My goal for this blog is to post every week day whenever possible, however last week I fell slightly short of that due to illness. Over the weekend while I was recuperating, I wondered what my next update should be about when it came to me - why not post about medical sites giving advice to help those in the same situation I was in! I further decided that it should also be my first Quick Picks post.
Before I begin I would just like to state that the following websites are no substitute for visiting your doctor and should be used as a guide or supplement instead of as a replacement for a professional evaluation.
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Quick Picks #1: W W W . H E A L T H L I N E . C O M
Healthline is a very clean and clear medical website which is arranged in an easy to navigate way. It has the latest medical news right there on the front page, as well as pages you can visit to see health related articles, videos, reference books and its own “Community” so you can get what is relevant to you straight to your email. Of more interest to me though is the simple health topics and symptom search that are accessible by a scrolling video and drop down menu.
Quick Picks #2: W W W . W R O N G D I A G N O S I S . C O M
It’s easy to jump to the wrong conclusion about your health when you’re not feeling at your best, but Wrong Diagnosis helps get through that. Not only does it have top lists of common symptoms, common diseases and common misdiagnoses but it also has a huge array of forums for multitudes of subjects so you can ask your own question should you not find what you’re looking for on the site itself. In my opinion the best thing about this site is the tools it gives to its visitors, such as a multiple symptoms checker that lets you find several symptoms that you have and gives you answers based on these (as opposed to searching for individual symptoms separately).
Quick Picks #3: W W W . W E B M D . C O M
The main draw of WebMD to me is that on choosing on of the various “health center” sections available from the front page, you are greeted with a portal of information all about that one subject. Contained in each portal are articles, treatments, guides, introductory video, articles, a glossary and more besides. The main site also offers searches for medical professionals (if you live in North America), quiz assessments, news and top 12 lists.
Quick Picks #4: W W W . N L M . N I H . G O V / M E D L I N E P L U S /
As it states on the site; “A service of the U.S NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE and the NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF HEALTH”. Of course, this means its main audience are those living in the US (it offers a directory to find hospitals, doctors and other healthcare specialists) however, it has plenty to offer anyone that isn’t too. What I like the most about MedlinePlus is the Medical Encyclopedia that lets you search for “diseases, tests, symptoms, injuries, and surgeries” and then gives you the information you’d expect (such as causes and treatment) as well as illustrations that help to visualize the problem.
Quick Picks #5: W W W . N E T D O C T O R . C O . U K
The final quick pick for this post is for a UK-based website called NetDoctor.co.uk. It has a lot of features that the others do such as news, articles, health assessments, health centres and forums for members to talk about their medical issues but it also has some nice benefits for those living in the UK too. Firstly, there’s the ability to search for hospitals, doctors and even support groups as well as an online pharmacy. My favourite feature that I think anyone can appreciate is their Ask The Doctor section which has an archive full of questions based on various common issues that a professional has taken the time to answer.
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Of course, I couldn’t possibly mention all the great things about each website but I hope to have at least helped highlight some of the things that stand out and are worth visiting for. Stay tuned for more Quick Picks in the future!
