Home Medical Advisor Pro 4.0
a review by Thomas Wisneski, Alamo PC

The main function of Home Medical Advisor Pro (HMA) is to analyze symptoms and provide diagnosis and recommend-ations. Other sections provide information on Diseases, Lab Tests, Poisons, Injuries, Drugs, and Health. An additional section keeps and prints Medical Records. HMA comes on a single CD-ROM disc, and version 4.0 is the 1995 Multimedia Edition.

Minimum equipment requirements are a 386, MS Windows, 4MB RAM, and a CD-ROM drive. Installation was simple and straightforward, with no problems. It took about 10 minutes to copy files and set up video on my 486 DX66, and used up 7.6 MB of hard drive space. DOS and Windows disk-based versions are also available.

Using HMA was also simple. The "manual" consists of a single sheet of paper, but I didn't even need that. The program also contains HELP buttons for context-sensitive help regarding each section.

Not surprisingly, HMA opens with a disclaimer that HMA should not be interpreted as a substitute for physician evaluation or treatment. The main section of HMA provides diagnosis, either from a single symptom, or from multiple symptoms.

Single Symptom Case

For the single symptom case, you enter the symptom by clicking on the actual body part you are concerned about (head, throat, wrist, hand, etc.). The menu changes to a series of options specific to that body area. The program asks a series of yes/no questions to pinpoint your problem. It then issues its diagnosis and recommendations.

[Pharnyx photo] When I entered "difficulty in swallowing" and answered 6 or 7 questions, it was unable to come up with a diagnosis. But then neither could my doctor, and he had access to a series of lab tests. HMA asked many of the same questions that my MD asked, from "Have you recently had any unexplained weight loss" to "Have you eaten any fish lately?" (Obvious, but not to be overlooked). My problem turned out to be an extended uvula.

I then asked HMA to diagnosis the rash I got from the stress of doctor appointments, and undergoing the various lab and blood tests. After it correctly identified Shingles, I clicked on the Image Library, and not only was there a photograph, but there were 11 various patients, degrees of severity, and body locations, including closeups. HMA claims to have the largest color atlas of medicine on CD with over 1200 images. (Does anyone really need to see 20 different images of bullet wounds? Or burn victims? Are they difficult to diagnose?).

Multiple Symptom Case

The multiple symptom case uses "advanced artificial intelligence to analyze up to 10 different symptoms simultaneously." To test HMA's capability, I entered the symptoms of a hangover: "throbbing headache, nausea, and trembling or shaking." Without hesitation, HMA returned: "Migraine Headaches (common), Meningitis (common), Influenza (common), Brain Tumor (very rare), or Alcohol Withdrawal" the last being close enough.

The other sections of HMA include Diseases, Tests, Poisons, Injuries, Drugs, Health, Medical Records, and a Glossary of 3000 Medical Terms. It also contains Libraries of Images and Videos.

Other features

Disease File

The Disease File lists the signs, symptoms, evaluation , and treatment of over 800 diseases and has special sections on women's and children's health problems.

Test File

The Test File explains over 200 of the most frequently performed medical tests. It includes how, when, and why they are necessary, in addition to their known risks and complications.

Poison File

The Poison File lists over 800 common household substances, products, and plants, and exactly what steps to take if ingested. It also lists the addresses and phone numbers of the Poison Control Centers by state and city. In Texas they are in Conroe, Dallas, El Paso, Galveston, and Lubbock -- none in San Antonio or Austin. This file by itself would make a useful program. It lists substances from shaving cream to lipstick. In the plants section, such common plants as daffodils, mistletoe, and oleander are potentially fatal.

Injury File

The Injury File lists information on more than 200 injuries, from First Aid to advanced care, including exercises for sports rehabilitation.

Drug Library

HMA claims to have the largest drug library on disc with over 5000 prescription and non-prescription drugs. The Drug File includes why they are used, side effects, interactions, and precautions. You can chose a single drug I checked out Lorazepam, prescribed for anxiety, and learned that nicotine decreases its effect, and alcohol enhances it. "Avoid both." Or you can analyze any combination of drugs for interaction. HMA states that there are over 500,000 potentially dangerous interactions.

Health File

The Health File includes information on vitamins, minerals, nutrition, health and travel tips, safety and first aid, life-style health risks, travel vaccinations, weight loss, and special diets.

Medical Records File

The Medical Records File keeps important family medical records, including vaccinations, medications and medical history. You can store, modify and print 14 kinds of medical histories for every member of your family in a professional physician-style, or wallet size for travel. It also includes the ability to create customized Medical-Legal documents such as "Living Will" and "Durable Power of Attorney."

Videos

My only complaint with this program, and it's a small one, concerns the Video Library. The program contains a warning that "some images may be too graphic for younger audiences," and even includes a censor option. The videos are small, and ran slow and jerky on my single speed CD-ROM drive but for the life of me, I couldn't think of a reason why anyone would want or need to view brain surgery, a breast biopsy, or an appendectomy. Even if you were facing surgery, I don't think you would want to view these videos. Maybe they included them for completeness, since I can't think of anything medically related that they omitted from this disc. Or maybe they included them as subtle commercials, since each contains the physician's name (and a phone number, should you wish to make an appointment).

At a retail price of $99.95 and a street price of $59.95, it contains a wealth of information at a reasonable price. Pixel Perfect, P.O. Drawer 4101129, Melbourne, FL 32941 (407-779-0310). Webmaster's note: Pixel Perfect is offering this program at their World Wide Web site for $39.95; visit them at http://www.infomall.com/pixelhomepage.html.

Home Medical Advisor Pro 4.0 a review by Thomas Wisneski, Alamo PC