Associations
AMA Physician Select
http://dbapps.ama-assn.org/aps/amahg.htm

Provides basic professional information on virtually every licensed physician in the U.S. and its possessions, including doctors of medicine and doctors of osteopathic medicine.

Medical associations by specialty.

In addition to medical terms, this site provides definitions and information on diseases & conditions, symptoms & signs, procedures & tests, and medications.

WhoNamedIt
http://www.whonamedit.com/index.cfm

Alphabetic list of syndromes, diseases, conditions, with historical information, synonyms, brief definitions.

Very complete chapters on preventive medicine, special populations, symptoms & diagnoses, first aid & safety, treatment & prevention of disease, and drug information.

This is the consumer companion to The Merck Manual of Diagnosis & Therapy.  It covers all the subjects found in a textbook of medicine as well as detailed information on children’s/women’s/men’s health, mental health, accidents and injuries, travel information, decision-making, and more.  The Merck Manual is also published in Spanish
http://www.msd.es/publicaciones/mmerck_hogar/index.html?mmy=1, and there is a Merck Manual of Geriatrics, http://www.merck.com/mrkshared/mm_geriatrics/home.jsp.

The Adam Health Illustrated Encyclopedia includes over 4,000 articles about diseases, tests, symptoms, injuries, and surgeries. It also contains an extensive library of medical photographs and illustrations.

A journalist-provided site covering alternative therapies.  News bulletins are frequently updated and covered categories include diet & nutrition, mind/body control (music/art/humor/prayer therapy, hypnosis, etc); alternative medical systems (homeopathic/naturopathic/Chinese medicine); manual healing (chiropractic/Feldenkrais/Rolfing); longevity (aging information).

A directory site, prepared by McMaster University.  Points to lists of both general & specific topics in alternative & complementary medicine and to two online dictionaries: The Expanded Dictionary of Metaphysical Healthcare, and The Skeptic’s Dictionary.  The latter offers a critical view of alternative medicine.

Evidence-based information on complementary and alternative therapies.

This site contains no attributions, update dates, etc., however it does provide a good overview of homeopathy and detailed information about what remedies are recommended for particular health conditions and an interactive form for entering symptoms.

An interactive, electronic herbal database that provides hyperlinked access to the scientific data underlying the use of herbs for health.  It is an evidence-based information resource for professionals, researchers and the general public.

A Center of the National Institutes of Health, that promotes research into complementary & alternative medicine (CAM) and promotes integration of CAM into mainstream medical practices.

This site points to a variety of alternative and complementary medicine resources, provided by NOAH, but with the disclaimer that they do not endorse the sites listed.   A good starting point for information on alternative approaches to healing and selected resources.

This is a collaborative project of a group of midwestern health sciences libraries, and is supported by the National Library of Medicine.  It provides organized access to evaluated non-commercial, health-related, Internet-accessible resources.

A gateway to health information on the Web.  It includes a search tool, in-depth reports, news, and an image search feature.

A unique part of this site is the Multicultural, Foreign Language & Easy Reading section.

The LII provides …  “ a well-organized point of access for reliable, trustworthy, librarian-selected Internet resources, serving California, the nation, and the world.”  There is also a section on Diseases and Conditions, http://lii.org/search/file/diseases_and_conditions.

Contains pointers to thousands of medical cases and Grand Rounds, teaching files, courses/textbooks, journals, databases, atlases and image databases, and movies.

Selected links to resources for health consumers.  Includes a Consumer Health Library Directory that can be searched by state, subjects or keywords.

A catalog of biomedical & health-related sites maintained by the library at Emory University.  Clear guidelines for inclusion in MedWeb are available.

A federal government resource that lists sources of reliable information. There are sections for finding and evaluating health providers, nursing homes and elder care services, pharmacy and insurance information.

NOAH provides access to consumer health information in English and Spanish. Links are selected and organized by librarians and health professionals.

DrugDigest is a noncommercial, evidence-based, consumer health and drug information site dedicated to empowering consumers to make informed choices about drugs and treatment options.  It allows searching for drugs and herbs, or by conditions.

Though this is a site from the drug industry lobbying group, PhRMA, it is aimed at helping poor people get discounted or free drugs offered by the drug companies.

General patient information for prescription drugs:  why and how to use particular drugs, precautions, side effects, storage and general information.

