Health LInks

MEDICAL SITES FOR PATIENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES

The following sites have been reviewed by the WSUS and are felt to contain reliable medical information that may be particularly of interest to patients with urological problems and their families doing research on the Internet. Of course, information such as this does not take the place of consultation with a physician. The sites are split into urology-specific sites and general medical sites. The link to each site is followed in italics by a description of the site. Please address your comments and suggestions regarding this page to: president@wsus.org.

Urology sites:

UrologyHealth.org
This is the American Urological Association's online patient information resource. UrologyHealth.org was written and reviewed by urology experts in partnership with the American Foundation for Urologic Disease. Visitors can search by choosing from adult or pediatric conditions, or by entering a condition using the search option. Content is accompanied by medical illustrations when appropriate.

American Foundation for Urologic Disease AFUD’s site contains information about the organization and its major projects including the incontinence campaign and a large section on prostate cancer. The patient education section labeled “Urological Conditions” has information on a variety of other common urologic problems including bladder and kidney cancer, urinary tract infections, prostatitis, stones and erectile dysfunction.

NIDDK Urologic Disease From a division of the NIH (National Institutes of Health), this site offers information on a wide variety of urologic conditions as well as printable brochures on the topics (in .pdf format). It also contains a dictionary that defines words that are often used when people talk or write about urologic diseases. It is designed for people who have urologic diseases and their families and friends.

UrologyChannel.com Your Urology Community™ This site specifically deals with urological conditions with articles, a urologist geographical locator, urology news and even a library of urology videos in RealVideo™ format.

Prostate Health The official web site of the Prostate Health Council of the American Foundation for Urologic Diseases. An excellent patient education site for information on prostatitis, BPH (benign prostate hyperplasia), and prostate cancer. The site also includes brief videos on treatment options.

CaP CURE, Association for the Cure of Cancer of the Prostate CaP CURE is the world's largest private source of prostate cancer research funding. It was founded in 1993 by Michael Milken. The site contains vast amounts of information for patients about prostate cancer. Includes some listings of available clinical trials, though not in the Washington state area.

Interstitial Cystitis Association Founded in 1984, the Interstitial Cystitis Association (ICA) is a not-for-profit health organization dedicated to providing patient and physician educational information and programs, patient support, public awareness and, most importantly, research funding for interstitial cystitis.

Prostatitis Foundation The Prostatitis Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1995 to push for prostatitis research, collect data on the disease, and provide information to men who are suffering from the disease. Four research conferences have been held to bring together prostatitis researchers, cosponsored by The Prostatitis Foundation and National Institutes of Health. The site provides information about prostatitis and its various treatments.

Sexually Transmitted Diseases Information from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on a variety of sexually transmitted diseases in men and women. From the CDC's home page, you can also find information on topics from obesity to mad cow disease to this year's flu.



General medical sites:

Medlineplus This site is a gold mine of up-to-date, quality health care information from the world’s largest medical library, the National Library of Medicine at the National Institutes of Health. MEDLINEplus is for anyone with a medical question. Both health professionals and consumers can depend on it for accurate, current, medical information. This service provides access to extensive information about specific diseases and conditions and also has links to consumer health information from the National Institutes of Health, dictionaries, drug information, lists of hospitals and physicians, health information in Spanish and other languages, and clinical trials. There is no advertising on this site, nor does MEDLINEplus endorse any company or product.

OncoLink: A University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center Resource An excellent site for information on all cancers. Includes sections with prevention, environmental factors, smoking and tobacco issues, diet, and genetic factors, clinical trials and frequently asked questions and answers about cancer.

CancerFacts.com This site offers a unique solution to a cancer patient's need for scientific medical information. In Urology, it currently has information for prostate and bladder cancer patients. The Cancer Profiler™ interactive information service is a powerful tool that uses the scientific studies the medical community publishes and applies that knowledge to a patient's own medical situation. Armed with this information, the patient has the resources to make educated, informed treatment decisions.

Cancer Information from the National Cancer Institute An excellent source for information on any cancer, including prostate, bladder, kidney and testis cancers. The site has general information to educate patients, results of recent important studies, and information on current clinical trials. There is information on screening, genetics, support groups and even complementary medicine. A service of the N.C.I., this site provides up-to-date information on all cancers from the National Institutes of Health and the National Cancer Institute.

ClinicalTrials.gov - Linking Patients to Medical Research The U.S. National Institutes of Health, through its National Library of Medicine, has developed ClinicalTrials.gov to provide patients, family members and members of the public current information about clinical research studies. This is a database that can be searched by disease, treatment, study sponsor and/or geographic location. It is very easy on this site to find out if a study is available in your location for your disease. Check often for regular updates to ClinicalTrials.gov.

Exercise and Physical Fitness Resources organized by the National Library of Medicine on exercise and physical fitness, without any advertiser bias. It is regularly updated with the latest exercise-related news.

US Government Nutrition Online This is an online posting of the contents of a variety of US Government brochures and booklets on health and nutrition. There is also an extensive online nutrition table.

AllHealth.com A good general medical information site filled with articles, links, video files, drug and disease information, health chat rooms and message boards and a physician finder. “Well organized; clearly written; accurate; up-to-date; good Q&A areas with answers in line with prevailing standards of care; encourages visitors to ask questions of their physician.” PC World, 2/2000.

Mayo Clinic Health Oasis “Great site, answers questions clearly and concisely, makes medical journal articles easily readable, well designed- not too busy or confusing.” PC World, 2/2000

Quackwatch Quackwatch, Inc., a member of Consumer Federation of America, is a nonprofit corporation whose purpose is to combat health-related frauds, myths, fads, and fallacies. This is an excellent source of summaries on questionable treatments, supplements and their promotion.

Medicare This is the Health Care Financing Administration's Beneficiary Home Page. This page is the first stop for Medicare, Medicaid, and Child Health Insurance Program beneficiaries, family members, and caregivers.

Washington State Insurance Commissioner This site contains the latest information from the office of the Insurance Commissioner. This is also a good resource for patients with insurance questions.