Behavior Online
URL: http://www.behavior.net/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Wayne Bremser
Simple, tasteful (if a bit on the pastel side) design, and straightforward content make this site a pleasant place to visit. Interviews with mental health professionals, articles on behavioral theory, and links to all things to do with the brain and behavior (including some cool games) make this site interesting, especially if you need to check your head.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

American Cancer Society
URL: http://www.cancer.org/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Blue Grrrl
If there is a better-designed, more informative non-profit health site than this, I sure haven¹t seen it. Cancer.org for the American Cancer Society (ACS) is outstanding in just about every aspect. The layout and overall impact demand respect. And the amount of information archived here is astonishing. On the top level, the ACS highlights four main areas: Golf; SmokeScream (anti-smoking propaganda); Breast Cancer Network; and How To Contribute. I admit to being slightly confused at the significance of ³golf² on a cancer information Web site, but it seems the ACS has a few clubs around the country that have a special deal for people wishing to contribute. Kinda dull, but wait, hang onto your seat for the rest of the ride ‹ it¹s long, colorful, and full of medical facts, statistics, research data, grant resource info, links, and more more more. Quite impressive is the SmokeScream area, which specifically targets younger net surfers. It¹s by far the brightest section with the coolest of cool graphics. Follow IkeMan, the hip icon-o-graphic mascot, as he gives us facts about smoking, invites us to play a ³clean the lungs² trivia game, and answers questions in a ³Dear Ike² column. It¹s a little funny that Ike, obviously a 30+ writer/editor type, is pretending to be a teenage hipster. He messes up a lot of the ³cool² and ³groovy² jargon with awkward, out-of-context type blunders, but overall, he tries. We¹ll give him points for that. And, besides, the message is good: Kids and adults shouldn¹t smoke cigarettes if they hope to breathe well for a long time. The SmokeScream area also plays some Netscape frames tricks, incorporates Macromedia¹s Shockwave, and offers a nice young people-focused link list. The Breast Cancer Network is one of the online authorities for women¹s health. It¹s packed with statistics about breast cancer ‹ who it affects, at what age, and survival rates. The site also offers diet and fitness recommendations, discusses several treatment options, and has a well-supported ³recovery² section. The graphics here are simple, yet pleasing and quick. There will be no waiting around for pages or image maps to load. Nice. And while my Netscape browser tells me that transactions at cancer.org aren¹t secure, they still have an online donation form: Visa, MasterCard, American Express. Though I¹m sure it¹s a safe as any of them, you might feel better committing to a little volunteer time instead ‹ call the 800 number for details. This is a win-win site!
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Safer Sex
URL: http://www.safersex.org/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
This is an amazing resource, geared particularly to parents who want to keep their kids safe in the age of AIDS. As the site notes, safer sex is not about ³simply... putting condom machines in schools, or lecturing [kids] on abstinence.² Instead, it¹s about developing and practicing the habits of safer-sex and/or abstinence. The site helps in this effort by debunking sex myths, providing sample scripts for talking with a partner, and offering techniques to help avoid HIV. And it¹s all done with Web flair (video and audio clips, threaded discussions) and a frank approach that¹s refreshing and rare.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

WellnessWeb
URL: http://www.wellweb.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: Yes
Author: Minda Sandler
WellnessWeb is a great idea, and a valuable resource. Its mission is faultless ‹ to help patients discover the best and most appropriate medical information and support available ‹ and its philosophy ‹ that patients should provide more input into the delivery and future direction of health care ‹ admirable. It¹s an ambitious and impressive outgrowth of a group of health care providers, patients, and family/friends of patients, who have gotten together and created this hundred-page-long network for patients. WellnessWeb¹s approach to the topic of Prostate Cancer illustrates the site¹s compassionate emphasis on empowering patients through knowledge. The page sets the stage for discussion, with critiques and expositions of the controversies surrounding current treatment. Visitors will also find a list of available treatments (which link to supporting material) and the latest news regarding the condition. They can leave an e-mail question for an expert to answer; read first-person accounts of living with prostate cancer; discover tips and insights from patients; and glean even more information from news group postings (WellnessWeb scours 10,000 newsgroups to make sure it doesn¹t miss anything). Further support is provided through a glossary of terms, and a list of doctors, support groups, hospitals, and books. This exhaustive approach is echoed in the other health categories of the site, which include Women¹s Health, Elders Watch, Heart Center, and Smoker¹s Clinic. The Women¹s Health area reviews various medical tests, like mammograms and Pap smears, talks about illnesses that strike women, like breast and cervical cancer, reviews various hormone replacement theories, and connects you to women¹s forums and resources. Especially valuable, not just to a patient but also to his or her family, is the Elder Watch area. Here you¹ll not only find information on such older persons¹ health concerns as glaucoma, heart disease, and memory loss, but also links to the ElderHostel Web site (http://www.elderhostel.org/) and the Seniorsnet site (http://www.seniorsnet.com/), an in-depth exploration of long-term care. There¹s also a good overview of living wills. It¹s not all serious, though. For lighter stuff, check out the Be Happy Be Well area, designed as a Stress Control Menu. There you¹ll find an innovative hodgepodge of stuff, such as links to sports, travel, and national park sites, a real dialogue about soap dispensation, amusing stories about pets, puzzles, and other stuff to take your mind off illness or disease. And keeping with the goal of patient empowerment, there¹s a whole Grassroots area that encourages visitors to e-mail in their comments, submit an article, send letters to Congress, and get involved in other actions (e.g., Save the Rain Forests). There are also mega-lists of resources, references, and links to connect you to newsletters, hospitals, books, support groups, databases, and much more. I can¹t applaud the spirit and the effort behind this creation enough and encourage anyone with health-related questions to visit here long and often.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