Information on thousands of prescription and over-the-counter medications is provided.

Full information on prescription drugs:  side effects, drug interactions, prescribing information, patient information.

Requires free registration.  Compares costs of proprietary drugs and generics, if available.

Compares prices at popular drugstores.

Includes a form that helps to determine whether a site conforms to the HON Code principles.

Not specifically for health sites, but applicable.  There are eight simple questions to be answered.  This would be an appropriate site to use with young people.

Links to a number of sites dealing with health frauds.

News of recent health frauds, general information on recognizing fraud, information pertaining to claims for specific diseases, and more.

A nonprofit corporation whose purpose is to combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, and fallacies. Its primary focus is on information that is difficult or impossible to get elsewhere.

Eat Smart Play Hard
http://www.fns.usda.gov/eatsmartplayhard/

Nutrition information for children.  Includes practical suggestions that are intended to motivate children and their caregivers to eat healthy and be active.   Information has been “kid-tested” and based on the Food Guide Pyramid and Dietary Guidelines for Americans.

Produced by the American Dietetic Association.  Contains food & nutrition tips, online tools and brochures, a good nutrition reading list, and links to other useful sites.

Dietary supplements and herbal information from the USDA.  There is a link to, IBIDS Consumer Database containing published, international, scientific literature on dietary supplements, including vitamins, minerals, and botanicals.   You can also find government warnings regarding nutritional and vitamin supplements.

Nutrition topics A-Z, food composition information, the Food Guide Pyramid, and frequently-asked consumer questions.

Links to both government and non-government sites for food safety information.

Guidelines for keeping your refrigerator healthy, recipes, information about heart disease and a section aimed at children.

Includes animations demonstrating various yoga exercises.

The purpose of this site is to increase public awareness of the importance of eating 5 or more servings of fruits and vegetables.  The Quick, Easy Tips area of the site offers materials about how to incorporate more fruits and vegetables into meals. There are also a number of recipes.

The interactive menu planner is designed to guide daily food and meal choices based on one day's calorie allowance. It may be used in advance to plan a meal, or at the end of a day to add up total calories, as well as fat, and carbohydrates consumed.

The Nutrition Analysis Tools and System allow you to analyze your diet by typing in the food and quantities to be consumed. NATS then searches the USDA nutrient database to provide the percentages of the recommended daily requirements for 17 nutrients

Information based on the research of nutrition scientists at the Children’s Nutrition Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine.  Aimed at providing useful nutrition information to those interested in the nutritional care and feeding of children.

The most useful offering on this site, produced by the Penn State College of Agricultural Sciences, are the “Links to other websites” section for each topic covered.

Some general information on exercise and weight control from the National Institute of Diabetes & Digestive & Kidney Diseases.

PCRM is a nonprofit organization that promotes preventive medicine, conducts clinical research, and encourages higher standards for ethics and effectiveness in research.  It works for reforms of federal nutrition policies.

Includes a number of health assessment tools & calculators, information on drug recalls and alerts, and health resource “Centers” with information on a variety of diseases and conditions.

Information on diseases/conditions and a section containing tools: a dictionary, body mass index calculator, an exercise calorie counter, and review articles with summary information pointing to other sites.

A very important source of information, the purpose of which is to enable people to keep up-to-date with reliable, evidence-based information. Promotes the accessibility of health information from the Cochrane Collaboration, which reviews and reports on research health care.

Provides a great deal of useful and up-to-date information and tools that call upon the expertise of Mayo Clinic clinicians and educators.  A drug index and several health assessment tools are included.

This is a commercial site that offers "easy-to-read, in-depth, authoritative medical information for consumers…” In addition to basic background information on everything from allergies to urology, MedicineNet.com offers the latest health-related news, physicians’ views on various topics, timely and relevant health facts (e.g. flu vaccination information), and much more.

The Rare Disorders database is searchable, has an A-Z index and an Organizational Database with links to organizations and support groups.

In addition to general information, the site includes information on men and women’s health, child and senior health.  A unique service offered here is the ability to use the eBook Collection. There is no charge for opening an eBook account or for “borrowing” a book.

