When patients join our site, a common question we get is, “Now that I’ve signed up, what can I do here?” One answer is that you can chart the real-world course of your disease and compare it against other patients. But that sounds a little complex, doesn’t it?

If we break it down into simpler terms, we are really talking about you sharing your health outcomes with each other, finding other patients like you and learning from the information that you have all shared. That’s why “Share, Find and Learn” is part of our core message at PatientsLikeMe, as it best explains how you can help each other with the in’s and out’s of your condition.

To give you a better understanding of what we mean, we recently asked a few patients like you for examples of how you’ve used PatientsLikeMe to “Share, Find and Learn.”

PATIENT 1 (MS)

SHARE: “I’ve shared as much information [as possible] about the medications I’ve taken and still take and the CCSVI procedure that I recently went through. ”

FIND: “It’s helped tremendously when there are others that have undergone the same treatment or procedure in that we can share updates or milestones.”

LEARN: “We are all in the same boat. I’ve learned a lot about diets, vitamins and exercise, but most of all, I’ve learned to always keep the faith and never give up on hope.”

PATIENT 2 (MS, asthma)

SHARE:  “On the graph of the Multiple Sclerosis Rating Scale with time [which monitors the progression of MS], you have added reference percentiles to let folks know how they are doing relative to the rest of the population.”

FIND: “I just searched for females between 30 and 65 with three stars and could easily see who was doing better than average and who was doing worse than average.”

LEARN: “If someone is trying to decide about ‘medication versus no medication,’ they can fairly easily spend some time comparing how those who take medication are doing versus those who do not and make a decision for themselves.”

PATIENT 3 (fibromyalgia, Lyme disease, peripheral neuropathy, Babesiosis)

SHARE: “It is fascinating…how what one person learned about their condition, how to deal with it and what is normal, etc., can be communicated to everyone via this website.”

FIND: “I would like to do a search based on other members who also have chronic Lyme disease.” (Note: This is now possible, thanks to the recent upgrade. Use the search filters on the Patients page to find the nine members currently reporting Lyme disease.)

LEARN: “I actually have relieved one of my symptoms, in part due to PatientsLikeMe- and have found validation for this new treatment through PatientsLikeMe that I hadn’t seen otherwise. I’ve been a member since November, so that is amazing success in a short time.”

Thanks to all three members for sharing their thoughts and experiences. Why not see what you can “Share, Find and Learn” today?

We continue our series from last week of getting to you the person, not just the “patient.” Here’s an interview with member “Bradley25,” a member of our PatientsLikeMe Mood Community who was interviewed for our January newsletter.   Read on to learn more about how comparing his condition over time has helped give him hope as well as his goals for 2011 .  Enjoy!

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	(Amy) Where do you find hope?
	(bradley25) I find hope when I look at my continued progress. When I look back and compare the severity of my condition over the years, I am amazed at how far I have come. Fifteen years ago, my life was a complete wreck. I was in and out of the hospital and had trouble holding a job for more than a few months. Ten years ago, I had many of the same problems but life was improving from a treatment plan that I held. Within the last five years, I have found a good doctor and am properly medicated. Although life isn’t perfect today, bipolar disorder no longer controls my life, and I find it interferes less and less with my job, social life and daily routine.
	(Amy) What was the highlight of your holidays?
	(bradley25) The holidays did not go so well for me this year. I had fun spending time with the family and seeing some old friends, but my family visit was a little too long and I was ready to leave shortly after my plane landed. Unfortunately, this year’s holiday highlight was the return trip to the airport since I knew it would not be long until I was back in my own home.
	(Amy)  What are you resolutions or goals for 2011?
	(bradley25) I made some drastic changes to my life in July and plan to continue to work towards these goals. The most important change I have made in my life is sobriety. I am clean and sober and have been for the last six months. This change was a long time coming and is the largest obstacle in my long-term physical and mental health. Although it is often difficult, I notice many positive changes in my attitude and overall health.
	(Amy)  What are you most interested in learning from other patients this year?
	(bradley25) I find I offer advice to patients more often than I listen. Offering advice helps me; it makes me think about what I am suggesting. More often than not, I find I offer good advice that I do not necessarily follow myself. Hearing the words come out of my mouth can cause me to think about why I may not be doing what I am suggesting and to make changes in my own life.
	(Amy) Thanks so much for sharing, bradley25!

We are excited to present the first member video for the PatientsLikeMe Mood community and what better way to kick it off than with one that represents the voice of the patient.

In June, we launched The Patient Voice with the inaugural report on inpatient therapy, a topic often discussed by our Mood community members.  At the time of the report, 63% of patients on our site reported an efficacy of “moderate” or “major” for inpatient therapy.

Many patients have already benefited from the information in the report, so we decided to create a video that highlights our patient members’ tips and experiences. Check it out on our YouTube or Facebook page, but if you visit the latter don’t forget to become our fan!

If you want to know more about patients’ experiences with inpatient therapy, you can download the full report here. It includes even more tips and personal stories, interesting facts about the PatientsLikeMe community and a worksheet that will help you make the most out of your hospital stay. Of course, none of this would have been possible if patients like you were not willing to share. We are always eager to hear what you have to say, so please share on.

Once again, special thanks to our summer intern, Shane, for his work on the video!

Sharing.  It’s a concept we all learn at a very young age.  Oftentimes reminisced as happening in the sandbox, we think back to our young selves giving up what we hold most dear (in this case, some cheap plastic toy) to allow someone else to benefit from it.  It seems so simple and obvious, but how many toddlers do you know that immediately give into the concept…easily handing over that toy without a moment of hesitation or a slight tug back or possibly the more extreme screaming tantrum?   Over time, what happens is that the more they share, the more they see it puts a smile on their friends’ face, or gives them something in common to “chat” about.

You don’t need to be clairvoyant to see where I’m going with this.  Sharing is at the core of PatientsLikeMe, and it’s what makes our communities so special.  More than 32,000 patients are online sharing something they hold dear — details about their health — so that others can see it, learn from it, and dialogue about it.  It’s truly inspirational and something we believe is transforming healthcare as we know it.

But sharing doesn’t have to stop there.  From a marketing perspective, one of the most widely used and successful viral tactics is the “Share This” button.  You see it everywhere online – blogs, news articles, videos, and more.  We just recently implemented it across our site, so patients can “Share This” treatment or symptom report, press releases, research findings, etc.  It’s an easy way to pass that “toy” across the cyber-sandbox to others who might learn or benefit from it.

It’s nice every once in a while to think back to what we learned as kids and figure out a way to incorporate those values into our adult lives.  Sharing is just one of those things.

So you weren’t the type to share your toys?  Feel like you share too much?  Comments are welcome below.