By Diane Mapes

Back in the day, our grandparents turned to their family doctor with questions about their health. these days, we turn to someone much closer — our computers.

According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, eight in ten Internet users look online for health information. But can Googling our symptoms actually provide not just us — but medical researchers — with crucial information about disease and its causes?

Dr. Benjamin Breyer, an assistant professor of urology at the University of California San Francisco, says yes.

“Search engines can help us see the patterns,” says Breyer, lead author of a new study in the journal Urology entitled “Use of Google Insights for Search to Track Seasonal and Geographic Kidney Stone Incidence in the United States.”  “There are all types of phenomena in the environment and compared to search data, we can see if any of these things influence disease.”

In the study, Breyer took kidney stone patient data from hospitals around the country and compared it with people’s Google searches for kidney stone-related terms.

“We looked at the data and lo and behold, the searches mirrored the known regional and temporal data,” he says.

In other words, peoples’ searches for information on kidney stones — which affect 13 percent of men and 7 percent of women in the U.S. — mirrored previous findings that show kidney stones to be more prevalent in the summer and in the so-called “stone belt”:  the Southeast.

“It’s partly related to dehydration,” says Breyer regarding the summer-stone connection. “People are more active in the summer, plus it’s hotter and they’re sweating more. That precipitates the minerals that compose kidney stones.”

As for the “kidney stone belt,” Breyer says this could be temperature-related and/or be linked to the higher levels of obesity found in the region.

“It’s one of those diseases that’s multifactorial,” he says.

But kidney stones aren’t the only disease affected by the seasons, he says.

“Other diseases have temporal incidence,” says Breyer. “Having a heart attack is more common in the winter, probably due to the effects of the cold on vasculature.”

Breyer hopes that in the future, search data will allow researchers to explore new ideas about possible links between illnesses and changes in our surroundings.

“We can potentially collect data that’s input from millions and millions of people in real time all over the country and the world and use that to study disease,” he says.

 as for those concerned about a kidney stone attack in this summer of sizzling hot temperatures (and considering how painful these puppies can be, who wouldn’t be?), Breyer recommends drinking lots of water and avoiding salt — not just from the shaker but from processed foods and high-sodium restaurant meals.

“Staying hydrated and avoiding salt is the main adage for kidney stone prevention,” he says. “People who eat a lot of salt are more prone to forming stones — and to repeat stones.”

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Copyright © 2011 HealthDay. All rights reserved.The information contained above is intended for general reference purposes only. it is not a substitute for professional medical advice or a medical exam. always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health professional before starting any new treatment. Medical information changes rapidly and while Yahoo and its content providers make efforts to update the content on the site, some information may be out of date. No health information on Yahoo, including information about herbal therapies and other dietary supplements, is regulated or evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and therefore the information should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without the supervision of a medical doctor.

Copyright © 2011 HealthDay. All rights reserved.The information contained above is intended for general reference purposes only. it is not a substitute for professional medical advice or a medical exam. always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health professional before starting any new treatment. Medical information changes rapidly and while Yahoo and its content providers make efforts to update the content on the site, some information may be out of date. no health information on Yahoo, including information about herbal therapies and other dietary supplements, is regulated or evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration and therefore the information should not be used to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease without the supervision of a medical doctor.

18 January 2011 Last updated at 17:03 ET Share this page By Mike Tighe BBC Scotland The adverts are targeted at people in middle age

We're used to seeing sexual health messages aimed at young people.

The 16-24 market is regularly targeted, being urged to discuss contraception, sexual health and sexual habits openly and honestly.

What we're not used to seeing, however, are messages geared towards older people.

Last year, the Family planning Association (FPA) launched the first campaign aimed at the middle-aged.

Featuring pictures of people dressed in 70s clothes, and an image of a condom, it aimed to get older generations to think about protection.

Julie Bentley, the chief executive of FPA, said at the time: "There is very little sexual health information and services for the over 50s, and current campaigns, however good, are exclusively for the young."

So is she right – particularly with regard to sexual health in this age group in Scotland?

There is certainly reason to be concerned about the growth of STIs in this age group.

According to figures from a National Services Scotland (NSS) report, genital warts almost doubled in the over 50s from 1999-2008.

Herpes and chlamydia are also on the increase. But the number of diagnoses is low, especially compared with those among the younger population.

Lesley Wallace, of Health Protection Scotland, gives a possible explanation for the increase.

‘Intimidating place’

She said: "There's a combination of increased amount of testing [and] so increased diagnosis. It's something we want to keep a watchful eye on."

