Health and Fitness

1. Stay updated with latest health news: You can gain access to news as it happens, sometimes before mainstream media pushes the news to the street. Try Health News from @HealthHive to stay abreast of news from across the country and across the world. If you’re into alternative medicine, you can follow the Health Expert @WorldwideHealth out of the UK.
2. Learn about latest developments: You can find many experts on Twitter who will disseminate information about the latest updates in their fields. For instance, you can learn more about the juxtaposition between yoga and cancer through @YogaBear. Or, you can follow what the government is doing about HIV/AIDS at @AIDSgov.
3. Get fitness updates: If you are training for a triathlon from 5k to Ironman, you can follow @coachprs for tips on getting to that goal. You can get the latest news, information, tips on dieting and exercise and a healthy lifestyle from @FitnessJedi, or follow Mike Miller and his @yourhealthtips to get daily health tips and services.
4. Learn about daily or hourly exercises and programs: Are you bored at your desk? Follow Ron S. Doyle and his @twittercize to get fit, one tweet at a time…his hourly exercises take less than one minute each, and his humor is contagious. If you’re a trainer, you can follow AFAA Fitness and the Twitter feed at @affa_fit to learn more about their programs.
5. Get nutritional advice: If you ever wonder whether or not you are what you eat, then learn answers about that question from folks like @PulseonFitness for fitness and nutrition news and links or follow Vicki Berry and her @yournutrition. She is a wellness enthusiast, passionate about staying healthy.
6. Lose weight safely: An ex-health inspector, food scientist, cyclist and vegan offers health tips, recipes and ideas for health and weight loss at @lifelonghealth. Fred Bloem, MD, is a holistic physician who concentrates on a holistic approach to detoxification and weight loss at @drbloem, and you can follow Diana Herrington’s daily information about health, especially on gluten-free diets and nutrition, at @DancinginLife.

Diseases

7. Arthritis: You can follow a number of resources on arthritis at Twitter, including the Arthritis Foundation at @arthritis_org and Arthritis News on @ArthritisUpdate. Arthritis Today Magazine has a Twitter account at @ArthritisToday, and you can follow them to learn more from articles on arthritis pain relief, exercises, diets and more.
8. Obesity: Learn how to eat healthy through the nutrition and weight loss tweets listed above. Obesity tweets at @obesity_tweet brings news about obesity to over 16,000 followers and The Obesity Society at @ObesitySociety provides science-based understanding of the causes, consequences, prevention and treatment of obesity.
9. Cancer: Cancer is a hot topic on Twitter, and you can find dozens of tweets about this disease from Know Cancer (@know_cancer), American Cancer Society (@AmericanCancer) and CURE Magazine (@cure_magazine).
10. Flu: No matter the type of flu you’re interested in, Twitter holds a number of organizations and individuals who can share information and tips. Try @FluGov, a government site about flu, Bird Flu/Swine Flu at @birdflu or Pandemic Flu at @Pandemicflu global to learn more.
11. Heart Health: Learn more about how to protect your heart from disease and stroke with news, information and research from Heart Health at @HeartsHealth, or from American Heart News at @HeartNews. The American Heart Association also tweets at @foundersheart.
12. Alzheimer’s Disease: This disease has devastated entire families, and the cure is far from realized. Stay abreast of news, gain support and network with the following: Alzheimer’s Society (UK) at @alzheimerssoc, Alzheimer’s Association (Chicago) at @alzassociation and Alzheimer’s Reading Room at @ALZHEIMERSread.
13. Parkinson’s Disease: From caregivers to doctors, this disease is given airtime through Twitterers such as Parkinson’s Disease at @ParkinsonsUSA, MNT Parkinson’s News at @mnt_parkinsons and UMMC Parkinson’s at @UMMCParkinsons.
14. Rare Diseases: If you want to know more about rare diseases among adults and children, scope out the patient-driven Rare Diseases Europe at @eurordis or Rare Diseases at @CheckOrphan, a platform dedicated to people working with or affected by rare, orphan or neglected diseases.

