Rod G.

When I was in medical school, the Merck Manual was one of the books we often used to look up various diseases as they had a pocket sized version that fit in our coat pockets. Now, the entire home edition of the famed Merck Manual is available online using this link;
http://www.merck.com/pubs/
The reason I will often recommend patients to look up diseases in this format rather than on more commercial sites is that Merck is a pharmaceutical company and they do not focus on "upselling" the consumer or linking to other "paid" advertisements. They give you just the simple facts on the medical diseases and you can rest assured that physicians also use the Merck Manual as a reference tool.

Familydoctor.org is a site put together by the American Academy of Family Practice. I will admit that I am a member of this organization, and I do think it is a great site dedicated to giving people the best possible information online to help them make educated decisions on their health care needs. This is one of the first sites I recommend to people when they want to find information about their health.

I have never ordered off of their internet site as they are a local store, but I can tell you that they offer some of the best prices and widest selections of wines I have ever seen. I highly recommend this store.

Medscape is a resource for healthcare professionals but is also often used by consumers as well. It was sold to WebMD in Dec 2001. Medscape was founded to help physicians sort through the vast amount of healthcare information to improve patient care. They do a great job of sorting through the articles and data and bringing relevant information to the public. I am writing this review as part of my H1N1 guide and one of the best places I found that compares the LAIV (nasal vaccine) vs the injectable vaccine was on medscape. I will give you the link below so you can read it, but the catch is medscape requires you to register first with your email before you can access their content

http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/*******

Immunize.org is a resource of vaccine information for healthcare professionals. It covers everything from H1N1 vaccines to chickenpox. It is a valuable tool for healthcare providers or consumers with advanced healthcare knowledge to research topics such as " should pregnant women get H1N1". What I really like about this site are the videos. They have an extensive collection of videos on all sorts of vaccine topics.

http://www.vaccineinformation.org/video/

Relenza (zanamivir) in an inhalation powder that is effective in both treating and possibly preventing the flu virus. Just like with Tamiflu, it can only be prescribed by a physician and you have to take it early on in the course of the disease for it to be effective. I would recommend reading through both of the websites of relenza and tamiflu to familiarize yourself with the possible treatments of the flu virus and then discussing them with your physician should you or a family member get the flu.

One of the main differences of Relenza is the delivery method and I would encourage readers to watch these videos.

http://www.relenza.com/using-relenza-videos.html

Tamiflu (oseltamivir phosphate) is one of the anti-viral medications that has been around for awhile. It has gained more public awareness since the outbreak of the swine flu. Tamiflu is used both to prevent and treat flu viruses. What some people do not realize is that if they have a family member that has been diagnosed with the flu, it is possible to take Tamiflu and possibly prevent yourself from getting sick. Read through this website if you think you have the flu or someone close to you has the flu. Remember only a physician can prescribe Tamiflu and you need to take it very early on in the course of the illness for it to be effective.

Often times people want to find information online to determine whether or not they really have a flu virus. The main issue is determining whether or not it is appropriate to make an appointment with your physician. This website has a very good self evaluation program where you answer health questions and the site directs you to seek further evaluation, seek immediate treatment, etc... If you are unsure whether or not to see a doctor and you are looking for information online about the flu virus, this is very good self assessment tool.

http://www.flu.gov/evaluation/

VAERS is the Vaccine Adverse Effects Reporting System and is a very important part of evaluating new vaccines. In particular the new H1N1 vaccine. Many people do not report to their physician all of the adverse effects of a vaccine, and many doctors are not staffed properly to report all adverse effects. If you get the H1N1 vaccine or any vaccine and you experience an adverse effect, it is important to go to this website and report it. It does not take very long and you would be doing your part in helping to both develop effective vaccines and stop the spread of disease.

The CDC website is the main site I have always used as a physician to get the latest news on outbreaks of diseases. In particular with the spread of the H1N1 flu, this site has a wealth of information. They have a page dedicated to the H1N1 status here;

http://www.cdc.gov/H1N1FLU/

And they also have release dates of the vaccine to various states so you can see when your state is going to get the next shipment of the vaccine.

