WebMD Reveals What's Hot in Health and Wellness in 2011

NEW YORK, Dec. 8, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- WebMD Health Corp. (Nasdaq: WBMD), the leading source of health information announced today its 2011 Year in Health www.webmd.com/yearinhealth, an annual listing of the most talked about health topics of the year. The results, which include information on top trending searches and mobile search terms from webmd.com users, draw from a unique combination of medical insights and user data trends. 

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"Healthy eating was top of mind this year and concerns about listeria in cantaloupes came in a close second," said Dr. Michael Smith, WebMD's Chief Medical Editor. "People were also searching for answers on pancreatic cancer with the passing of Steve Jobs and changes in cancer screening guidelines challenged conventional wisdom on cancer prevention."

The year's most popular stories reflected a wide-range of issues.

Year-over-year the top trending searches closely mirrored breaking news events surrounding celebrity deaths and food contaminates. After a number of high-profile cases surfaced in 2011, "bullying" also claimed a spot. 

Men and Women had a lot in common when it came to their interests in health this year. At the top of this list were issues unique to men and women's health, while both shared an interest around healthy eating and diet.

In 2011, people were looking to alert friends and family to issues that could result from dietary or lifestyle choices.

Consumers are accessing WebMD on-the-go through their mobile devices for immediate access to a variety a health and wellness information.

Physicians were most interested in learning about the FDA's latest recommendations on drugs. Similar to their patients, they shared an interest in information about cell phones and possible links to cancer.

About the WebMD Year in Health Methodology
WebMD's team of physicians and health editors reviewed aggregate data from the company's web-based and mobile experiences to identify the leading topics and trends in 2011. The results were based on a number of factors including search volume and growth, page views and stories shared and medical significance.  All information used to compile WebMD's Year in Health is anonymous – no personally identifiable information was used.       

About WebMD
WebMD Health Corp. (Nasdaq: WBMD) is the leading provider of health information services, serving consumers, physicians, healthcare professionals, employers, and health plans through our public and private online portals, mobile platforms and health-focused publications. 

The WebMD Health Network includes WebMD Health, Medscape, MedicineNet, emedicineHealth, RxList, theheart.org, drugs.com and Medscape Education.

SOURCE WebMD