Medicine

15. Tips and ideas: Eve if you don’t understand medicine, you can learn about its uses through tweets from tweeters such as A Disease A Day at @diseaseaday, Medscape at @Medscape or the Medpedia Project at @medpedia.
16. Learn from doctors: Many doctors have caught on to Twitter, and you can learn about medicine, healthy lifestyles, surgery and disease from tweeters such as Dr. Mehmet Oz at @DrOz or Michael Bermant, MD at @DrBermant.
17. Get updates from authorities: Receive tweets from authoritative journals such as BMU (British Medical Journal) at @bmj_latest or through institutions such as the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) at @FDA_Drug_Info. Some consider the Centers for Disease Control to be the ultimate authority — you can follow them at @CDCgov.
18. Learn how to care for patients at home: If you’re taking care of an elderly person or a sick person at home, you can pick up some tips from Twitter users such as Elder Care at @4eldercare or Senior Helpers at @SrHelpersNatl.
19. Stay on top of research and developments: A great number of medical research facilities use Twitter to pass on their news and insights. Some of the most popular resources include @NIHforHealth (National Institute of Health), @FDA_Drug_Info (Food and Drug Administration) and @NatureMedicine, a biomedical research journal devoted to publishing the latest advances in biomedical research for scientists and physicians.
20. Learn about alternative healing: If you want to learn about alternatives to traditional healing, try these experts: Chinese Medicine at @AsanteAcademy is Middlesex University’s Teaching Centre for Chinese Medicine and Natural Cures at @CuredbyNature collects information about home remedies from all over the globe.

2009

1. DevinGlage.com: Devin distills health, fitness and nutrition information into easy to understand language for people who find diet and exercise overwhelming. He hopes to show you that your personal well-being is an easily attainable goal (March).
2. Nutrition Evolution: Nutrition evolution is getting an overhaul as this blogger will offer videos, classes, workshops, and beyond in a mission to educate and inspire people to take charge of their health. This blog focuses on the adage that you are what you eat (March).
3. Cafe Yumm! Founders Mark and Mary Ann Beauchamp have created a welcoming atmosphere and from the basics of rice and beans, developed a menu balancing a combination of elemental foods with a lighthearted sense of fun (May).
4. Rain Newsroom Blog: Rain Nutrition began business operations in 2009; building and delivering nutritional products dedicated to aiding modern societies that lack ample nutrition to support and sustain long term health (June).
5. Food Insight Blog: The International Food Information Council Foundation is dedicated to the mission of effectively communicating science-based information on health, food safety and nutrition for the public good (September).
6. Darin’s Naturals: Darin’s Naturals has successfully sourced over 300 unique, sustainable herbs and superfoods throughout the world. Darin’s Naturals has been formulating and consulting for many private companies and professionals (November).
7. Appetite for Health: Two busy working women who are registered dietitians (RDs) are just as stressed, work too much, have killer cravings, struggle with emotional eating, and do have to watch what they eat or they’ll pack on pounds — just like everyone else. They try to show that healthy eating is delicious, satisfying and always possible, no matter the circumstances (December).
8. Around the Plate: This blogger’s dream job (now that she is a registered dietitian) is to write nutrition articles for nationwide publications. Her blog, hopefully, will reach an international audience, as it’s clever, interesting and fun to read (December).

