Dr. A Hester
MD
Official Guide
Patient Empowerment Expert
Dr. A Hester Quick Facts
- Main Areas
- Patient Empowerment, Health Education
- Career Focus
- Author, Speaker, Business owner, Inventor
- Affiliation
- American Board of Internal Medicine, American College of Physicians, Society of Hospital Medicine
Dr. Hester is a board certified internal medicine specialist with over 17 years of experience in direct patient care. Her passion has always been to empower people to live longer, stronger lives by teaching them how to partner in their health care to optimize their health and decrease their medical expenses. She believes that by teaching the public how to think more like doctors think they will be empowered to play an unprecedented role in optimizing their own health care.
She wrote her first book, Bridging the Gaps, while still a medical student in the 1980s. Her second book, Your Family Medical Record: An Interactive Guide to Getting the Best Care was published by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in 2000, long before the patient empowerment movement came of age. In keeping with the technological revolution, Dr. Hester decided to take the best parts of her second book, update them and add additional health empowerment tools and program it onto a credit card size USB flash drive that to enable everyone to have immediate access to their vital health information. The Patient Whiz fits in any standard wallet and provides patients, and their physicians, instant access to medical history, EKGs, lab tests and much more.
Dr. Hester has been an advocate for patients for decades. While in medical school, she was the president of the local American Medical Student Association. She subsequently became the president of the local chapter of the American Heart Association and was a breast cancer awareness spokesperson.
More recently, she launched an online school to educate patients, PatientSchool.net, in which she provides numerous links to valuable health sites. Her goal has always been to bridge the gaps between how patients think and how their doctors think by teaching basic 'patient skills' and providing vital information in an easy-to-understand manner.
Jeff Forster, former editor of Medical economics magazine had this to say about Your Family Medical Record, "At last-a book that helps patients to be good patients so that doctors can be good doctors. Dr. Hester's no-nonsense, plain English approach helps patients understand how vitally important it is to provide a thorough medical history and how valuable it is to keep good, accurate health records throughout life."
Dr. Hester is a member of the American College of Physicians and the Society of Hospital Medicine, and president of Savvier Health, LLC a health empowerment firm.
In addition to being a busy physician, author, and patient advocate, she is the wife of her Prince Charming, mother of five, and an editor for BellaOnline.com and the Health Care Examiner for Baltimore, Maryland.
Media interviews in 2009:
- ABC Radio Network
- CRN Radio Network
- WICC, Bridgeport, CT
- WBT, Charlotte, NC
- WLW, Cincinnati, OH
- WGAU, Atlanta, GA
- KAHI-AM, Sacramento, CA
- WDUN, Atlanta, GA
- Ove ight America
- Project Health Radio
- Something You Should Know
Free Audio & Video Samples
Empowering People to Partner in Their Health Care on HealthRadio.net
http://www.healthradio.net/show/Health-Radio-Shows/Health-Talk-Radio-w-2F-Melanie-Cole-M-2ES-2E/Empowering-People-to-Partner-in-Their-Health-Care-40917/details
Patient Whiz App on The Daily App Show
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VorCwQAAV2E
Dr. A Hester Books
Articles by this expert
SelfGrowth articles and saved writing connected to this expert.
Article
*** Routine Lab Tests: The Blood Chemistry Panel
When you go to the doctor she may run a series of ‘routine tests.’ However, there are different tests that paint completely different pictures. For instance, a CBC (complete blood count) is used to measure the level of various blood cells, such as white blood cells and red blood cells. On the other hand, a chemistry panel measures the level of various electrolytes (such as sodium and potassium) and other chemicals in your blood. This article focuses on chemistry panels and their significance. <u>Indications</u>: Serum chemistry tests can be quite basic or very extensive.
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*** Cleansing Deep Within
We faithfully change the oil in our cars and the filters in our heaters to eliminate the impurities that build up over time which could hinder the performance of these mechanical devices. So why is it that we do not we apply the same logic to our bodies? Many cultures around the world have practiced internal cleansing for centuries. Fortunately, this practice is finally gaining acceptance in America. Bookstore shelves are now full of books about detoxification (internal cleansing) and its health benefits.
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*** Breast Cancer Basics
Breast cancer is the second most common cause of cancer death in women, surpassed only by lung cancer. The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates that over 200,000 women in the United States will be diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in 2006. The ACS further estimates that close to 41,000 women will die from breast cancer this year.