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/vaccinesupply.htm

And here is a link to common safety questions about the vaccine.

http://www.cdc.gov/h1n1flu/vaccination/vaccine_safety_qa.htm

The website of the Medical Library Association has put together a great resource for the general public in terms of helping them learn how to evaluate medical information people find online. There are so many medical websites out there it is challenging to say which ones have accurate information, so their guide serves as a method for people to figure out if a site has reliable information on it. Here is a link to the page that discusses how to evaluate the content of a medical website

http://www.mlanet.org/resources/userguide.html

NIH (National Institute of Health) put together MedlinePlus which helps people evaluate internet health related websites. They have compiled lists of topics that people should be looking for when they are reading about health care online. The problem is that many medical website on the internet do not contain medically accurate information and this is dangerous to the general public. Following guidelines such as listed on the link below can help people stay clear of medical information that may do more harm than good.

http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/healthywebsurfing.html

Learning about a physician's medical license is another great way to check out their credentials. If you are reading about what a doctor wrote online or if you are seeking a new provider, you want to know if they have ever had their medical license revoked or if they have lawsuits against them. The state board will probably also list their medical school. This type of information is all available to the general public and is usually listed on the state medical board's website. The AMA has done a great job of listing all of the websites of the state medical boards. Follow the link below (cut and paste if needed) and you can select the state you are in. Then when you go to your state's medical board you can enter in the doctors name and see if they are properly licensed and if they have ever had any disciplinary action against them.

http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/education-careers/becoming-physician/medical-licensure/state-medical-boards.shtml

When you are looking online to find medical information on any given subject or if you are looking to find a new doctor, it is important to see if they are board certified in a specific field of medicine. The American Board of Medical Specialties allows you to look up a doctors board certification if you have their name. So, if you are on a health care website and interested in seeing if the medical information is coming from a board certified doctor, visit this abms.org and look up the doctors credentials. If you are wondering why it is important to learn about a doctor's board certification, I would encourage you to read this link here.

http://www.abms.org/About_Board_Certification/means.aspx

One day after my new car was driven off the lot, some big truck completely destroyed my front bumper. The car dealer recommended that I take the car to Sunnyvale Collision. The car needed special parts as it was a new model and it had to be special ordered from Germany and Sam took extra special care to make sure the car was restored to factory new condition. He worked with the auto insurance companies to ensure that everything went through smoothly. Getting into an accident is traumatic and I can definitely say that Sunnyvale Collision is a great place to go when that happens.

Very useful site for everyone to read and learn about medical terminology as well as how to prevent diseases. Every day you can learn about a specific disease and you can receive that information via email, RSS or even twitter. As a physician myself, I appreciate the effort that it took to create this site and deliver medical information to the masses. Great job!

We buy all of our office supply / food from safeway.com and it is much easier than other online delivery services. Our office buys everything from paper towels to cases of diet coke and they deliver it right to our office. They also will give you free products via email if you order online. The delivery is free and there is no minimum fee. Everyone in the office can easily make their requests and add to the shopping list. Great service!

Great site for information on how to shoot digital video. This site is geared more for the professional or semi-professional shooter. The forum is a wealth of information on everything from lighting equipment to gear.

Do you want a genetic test to see if your hair is going to fall out? This company markets a genetic test to see if the patient has a genetic marker for hair loss. Most people wait too long to start treating themselves for hair loss and have already lost up to 50% of their hair by the time they visit their doctor. There are great treatments, even new laser treatments, that can prevent and restore hair loss, so if you think you are going bald... try taking this test. Our office has used it on many patients already and all of them were happy to have taken the test. Either they discovered they had the genetic marker and now can do something about it before it is too late OR they don't have it and can relax that they probably won't lose their hair.

Dysport is the new Botox that was recently approved by the FDA. It is also derived from botulinum toxin just like Botox, but it is a new drug recently developed by Ipsen a French company. Medicis licenses the drug and distributes it in the US along their top selling Restalyne and Perlane. This is the first real competition Botox has faced in the injectable market.