2010

9. Eat Well Thymes: The founder of Eat Well Meal Plans, Jennifer Cohen Katz R.D., is a registered dietitian with a passion for food and cooking. In her private practice, she teaches individuals make the right food choices to help control their weight and prevent or control nutrition-related diseases and still provide enjoyable culinary experiences with a nutritious diet (January).
10. Eating Simple: In conjunction with starting her own nutrition consulting business, several people have told this blogger to start a blog. She includes healthy recipes, nutrition advice, and reviews of the latest and greatest diets on the market (January).
11. Fit to Eat: Chris Rosenboom is a professor emerita of nutrition at Georgia State University in Atlanta. As a nutrition consultant, she works with companies and organizations to promote healthy living in adults — from athletes to baby boomers (January).
12. The Perfect Pet Food Blog: What list about nutrition would be complete without a pet food blog about healthy pet food, treats and nutrition? This blog fits the bill for dog and cat owners along with other health news (January).
13. Peace, Love, and Food: Kara Lydon, Registered Dietitian, believes that nutrition is a fundamental piece in achieving health and wellness. The purpose of her blog is to inspire a peace of mind around what you eat and a love for nutritious food. A reflection of her life based around food, nutrition, and wellness, her blog also provides tips along the way on how to lead a healthy lifestyle. (February).
14. Dietitians Online Blog: This blog was created to acknowledge the dedication and talents of the registered dietitian on the Internet and to provide reliable on-line food and nutrition information to the media, consumer, health professional and educator (March).
15. Nutrition for the Future: This blog examines topics related to child nutrition and food in schools. Dayle Hayes, Chair of School Nutrition Services DPG, focuses on positive, creative solutions to childhood weight and health concerns in this blog (March).
16. Radio Nutrition: Donna Psiaki Feldman, MS RD, has been a registered dietitian for more than 30 years, and consults on nutrition information management, food product development and individual counseling for food allergy, eating disorders, weight management, heart health and childhood nutrition (April).
17. Nutrition Blog Network: The Nutrition Blog Network is a collection of blogs written by registered dietitians. If you want to learn how you can safely lose those last 5 pounds, find healthy recipes for your family, lower your cholesterol, jump start a healthy lifestyle, seek solutions for your picky preschooler or learn what to eat when you’re pregnant, you can find what you’re looking for in their Nutrition Blog Directory (May).
18. Skinny Eats Cleveland: “Sue The Caring Foodie” is a lover of healthy foods and cooking and a registered dietitian. She loves to explore her home of Cleveland, Ohio, in search of great food and creative ways to prepare it (May).
19. The Gluten-Free RD: This blogger’s mission is to provide those on a gluten-free diet with the information and resources they need to strike a balance between eating gluten-free and healthfully, while doing it happily. A registered dietitian and experienced food and nutrition communications professional with Celiac Disease writes this blog (May).
20. Nutrition Warehouse: Nutrition Warehouse provides customers with access to the most sort after quality sports bodybuilding supplements and General Health supplements available at the best price with a professional approach to service and quality (June).
21. The Best Pickle: A registered dietitian living in Portland, Oregon hopes that by sharing her weekly meal plans, she can inspire others to prepare more home-cooked meals, leading to a resurgence in family dinners, mealtime conversation, and neighborly connections (June).
22. Foodies Not Fatties: This blog was created to take recipes that are delicious and amazing and tweak them to make them a little bit healthier. In other words, these two registered dietitians have made it a mission to make Paula Deen’s recipes healthier to eat (July).
23. Nutritiously Happy: Torey Jones is a registered dietitian and nutrition writer and speaker in Chicago who currently works in medical nutrition therapy as a clinical dietitian. She subscribes to a simple and basic approach to nutrition, doesn’t dwell on the nutrient composition of foods, and doesn’t count calories (July).
24. Little Green Blog: If you’re looking for topics such as environmental issues, eco-conscious, sustainable living, gardening, self sufficiency, real food, frugality, reducing energy usage, reusing, reducing, recycling, recipes, repairs, fair trade, organic, making your own cleaning products and natural healing methods, this is your blog (August).
25. The Nutrition Twins: Tammy Lakatos Shames and Elysse (“Lyssie”) Lakatos share more than identical features; they share identical success in the competitive field of nutrition and wellness. Tammy and Lyssie have become known for their unique approach to nutrition counseling, corporate lecturing, writing, making media appearances and consulting to multinational food companies (October).

The following individuals are listed in alphabetical order by surname.