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*** Coffee Consumption Can Decrease a Woman’s Risk of Diabetes
A recent study shows that coffee consumption can decrease a woman’s risk of developing type 2 diabetes. This important 11-year study showed that decaffeinated coffee, in particular, was associated with a lower risk of diabetes in women. Mark A. Periera, PhD, from the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis, along with his colleagues, reported that the reduced risk of diabetes seen in coffee drinkers may be related to the minerals, phytochemicals, and antioxidants found in coffee. Their findings were reported in the June 26 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
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*** Diverticulosis and it’s Complications
Diverticulosis is a very common condition of the colon that affects millions of people as they grow older. It has been estimated that close to half of Americans 60 years of age or older have this condition. In diverticulosis, part of the colon bulges out through weak spots in the colon wall. Imagine a rubber inner tube that has weak spots. These spots can give rise to bulges if the pressure inside becomes too high. This is similar to diverticulosis. Weak spots in the colon wall bulge out and form little pouches, called diverticula.
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*** Coronary Artery Disease Essentials
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading killer of men and women in America. All tissues in the body need oxygen to survive, and the heart is no exception. Coronary arteries supply the heart with its needed blood supply. In coronary artery disease, thick patches of fatty tissue, called plaques, form on the inside walls of the coronary arteries. As plaques thicken, the arteries narrow and blood flow is compromised. Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a potentially life-threatening complication of CAD.
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*** Know Your Chest Pain
Coronary artery disease (CAD) is the leading cause of death in America. Each year, hundreds of thousands of Americans die from heart disease. Many people have no idea they even have CAD. As a matter of fact, the first indication that many people have heart disease is when they have a massive heart attack, or even worse, experience sudden cardiac death. Chest pain is one of the hallmarks of CAD. Some people (such as women or diabetics) may have severe heart disease, or even suffer a heart attack with no chest pain whatsoever! Most instances of chest pain are not related to the heart.
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*** Know Your Abdominal Pain
When you see your physician about abdominal pain there are certain things you should consider. Abdominal pain has many, many causes and the way your present your story and the details you give can help your physician make the diagnosis immediately, or can prolong your diagnosis and put you at risk of having a lot of unnecessary, potentially painful and expensive tests. By thinking through your illness from its inception, you will empower yourself to help your doctor help diagnose you in a timely and cost-effective manner.
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*** Know Your Headache
Headaches are one of the most common causes that people see a physician. This common symptom can be the result of something as innocuous as stress or something as immediately life-threatening as a ruptured aneurysm. Knowing how to tell your story to your physician can go a tremendous way in helping her to pinpoint the source of your problem with minimal testing and the least amount of risk to you (and your wallet).
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*** Know Your Medications
The pharmaceutical industry has come a tremendous way in researching and developing an endless armamentarium of medications that can do everything from easing the symptoms of the common cold to decreasing the risk of developing a potentially fatal cancer. Nevertheless, even the scientists who develop these wonder drugs know that no matter how extraordinary these medications may be, if they are not taken as directed they cannot do what they are meant to do.
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*** Routine Lab Tests: The CBC
Complete blood counts (CBCs) are frequently performed because they give important information on the status of the different blood cell components. For instance, the white blood cell count is increased with many infections and in certain other conditions as well. It can also be decreased in certain infections, including some viral infections as well as a variety of other diseases. By knowing if white cell count is high, low, or normal the physician can start narrowing down the list of possible diagnoses. A low red blood cell count indicates anemia.
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*** Smoking Your Life Away
The American Cancer Society estimates that each year, close to 435,000 people die from tobacco use. If two 747 jets crashed every day, killing everyone on board, we would be outraged! Most would opt to drive to faraway destinations (or just not go) rather than ever play Russian roulette with an airplane. Yet, each day more Americans die due to the effects of tobacco use than would die in this fictitious, unacceptable airplane scenario.
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Websites & resources
SelfGrowth-published websites, downloads, and contributor profile websites connected to this expert.
Favorite Quotes & Thoughts from Dr. A Hester
I believe America's traditionally pate alistic health care system has failed to empower the average citizen to partner in his health care. After all, the bottom line is the patient, not the doctor. I know that if we simply took the time to teach people basic 'patient skills' they could be a formidable ally in optimizing their health and decreasing America's health care costs.
Contacting Dr. A Hester
How to get started
- See my show, Health Solution Revolution, on YouTube.
- Watch Healthcare Reform You Control: The Patient Whiz on YouTube.
- Visit Patient School to learn how to be a happier, healthier patient.