The Virtual Hospital is a long established digital health sciences library from the University of Iowa. The goal of the Virtual Hospital digital library is to make the Internet a useful medical reference and health promotion tool for health care providers and patients. The library contains thousands of textbooks and booklets.  An example is Infant Safety Tips (http://www.vh.org/pediatric/patient/pediatrics/cqqa/infantsafetytips.html)

California
California Cancer Detection Section
http://www.dhs.cahwnet.gov/cancerdetection/

California provides free cancer screening and/or treatment for some types of cancer. Information and resources are available from this site for breast, cervical, and prostate cancer screening and treatment for low income people.

Includes links to California city and county health organizations, phone numbers for local health departments, and links to minority health sites.

California statistical health data is available: births and deaths; hospitals & hospital beds; physicians; California Rehabilitation Center programs (populations, numbers rehabilitated, and characteristics); California State Hospital (admissions, inpatient population, deaths, and discharges); local county mental health programs, clients and services; number and capacity of California state licensed facilities; number of nursing homes, beds and residents.

Guide to California Medicare
http://www.calmedicare.org

Health-e-App
http://www.healtheapp.org/

An online enrollment site where low-income children and pregnant women may enroll in public health, vision & dental insurance programs.  Available in English and Spanish.

The Healthy Families program provides low cost medical, dental & vision insurance for children and teens who do not have insurance and do not qualify for MediCal.

Includes extensive  information, such as consumer versions of clinical practice guidelines, information on diseases and a Quality of Health Care: "Q-Pack", http://www.ahcpr.gov/consumer/pathqpack.htm, with questions to ask doctors, tips to prevent medical errors, etc.) in Spanish and English.

Choosing & Using a Health Plan
http://www.ahrq.gov/consumer/hlthpln1.htm

ClinicalTrials.gov
http://clinicaltrials.gov/

Provides regularly updated information about federally and privately supported clinical trials, research studies using human volunteers.  You can find specific clinical trials for a wide range of diseases and conditions.  Information about how to use ClinicalTrials.gov can be found at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/faqctgov.html

CHID is a bibliographic database produced by health-related agencies of the Federal Government. This database provides titles, abstracts, and availability information for health information and health education resources.  CHID lists health promotion and education materials and program descriptions that are not indexed elsewhere.

Choose Health section from left sidebar.  This links to a list of brochures on health topics that can be read online or are available free for purchase at low cost.  Check for health information.  Also contains a multi-language gateway, for government information in other languages: http://pueblo.gsa.gov/multilanguage/multilang.htm

Developed by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and other Federal agencies, Healthfinder is a resource for finding the best government and nonprofit health and human services information on the Internet.  It also links to over 1,700 health-related organizations.   Includes Healthfinder in Spanish, http://www.healthfinder.gov/espanol/, and for kids, http://www.healthfinder.gov/kids/.

Browsable, searchable database that provides information on household products.  You can find out what's in these products, what their potential health effects are, and other safety and handling information.

Information sheets on drugs, foods, medical devices and more.  Also includes a section containing easy-to-read information in English and Spanish.

VA's health portal developed for veterans and their families to provide them with information and tools in support of veteran health.

Links to various NIH sites, providing information for a variety of health conditions.

Includes both information for consumers and links for librarians providing health information to the general public.

An introduction to toxic chemicals and environmental health risks you might encounter in everyday life.  A Flash player is required.

U.S. State Department Medical Information for Americans Traveling Abroad
http://travel.state.gov/travel/abroad_health.html

The State Department also issues warning at http://travel.state.gov/travel/warnings.html

For travel information, also see
World Health Organization
http://www.who.int/en/

The NLM provides a great deal of information for health consumers.  A sampling includes:  MedlinePlus, one of the best consumer health sites there is (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/); Consumer Health Library Directory (http://nnlm.gov/hip/chdir/); Easy-to-Read Health and Medical Sites (http://nnlm.gov/hip/easy.html); Genetics Home Reference (http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/); NLM Guide to Finding Health Information (http://www.nlm.nih.gov/services/guide.html).

PubMed is available at http://pubmed.gov; PubMed Central, the online repository of biomedical information, and a subset of PubMed, can be searched directly at
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?db=pmc.

Health Assessment Tools/Online Calculators
Many health assessment tools are included in sites listed elsewhere in these Bookmarks.

