Trustworthy
On-Line Arthritis Resources
by Barbara D. Allan
Author of Conquering Arthritis
Where
can you go on-line for trustworthy arthritis information?
In an internet world filled with arthritis sites trying
to sell you on a wide array of products that purportedly
help arthritis, it's easy to get lost.
Here are three primary sites for mainstream
medical information. Any one of them is
useful, and combined they can go a long way toward giving
you the breadth and depth of information you need to
understand a diagnosis of arthritis.
Arthritis Foundation
http://www.arthritis.org
For many of us, this national not-for-profit organization
has been a godsend. I attended a support group when
I first developed arthritis that was invaluable to me.
In addition to support groups, they also offer exercise
classes, teach coping skills and offer user-friendly
information through their website.
Because the Arthritis Foundation takes a more conservative
approach to arthritis, they are often not a reliable
source of information for treatments considered to be
experimental or 'fringe.' At the same time, once a treatment
approach has an endorsement from the Arthritis Foundation,
you can count on it being of significant benefit to
at least some people.
If you are looking for support or information delivered
with a more caring touch than is possible on-line, your
local Arthritis Foundation chapter is likely to offer
a variety of in-person resources.
Medline Plus
http://medlineplus.gov/
This site is a great resource provided as a service
of the US National Library of Medicine and the National
Institute of Health.
It has many useful features including:
- A Medical Dictionary
- The A.D.A.M. Health Illustrated Encyclopedia which
includes over 4,000 articles about diseases, tests,
symptoms, injuries, and surgeries
- A Drug Information Guide to more than 9,000 prescription
and over-the-counter medications
- A great health topics section
When I entered ankylosing spondylitis (a type of arthritis)
into the health topics section, I found a variety of
good links to research, diagnosis, treatment, support
groups, clinical trials, etc.
Although the information presented on this site is
technical, the authors have done an admirable job in
presenting it in ways that can be understood by the
lay public.
Merck Manual of Diagnosis
and Therapy
http://www.merck.com/mmpe
This is a manual used by medical doctors to diagnose
and treat patients. Unlike Medline Plus, there has been
no attempt to make this an easy read for the lay public.
Nonetheless, I recommend it for those of you under the
care of an MD because it gives you a one-stop-shopping
way to access the specialized language you are likely
to encounter in the doctor’s office.
Unless you have medical training, don’t expect
to understand everything you read here. As you read,
just write down the names of the standard medical tests
and drugs options your doctor will typically have available.
And then read through again to get some
idea of what each one does. Doing this will greatly
increase your ability to understand what your doctor
has to offer you. It will also give you the concepts
and vocabulary to talk with your doctor on more equal
footing.
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