World Health Network
URL: http://www.worldhealth.net/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
With Baby Boomers hitting the 50 year mark, it¹s likely that longevity products and resources will mushroom. Already flowering on the net are a number of sites designed to help you guard against aging. One of the best I¹ve seen is World Health Network, an attractive site providing reviews of youth wonder drugs (melatonin, DHEA, HGH), previews of new anti-aging medicine books, a longevity test (this is actually a great exercise in self-awareness; I highly recommend it), and conferences on staying young. An excellent resource area provides links to a bevy of health-related sites.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Children with Diabetes
URL: http://www.castleweb.com/diabetes/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ananda Nada
Here, you can ask an experienced team of doctors anything about diabetes and your query will be promptly posted with a reply and archived for future visitors. Enter webchat rooms arranged for kids, teens and adults with diabetes, or diabetes II. Make a friend online. Search a massive database. Follow crosslinks to detailed information on everything from pump varieties to experimental treatments. You're even invited to upload your wisdom to their FTP site. A strong sense of community, coupled with CastleWeb's elegant design, makes for a highly effective presence. Aesthetics: 3 Content: 3 Smarts: 3
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Prostate.com
URL: http://www.prostate.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ananda Nada
A cheerful EKG flashes across a nifty home page. Frame-savvy and server push make for a smooth ride to in-depth information on prostate cancer. "Journal Club" provides summaries of wide-ranging medical articles that are available in their entirety. Highlights from the Prostate Cancer Conference include research on topics such as the benefits of drinking green tea. A bulletin board allows serious discussion to develop into a full-fledged support group. Shareware is provided by outside agencies and drug information was on its way at the time of this review. Aesthetics: 3 Content: 3 Smarts: 3
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

MedWorld
URL: http://www-med.stanford.edu/MedSchool/MedWorld/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jose Alvear
Sponsored by the Stanford Medical Alumni Association and created entirely by medical students, MedWorld is the one-stop shop for Medical news and feature stories. The project boasts readable articles, true-life medical stories, and a section for physician diaries. The design is zine-like and well-structured. Doctors, med students, nurses, and other medical personnel can get a free home page here. "Touch the MedBot" to search medical topics.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

A Forum for Women's Health
URL: http://www.healthwire.com/women/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
A Forum for Women¹s Health is a collection of facts, information, advice, and suggestions to help women deal with all manner of health concerns. All content on the Forum¹s pages has been designed, written, and developed by a woman physician along with other women's health professionals. Savvy organization makes it easy to get sound answers on health care issues for women of all ages which address the psychological as well as the physical. Dip into original articles and have your individual health questions answered by a woman physician, check out a comprehensive link collection, or browse by subject. This well-designed and informative site is a truly great women¹s resource.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Martindale's Health Science Guide
URL: http://www-sci.lib.uci.edu/HSG/HSGuide.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
Martindale's Health Science Guide is a "Multimedia Specialized Information Resource" currently containing over 27,500 teaching files, over 34,500 Medical Cases, and 393 Courses/Textbooks. And if that doesn¹t scare you, wait till you dig into it all. Get all the info imaginable about Earth: time zones, weather, position of the planets, moon¹s view; and get World Wide Daily Reports on a multitude of subjects. All that before you even enter the Virtual Medical Center or the Allied Health Center. Link to every medical- related server and site known to humankind. Look for a veterinary dictionary, scan the route of the Crimean Railroad, or connect to every online resource for Kenya. Didn¹t believe any site could do all this till I saw it with my own eyes.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 18

Algy¹s Herb Page
URL: http://frank.mtsu.edu/~sward/herb/herbpic.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Wayne Bremser
This is the main drag on the Web to find out about herbs. Both as spices with flavor for cooking and for medicinal purposes. Catalogs allow you to purchase the plentiful, life giving seeds, plants and spices that you read about on the site, and the design is first rate, featuring cool scans of plant drawings from old science books. There¹s even a pretty tasteful use of frames.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

American Academy of Ophthalmology
URL: http://www.eyenet.org/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Wayne Bremser
Rest your eyes here. A nicely designed page which simulates a newspaper, the American Academy of Ophthalmology has loads of information both for Ophthalmologists and regular people (non-ophthalmologists). The site has a dual purpose of serving professionals and those with questions about this subject with considerable information about common problems and ailments. The coolest part of the site, however, is the history of cataract surgery, with pictures of the delicate surgery performed in the 1500s ‹ ouch.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Children's Nutrition Research Center
URL: http://www.bcm.tmc.edu/cnrc/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Shel Kimen
I want to like this site, after all it has noble intentions: Keep our kids healthy! To it¹s credit, it has a semi-updated news section to inform parents about new nutrition ³issues,² and offers tips on fibers, sweets and general diet quandaries. Unfortunately, though, the rest of the site is a pamphlet for the program started at Baylor College in Texas, with some faculty info, seminar overviews, and a mini-mission statement. Not to mention it¹s all fashioned in Netscape gray...
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