10-yr risk of heart attack
http://hin.nhlbi.nih.gov/atpiii/calculator.asp?usertype=pub

Body Mass Index Calculator
http://www.cdc.gov/nccdphp/dnpa/bmi/calc-bmi.htm

Breast Cancer risk assessment
http://bcra.nci.nih.gov/brc/

Diabetes Risk Test (in English & Spanish)
http://www.diabetes.org/risk-test.jsp

University of Maryland Medicine
http://www.umm.edu/healthcalculators/

Calculators for asthma, depression, diabetes, pregnancy due date, calories burned, waist-hip ratio, and more.

Links to health news headlines from a variety of sources:  news agencies, medical associations, and the New England Journal of Medicine.

From the UK, provides recent news headline lists, linked to all or part of an article.  Most article pages contain an original URL or some other contact or source information. Also provides search capability for medical abbreviations and terms, and links to information about healthcare, conditions, and patient resources.

A resource for news, embargoed research results, and expert contacts in research institutions.

Quality of Care
California Quality of Care Report Card
http://www.opa.ca.gov/report_card/

Published each year to provide comparative information on the performance of California's largest HMOs and medical groups. Comparisons are also available for HMOs' quality of diabetes, heart, mental health & women’s health care.  Information available in Spanish and Chinese.

A non-partisan group that provides information on health topics with the goal of improving health care and helping consumers make informed decisions.  Links to information about California hospitals (http://www.calhospitals.org/), Medicare HMO ratings (http://www.calmedicarehmos.org/), nursing homes (http://www.calnhs.org/), and more.

A coalition of consumer & disease organizations.  Their objective is to pursue basic consumer fairness in health care by requiring insurers, health service organizations and HMOs to provide patients with necessary information on coverage principles, benefits and any exclusions or restrictions.

Find and rate doctors, compare insurance plans, and more.

Ratings for health plans, hospitals and medical groups, by California county.  Can search for individual physicians for information on qualifications and services, years in practice, affiliations.

Search form allows you to check on the performance of your local health care facility.  Information about an organization’s accreditation status, history and latest performance report are available.

Reports disciplinary actions against California-licensed physicians.

National Committee for Quality Assurance assesses and reports on the quality of managed care plans.

Facts and figures on more than 6,000 hospitals.  Information provided includes services provided, and some statistical data (e.g., number of beds).

Be sure to read how rankings are determined (see Methodology link)

Alcohol/Alcoholism
http://www.niaaa.nih.gov/publications/brochures.htm

Easy-to-read information in English & Spanish from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism.  Referral information.

National Institute of Mental Health
http://www.nimh.nih.gov/publicat/index.cfm

National Mental Health Information Center (U.S. Dept. of HHS)
http://www.mentalhealth.org/

Special Populations
Children/Teens
4 Girls Health
http://www.4girls.gov/index2.htm

Developed by the Office on Women’s Health in the Department of HHS, aimed at girls 10-16 to provide reliable, current health information. Focuses on many health topics that respond to adolescent girls’ health concerns.

Created by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for kids 9-13 years old.  Focuses on topics such as stress and physical fitness.  Also available are interactive, educational activities for teachers.

Created by GirlSource Technology and Leadership Program Participants, a diverse group from the San Francisco Bay Area.

Alice! answers questions about relationships; sexuality; sexual health; emotional health; fitness; nutrition; alcohol, nicotine, and other drugs; and, general health.  Its target group is teens and college-aged young adults, but information for other age groups is commonly provided.

From the Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Separate sections for kids, teens & parents.  Aim is to provide families with accurate, up-to-date, and jargon-free health information. Includes in-depth features, articles, animations, games, and resources.

Provides electronic access to over 200 health education brochures in 24 different languages.

A subset of the federal government’s Healthfinder.gov.

Brings together health and medical resources pertinent to the American Indian population.

A portal site, created by the National Library of Medicine, related to health of Asian-Americans.  Includes census information, links to several publications, and more.

Provides brochures on health topics of concern to the Asian community, in Chinese & Vietnamese.  There is also a link to Spanish language materials.

Contains information about cultural beliefs, medical issues and other related issues pertinent to the health care of recent immigrants, many of whom are refugees fleeing war-torn parts of the world.

A searchable database of health education materials in languages of Central and Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union.

Integrates patient education materials with consumer health information to provide an online library of health information devoted to the needs of Chinese speaking patients.

A subset of Healthfinder.gov

Sponsored by the National Library of Medicine, this site provides health information in both Hmong & English.

Information on a variety of vaccines in numerous non-English languages.

