You want to be an informed consumer of healthcare who is able to manage your own and your family’s well-being, empowered to be an effective partner with your healtcare providers, and live a longer, more productive life. Here are some resources:
PubMed Health provides information for consumers and clinicians on prevention and treatment of diseases and conditions and is a service provided by the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) at the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM). From this page, you can link to other pages on the Web site that explain Clinical effectiveness research and How to read health news. There is an A-Z glossary of health terms Click on a letter, then click on the term you want, for example, Plantar Fascitis, to get a definition as well as more information about “What Works,” a summary of the research about plantar fasciits. The A-Z lsit of drugs works in a similar way. Click on a letter, then click on the drug you want, for example, ibuprofen, which gives you information about the drug and its uses.
The Mayo Clinic is a not-for-profit organization and proceeds from Web advertising help support its mission. Physicians, scientists and other medical experts dedicate a portion of their clinical time to this Web site, thereby providing access to the knowledge and experience of Mayo Clinic. Click on the Patient Care and Health Information link to search for information about Diseases and Conditions, Symptoms, Tests and Procedures, Drugs and supplements. Although there are ads on this site (proceeds help support their mission), Mayo Clinic does not endorse non-Mayo products and services.
These two soucres Web sites are good places to find highly reliable health information.
