Do It Yourself Doctoring Resources - Now and Future

Good Morning!

As I said in my first posting - In my research, I have found little in the way of Self-Diagnosis. The topic "Health 2.0" seems to come closest. Here's what I've found in books and other resources I’ve found, particularly on Self-Diagnosis. It seems like there are lots of how-to resources once you have the correct diagnosis, however.

Books, CD's, etc....

The Savvy Patient's Toolkit‎by Margo Corbett - 2008 - 250 pages

Complete guide to medical tests‎
by Henry Winter Griffith - 1988 - 932 pages
CD-ROM.

Complete Guide to Medical Tests‎
by Henry Winter Griffith - 1988 - 932 pages
Book

201 Medical Tests You Can Do at Home‎
by Shirley Motter Linde, Harold Laupman - 1983 - 199 pages

Simple Diagnostic Tests You Can Do at Home‎
by Martha M. Christy - 1995 - 108 pages

Where There Is No Doctor: A Village Health Care Handbook‎
by David Werner, Carol Thuman, Jane Maxwell - 1992
– latest issue at Hesperian.

Medical Tests You Can Do Yourself: More Than 250 Simple, At-home ...‎
by Herbert Haessler, Raymond Harris - 1997 - 218 pages

The Mother's Book of Home Medical Tests for Infants & Children‎
by Herbert Haessler, Raymond Herman Harris - 1998 - 176 pages

Medical Tests You Can Do Yourself‎
by Robert S. Katz - 1978 - 144 pages

Do-It-Yourself Medical Testing: 240 Tests You Can Perform at Home‎
by Cathey Pinckney, Edward R. Pinckney - 1989 - 396 pages

Symptom Checkers and other Online Health Information Sources -

e-Second Opinions: 100 Search Engines and Tools for Medical Self-Diagnosis – listing of symptom checkers and much more!

Patient Education –

Information on Lab Tests we can get without a prescription -

Lab Tests Online

ANY LAB TEST NOW®

Legal Stuff -

From what I see I can legally diagnose and treat myself, and tell others about it. On the other hand, I can't legally diagnose and treat others. Please don't ask me for medical advice.

Here's what I've found on the legal front...

Many countries have legal restrictions or regulations regarding diagnosing and treating others and the equipment used therein - Alternative Medicine - Regulation, and Medicine - Legal Restrictions, Biomedical Engineering - Regulatory Issues, Medical License, etc. On the other hand, there might be little or no legal restrictions to Self-Diagnosis/Treatment or Self-Experimentation. If in doubt, please check with a legal professional.

My Dream for the future....

• Generally, medical diagnostic and treatment more openly available. I'd like more Healthcare Professionals teach us how to "take care of ourselves", the people who wrote the books above.
• More public innovation in medical diagnostic and treatment (Open Innovation, Open Source, etc.)
• More open public Collaboration in medical diagnostic and treatment - we could learn from others for free.
• More capability for Telemedicine, so that we, the public, can exchange diagnostic and treatment information more easily.

Here's how this dream might look....

1. A free computer-based one-stop Medical Advisor that would check more than just symptoms. I’d like to see Symptom Checkers have the capability for the user to input Vital Signs, Diagnostic Test Results, and Health History. Based on these inputs, the computer would give the user most probable Diagnoses. The user then picks a diagnosis. The computer would then give a personalized printed “prescription” for Over-The-Counter Medicines, Exercise, Diet, Treatments, etc. that might help the user’s condition. Think of this as a “Super Symptom Checker”.

2. More DIY home health tests and tools available openly on pharmacy shelves. Examples – Home General Health Diagnostic Tests (e.g. Blood/Urine Panel Tests), Stethoscopes, etc. - plus how to use instructions. (FYI - I've written Walmart and Walgreens asking them about this - no answer yet)

3. Self-Service Health Kiosks in pharmacies, villages, malls, "health-mobiles" etc. that would include a computer-based Medical Advisor, basic medical testing capabilities, and where the user could provide health history on a removable memory card.

4. Health care professionals offer free training sessions on how to diagnose and treat ourselves for common sicknesses. (FYI- I've written local nursing schools and libraries asking them to put on public seminars - no answer yet)

Something similar to this dream concept might be your local DIY home-improvement or automotive-repair stores....

* These stores have many items on the shelf and even more available by online ordering.

* All the items have good how-to-use instructions.

* There are helpful knowledgeable employees onsite. Many of the employees are retired people who did that kind of work before they retired.

* There are frequent "How-To" seminars.

Next steps for me....put this information into practice on myself and let you know how it goes. Stay tuned for progress reports. Got any suggestions?

Thanks for reading this. Feel free to pass to others who might be interested. We're all in this healthcare thing together - me, you, and millions of others.

My own Legal Stuff - This writing, and any other communication, from TG Ideas LLC are strictly for informational purposes. See full disclaimer on TG Ideas LLC publications and website - http://www.athenet.net/~ideas/ The above is a collection of publicly available information that anyone could have found and pieced together.