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Sree's Thoughts on Medical Sites
 Thursday, Feb. 6, 2003

More and more of us are going online to find medical information. But according to a recent survey, more than 80 percent of people who used the Internet said they trust the health information they found there. Now that's a real problem, because the thousands of medical sites out there do not all have trustworthy data.

To help cut through the confusion, here are some good medical sites to get you started:

  • Healthfinder.gov: One of the best sites for a newcomer to health information on the Web. Run by the Federal government, it presents the material in easy-to-understand fashion.
  • NeedyMeds.com: This site is for those who worry about the costs of prescription drugs (and who doesn't?).
  • RxList.com: If you get a prescription, it's often hard to read the paperwork that comes with the drug. This explains the information in a way you can understand.
  • AskADoctor.com: If you can't get your doctor on the phone, or want to ask a question anonymously, try this site. each Each question receives three answers from three separate doctors usually within three hours. It charges $16.95 each time you ask a question. Check out the FAQ section. An example: "If you are not satisfied with the answers you received, we will resubmit your question to three different doctors or refund your money." Not a substitute for a live doctor, of course.
  • Grid.org: This is a new effort by the U.S. Army to get computer users to help understand the smallpox virus. You download a small program onto your computer, and it runs in the background when you are not doing any work. This is similar to the SETI@home (Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence) project, which used millions of people to help sort through SETI data.

You can also see my April 2001 medical sites story.

Write to techguru@sree.net and let me know your thoughts.

 

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