat. Never use online research instead of checking facts with your doctor. You might say we dedicate this blog to health-e-moms, since the tips refer to moms who search online for health information.  However, before we list our online search safety tips, we must first make our official Mother’s Day wishes.

FLASS Official Wish For Healthy Moms On Mother’s Day

May is a Happy Month for Mothers. Happy Mother’s Day Month! Each year we feel we would be remiss if we did not recognize this special holiday. Thus, we take the time to dedicate this blog to mothers everywhere.

FLASS believes that society should honor mothers for more time than simply this Sunday. We hereby declare the entire month to be a Happy Month for Mothers, not just 24 hours.  All the mothers in Florida, the United States, the Earth, and the Universe deserve special honors in May. The doctors and staff of FLASS officially extend this wish to the mothers of our family of staff, patients, and families.

Extending a Happy Month to Caregivers as Well as Healthy Moms

This holiday should not only honor natural mothers.  Additionally, it should be extended to our grandmothers, stepmothers, aunts, and nurturing friends. As we have said in former blogs, we see the qualities of motherhood in the eyes of all who celebrate caregiving. In fact, motherly and nurturing attitudes rule the rooms and hallways of FLASS  clinics, offices, and hospitals, not just for Mother’s Day, but every day.

Sunday is Your Day, Mother’s Day, and we acknowledge all of you. In our line of work, we know that the art and science of motherhood can be difficult and demanding, but rewarding. FLASS wishes you could take a day, a week, or a month to just breathe. We want moms everywhere to relax. And simply feel the love.

Healthy Moms and Safe Health Research

It is standard for us to often read articles and advice for mothers, especially at this time of year.  The custom of articles with special advice for moms led us to investigate some health research tips in honor of Mother’s Day. Modern moms are Internet savvy, and this fact gave us a topic for the remainder of this article.  If you’re a mom who loves your electronic devices, you are really going to love these tips and hints for searching online.

You see, we would never advise moms (or anyone else) to visit the internet for medical advice. However, we know you consult the Internet for medical opinions. Available information is just too tempting.

Therefore, it’s natural for today’s mothers to refer to the Web for everything from decorating tips to child-rearing. As much as we dislike it, we realize it is a natural instinct to turn to the Internet for health information. However, it is also a fact that there is a fine line in the slippery slope between information and misinformation.

Healthy Moms, Safety, and Online Health Research

In fact, “60  percent of all Americans go online to get medical questions answered…”  Likewise, four out of five of us follow up on medical appointments. Additionally, we make trips to the Internet to further explore the diagnosis. Our purpose in this blog is to give mothers a few tips on doing online health research and staying healthy moms.

Healthy Moms and The Dark Side of Medical Health Research

You know that there is a mountain of both information and misinformation on the Internet. Thus, our Mother’s Day Health Research Tips begin with the caution that online medicine is never a substitute for a good old-fashioned conversation with your healthcare provider.

However, we want you to know there are ways to research health conditions that are safer than most common ways.

1.   Your first tendency might be to just type a condition into a search engine. In this case, you are in danger of getting an advertorial. It looks like a legitimate article, but it is a commercial, paid for by a company.

Likewise, Alice Pomidor, M.D., a retired professor of geriatrics at Florida State University stated in the AARP Bulletin for May, “Look for a ‘sponsored’ tag; it means an organization has paid big dollars to show up at the top of searches on that topic.”

2.   Instead of searching by typing in a condition in a search engine, go to a reputable health website and type the topic in its “search” box.

3.  Below we have listed some suggestions for safe places to search for health information. We post them in honor of a Happy Month for Mothers but for everyone.

• National Institute on Aging
• American Geriatric Society
• Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
• National Institutes of Health
• American Academy of Family Physicians
• Mayo Clinic

Additionally, you can also usually trust “large research institutions such as a medical school of a respected university.”

Healthy Moms:  Beware of Online Symptom Checkers

We know mothers are always tempted to learn more about symptoms if a family member is suffering. The Internet tempts you to visit so-called symptom checkers.

• We want you to realize that symptom checkers are “only accurate about half the time.”
• Be careful to use only symptom checkers from a hospital or medical center website.
• Last but not least, avoid self-diagnosis. Health research is only good as a tool to help you in discussions with your doctor or medical team.

Happy Mother’s Month:  Wishing Healthy Moms, A Happy Month

Again, FLASS wishes you an incredibly Happy Mother’s Day. We hope gratitude for moms lasts at least for the Month of May in 2023, and far beyond. Additionally, we close with a special Happy Mother’s Day “thank you” to all of you who read the FLASS blogs.