Your Health, In Your Hands
Most people would like to be well-informed health consumers, but finding credible, reliable, freely accessible health information on the Web is an ongoing challenge. This Web Guide helps you locate online medical dictionaries and encyclopedias, health-specific search engines, thorough overviews of illnesses, injuries, diseases, and conditions, and advice on seeking professional medical help. For a Spanish-language version of the Guide, click here.
Expand All Guide SectionsEvaluating Online Health Information
The Internet can be a great place to find health information, but because health is a serious topic ... read more »
Top Health Web Sites
The Web is host to a substantial number of reliable, comprehensive health sites. If you know what type of information you're looking for, chances are you'll be able to bypass the search engines altogether and go straight to one of these thorough information portals. The majority of these encyclopedia sites function as gateways to articles containing overviews of diseases, injuries, and conditions, with details on causes, symptoms, diagnosis, treatment, prevention, coping, and much more. As resources to supplement your doctor's advice, these sites are invaluable.
Dulcinea's Insight
- Once you've familiarized yourself with the top health sites on the Web, you may feel comfortable bypassing health search engines and bringing your query directly to the information sources. Or use the findingDulcinea search engine, which will search only the leading sites that we have hand-chosen.
Dulcinea's Picks
For leading online-only sources …
WebMD
is the most visited consumer health Web site and has authoritative information on many health-related topics. It contains health news, extensive information on diseases and conditions, thorough topical health guides, a family health center, a lifestyle section, and more. Browse through the site’s guides by topic, or use its search function to find your information.
eMedicineHealth
is the consumer version of a renowned physician-oriented Web site, emedicine.com. Current medical information is available in the "Health and Medical Center," "First Aid and Emergencies Center," and "Lifestyle and Wellness Center." The site contains more than 5,500 articles written by physicians for patients and consumers. Each article is reviewed by two physicians and a PharmD prior to publication.
Healthology
, a subsidiary of iVillage, contains physician-generated health and medical information. It features a large library of original, streaming health videos and doctor-written articles.
MedicineNet
, owned and operated by WebMD, is a comprehensive health portal published by a network of 70 medical professionals. In addition to the wealth of articles on this site, visitors can access the authoritative MedTerms medical dictionary.
InteliHealth
is a long-established Web site that features consumer health information generated by Harvard Medical School and 150 other leading medical organizations. It is now owned by Aetna Insurance. InteliHealth's straightforward design makes it simple to find disease information, medication information, or health information specific to your sex or age group.
Kids' Health
is a portal of information for kids and teens, and their parents. It is connected with Alfred Dupont Children's Hospital in Delaware; an extensive network of other children's hospitals also partners with the Web site. The site is arranged into three portals: one for parents, one for kids, and one for teenagers.
NetWellness
is a resource operated by the combined health professionals of the University of Cincinnati, Case Western Reserve and Ohio State. Its most useful feature is "Ask An Expert," where health experts have already provided answers to more than 38,000 consumer health questions.
Healthwise
is a not-for-profit corporation formed in 1975 and focused solely on developing consumer health content to help people make health decisions that are right for them. The Healthwise database powers the topics listing for WebMD as well as hundreds of hospital and health plan Web sites. Healthwise also sells a print version of the Healthwise Handbook, an inexpensive self-care guide, which may be ordered at the Dulcinea Media Store.
For sites published by medical groups …
Family Doctor
is a Web site operated by the American Academy of Family Physicians, a national medical organization representing family physicians, family practice residents, and medical students. Information on the site has been written and reviewed by physicians and patient education professionals at the AAFP. One of the more useful tools is a "Search By Symptom" section, which attempts to diagnose your illness based on your responses to questions about your symptoms.
The American Academy of Pediatrics
publishes a site that features information on children’s health, organized alphabetically or by developmental stage.
The Medem Medical Library
combines the online efforts of some of the United States' leading national medical societies, specialty and state medical societies, health systems, health plans, patient advocacy groups, professional liability carriers, and others.
For sites published by leading medical authorities …
The Merck Manual
has been published since 1899 and is a best-selling medical text used by physicians. A "Home Edition" of the manual was introduced in 1997, and is now online. The site states that it "explains disorders, who is likely to get them, their symptoms, how they're diagnosed, how they might be prevented, and how they can be treated; also provides information about prognosis."
Mayo Clinic
has a reputation as one of the most respected health care facilities in the country. Its site is dedicated to providing the public with the most up-to-date and comprehensive information on the Net, and includes a range of subject guides on diseases and conditions, and drugs and medications.
CenterWatch
is a publication of Thomson Healthcare, and is a highly acclaimed site about emerging medical therapies and clinical research. The site includes listings of more than 41,000 active industry and government-sponsored clinical trials, as well as new drug therapies in research and those recently approved by the FDA.
For federal government resources …
Healthfinder
, developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services together with other federal agencies, has been recognized as a key resource for finding the best government and nonprofit health and human services information on the Internet. Healthfinder links to carefully selected information and Web sites from over 1,500 health-related organizations.
MedlinePlus
is a government site that draws from the resources of the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. It includes a directory of over 700 health topics, a medical encyclopedia, a medical dictionary, drug and supplement information, and a health care directory. The health topic directory offers hundreds of links to external Web sites for each topic.
The National Institutes of Health
also offers a site with information about ongoing clinical trials of new medical therapies. Search by disease, condition, location, or sponsor.
Department of Health and Human Services
has an office focused on women's health that offers an online consumer portal with women's health news, extensive topic listings, organizations, events, and more. For those not yet old enough to be concerned with women's health issues, HHS also offers a consumer portal on girls' health: http://www.girlshealth.gov. Geared toward children, this site introduces girls to health issues relating to fitness, nutrition, body, social life, and other topics, and is extremely informative.
Health Insurance Options
Anyone not covered by an employer's insurance policy appreciates what a luxury health care can be. ... read more »
Find a Local Doctor or Dentist
It's important to have a good relationship with your doctor, and it's doubly important to select ... read more »
Talking to Your Doctor About Your Health
Although it's easy to think of interactions with your doctor as more akin to lectures than ... read more »
Learning About Medicines
All medication, whether prescribed by your doctor or received over the counter, is accompanied by ... read more »
© 2009 Dulcinea Media, Inc.
