Helpful Sites

To help speed and simplify your search of the Internet for health related information, we've identified a group of sites we feel are really educational and helpful. The sites fall into nine basic areas:

1) General Health
2) Disease-Specific
3) "Find A Doctor"
4) Health Service Rankings
5) Drugs
6) Mental Health
7) Prevention
8) Nutrition and Fitness
9) Other Useful Sites

As we are constantly reviewing new sites for relevant content, this section changes rather frequently. Be sure to come back to see what's new. Also, e-mail us if you've come across sites you think we should add to the list.

General Health Sites BACK

Most of these sites are big commercial health sites. They are generally very informative-but be advised that they can be limited or slanted due to commercial sponsorships by drug makers or other special interests. Most of these sites have:

• a news section
• a library with reference books, FAQs, and health articles
• communities of interest that chat or post messages
• an "ask the expert" section
• "tools" to track your or your child's health
• e-mail newsletters

Some of the better big commercial sites are:

www.drkoop.com
www.onhealth.com
www.achoo.com
www.intelihealth.com
www.healthcentral.com
www.healthatoz.com
www.mayoclinic.com

There are also some excellent non-commercial general health sites, including:

www.healthfinder.com
A guide for making decisions about lifestyles, health care and insurance.

www.allhealth.com
General medical information.

www.medmatrix.org
Links to hundreds of Internet health sites.

www.yoursurgery.com
Not for the weak of stomach (there are photos of actual internal organs/surgery), this site provides information for some of the more common surgeries.

www.realage.com
Provides home health information for earaches, frostbite, jet lag and other minor ailments.

Disease-Specific Sites BACK

www.oncolink.com
University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center.

www.americanheart.org
American Heart Association.

www.curearthritis.org
Arthritis National Research Foundation.

www.cdc.gov
Center for Disease Control.

"Find a Doctor" Sites BACK

www.myhealth.com
Use this site to find your doctor's personalized Web site.

www.doctordirectory.com
Find a physician anytime, anywhere - and find out a little about his or her background.

Doctor, Hospital, Nursing Home and Health Care Ranking Sites BACK

www.doctordirectory.com
Find top-rated physicians as reviewed by their peers.

Drug Sites BACK

www.fda.gov/medwatch/safety.htm
Drug safety information. Use this site to find information about drug recalls, withdrawals, labeling changes and other safety notifications ordered by the FDA.

www.mayohealth.org/usp/di/usp.htm
Descriptions, uses and possible side effects of your prescription drugs.

Mental Health Sites BACK

www.mentalhealth.org
Information for everyone from patients to policy makers, plus links to mental health Web sites
and a list of government publications. Also includes a "Kids Area."

www.nmha.org
The National Mental Health Association site.

www.onlinepsych.com
For fun, take a few of the interactive tests in the mental/emotional health area.
NOTE: E-mail psychotherapy is gaining in popularity. While attractive to people who want anonymity and convenience, many experts worry it might be practiced by people with little psychological training.

Prevention for Kids, Men and Women Sites BACK

www.ama-assn.org
American Medical Associate site. Provides information on general and family health.

www.4women.org
A one-stop shop for female health.

www.acog.org
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists

www.pedsnet.org
Focuses on child wellness. It also includes children's product recall alerts.

www.familydoctor.org
Self-care flowcharts that suggest possible diagnoses and recommended treatment/action for all
kinds of conditions.

Nutrition and Fitness BACK

www.eatright.org
The American Dietetic Association site.

www.cyberdiet.com
Use to get help planning menus and meeting your diet goals.

Other Useful Sites BACK

Need: Talk to a doctor at 3 a.m.
Site: www americasdoctor.com

Need: Learn tactics to quit smoking.
Site: www.lungusa.org/partner/quit

Need: See if your child may be experimenting with drugs
Site: www.drugfreeamerica.com

Need: Personalize the type of health news you get
Site: www.healthscout.com

Need: Take tests that show your expected life span.
Site: www.realage.com