"People need to understand this is a growing problem," said NHS Fife's Dr Indranil Banarjee, a consultant who sees older patients regularly at his clinic.

He said that although the patients were older, they could also be much more naive.

"We've had instances where parents have been nudged into the clinic by their children", he said.

"They [the children] know, through all the information they get through the media, schools and colleges, that the rule of thumb is, if you're with a new partner, you should get yourself checked out."

a quarter of the over 55s think they have zero chance of catching an STI

Someone who wasn't aware about the need to keep themselves checked out was Mary – whose name has been changed to preserve her anonymity.

Mary contracted HIV aged 67 after having unprotected sex in her 40s and 50s.

Having caught a strain of pneumonia since, she now has to live with AIDS, and described how a lack of knowledge about condoms prevented her from using one.

"Condoms were for contraception. And because I was sterilised, I thought I didn't need one. I never thought anything could happen to me – and it's scary", she said.

It's easy to see why the over 45s may be reluctant to get checked out – a clinic can be an intimidating place if you've never been to one.

But there's nothing to be intimidated by, according to Hilda Smith, senior nurse at the genito-urinary medicine (GUM) clinic in Kirkcaldy.

"a woman can go behind the curtain on her own and take her own swab," she explained.

"And that will test for chlamydia and gonorrhoea, so long as they don't have any symptoms."

The clinic also offers blood tests for syphilis and HIV.

For Hilda, it is just part of maintaining good health.

"You go to the dentist to get your teeth checked out, if you're having sex, you should come to the clinic and have your sexual health checked out. It's as simple as that," she said.

‘Emotional issues’

According to a 2009 Royal Pharmaceutical Society survey of the over 55s, 25% believed their chances of acquiring an STI were next to zero, compared with 13% of those aged 18-24.

So why are older generations so complacent?

Professor Sue Scott, pro-vice chancellor for Research at Glasgow Caledonian University, has a study background in sexuality and gender.

She points to an increase in relationship breakdown, as well as sexual liberalisation and easier access to partners through the internet as factors which lead more people in middle-age to be seeking new sexual relationships, which in turn can create new problems.

Importantly, Professor Scott claims it is also a matter of having sexual confidence and negotiation skills.

Her advice is: "Find somebody you can talk to, a friend, whatever works."

Sue Maxwell, of Relationships Scotland, agrees. "Generally, in Scotland, we don't talk enough about our sexual lives.

"we might chat about them, we might gossip about them, but we don't talk enough to our partners enough about what we need."

So increasing awareness, developing confidence and talking about sexual concerns all seem key to defusing the middle-aged sex bomb.

For Dr Banarjee, it is a simple question of looking after yourself.

"Especially [use a condom] if it's with a new partner," he said.

"It's also very important to negotiate, and to be sensible, and to a certain extent, be practical with these things."

"There are emotional issues attached to it," Dr Banarjee said, "but then, at the end of the day, your health is your responsibility."

Medical Matters: The Middle-Aged Sex Bomb airs on Wednesday 19 January at 1530 GMT on BBC Radio Scotland.

By the Canadian Press

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TORONTO – A new look at last year’s flu pandemic finds that two-thirds of hospitalizations for the H1N1 flu were in a five-week period beginning at the end of October.

The study by the Canadian Institute for Health Information says that during those five weeks, H1N1 accounted for 3.4 per cent of hospitalizations across the country.

That was more than the percentage for heart attacks or for strokes.

The institute says that in Ontario, one in four emergency visits during October and November 2009 were by patients with flu-like symptoms — compared to about one in seven in previous years.

Overall, the study finds there were more than 15,000 confirmed and probable H1N1 hospitalizations from April to December — about 6,500 more patients than the number of lab-confirmed hospitalized cases previously reported.

Jeremy Veillard, vice-president of research and analysis at the institute, says the impact of the virus on hospitals was significant and much higher than originally estimated — and it’s good news that hospitals were able to weather the storm.

The estimated cost of H1N1 for hospitals was approximately $200 million, the CIHI study said, including $128 million during the busiest five weeks. the estimates don’t include physician fees.

“As the first global pandemic in more than 40 years, the response to H1N1 from public health authorities was unprecedented,” Veillard says in a statement released Tuesday.

Kathleen Morris, head of emerging issues at CIHI, says the study shows that Canada’s hospitals were able to build on what was learned during the SARS crisis in 2003, and cope with the high number of H1N1 patients.

The influx was dealt with in a number of ways, the study found.

In some cases, patients who typically would have been in intensive care units were moved to other wards and monitoring was increased.

And some hospitals delayed the admission of patients who were scheduled for elective surgery.