HIV: The Story is Far From Over

Recently, PatientsLikeMe opened a community for people affected by HIV, our first outside the area of neurological diseases. Since then, we’ve gained some 700 patients in the community, including a member who goes by the name of “BrightonBear.” His experiences are quite unique as he’s been living with HIV for more than 25 years and… Continue reading HIV: The Story is Far From Over

PatientsLikeMe Corporate Update: Q1 2008

This month marks the two-year anniversary of our flagship ALS community. It’s amazing to reflect on what we’ve achieved in just two short years. Not only did we build the world’s largest treatment and outcome sharing communities for ALS (1,800+ patients), MS (4,500+ patients) and Parkinson’s (1,300+ patients), but this year we began evolving into… Continue reading PatientsLikeMe Corporate Update: Q1 2008

PatientsLikeMe Featured in New York Times Magazine

In one of the greatest honors in our young company to date, PatientsLikeMe was featured in today’s New York Times Magazine. The article, entitled Practicing Patients, appropriately discusses the pros and cons associated with sharing data-rich personal health information in an open community. PatientsLikeMe seeks to go a mile deeper than health-information sites like WebMD… Continue reading PatientsLikeMe Featured in New York Times Magazine

It’s been two years!! ALS Community Report

PatientsLikeMe was born of a passion to provide the best tools for patients to participate in their own care, share experiences and change the way medical research is done.Thanks to our members and the dedication of our growing team, our first community, ALS, has now been open to the public for two years! The community… Continue reading It’s been two years!! ALS Community Report

Does It Work? Lithium and ALS

by James Heywood Update (March 7, 2008):  PatientsLikeMe ALS Lithium Research released. Does it work? On February 12th of this year, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (one of the leading science journals) published a paper entitled — Lithium Delays Progression of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis. After 10 years researching ALS, I believe it is… Continue reading Does It Work? Lithium and ALS

Business Development in Health 2.0: Blazing the Trail to Profitability

Much has been made about the potential for viable businesses in the health 2.0 movement. In short, these articles and blogs (among others) openly and appropriately question the long-term viability of the space: Seattle Post-Intelligencer Wikinomics Blog Chilmark Research Blog IHealthBeat San Francisco Chronicle Are they right? That answer is unclear, but they are right… Continue reading Business Development in Health 2.0: Blazing the Trail to Profitability

PatientsLikeMe Recognized by Health 2.0 Founders

PatientsLikeMe is proud to be at the forefront of the Health 2.0 movement. What’s Health 2.0 you ask? It’s all about revolutionizing healthcare through new, web-based tools, search functionality and communities. As a result, patients are able to communicate and exchange information in ways they never could before. No wonder Matthew Holt and Indu Subaiya,… Continue reading PatientsLikeMe Recognized by Health 2.0 Founders

The growth of social media in health care

According to a December 2007 iCrossing survey cited by Jane Sarasohn-Kahn in her Health Populi blog “34% of Americans turn to social media for health research.” Jane points to PatientsLikeMe and others as “proof of the reality of social media in health is alive and well and healing”, and observes that “increasing numbers of people… Continue reading The growth of social media in health care

To spit or not to spit (openness gets personal)

Over the past seven months of working at PatientsLikeMe, I’ve come to think that the idea of sharing medical and health information is completely normal. Since giving birth to my nearly 3 year old daughter, I have continued to be eternally grateful to other mothers who have willingly and openly shared their deeply personal experiences… Continue reading To spit or not to spit (openness gets personal)

Patients showcase PatientsLikeMe to their local support group

Our members are very enthusiastic about the value generated by sharing their information. So much so that recently two of our members decided to don their hard-earned PatientsLikeMe t-shirts and share their experiences using PatientsLikeMe with their local MS support group. They recruited several new members at the meeting and gave more information about PatientsLikeMe… Continue reading Patients showcase PatientsLikeMe to their local support group