IFIC Foundation
URL: http://ificinfo.health.org/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Blue Grrrl
Looking for the latest on pesticides and food safety? Curious about nutionally related Gallup surveys results? The International Food Information Council is ready to serve you a mountain of facts, breaking that info into byte size chunks organized by who wants the data; reporters, medical professionals, consumers, educators and parents ‹ innovative and effective. Of course you¹ll also find member info, links, the newsletter, and a big FAQ. Expect to learn something here.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Names Project
URL: http://www.aidsquilt.org
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
The ³AIDS Quilt² is a huge AIDS education project that memorializes those who have died from the disease. This Web page (beautiful as it is valuable) for the Names Project, home of the Quilt, extends its educational value by offering statistics like these: 3,000 women are infected each day; 5 million *more* children will be infected by the year 2000; it¹s the leading cause of death for Americans aged 25-44. The Names project also produces traveling exhibits of portions of the quilt, now too large to be shown in full. (There will be a one-time display of the entire 33,000 panels in October 96 in Washington, D.C.) There¹s also information on making panels, related local events, and Names Project memorabilia.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

MedSeek
URL: http://www.medseek.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
Don¹t like your doctor and need to find one really fast? MedSeek has a search engine containing information on more than 280,000 physicians. Search by specialty, name, or geographical area. What you get is the name of a doctor, an address, and a phone number. The doctors are supposed to put a portfolio on the site, which would give you more info on their practices and medical philosophies, but almost none of them have. When I visited, the site promised to start a CyberClinic, where you can send in questions and get e-mail responses from doctors.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Dermatology in the Cinema
URL: http://itsa.ucsf.edu/~vcr/Dermcin.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
Brilliantly perverse! Dr. Vail Reese, a dermatologist, has compiled a resource on skin conditions featured in movie characters. For example, as Reese points out, movies use film disease to represent evil: Willem Dafoe's crystal clear complexion in Platoon vs. Tom Berenger's scars. You can even learn the official medical term for what caused W.C. Fields to have his trademark bulbous nose. Did you know Richard Gere has Becker's nevus on his shoulder? If I ever need a mole removed, I'm going to see Reese.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

The Red Cross
URL: http://www.icrc.ch/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ananda Nada
A dense site-tree branches out to absorbing articles on every aspect of the International Committee of the Red Cross. Read the history of its humanitarian mission from the 1860s, through the Geneva convention, to the present. A world map links hyper-archives on crisis centers including Kabul and Sarajevo. A photo gallery illustrates the committee's campaign against landmines, which account for a quarter of its relief work. The spartan CERN aesthetic orders this inspiring and informative web page.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Outbreak
URL: http://www.objarts.com/cgi-outbreak-unreg/dynaserve.exe/index.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ananda Nada
Outbreak provides in-depth information about emerging diseases for the interested layperson as well as the medical/health professional. It also provides a world-wide collaborative database to collect information about possible disease outbreaks. You can browse and contribute to field reports covering everything from an Ebola outbreak among Texan monkeys to Lassa Fever in Sierre Leone. This is another one of those ambitious websites whose seriousness and momentum merits the CERN aesthetic. Download a flood of papers. Link to Usenet groups. Register to stay current.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Reuters Health Info
URL: http://www.reutershealth.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Ananda Nada
These pages are an effective carryover of Reuter's information services into the health industry. The well-balanced home page highlights top medical stories on a daily basis. Headlines like "Intra-Arterial Vitamin C Improves Endothelial Function In Smokers" link you to detailed reports. Comprehensive news is available in categories ranging from clinical to legislative, and pharmaceutical. Archives are accessible via a powerful search engine. If you're feeling playful, you can test your diagnostic skills against a weekly Clinical Challenge. An invaluable resource for health professionals and students. Aesthetics: 3 Content: 3 Smarts: 2
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Doctor's Guide to Asthma
URL: http://www.pslgroup.com/asthma.htm
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Rachel Saidman
Doctor's Guide to Asthma Information & Resources is a subset of the Doctor's Guide to the Internet, a thorough yet accessible resource for physicians and patients online. This site offers comprehensive information for asthma sufferers, and/or parents of asthmatics, with current information, up-to-the-minute innovations in treatment, discussion groups, drug information, discussion, newsgroups, and other related sites. The graphics are clean and the site is easy to read and navigate, with no busy backgrounds or flashy animations to get in the way of its message.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

HealthSite
URL: http://www.atthealthsite.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
HealthSite is a composite of six specific health pages, including, Prevention magazine, Men¹s Health, and Mayo Health O@sis. As a site then, it is only as good as its links, which happen to be pretty interesting. Prevention is the most fun, with all sorts of interactive health quizzes, stress testers, and nutrition tips along with tons of useful information. Men¹s Health is equally flashy, although obviously narrower in scope, and Mayo Health O@sis is a wealth of information with a useful library section and links to the clinic itself. Healthsite is a probably worth a bookmark, offering as it does, a central platform for all your health-related concerns.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 17

