I've long been interested in how the ancient medical practice of Ayurveda can help a person be healthy, and have on occasion have consulted medical doctors who also have training in Ayurveda. This is called, as you may know, integrative medicine — doctors who combine a western approach to medicine (training as an M.D.) along with natural, holistic, and alternative therapies. If you'd like to find a practitioner of integrative medicine, this free app, called American College for Advancement in Medicine, helps you do so. You simply put in your Zip Code, and it gives you a list of doctors in your area.

 As an emergency medicine physician, I know how much seconds count. It is extremely important to have the correct information when the patient can not give us key information. The idea behind In Case of Emergency is that it allows 1st responders a way to quickly access important information. Currently, the app store has several iphone apps that do this same function. The app called SMART ICE by EMS options LLC is a very good app. It contains all the information that one would need in the emergency setting and more. The app runs smooth and has several key features that I think are excellent. The top are:

1-) being able to prerecord information for the EMS

2-) Wall paper setting with information for EMS

3-) Quick EMS call from app

 AED Nearby

First Aid Corps and buuuk.com have created an iPhone app that can help you find an AED. The company is working on their database. If you find your self in this situation ask someone to call 911, begin CPR and ask someone for an AED. If one is not immediately available use this app to locate one. Hopefully, an ambulance will be there faster than you having to drive and get one.

My colleague Ben Stallings here at iPhone Life has just posted about how filmmaker Dan Woolley trapped under the earthquake rubble in Haiti for 65 hours used his iPhone to help in his survival.

He used the iPhone's internal alarm, and also Pocket First Aid and CPR (additional information + iTunes link).

 I like this app because it’s like having a first-aid instruction book with me all the time. I particularly like the Emergencies & Injuries section. If I need to know how to wrap a sprained ankle or perform the Heimlich maneuver, it’s right there in my iPhone, complete with instructions and illustrations.

 If you've been paying close attention, as most developers do, to the App Store, you may have noticed some changes.

1. New Releases only show BRAND NEW apps, i.e. version 1.0
2. Updates are not included in the New Releases

This is potentially a good thing for users but there are some downsides.

The good news is, you won't have to search through old apps to find new gems.  It might also discourage developers from submitting minor updates just to be featured on the New Releases page.  That will also cut down on approval time as fewer apps need to be reviewed.

CNet is reporting today that the App Store has reached yet another milestone: 100,000 apps. That's just phenomenal. Well over 20,000 are games. By way of comparison, as of September, Nintendo DS had 3,500 titles and Sony PSP 600. The range of apps is astonishing. Every day I get press releases for apps for very specialized purposes. Just today they've included apps for insurance claim handling, high-risk obstetrics — and translating a baby's cries (Cry Translator).

 Apple recently announced a major shift in how they treat free apps and I have been mulling over what it means to developers, in addition to end users.

In the past, "In-App Purchases", or the ability to add features to an app, were only available for paid apps.  Free apps could not be upgraded, short of purchasing the paid version separately.  Now, users of these free apps can purchase upgrades.

On one hand, more choices are a good thing.  But I have some concerns.