1. Kristen Hedger Archbold, PhD, RN, is an assistant professor at the University of Arizona College of Nursing and an expert in the area of sleep disorders and sleep research. She recently received a five-year $2-million grant from the National Institutes of Health/National Heart Lung and Blood Institute to study the effects of a ventilator therapy on behavior and cognition in school-aged children who stop breathing during sleep, a condition called obstructive sleep apnea. This study is the first known to use a placebo or sham PAP ventilator, created by Kristen and her research team, in school-aged children and compare it to actual PAP.
2. Linda C. Baumann, PhD, APRN, BC, FAAN, is a professor at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s School of Nursing, and an expert on global health in developing countries, chronic disease management, health promotion of physical activity and healthy eating. She has conducted both experimental and descriptive studies of how a person’s beliefs about symptoms and illness influence health-related actions. Recent work focuses on health disparities of race/ethnicity and income in relationship to healthy lifestyle changes in diet and physical activity and she has expanded her research into Vietnam, where she is a member of the National Institute of Research Strategies for Diabetes and Metabolic Disorders Control.
3. Carlton G. Brown, PhD, RN, AOCN, is an assistant professor at the University of Delaware’s School of Nursing and the president of the Oncology Nursing Society (ONS). He uses the ONS platform to lobby for better legislation to assist patients and the nurses who care for them.Dr. Brown’s book, A Guide to Oncology Symptom Management, provides detailed coverage of symptoms and conditions affecting people with cancer. This summer, he received an Award of Excellence in the 22nd annual APEX Awards for Publication Excellence, sponsored by Writing That Works.
4. D. Anthony “Tony” Forrester, RN, PhD, ANEF, a professor at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey School of Nursing in Newark and is clinical professor in the Department of Environmental Medicine at UMDNJ’s Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS). He is also Professor in Residence and Interdisciplinary Health Research Consultant at Morristown Memorial Hospital and an expert faculty member for the Nurse Faculty Mentored Leadership Development Program. His areas of expertise and specialization in nursing clinical practice are: adult emergency/trauma, critical care, and psychiatric/mental health nursing.
5. Mary Beth Happ, PhD, RN, FAAN, is a professor in the Acute and Tertiary Care Department at the University of Pittsburgh’s School of Nursing, with secondary appointments in Critical Care Medicine, the Center for Bioethics and Health Law, and at the University of Pennsylvania, School of Nursing (adjunct). Widely published in gerontology and critical care, Dr. Happ’s research is focused on developing and testing the “SPEACS” nurse training program, to improve communication with nonspeaking, critically ill patients. She received the 2010 Eastern Nursing Research Society John A. Hartford Geriatric Research Award for her significant contributions to nursing research directed toward the older adult population.
6. Kathryn Laughon, PhD, RN, is an associate professor of nursing at the University of Virginia and an expert in intimate partner violence and risk factors for intimate partner homicide and safety planning. In 2008, she was one of 15 junior faculty in the nation to receive an inaugural Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Nurse Faculty Scholar award. Dr. Laughon currently is principle investigator on a National Institute of Mental Health-funded study to test an intervention for guardians of children orphaned by intimate partner homicide. She is also a forensic nurse examiner and conducts evidence collection and provides care to victims of sexual assault.
7. Courtney Lyder, ND, GNP, FAAN, was the first minority to earn tenure at Yale’s School of Nursing and the second youngest member inducted into the American Academy of Nursing. As the new dean of the UCLA School of Nursing, Lyder is the first African-American male to lead a U.S. nursing school, and one of fewer than 3 percent of U.S. deans under age 45. He is a nationally recognized expert on minority aging and served as a senior consultant to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, where he has influenced federal regulations and policies related to elder care throughout the U.S.
8. Linda Sarna, DNSc, RN, FAAN, AOCN, is a professor at the UCLA School of Nursing and an expert on oncology nursing and tobacco control. She helped establish one of the nation’s first oncology nursing specialty programs at the UCLA School of Nursing more than 30 years ago, and recently was appointed to the school’s Lulu Wolf Hassenplug Endowed Chair in Nursing. As principal investigator for the Tobacco Free Nurses initiative, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Sarna led the first-ever nationwide program to help nurses quit smoking and to promote nursing involvement and leadership in tobacco control.
9. Mary Lou Sole, RN, PhD, CCRN, FAAN, a professor in UCF’s College of Nursing, also oversees the adult-gerontology Clinical Nurse Specialist track for the new post-baccalaureate Doctor of Nursing Practice program. She is an expert in the area of airway management and mechanical ventilation, infection prevention in acute care, and critical care nursing. She also is the lead investigator on a National Institutes of Health nursing research grant related to airway management in critically ill patients. Her book, Introduction to Critical Care Nursing, currently in its fifth edition, was named the 2010 Book of the Year by the American Journal of Nursing.
10. Lin Zhan, RN, PhD, FAAN, is a professor and director of PhD Program in Nursing in the Department of Nursing, School of Health and Environment at UMass-Lowell. She is a Fellow of American Academy of Nursing and serves on the Academy’s Expert Panel on Aging. Her research focuses on quality of life for older adults and ethnic minorities. Her scholarly work is evident by funded research projects and publication in and research-based peer reviewed publications. In 2000, her book, Asian Voices: Asian and Asian American Health Educators Speak Out, received “”he Book of the Year” award by the American Journal of Nursing for outstanding professional development.

Just follow the links listed below to go to the user’s Twitter page, where you can follow that account for your own daily health tips.