Air-Medical
URL: http://www.cris.com/~Seaox/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Blue Grrrl
How exciting it would be to perform medical procedures of critical importance in helicopters and planes. I was instantly drawn to a site about being a flight nurse. Air-Medical covers education requirements, archives a monthly newsletter about the profession, links resources and organizations, and has a classified section for job openings at Florida Hospital. The design isn¹t so brilliantly executed; in fact, it¹s rather bland, but the info is interesting.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Wellspring
URL: http://wellmedia.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
Wellspring is a lovely oasis ‹ a very pleasant stopping place in your Web travels. There¹s a weekly newsletter with short, pithy commentary (with references, thank you) on topics like ³detox with sweet potatoes² and ³Chinese hangover cure.² The tone is helpful and accessible, and numerous back issues are available. The producers of Wellspring also promote mental-physical-spiritual health through videos, but selling is strictly low-key here. Take a breather from your frenetic schedule and stop at Wellspring for some words of wisdom and inspiration about getting to ³total wellness.²
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Borderline Personalities
URL: http://www.dds.nl/~harwijn/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
BPD is a form of mental illness marked by sudden rage and mood swings, self-destructive behavior, chaotic relationships, and the like. Here¹s a very thoughtful site that offers hope, information, and common sense for all concerned about the disorder. There are Internet resources ‹ FAQs, mailing lists, and multiple Web pages ‹ as well as a nicely annotated bibliography of lay and professional books on the subject. You can go to the archive of alt.support.personality to read more, or learn about the the AOL-specific folders and conferences (no links, though). It¹s maintained by two individuals who are providing a real service.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

The Body
URL: http://www.thebody.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
This ³multimedia AIDS and HIV information resource² is a good model for providing news, commentary, and pointers to a whole range of information about a complex disease (and social phenomenon) like AIDS. The home page offers definitions, and info on safe sex and prevention, diet and nutrition, experimental drugs, and lots more. Equally important for the activist are links to groups advocating more research and medical access, education, patient advocacy, and so on. The Body also offers a forum (with anonymous registration) for ongoing personal discussion, a calendar of events, and summaries of related organizations.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Lifelines Health Page
URL: http://www.lifelines.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0596
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
Lifelines is a fairly useful meta-site with lots of good links, some helpful tidbits, and a pleasantly light sales pitch. (The company makes various health maintenance products as an employee benefit program for other corporations.) Even knowing that, Lifelines offers a good library of annotated articles, regular newsletter,s and pointers to medical, nutrition, and fitness links. These links are wide-ranging: from alternative healing to the American Medical Association, computer-related health issues to sports medicine to the World Health Organization. This page alone (http://www.lifelines.com/medlnks.html) is a good resource.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

HealthWorld Online
URL: http://www.healthy.net
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
Organized around a neighborhood theme, this slow-to-download site offers a slew of articles and links designed to help you develop a more balanced, healthy lifestyle. The meat of the site consists of articles written by an assortment of wellness-oriented doctors on everything from nutrition and insurance to self-care. Visitors also find a database of natural health professionals, links to health publications, and a Health Marketplace. The site¹s overall philosophy seems to be that a simple diet and a high-quality lifestyle will provide the tools to fight illness.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Disease and Disorders
URL: http://www.mic.ki.se/Diseases/index.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
Don¹t know how to treat food poisoning? Think you might be allergic to yeast? Can¹t remember how to care for your contacts? You can find directions to answers for these and a load of other such questions here. Put together by The Library and Medical Information Center at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, it¹s an extensive and somewhat overwhelming assortment of links to medical information sites (both educational and informational) on the net. Good organization and simple design helps make this a meaningful resource.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Ultrasound Scans
URL: http://www.hkstar.com/~joewoo/joewoo2.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
This is actually a comprehensive guide to obstetric ultrasound, a diagnostic technique used to assess the gestational age, size, and growth of a fetus. Expectant parents yearning to know more about this technique can learn about the measurements the ultrasonographer will make, the problems being looked for, and the type of technology that may be used. Perhaps most interesting are the pictures of fetuses taken by the creator of this site, an obstetrician and gynecologist (whose bio is extremely hard to read). You can also hear fetal heart sounds, find answers to mothers¹ frequently asked questions, and browse a good list of links.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

AACAP
URL: http://www.psych.med.umich.edu/web/aacap/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
The American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry has put together a friendly, eye-catching site whose prize is the Facts for Families. These are 51 fact sheets designed to answer all sorts of issues parents may face ‹ everything from a child¹s anxiety and bed wetting to long-term illness and attention deficit disorder. Best of all, the sheets are available in English, Spanish, and French. A concise set of links provides more information on psychiatry and medical care, and there¹s a list of AACAP catalogues that can be ordered over the phone or via snail mail.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Ask the Dietician
URL: http://www.hoptechno.com/rdindex.htm
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
Registered dietitcian Joanne Larsen knows her four food groups and then some. In this simple but effective site, you can read questions and Larsen's intelligent and helpful answers about vegetarianism, alcohol, fiber intake, and dozens of other diet-related topics. You can even email your own food query to her. My favorite question so far: " I'm hearing a lot about junk food lately. No one has given a definition of what foods are junk. Can you give me a list of junk foods?" Larsen's response is detailed and revealing. And yes, gum *is* a food, and a junky one at that.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

ChronicIll Net
URL: http://www.calypte.com/ci_home.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Patrick Joseph
Hypochondriacs should avoid this one like botulism. Light, cheerful reading it ain¹t. Ever heard of Pemphigus Vulgaris? You remember Job and the plague of sores? Not pretty. Then again what illness is? As such, I was surprised to see the spry graphics here, the icons for everything from AIDS to the Gulf War Syndrome looking like little kids¹ party napkins. Click on one of them and you¹re sent to articles that are both grim and technical, albeit informative. If you are afflicted, God forbid, with any of these heartbreaking conditions, by all means, come here. Learn, share, and grab what solace you can. You¹ll find news on the latest cures and treatments as well as articles by and about survivors of disease.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

