Why are women in Arkansas seven times more likely to have heart disease than women in Colorado and why is Multiple Sclerosis (MS) less prevalent in the tropics?

And, why do suicides spike up in Greenland in the summer time? These are some of the questions addressed in the recently published article GeoMedicine - OK, Maybe We Should Move!  GeoMedicine, which has been around for awhile, is finally hitting its stride, thanks in part to Google Flu Trends and last year's H1N1 flu scare.

Obviously, each part of the world has issues that impact our health. Some subtle and some obvious. It's the the subtle ones we need to pay attention to, such as the debilitating health condition MS as well as the well known sunshine vitamin deficiency. Nevermind the leakage of radon into our homes, the invisible health hazard that has been implicated as one the most common causes of lung cancer other than smoking.

And water pollution has increased considerably in recent years. Of interest the U.S. government regulates the levels of pathogens and certain pesticides in drinking water, but there are no existing regulations for pharmaceuticals and other compounds. 

Currently, several tools are available to help you assess your current risks as well as your past exposure. One of the more fascinating, developed by one of the most well-known names in the field of geomedicine Esri, a geographic information system company, is "Explore Your Place History" which helps individuals relate their health with current as well as past places of residence.

There is no doubt that GeoMedicine will play a major role in minimizing personal health risks in areas we live, but also will probably be a catalyst for future human migration from one part of the globe to the another. OK, maybe we should move! 

Dissecting the real issues out of the constant babble from the world of health and medicine, BabbleDoc occassionally blogs for 'A Healthier World' and can be contacted at [email protected]