We're pleased to announce 2 new features that are now available. Both of these features were requested heavily by our members in our "Improve MedHelp" survey as well as in our Suggestions forum.

1. Photo Sharing - In your profile, you can now upload as many photos as you'd like. Simply go to your "My MedHelp" and click the "Photos" tab. This is a great way to share multiple pictures with other members.

2. Privacy - We just added a new set of privacy features. You can now control who can see your "Posts" tab, your "Photos" tab and who can send your private messages, as well as invite you as a friend. To change your settings go to "My MedHelp" and click on the "Settings" tab. From there, click the "Privacy" link and make your adjustments. In addition, Journal Entries and Photos can also be adjusted at the journal/photo level.

Keep the suggestions coming and thanks for being a member of MedHelp!

MedHelp

A busy month

We started the new year working through our list of features requested by our members such as upgrading our search, adding a drug database, and including photos in posts. We also changed the look of the forums and, with your help, have been iterating on it to make sure it meets your needs. Please bear with us for a couple of more weeks as we finish updating the remaining pages.  We're really excited about the next couple of months as we have a lot of important things we will be adding to the site. Please continue to let us know what you need as it will help us prioritize the list.

Stay healthy.

MedHelp team
www.medhelp.org

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MEDTALK :  Featured Article

Happy You Year! (This is not a typo, this is the year for you!)  
by Roger Gould, M.D.

Not surprisingly, people’s number one New Year’s resolution is to lose weight. Maybe you’ve heard that voice in your head that says, "This year is going to be different, this year I will finally lose the weight, this year I definitely won’t be embarrassed at this event or on the beach."

In the past, that probably meant a new diet starting on day one of the new year.

Unfortunately, diets don’t work. Even Weight Watchers, the foremost authority on diets in the country, has declared in their new campaign that people should not go on a diet.  

>> Read More:
http://search.medhelp.org/blog/ShrinkYourself.php?itemid=181

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MEDTALK :  Featured Article

Traveling Well During the Holiday Season
by Enoch Choi, M.D.

The flu has passed epidemic rates in much of the country, and if you don't have a cold, I'm sure you have a friend who has the sniffles, fever, chills, aches and pains of a viral upper respiratory infection. This is different from a bacterial infection such as sinusitis, bronchitis, or pneumonia. A viral infection doesn't improve with antibiotics as these infections do. A virus hijacks your own body's healthy cells and uses it to reproduce and spread. A bacteria is its own living cell and multiplies and spreads on its own and is easier to destroy in that process. Here are some guidelines on helping differentiate between run of the mill colds and more serious bacterial infections:

>> Read More:
http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/1737

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NEW EXPERTS

*  Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/206
   Michael H Kirsch, DDS

*  Radiology: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/209
   Sumer K Sethi, MD
   Anna Beattie, M.D.

*  Ear Disorders: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/211
   Eric P Wilkinson, MD

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NEW COMMUNITIES

* Chlamydia: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/202

* Sexual Health: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/207

* PCOS: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/203

* SIDs: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/205

* Incontinentia Pigmenti: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/204

* Hysterectomy: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/208

* Borderline Personality Disorder: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/210

* Children's Allergies: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/214

* Living with an Alcoholic: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/217

* Endometriosis: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/218


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NEW FEATURES

* Improved Search: Our search is even more powerful now: Real time results, a new simpler look and feel, image results and also search by a member name.  

  >> Run a search: http://www.medhelp.org/search?query=heart

* Drug Database: Detailed information on over 20,000 prescription and over-the-counter drugs. Available through Search, with more ways coming soon.

  >> See an example: http://www.medhelp.org/drugs/show/2578

* My Posts: An easy way to find all of your posts in one place. In My MedHelp, simply click the "Posts" tab.

  >> See all of your posts: http://www.medhelp.org/user_profiles/my_profile

* Enlarge Text: You get to control the size of the font for our forums and discussions.

  >> See an example: http://www.medhelp.org/forums/show/197

* Photo Posts: Show what you're trying to describe by adding a photo to your question.

  >> See an example: http://www.medhelp.org/posts/show/417323

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COMING SOON

Over the next few weeks we will be rolling out a lot of new functionality. Keep a watch out for:


* Find a Doctor: Find a local doctor or medically professional in our upcoming directory which has over 1 million medical professionals and institutions.

Hi,

First off, we'd like to thank all of you that have provided feedback regarding the new look and feel at MedHelp. Your feedback is extremely valuable to us and we take it seriously.

We received feedback mainly in regards to two areas: 1)The new look is harder to read, in particular when on the site for an extended period of time and 2) The new look is too cluttered

In response to this, we've already made a few changes and we're working hard to build several others. Here is what we are doing:

Harder to Read:

* We will be adding a background color to the discussions to reduce the glare while reading
* We will add a new setting so that you can chose the size of the text in the discussions.
* We will be increasing the size of the discussion title.
* We will be changing the date format back to the old format, but keeping the time stamp.

Too Cluttered:

* We have already reduced the size of the right hand column if you are logged in.
* We have already changed the forum so that replies are listed by default, just like the old design.
* We have changed the order of replies so that the newer replies are now on top.
* We will be expanding the "preview text" in the forum so that it stretches more.

Regarding to the new right hand column, over the coming weeks and months we will be rolling out a lot of new features that will leverage this column. This way we won't need to keep modifying the forum panel every time we want to roll out new functionality. Please bear with us as we believe you will see the value as we start rolling out more features.

We hope these changes will address all of the key issues that have been raised. Our members are what make MedHelp the best health community on the web and your feedback is what allows us to become even better. Keep it coming and thank you.

MedHelp

Hi,

We're excited to announce that we've just rolled out a new upgrade to our search engine. Search related features have been some of the top requests from our members. Here are some of the new features in search:

* New simplified look and feel
* New categorization of results
* Images for our Health Glossary results
* Real time results - new posts are immediately available inside of search
* Member searches - you can now search by a member name
* Journals - journals will now also appear in results

Please give it a try and let us know what you think!

MedHelp