First Aid Online
URL: http://www2.vivid.net/~cicely/safety
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Rachel Saidman
First Aid Online could prove very useful, provided you consult it prior to any choking, fainting, or burning incidents. Not many people would have the presence of mind, or the necessary hardware, to log on to the Internet after a snake bite or in the throes of heat prostration. However, if you're planning a camping trip, thinking of rewiring your home, or are generally accident-prone, this is a worthwhile site to peruse at your leisure.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

Mental Health Net
URL: http://www.cmhc.com
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Rachel Saidman
Mental Health Net boasts over 3,650 individual resources, and is divided into categories such as Professional Resources, Mental Health Administration and Self Help Resources. This is one-stop shopping for professionals and amateurs interested in the workings of the human mind. You can diagnose yourself, a loved one, or your boss, in the Mental Disorder Symptom Index (neurotics and hypochondriacs -- the people who need it -- should probably avoid this section). The site contains interesting and useful links, but is information-rich in its own right.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

KidsDoctor
URL: http://www.kidsdoctor.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
This is a great site: well-presented, easy to use, and really packed with information. The Doctor will answer any questions you have about childhood ailments, from Poison Oak to Slap-Face Fever (I¹m not making this up). All the explanations and advice are written in a down-home, Dr. Spock sort of style, well-suited to the impish man behind the project, Dr. Lewis L. Coffin, III. Comfortable place to consult with a friendly voice.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

KidsHealth.org
URL: http://KidsHealth.org/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
This extensive and informative site is funded by the Nemours Foundation and the I. A. duPont Institute Children¹s Hospital and provides sections for parents, children, and professionals. The most frequently asked questions are posted along with in-depth, easy to understand explanations. An extremely useful Question Index allows kids to get answers to questions like, ³What are hiccups?² and ³What is AIDS?² with a simple click. And parents can read diagnoses of everything from hyperactivity to Tourette Syndrome. Easy to use, KidsHealth.org has enough graphics, color, and digestible text to be interesting and helpful for children, and enough real information to be a serious resource for parents and professionals.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

HMO Page
URL: http://www.hmopage.org
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
This is a truly rich and frightening resource. Want to learn everything there is to know about the horrors of HMOs? If you¹re a member of one, listen up. Read the "Managed Care Atrocity of the Month" or visit the "Managed Care Hall of Shame"; hear tales of health horror from victims and remaining family members; find out how HMOs work and about workable alternatives; and get the lowdown on the world of for-profit medical care and what it means to you. Handy links to Doctors Who Care, legislative information, a page of HMO humor, glossary of terms, of acronyms, and HMO FAQs. A good read that¹s good for you.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

All About Health
URL: http://www.allabouthealth.com
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
A well put together health magazine, All About Health offers the latest news in medicine, health care, and related fields, written in layperson terms. Features all sorts of interesting health tidbits. Did you know the Internet can be as addicting as alcohol, drugs and gambling? Or that a chemical used in dry cleaning is carcinogenic? Five pairs of dry-cleaned pants in a car for 15 minutes results in three times the air concentration considered safe. Search by topic or choose from Hot News, regular columns, articles, product information, and thousands of links to health-related sites. A great source for off-the-beaten-path health news.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 16

The Body Electric Welcome Page
URL: http://www.surgery.com/body/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Shel Kimen
Hmm ‹ health site or 1970¹s disco dance move... Neither. It¹s a site that advocates liposculpture (??) and breast implants, which as far as I¹ve ever known is not healthy or related to dancing. See before and after pictures, get cost estimates (from an objective source, which is valuable), and use the doctor finder to get in touch with a plastic surgeon type near you. The layout is a bit of an eye sore ‹ cheesy graphics and clunky text ‹ but if you¹re looking for info about body modification, this might be of some service.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Medscape
URL: http://www.alternativemedicine.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
This information-packed site has daily news updates providing the latest information on everything from AIDS and infectious disease to oncology, surgery, women¹s health, and urology. If you don¹t want your information watered down, go directly to medical literature from peer-reviewed journals like *The AIDS Reader* (access is free, but you have to register). The Exam Room section (also requiring registration) offers up fascinating fare: a ³show and tell² area for clinicians (when I visited, you could see pictures of a 52-year-old woman¹s chest x-rays. Cool!); interactive clinical training modules; a running column of clinical quiz questions; and more.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Dear Doc
URL: http://deardoc.artifex.net/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
This extremely well-designed site is almost like having a private, candid, trustworthy young doctor at your disposal. The very hip and very anonymous Canadian Doc (his medical degree is from McGill University) eagerly awaits your health-related questions and sets you straight on rumors, statistics, and historical facts. He has separate Dear Doc forums on women¹s, men¹s, and teens¹ health issues, and also addresses reproductive and parental concerns. Search for a topic, or post a question (replies appear on graph-like paper). An excellent resource.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Cyberspace Hospital
URL: http://CH.nus.sg/CH/ch.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
This Frames-happy page, based at the National University of Singapore, offers a twist on the usual links site. A four-level ³building² housing various hospital departments leads you to lists of links for specific medical subjects (pharmacy, oncology, surgery). Click on Pediatrics, for instance, and you¹ll find a list of links to children¹s health-related newsgroups, journals, and appropriate Web sites. Also helpful is the Latest Medical News page, with info on breaking health news stories. The site¹s creator, Dr. K.C. Lun, is clearly excited about sharing medical knowledge on the net, and his enthusiasm is infectious.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

