Health

What Did You Miss? December 2012 Wrap Up

By Trisha Torrey, About.com GuideDecember 31, 2012

Follow me on:

Starting something new here.... I realized that I'd put together some interesting information over the past few weeks, and because we are all so busy during the holidays, they may have been missed.

So here's a recap of this month's articles and updates. If you find it useful, I'll begin providing such updates at the end of each month. Where it makes sense, I may even include information from other sites that I think may be of interest to you, too.

Keep infections and sickness at bay! Here's how to wash your hands. And you may be surprised to learn that antibacterial soaps probably aren't helpful, and may be problematic.

Getting ready to donate to certain charities at the end of the year? Not all charities are created equal - in fact, despite their names, and their marketing, they may not be good shepherds of your hard earned money at all. Here's a good approach for deciding which charities deserve your money.

You've seen the TV ads. You'd think "Low T" and menopause were devastating diseases. But they aren't. Such disease mongering is a set up to fool you and part you from your hard earned money.

You may have had an ancestor who died of "consumption" or you love old Western movies and historical fiction and know that "the grippe" often ran rampant. What exactly do those diagnoses mean? We never hear those names any more. Here is a list of old diseases, all of which still exist, but which have new names.

Old disease names might be interesting to read about, but new diseases are being named all the time - and that can present some relief, and some big problems, for patients. Learn about how new diseases are named, and find a list of them here.

So there's your recap for December 2012. Any suggestions for topics are always gratefully accepted! Let me know in the comments below what you think I should write about.