Alternative and
Complimentary Health Websites
Cancer
Current Health News
General Health Questions:
Health and Environmental Issues
Heart Disease
Mind Body Medicine
Nutrition
Recent Clinical Studies
Supplement and Health Products Safety
Women’s Health
Yoga
Complimentary and Alternative Health Websites:
This is the web site of the National
Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, part of the National
Institutes for Health. The NCCAM is dedicated to exploring complementary and
alternative healing practices in the context of rigorous science, training
researchers and disseminating authoritative information to the public and
professionals. Also provides an easy CAM search feature through the NLM PubMed.
Site of the American Holistic Medical
Association. Includes publications and additional links.
Site of the Institute for Functional
Medicine (IFM). IFM is a nonprofit educational organization whose mission is to
develop skills and knowledge in health care delivery by integrating
science-based best practices into effective, cost-efficient treatment
approaches.
The Institute of Noetic Sciences is at the forefront of research and education in consciousness and human potential. The Institute conducts and sponsors research into the working and powers of the mind, including perceptions, beliefs, attention, intention and intuition. Discussion groups and publications are available for a fee.
Ultraprevention: Website of Dr Hyman and Liponis. This site has much wonderful information about health and preventive maintenance of your body. It is a commercial website, but only in the sense that it sells books and advertises for health retreats. "Our mission is to promote optimal health – not just your health, but our health as a global community. Our ultimate goal is to make a healthy "us," as well as a healthy you."
http://www.mdheal.org/qframe.htm is the website of Leo Galland, who developed a holistic approach to health care. Dr Galland invented the term leaky gut. This website has many questionaires that may help you to assess your current state of health.
American Journal of Diabetes: This journal for health care workers is
full of good information about diabetes, written understandably.Our
mission is to provide health care professionals with clinical and other
practical information to help in their day-to-day management and treatment of
patients with diabetes
This is a very personal site, geared to cancer
patients and organized by a breast cancer patient and activist, Ann Fonfa.
Ms. Fonfa is not a physician,
and has no medical training. The site is extensive and “seeks to spread news,
views and information about access to alternative cancer therapies.”
The Zakim Center for Integrative Oncology provides a wonderful web portal to the best collection of cancer websites available.
This website, sponsored by the American
Society of Clinical Oncologists, is dedicated to helping patients and their
families find accurate, reliable and oncologist-approved information about
cancer.
This site offers complete and current
cancer-related information, including latest news and research. Membership is
free.
Cancer information section of the Maine
Medical Center (Portland, Maine) website.
Section of the BBC (of Great Britain) site on
cancer treatments, information sources, cancer message board and live chat
transcripts.
This is a very personal site, geared to cancer
patients and organized by a breast cancer patient and activist, Ann Fonfa.
Ms. Fonfa is not a physician,
and has no medical training. The site is extensive and “seeks to spread news,
views and information about access to alternative cancer therapies.”
National Cancer Institute site. Includes information on types of cancers, treatments, causes, prevention, screenings, coping, resources, literature and news.
A thorough list of links from the Integrative (meaning complementary, alternative and the best of conventional medical practice) Division of a leading, Harvard-affiliated Boston cancer hospital, Dana Farber.
Learn about and reduce your risk for cancer, at this Harvard website.
Cancer Medical Centers:
Site of the University of Pennsylvania Cancer
Center; includes news, treatment options, clinical trials, resources, library
and more.
Site of the M.D. Anderson Cancer Center,
ranked as one of the top two cancer treatment centers in the nation.
Stamford University Medical Center CA
Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center WA
Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center NC
City of Hope Cancer Center CA
Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center
National Comprehensive Cancer Network
Cancer information site developed by Steve
Dunn, a cancer survivor. Please note that Mr. Dunn is not a medical or health
care professional. The stated goal of Cancer Guide is to help cancer patients
find the best treatment available for their disease, by finding and
understanding the best and latest information.
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center site.
This nonprofit organization offers an
informative website, including clinical trial information, for patients with
pancreatic cancer, and their loved ones and physicians.
Cancer Hope Network, a website that helps
cancer patients find each other.
Association of Cancer Online Resources. This group also helps cancer patients find each other for mutual support and information.
A consumer-oriented medical news service,
very odelivering about 25 healthcare news stories each day.