CyberNutrition Online
URL: http://chd.syr.edu/chd/CyberNutrition2.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
Students at the Syracuse University College for Human Development have created this resource of nutrition information, answering such nagging questions as what¹s in beer and pizza that¹s good for you and how a thiamin is different from riboflavin. There¹s a form for submitting nagging nutrition questions, and archive of answers to previous questions. While this isn¹t a monster resource list (there were less than 20 Q&As in the archives when I visited), the site¹s polite tone and earnest desire to enlighten others marks it as a good place to start learning about nutrition.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Sleep Medicine Home Page
URL: http://www.cloud9.net/~thorpy/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0896
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Miles Orkin
With its far-reaching, detailed collection of resources regarding the science of slumber (including the physiology of sleep, clinical sleep medicine, patient information, and links to business-related groups), the one thing this site won't do is put you to sleep. Maybe your spouse is keeping you up at night with some high-volume log-sawing, maybe you're a new parent with fears about Sudden Infant Death Syndrome, or maybe you're a college student wondering whether narcolepsy explains your tendency to conk out during economics class. Whatever your sleep-related questions, this is the place to answer them.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Arthritis Foundation
URL: http://www.arthritis.org/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
For those people dealing with arthritis, every bit of good information helps, and the Foundation is a fine place to begin. Learn about research progress, helpful organizations worldwide, and sample articles from Arthritis Today magazine. An effective search feature helps you look for information on exactly what ails you. The disclaimer at the bottom of the page reads "the information provided by the Arthritis Foundation should not take the place of advice and guidance from your own health-care providers." Maybe so, but it sure can't hurt.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Doctorline
URL: http://doctorline.com
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
Looking for a new doctor? How about some health insurance? Doctorline is a medical services directory that will guide you to a physician in your state and health maintenance organizations, with a little helpful background on how they operate. Learn what common medical terms like nephrology and thoracic mean, or call a toll free health line for quick advice. Doctorline is well designed and maintained, but I tell you what: if I need to get my hemorrhoids removed I¹m going with a personal reference.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

National Stroke Association
URL: http://www.stroke.org/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
If you have a loved one who has suffered a stroke, or just want to know what "stroke" really means, the NSA is a good resource to begin your online education. Take the stroke factors quiz and find out what you're chances are of having a so-called "brain attack."You can also contact one of the many support groups, volunteer for NSA, or look into the myriad resources the organization offers. A stroke in the family is extremely difficult to deal with, but as this site makes clear, you are not alone.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

The Alternative Medicine Home Page
URL: http://www.pitt.edu/~cbw/altm.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
From the Falk Library of Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh comes this huge collection of links to alternative medicine resources. According to the page, that means unconventional, unorthodox, unproven, complementary, innovative, or integrative therapies. Via this well-organized collection of sites, you can find out how to join the arometherapy mailing list, see if Acupuncture is right for you, or find help in deciding whether kombucha tea is worth brewing. These subjects are considered to be total pseudo-science in some circles, the safest and most effective forms of medicine in others. Decide for yourself.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Blair Price's Web site
URL: http://ourworld.compuserve.com/homepages/bwprice
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1096
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Rachel Saidman
Blair Price has developed this home page to help people quit smoking. Along with a few links to interesting places, there's a big advertisement page for a computerized system for quitting smoking (LifeSign) that you can conveniently order right from the web site. Is this what Blair used to quit? Maybe I'm just cynical, but I have to wonder about the motivating factors, here. Overall, the page is pretty thin; nicotine fiends are better off going to the American Cancer Society or NIH web sites for balanced information on the evils of smoking.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

The Interactive Therapy Center
URL: <@COL 3>
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Issue: <@COL 5>
Content Quality: <@COL 6>
Aesthetic Quality: <@COL 7>
TechnoSmart Quality: <@COL 8>
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Overall Rating (out of 18): <@COL 12>

Radiation Experiments Final Report
URL: http://www.ohre.doe.gov/cur/achre/report.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Excellent
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
This site is one product of the final report from the Advisory Committee on Human Radiation Experiments. The Committee was formed by President Clinton in 1993, mandated ³to review experiments conducted between 1944 and 1974, and was asked to determine the ethical and scientific standards by which to evaluate the pre-1974 experiments and the extent to which these experiments were consistent with such standards.² Tall order. The report offers historical perspectives on human subject research, detailed explanation of the tests in question in the form of case studies, and an overview of contemporary and future projects.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

The Fen/Phen paradigm
URL: http://www.fenphen.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
This site is dedicated to the study and promotion of a new type of medical treatment which has proven successful in curing addictive and compulsive conditions, alcoholism, and drug addiction through a joint administration of fenfluramine and phentermine, two drugs approved by the FDA in the `60s. Administered together, these drugs work to balance the body¹s production of dopamine and serotonin. Dr. Pietr Hitzig is the man behind the Fen/Phen clinical studies. He¹s planning to host a series of interactive case studies on the site, where individual patients will be treated in real time. Nice presentation of some interesting info.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

