http://www.newpi.com/

Catalyst
October 2000
Friendly Computer Fields Health Questions

Bill Asenjo, PhD, CRC

New Pioneer's newest information resource isn't a naturopath in residence, nor even a well-read employee with advanced degrees. It's a computer program, Healthnotes.

Fear not, computer-phobes. If you can withdraw money from an ATM, you can easily use Healthnotes. Simple as pressing buttons on a screen, an encyclopedic array of info is now literally at your fingertips.

Gathered from studies published in over 500 peer-reviewed medical and scientific journals, Healthnotes provides quickly accessible information from main screen categories spanning health concerns from acne to weight loss.

It provides information on nutritional supplements, herbal remedies, homeopathic remedies, and drug/herb/vitamin interactions. All are well cited. And for handy reference while you shop, a printer is available so you can take the information with you.

Taking the new resource out for a spin of sorts, I checked several articles. Immediately taken by the ability to link from highlighted words within the text (for instance, linking to vitamin C from hay fever), I found myself entering one of those enticing rabbit holes of information that helped make computer programs popular.

An admitted information-phile, I like to be awash in printed wisdom. I wasn't disappointed. In fact, several items provided fairly esoteric insights. For instance, the article about "Wound Healing" offered a comprehensive five-page printout (single-space) with no less than 47 citations.

Of particular interest, supplementation with one of the recommended nutrients for wound healing, bromelain, proved to accelerate healing soft-tissue injuries in men following a boxing match! (citation #22). No doubt invaluable information for any would-be Rocky Balboas frequenting New Pioneer.

So have I nothing but glowing remarks for Healthnotes? Is this nothing more than a paen to a computer program? Au contraire. In fact, while reading the article on a subject close to my heart, hay fever, I came across a statement I took issue with. To wit, although vitamin C supplementation has been reported to help people with hay fever, in preliminary research 2,000 mg of vitamin C per day did not reduce hay fever symptoms in a placebo-controlled trial.

Personally, my vitamin C-based hay fever relief starts at three to five grams. And as most of us know, one study rarely tells the whole story. So as in anything else in life, if you look hard enough you'll find fault. But overall, this library in a box gets my vote.

The Healthnotes writing team is composed of experts in complementary and alternative medicine. Anyone familiar with popular authors in the health field will recognize the names: Dr. Alan Gaby, contributing medical editor of the Townsend Letter for Doctors and Endowed Professor of Nutrition at Bastyr University; as well as Dr. Michael Murray, Bastyr University faculty member, co-author of A Textbook of Natural Medicine the definitive textbook on naturopathic medicine for physicians, The Encyclopedia of Natural Medicine, and Botanical Influences on Illness.

To get a better sense of what shoppers thought about Healthnotes, I hung around one afternoon and asked several who ventured by. Without exception those I spoke with liked the new resource.

So next time you're shopping for organic potatoes, replenishing your tofu, or picking up lasagna at the deli, stop by the supplement counter and try the latest reason to shop at New Pioneer.

© 2009 Bill Asenjo

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