Current Health News
A consumer-oriented medical news service,
very up to date and searchable, with delivering about 25 healthcare news stories each day.
III. Latest Clinical Studies
Bandolier is an evidence-based medicine e-journal website from Oxford University in the United Kingdom. It has a searchable format and a wealth of general health information as well as information about ongoing clinical trials.
An extensive referenced and linked
evidence-based medicine website.
A world-wide collaboration has yielded the Cochrane Library’s abstracts of studies which is now the world’s premier effort to summarize multiple, sometimes conflicting, clinical studies. (Abstracts are free. Full text articles require subscription; most hospital libraries subscribe.)
Australian Government health information website, excellent resource for all sorts of health issues, including information on antioxidants. Well indexed, this site contains recipes, lists and a wealth of information.
Family Doctor. http//familydoctor.org/ contains articles written for non physicians.
Mayo Clinic's award winning website is an excellent resource
Dr McNabb's Website http://www.myhq.com/public/j/m/jmcnabb/#95141032323625190 is a treasure trove of medical links. Dr McNabb is a tech savvy family doctor who has links on his website to every medical resource imaginable.
http://www.cmaj.ca/ Canadian Medical Journal puts its publications on line for free.
Health and Environmental Issues
This site is sponsored by Greenpeace and
provides information on organic, non-gmo food.
http://www.nrdc.org information about the environment
An alarming but necessary and informative
site where you can put in your zip code and see what environmental contaminants
are being released near you and by whom.
Site for Health Care without Harm, a nonprofit founded by a nurse which focuses on reducing the environmental impact of medical institutions and practices (i.e. hazardous waste, disposables, etc.)
A National Library of Medicine site with information on toxic chemicals and related environmental health risks.
Our Stolen Future is a scientific detective story that explores the
emerging science of endocrine disruption: how some synthetic chemicals
interfere with the ways that hormones work in humans and wildlife. http://www.ourstolenfuture.org/index.htm
Pesticides in Food: http://www.foodnews.org/walletguide.php
this site includes a pocket size list of all foods that are most likely to be
contaminated in the US
EPA's pesticide website: http://www.epa.gov/pesticides/food/
National Resources Defense Council, which is a more political, but very
informative website contains much information on the dangers of environmental
pollution. http://www.nrdc.org/health/pesticides/default.asp
For an editorial about interactions among drugs: Editorial: Shapiro, MD and Neil H. Shear, MD: Drug drug interactions: how scared should we be?
Heart Disease
The American Heart Association website,
offering heart health and heart disease-related educational information, and the
latest news and research on these topics. Provides links to many other related
sites.
Heart health recipes.
The government's website for complementary and alternative medicine
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/backgrounds/mindbody.htm
describes the field of mind-body medicine
Authentic Happiness Homepage: This robust website is a treasure. It contains many resources, including tests you can take: and even repeat over time. You must register to access this page, but it is free. I suggest you start with the core strengths assessment. http://www.authentichappiness.org/perl/My_Home.pl "Yes, it's possible to be happier -- to feel more satisfied, be more engaged with life, find more meaning, have higher hopes, and probably even laugh and smile more, regardless of your circumstances."
The Alternative Medicine Foundation is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) organization,
founded in March 1998 to provide responsible and reliable information about
alternative medicine to the public and health professionals.
http://www.amfoundation.org/mindbodymed.htm#INTRODUCTION
http://familydoctor.org/782.xml An article published by the American Academy of Family Practice discusses mind body health connection
http://www.uncommon-knowledge.co.uk/psychology_articles/relaxation_techniques.pdf this site explains research and techniques for mind body medicine. This is a very good but commercial website. Pop up ads may distract, but there is lots of good info here.
The mind body medical institute at Harvard http://www.mbmi.org/default.asp
http://www.lifepositive.com/meditation.asp This website details many meditation practices and their health benefits.
Website designed to help you track and analyze the important aspects of your diet and fitness. Based on your journal entries, Fitday analyzes your diet, exercise regime and weight.
Nutrition center on the Dr. Koop website.
Dr. David Heber, of the UCLA Medical Center, and one of the leaders in nutrition science, developed the California Cuisine Pyramid. This new pyramid depicts improved food choices for those who are overweight.