The National Center For Stuttering
URL: http://www.stuttering.com/amessag.htm
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
The National Center for Stuttering, established in 1976, is dedicated to the study and treatment of a much misunderstood condition. They are involved in research, treatment, and education, offering a 24-hour stutterers¹ hotline. The NCS Treatment Program moves beyond conventional speech therapy by shifting the focus away from the stuttering itself to what they perceive to be the trigger for the stuttering: various types of tension--environmental, psychological, etc. They contend that stuttering is ³learned extricatory struggle behavior, learned in childhood to release an individual from an inborn, often inherited, tendency to lock the cords when under conditions of stress.² Repetitive design but a useful information resource.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Heart Home Page
URL: http://www.hearthome.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
The Heart Homepage bills itself as the ³primary source of information on the prevention and treatment of heart disease.² Sponsored by Galichia Medical Group, you can get the answers to twenty of the most frequently asked questions or fill out a personalized form to get answers to individual questions-- straight forward, but rather one-dimensional. The only link is a promotional page for Galichia. At least some links to health-related sites to hold up the prevention end of the quotient would seem logical. A weak pulse at best.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Lupus Foundation of America
URL: http://internet-plaza.net/lupus/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
Lupus is a chronic, autoimmune disease which causes inflammation of various parts of the body, especially the skin, joints, blood and kidneys. According to the Lupus Foundation of America, more people have lupus than AIDS, cerebral palsy, multiple sclerosis, sickle-cell anemia and cystic fibrosis combined. Pretty frightening figures for a disease that doesn¹t get much air time. This site provides current information, a calendar of events, a health forum, research library, and info about causes, symptoms, testing, and treatment. Visually unexciting but very informative.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 15

Macrobiotics On Line
URL: http://www.macrobiotics.org/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Shel Kimen
Someone¹s gonna have to teach these people how to use the anti-alias feature when creating Web graphics. Too many jagged edged pictures does not a happy surfer make. Sigh. The organization is also off kilt, with a confusing arrangement of click to the menu of more menu¹s and more menus still, until at last, a smidgen of content about how to financially support Macrobiotics. If you can stomach the search, there are some deeper areas, such as the Cancer and Diet nutrition section. While, like the rest of the site, our healthy living tips are poorly organized, the section at least offers some credible content.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

ALTMED REGISTER
URL: http://www.teleport.com/~mattlmt/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
This site is billed as the International Directory of Alternative Medicine Practitioners, but the listings are still pretty sparse. The idea is that wherever you live, the site will link you to practitioners of alternative medicine ‹ massage, aromatherapyy, chiropractice, naturopathy, etc. On the opening page, you¹re presented with a clickable map of the world, divided by continents. There are actual practitioners to link to in the North America and Europe sections, but if you¹re in Asia, South America, Australasia/Oceania, or Africa, you¹re out of luck. It¹s a great idea, though, and could end up being a good service.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

AllHealth
URL: http://www.allhealth.com/allhealth.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
Here is a brochure for the Marino Center For Progressive Health in Cambridge, Mass. claims to be the largest, most fully developed holistic health center in the U.S. If you¹re planning to go there, or live in the area, you¹ll want to read about AllHealth¹s doctors and practitioners, services, and programs. If none of the above is true, at least you¹ll walk away with a wordy (but soothing) overview of natural and alternative health practices, and why the Marino folks feel so strongly about them. There¹s a small ³health store² for ordering vitamins, herbs, books ‹ and the intriguing ³hydrosonic music therapy bed.² Like the sound of that!
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

Professor Skurray's Food and Nutrition
URL: http://hotel.hawkesbury.uws.edu.au/~geoffs/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: David Pescovitz
From Australia's University of Sidney comes Professor Skurray and the Centre for Advanced Food Research. In this meager site, you can find information on reccomended daily allowances of nutrients, dietary guidelines for Australians, and a paper about the chemistry of sports drinks. And, of course, a few links. That's about it. The funky formatting of the text makes some of the papers nearly unreadable, which is only good if you're on a low-information diet.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

International Association of Physicians in AIDS care
URL: http://www.iapac.org/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jose Alvear
This organization means to educate people. Their mission is to "maximize the survival and quality of life of people with HIV disease." The page is a little overlong on information about the organization, but there is a lot of AIDS information here as well. Use the online search form to find what you¹re looking for. You can even subscribe to their monthly newsletter. Most of the articles here are their own with few links to supplement the material. There¹s also information on upcoming medical conferences, like the one with the unfortunate title, The Third European Chlamydia Meeting.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

Healthwise
URL: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/healthwise
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jose Alvear
Advice and news on health and wellness brought to you by the Columbia University Health Service. The key attraction here is the "Go Ask Alice!" section where people ask questions about anything health-related. You can search questions by topics: Sexuality, Sexual Health, Relationships, Drugs & Alcohol, Fitness & Nutrition and Emotional Well-Being. Or you can browse the archives by keyword. Healthwise offers refreshingly frank and informative answers to very touchy questions that you could never ask your mother. Or Dear Abby.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

Docs Online
URL: http://www.docsonline.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1296
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Emily Soares
DocsOnline calls itself ³the premier health care directory² and promises that you can ³find health care professionals or hospitals in your area based on your specific health care needs.² Hmm, well if you¹re looking for a general physician, you¹d better have the Rocky Mountain bends: the only listing is for a Frisco Medical Center in Frisco, CO, that specializes in altitude-related illness. Looking for a plastic surgeon? You¹re in business if you live in Arkansas or New Jersey. And if you¹re browsing online for a hospital, you can choose from The Burke Rehab center in White Plains or New York City¹s Eye and Ear infirmary. Search for a dentist with the same bleak results. Is this a joke?
Overall Rating (out of 18): 14

