Health Tips

Agency for Health Care Research and Quality: Guides for Patients and Consumers.

Spearheading an important new movement in healthcare, this division of the US Department of Health and Human Services is dedicated to improving the quality of healthcare. This site contains concise, authoritative summaries that can help you understand your condition better and work more effectively with Dr. Schmidt to obtain the best results!”
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U.S. Preventive Services Task Force

The US Preventive Services Task Force provides the most comprehensive list of recommendations for routine screening tests to help you identify problems when they are most treatable (see “What is a Screening Test?” on the FAQs page). View these recommendations as a starting point for further discussions with Dr. Schmidt.

Quit Smoking

Stopping smoking isn’t easy but it could save your life. Don’t get discouraged! Persistence and visiting this website from the National Cancer Institute will help you succeed! Dr. Schmidt is ready to help as well.

Harvard Healthy Eating Plate

The Healthy Eating Plate, created by nutrition experts at Harvard School of Public Health and editors at Harvard Health Publications, was designed to address deficiencies in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)’s MyPlate. The Healthy Eating Plate provides detailed guidance, in a simple format, to help people make the best eating choices.

Calculators

Calculators (see What is a Calculator? on our FAQs Page)

BODE Index for COPD Survival Prediction

BODE Index measures your degree of lung impairment and helps predict how long a person will live after a COPD diagnosis. A higher BODE score may correlate with an increased risk of death. The BODE Index takes into account body mass index (BMI), airway obstruction (as measured by FEV1), dyspnea (as measured by the MMRC dyspnea scale) and exercise tolerance (as measured by the 6-minute walk test). Calculate Your BODE Index

Body Mass Index (BMI)

Excessive body weight and waist circumference are risk factors for certain diseases like hypertension and type II diabetes, which in turn put persons at increased risk of loping cardiovascular disease. Calculating BMI is a quick and easy way to find out if you are too heavy for your stature. Visit this site at the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute to calculate your BMI and find out if you need to shed pounds. Dr. Schmidt can help guide you to a healthy BMI. Calculate Your Body Mass Index

Breast Cancer Genetics Referral Screening Tool (B-RST)

We are experiencing an epidemic of breast cancer, the most common form of cancer in women after skin cancer. Fortunately, treatments for breast cancer continue to improve making early detection more important than ever. Estimate your risk of loping breast cancer by completing this questionnaire from the Georgia Breast Cancer Genomic Consortium. It calculates your risk based on family history and genetics. Discuss your results with Dr. Schmidt and chart an appropriate course of action. Calculate Breast Cancer Risk

Cost of Smoking Calculator

Use the Cost of Smoking Calculator to determine the financial cost of smoking. Smoking is the most preventable cause of death in our society. In fact, nearly one in five deaths in the United States results from the use of tobacco.

Fat Intake

A healthy diet provides the right balance of carbohydrate, fat and protein to reduce risks for chronic diseases, and they are obtained from a variety of foods that are available, affordable and enjoyable. Find the right amount of fat recommended for your diet.

Fracture Risk Calculator

The FRAX® tool has been loped by the World health Organization (WHO) to evaluate fracture risk of patients. It is based on individual patient models that integrate the risks associated with clinical risk factors as well as bone mineral density (BMD) at the femoral neck. The FRAX® algorithms give a 10-year probability of hip fracture and the 10-year probability of a major osteoporotic fracture (clinical spine, forearm, hip or shoulder fracture). Calculate Your Probability of Fracture

MiniMental Exam

So many of my patients tell me that they are not as sharp as they used to be when most of the time they suffer from sleep deprivation, distraction, and worry. To find out if there is cause for concern take the MiniMental exam. Have a loved one or friend help you take the test. Consider taking this test several times over the course of a month to see if there is a change in your score. Write down you score to ensure that you are tracking the outcome. Make sure you are rested and focused before you take the test and let me know if you would like to discuss the results. Better yet, send me your results so I will have a benchmark for future reference. A score of 30 is perfect. A score of 27 or less indicates that you could need medical attention.

MenoPro

MenoPro is a free mobile app from The North American Menopause Society (NAMS) to help you and your clinician work together to personalize treatment decisions on the basis of a your personal preferences (hormone vs nonhormone options), taking into account your medical history and risk factor status. The app has two modes, one for clinicians and one for women, to facilitate shared decision making. MenoPro is available for iOS (iPhone, iPad) and for Android devices.

Other Health Related Calculators:

Click here to access other health related calculators from the University of Maryland Medical System.

Protein Calculator:

A healthy diet provides the right balance of carbohydrate, fat, and protein to reduce risks for chronic diseases, and they are obtained from a variety of foods that are available, affordable, and enjoyable. Find the right amount of protein recommended for your diet.

Risk of Getting Shingles:

While your doctor is the only person who can truly determine your risk for Shingles, this quick Risk Assessment will give you some idea. Just answer the 2 questions in the Risk Assessment and click “Get Your Results” when you’re done. You’ll learn if you’re at risk for Shingles.

Risk of Heart Attack and Cardiac Death:

Cardiovascular disease is still the leading cause of death among men and women and we know that certain Risk Factors (see FAQs Page for “What is a Risk Factor?”) predict the likelihood of having a myocardial infarction (“heart attack”) and death. Use this calculator, based on the famous Framingham Heart Study to estimate your ten year risk of having a heart attack and then discuss with Dr. Schmidt how you can reduce your risk. Note that your lipid profile will have to be determined before you can use this tool.

Tools to Help You Sleep:

Stop Bang Questionnaire
Berlin Questionnaire
Prostate Symptom Score
PHQ-9 Questionnaire
Sleepio
Shuti

Healthy Reading

For Men:

Blueprint for Men’s Health: A Guide to a Healthy Lifestyle
Screening for Prostate Cancer
Your Head – An Owners Manual. Understanding & Overcoming Depression, Anxiety & Stress

For Women:

A Lifetime of Good Health: Your Guide to Staying Healthy
American Cancer Society
American Society of Plastic Surgeons – Breast Reconstruction
Anxiety Disorder Fact Sheet
Breast Cancer Fund – Environmental Causes of Breast Cancer
Chemicals, Radiation and Breast Cancer
Chemicals in Make-up that Increase Your Risk of Breast Cancer
Depression Fact Sheet
Just Diagnosed with Depression Guide
Susan G. Koman Foundation
National Breast Cancer Foundation
Risks of Not Getting Enough Sleep
Risks of Sitting Too Much
Risks of Walking in High Heels
Stress & Your Health
Urinary Incontinence in Women Who Have Never Been Pregnant
What You Need to Know About Breast Cancer?
Womens Mental Health – What it Means to You

Meaningful Medicine in your Medical Home

HEALTHY LINKS