Government Health Authorities

1. @AIDSgov: Your link to U.S. HIV and new media information on AIDS.
2. @CDC_eHealth: Delivering science-based health and safety info when where and how you need it from the CDC.
3. @CDC_BioSense: BioSense is a disease surveillance program designed to increase emergency preparedness thru development of national network for real-time disease detection.
4. @CDCemergency: CDC Emergency Preparedness and Response increases the nation’s ability to prepare for and respond to public health emergencies.
5. @CDCFlu: Get flu-related updates daily from the CDC.
6. @cdchep: The official Twitter account of the Division of Viral Hepatitis at the CDC.
7. @CDCNPIN: Connecting HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis, STD, and TB Prevention Partners.
8. @Disabilitygov: The Official U.S. Government Web site for individuals with disabilities.
9. @FDA_Drug_Info: Receive the latest drug information from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
10. @FDArecalls: Follow this Twitter account to get notifications about the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s recalls.
11. @FDAWomen: Women can follow this account to learn health tips and information from the Food and Drug Administration.
12. @FluGov: This is your one-stop access to U.S. Government H1N1, avian and pandemic flu information.
13. @girlshealth: U.S. DHHS Office on Women’s Health web site for girls ages 10 – 16. They have resources for parents and teachers, too.
14. @GovHIT: Government Health IT is the definitive source for news and information on how government is driving the adoption of information technology in healthcare.
15. @healthfinder: Your government source for reliable prevention and wellness information.
16. @HHSGov: News and info from U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services.
17. @medlineplus4you: Get the latest news and information on health and medicine from the National Library of Medicine.
18. @NIHforHealth: NIH is the nation’s medical research agency – making important medical discoveries that improve health and save lives.
19. @NIMHgov: National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is the largest scientific organization, in the world, dedicated to mental health research.
20. @NIOSH: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health, part of CDC.gov and HHS.gov.
21. @OnSafety: Get notified about the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission’s safety alerts and recalls.
22. @ReadydotGov: Get a kit, make a plan and be informed for any health or disaster emergency.
23. @USDAFoodSafety: Food Safety and Inspection Service educates consumers about the importance of safe food handling and reducing the risk of food-borne illness.
24. @VeteransHealth: The Veterans Health Administration (VHA) is part of the U.S. Dept. of Veterans Affairs. You can follow the latter Twitter account at @DeptVetAffairs.
25. @womenshealth: Womenshealth.gov is part of the US DHHS Office on Women’s Health, the Federal Government’s resource for women’s health information.

Collegiate Health Authorities

26. @Cardiology: American College of Cardiology’s Advocacy Department and the CardioAdvocacy Network (CAN).
27. @HarvardHealth: Authoritative health information, drawing on the expertise of 8,000 faculty physicians at Harvard Medical School and its world-famous affiliated hospitals.
28. @JHUGlobalHealth: Follow along as this Twitter account coordinates global health activity across Johns Hopkins University.
29. @JohnsHopkins: This is the main artery to Johns Hopkins University’s research, medicine, nursing, public health information and more.
30. @JohnsHopkinsSPH: Follow Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health to learn more about daily public health issues, research and information.
31. @RadiologyACR: Official Twitter account for the American College of Radiology, committed to making imaging safe, effective and accessible to those who need it.
32. @sumedicine: Stanford’s School of Medicine is the oldest medical school in the western U.S., integrating research, medical education, patient care and community service.
33. @UCHealthNews: The University of Cincinnati Academic Health Center is known nationally for training health care professionals and providing leading-edge research and patient care.
34. @UICInformatics: The College of Applied Health Sciences at the University of Chicago is a nationally recognized leader as a multi-disciplinary community of health science scholars and students.
35. @UNC_Health_Care: The latest from University of North Carolina Health Care with updates about research and health and medical news.
36. @uthsc: Follow the University of Tennessee Health Science Center to learn daily news about health and campus research and activities.
37. @VUMCHealth: Vanderbilt University Medical Center is a highly-acclaimed healthcare system dedicated to patient care, research & education.

Other Health Authorities

38. @AmerMedicalAssn: The American Medical Association helps doctors help patients by uniting physicians to work on the most important professional and public health issues.
39. @eyeonfda: This Twitter account belongs to the author of the blog, Eye on FDA. An authoritative voice watching another authoritative voice…
40. @health2con: Twitter home of news about the Health 2.0 conference, with a focus on Health Information Technology (HIT).
41. @Healthcare3dot0: Healthcare 3.0 tracks the pulse of health care on the social Web, providing news and updates.
42. @modrnhealthcr: Award-winning healthcare business news, commentary and opinion.
43. @NEJM: The New England Journal of Medicine is the world’s leading medical journal and website.
44. @pharmalot: The latest news and views about the pharmaceutical industry, with Ed Silverman from Pharmalot.com.
45. @PublicHealth: The American Public Health Association works to protect Americans from health threats.
46. @ReportingHealth: Follow the resource that journalists follow to find their health news. This is a nonprofit, nonpartisan and educational resource.
47. @RWJF: The mission of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is to improve the health and health care of all Americans.
48. @RWJF_PubHealth: The Public Health Portfolio supports programs, initiatives to ensure that Americans have public health services, policies to help them lead healthier lives.
49. @Health_Affairs: This is a health policy journal out of Washington DC, informing the public on policy news.
50. @WebMD_Blogs: Stay on top of the information published daily at this Twitter resource.