Multicultural Health Clearinghouse
http://www.mckinley.uiuc.edu/multiculturalhealth/index.html

Provides information on minority health and links to various health resources including; national/international health organizations, literature reviews and data/statistics on some specific health issues.  Materials can be found in Arabic, Chinese, French, Korean, Japanese, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian.

National Center for Farmworker Health
http://www.ncfh.org/

SPIRAL: Selected Patient Information Resources in Asian Languages
http://www.library.tufts.edu/hsl/spiral/

Seniors
AARP Health & Wellness
http://www.aarp.org/health/

Information on drugs, nutrition, preventive medicine, managing stress, exercise, etc.

A private, not-for-profit citizen advocacy organization whose goal is to improve the health and independence of Americans as they age by developing, implementing and advocating programs in research, professional and consumer health education and public policy.

A joint project of the American Federation for Aging and the Merck Institute of Aging and Health, this site provides guidance on how to find information on health & aging, how to evaluate it, and how to use information to make informed decisions about health.

Includes tools that can be used to compare health plan options, home health agencies, find participating physicians in a geographic area, and more.

Aimed at providing aging-related information for adults 60 and older, their family and friends.  The site provides options enhancing usability, including a virtual voice that reads all text aloud and video clips.

Center for Disease Control & Prevention Men’s Health
http://www.cdc.gov/health/mens_health.htm

Women
Center for Disease Control & Prevention Women’s Health
http://www.cdc.gov/health/womensmenu.htm

Articles, recommendations, bibliographic resources on a variety of women’s health topics.  Information also available in Spanish.

Contains browsable database and several special sections on topic areas such as heart disease, disabilities, body image, HIV/AIDS and pregnancy.  Includes materials in Chinese & Spanish.

The NWHRC has been in existence since the 1980s and is a national clearinghouse for women’s health information.  Provides access to health information and resources.

From the American Animal Hospital Association.

AIDS
http://www.avert.org/

AVERT is an AIDS/HIV charity in the UK.  Includes much information about AIDS/HIV worldwide and materials aimed at a variety of populations.

Arthritis
National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases
http://www.niams.nih.gov/hi/index.htm
Arthritis Foundation
http://www.arthritis.org/

Cancer
American Institute for Cancer Research
http://www.aicr.org

Organization that fosters research on diet and cancer prevention and educates the public about the results.

Includes information on cancer treatment, prevention, screening, support, etc.

Aimed at people with diabetes, the information included is meant to help manage diabetes and promote a healthy life with information about food and meal planning.

Basic information about FAS, fact sheets on alcohol use and pregnancy, and details of FAS education and prevention programs.

Genetics Home Reference
http://ghr.nlm.nih.gov/ghr/gen/

International Task Force for Prevention of Coronary Heart Disease
http://www.chd-taskforce.de/

National Headache Foundation
http://www.headaches.org/

National Organization for Albinism & Hypopigmentation
http://www.albinism.org/

Orthopaedics & Sports Medicine
http://www.orthop.washington.edu/

VisionConnection
http://www.visionconnection.org/

A searchable site for people who are partially sighted or blind, their families and friends.

Information on types of cancers, treatments, clinical trials as well as a 24-hour English and Spanish support line and the ability to translate from almost 150 languages.

A resource for people with dementia, family and friends, and health and social service professionals; includes resources in other languages and informatiom about culturally sensitive care.

The Alzheimer's Association has created a page for children and teens that explains the disease and offers reviews of age-appropriate books and links to relevant Web sites.

Caregivers (healthfinder.gov)
http://www.healthfinder.gov/justforyou/justforyou.asp?KeyWordID=187&branch=1

GriefNet.org
http://rivendell.org/

Includes 47 email support groups.  Another good grief resources is the bibliography compiled by the Center for Grieving Children, http://www.cgcmaine.org/docs/subdocs/bibliography.htm.   Includes sources for all age groups, including adults.

PAF is a national non-profit organization that serves as an active liaison between the patient and their insurer, employer and/or creditors to resolve insurance, job retention and/or debt crisis matters relative to their diagnosis.

A clearinghouse for support groups and networks available throughout the world.  Self-help groups can be browsed or searched by keyword.

Topica E-Mail List Directory
http://www.liszt.com/dir/?cid=32

Directory of lists, newsgroups, chats in health & fitness.