USDA nutrient database.
Heart health recipes.
Information on diet and obesity.
Nutrient analysis tool offered by the
University of Illinois Nutrition department.
This is the Environmental Working Group's (EWG's) site. The EWG is a nonprofit advocacy organization with a database of more than 160,000 government lab tests used to evaluate pesticides present in the fruits and vegetables we eat. This site enables users to quickly assess the possible pesticide-related risks of different fruits and vegetables, or combinations thereof.
Bandolier is an
evidence-based medicine e-journal website from Oxford University in the United
Kingdom. Clear, often graphic, summaries of interesting clinical studies and
groups of studies, sprinkled with wry British wit.
An extensive
referenced and linked evidence-based medicine website.
A world-wide collaboration has yielded the Cochrane Library’s abstracts of studies which is now the world’s premier effort to summarize multiple, sometimes conflicting, clinical studies. (Full text articles require subscription; most hospital libraries subscribe.)
Supplement and Health Products Safety
Good place to look up your vitamins and
supplements, or things you may have read or heard about. Advertisements are
low key and unobtrusive, and information is timely.
Food and Drug Administration web site,
providing FDA news, safety alerts, product approvals and detailed information on
selected “hot topics”.
Consumer Lab provides independent test results and information to help consumers and healthcare professionals evaluate health, wellness and nutrition products. Results of Consumer Lab tests are published here.
Carries advertisements but still is a good
site for looking up drug-supplement interactions. Contains information about
many pharmaceuticals, in case you have a question like how does it work, what if
you miss a dose.
Facts about selected dietary supplements from
the National Institutes of Health.
Another good site for looking up drug-drug and
drug-supplement interactions – just enter the drug or supplement names and it
tells you whether they’re compatible or not, special precautions. This is
particularly valuable for the older adult taking lots of different medicines
from lots of different prescribers, plus their own program of supplements.
Dr. Christiane Northrup’s site. We
particularly like the fact that her newsletters are archived here, offering
timely information on a variety of women’s health topics. Also, the Body Wisdom
link is a nice reference for starting to identify your mind-body-spirit
connection to particular health conditions. Dr. Northrup is a member of True
North’s Advisory Board.
Site of the national women’s health
network, a nonprofit women’s health advocacy organization that has no
advertising and accepts no funds from tobacco, pharmaceutical, or medical device
manufacturers. Their information packets are inexpensive and comprehensive.
Site for national women’s health research
center. Solid information for laypeople and professionals. Pharmaceutical
support, but you can hardly tell.
Site of the original Women’s Boston Health
Collective, perhaps the first women’s health advocacy organization in the United
States. Currently working on international health issues for women, they still
publish that classic self care book “Our Bodies Ourselves” in several languages
– and much bigger than the first edition!
Site of the Melpomene Institute.
Melpomene is a nonprofit organization whose activities focus on supporting
women’s issues around physical activity. They sponsor research about women and
exercise and offer resources for things like healthy playgrounds and support
cultivation of physical culture for women of all ages.
Site of Jacob’s Institute for Women’s
Health. A nonprofit which publishes an excellent women’s health journal and
sponsors interesting research projects around women’s health issues. Publishes
especially valuable state by state data books on women’s health indicators, and
a statistical review summary on women’s health issues overall.
Site for healthy world online; check out
the “healthy woman center”. Tends to have lots of advertisements but the
article content is pretty reliable and entertaining reading. A good place to
start to research to follow up a rumor. You can link to Medline from
this site.
Site of the National Women’s Health Information Center. This is a comprehensive and reliable site. Addresses issues for women of color, women with disabilities, young women.
A few more good ones:
This site is all about dishing up the
underbelly of the pharmaceutical industry. Sadly entertaining and
informative. Good information about the industry’s investment in
direct-to-patient and to-physician marketing.
"Getting the health care you and your family needs isn't always easy in a system that's constantly changing. HealthCareCoach.com is packed with facts and do-it-yourself tips on everything from health insurance to patient care - to help you help yourself. For over three decades, our independent, non-profit group of health law specialists has given consumers the information they need to get the best out of the system."
Univ. of Calgary - How Mercury Causes Brain Neuron Degeneration (movie)