Your Health Daily
URL: http://www.nytsyn.com/med/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
The New York Times Syndicate has put together a giant compilation of health-related news stories. There are always half a dozen or so late-breaking news stories up-front, plus a list of topics ranging from AIDS and alcohol to depression and diabetes to smoking and women¹s health. A good search engine helps manage the extensive material. You can also access discussion groups on topics of interest, which put a human face on the health news of the day.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

OncoLink
URL: http://www.oncolink.upenn.edu/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: Yes
Author: Minda Sandler
We all know someone who¹s life has been touched by cancer. This year, 550,000 Americans are expected to die of the disease ‹ or 335,000 more people than died of cancer in 1971 (check out http://www.usnews.com/usnews/issue/canceri.htm for more such statistics). Once a disease so feared and mysterious its name was only whispered, cancer is demystified at OncoLink, a site created by the University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center and the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. Geared to health care personnel as well as patients and their families, OncoLink was the first multimedia oncology resource on the Internet. The site is a gold mine of links, with a great search engine to help you cope. Perhaps the best way to get started is with the Disease-Oriented Menus section, which provides general information about cancer and a list of medical issues ‹ pain management , for instance ‹ related to its treatment. Here you can learn about chemotherapy and surgery options, as well as non-traditional treatments; get a list of cancer terms; and find statistical information not only about cancer, but about the war against it. Topics are grouped by type of cancer for easy searching. Click on the ³Special Report: The War on Cancer² to get a list of the top 50 cancer hospitals in the U.S. From there click on a state or metro area to get a list of hospitals specializing in cancer care. It¹s a great place to begin your own battle with the disease. For more specific information, visit the Medical Specialty-Oriented Menus. There¹s also a comprehensive list of links to journals and newsletters relating to cancer ‹ everything from the American Journal of Pathology and the Cancer Biotechnology Weekly to Cell Online and The New England Journal of Medicine. Perhaps most useful to patients is the Psychosocial Support and Personal Experiences area, which focuses on ways to cope with cancer and loss. The candidly shared and poignant experiences of cancer patients and survivors are chronicled here. You can also get a list of support groups for both patients and their families. Visit the Financial Issues for Patients section to get comprehensive information about billing, insurance, and assistance programs. If you want to get in touch with clinical trials related to cancer, that¹s all here, too. This site maintains links to studies under way at the University of Pennsylvania and the National Cancer Institute, among others. You can also discover the latest cancer-related conferences and meetings going on around the world. Plus, there¹s a comprehensive resource list above and beyond even what you find here. Because there¹s so much of interest, the OncoLink site creators even include a statement saying that you are free to make copies of material you find (for personal use only). If all of it seems a bit overwhelming at times, you can rest your eyes on rotating artwork by children who are patients at the Children¹s Hospital of Pennsylvania.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

Global Nutrients
URL: http://www.nutrients.com/~health/home.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Poor
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
In the not too distant future, the Global Nutrients page will look mighty primitive. It¹s essentially a text-based catalog for vitamins, minerals, protein powders, and the like. If you¹re already a vitamin convert, you may like shopping here. (You can print the order form and fax it in, if you¹re feeling nervous about transacting via the net.) It¹s strictly no-frills, though, and the Web master should definitely engage a copy editor. But if you can¹t wait to order fish liver oil, B complex, time-released C, and scores of other health pills, Global Nutrients might suit you. They offer some ³benefits² information for each product, though the text is a bit stilted and sketchy.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

All Natural Health and Long Life
URL: http://www.all-natural.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
Call me skeptical, but I like to know where my information comes from ‹ who¹s publishing it, and why. The well-intentioned All Natural Health page has a number of thoughtful articles to read, like ³The Hidden Dangers of Water² (aluminum, if you must know), ³Why the Excitement Over Melatonin?² and ³Secret of the World¹s Oldest Man!² The articles do link to references, which is helpful ‹ but there¹s no clue on the page about who is promoting what. On the other hand, the anono-site isn¹t pushing any products, and doesn¹t really link anywhere else, either. So I appreciate the effort, but I¹m still left wondering why.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

International Food Information Council
URL: http://ificinfo.health.org/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0996
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Patrick Joseph
IFIC alleges to be a non-profit group devoted to providing sound, scientific information on food and nutrition. I read through some of the information and, I don¹t know, but it all seemed pretty sanguine to me, as if the real charter of the organization were to allay any fears you might have concerning genetic engineering, food colorings, dioxins, and the rest. ³The FDA and the EPA have it all under control,² they seem to be saying. ³Now, you just enjoy those deep red tomatoes there, or try a slice of that seedless watermelon? And, say, have you tried the soylent green?² I tell you what: I wasn¹t paranoid about the food before, but now I¹m not so sure.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

Dr. Greene's HouseCalls
URL: http://www.drgreene.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jose Alvear
No he doesn't do housecalls, it's just a cool name for Dr. Alan Greene's Web page. For starters, read the doctor's biography and look at his picture. Doesn't he exude professionalism and warmth wearing that Alan Alda-like sweater? The main section here is the Q&A of the day, where the pediatrician answers questions. His responses contain words like "nitrofurantoin, rimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, pneumocystis and Shigella so he must know his stuff! You can also search previous questions that this very huggable doctor has received. Keep in mind that Dr. Greene can't help parents with children requiring "immediate attention".
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

Hepatitis Information Network
URL: http://www.wp.com/hepatitis/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 1196
Content Quality: Good
Aesthetic Quality: Poor
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Jose Alvear
Who is at risk for getting Hepatitis C and Hepatitis B? Find out here. Anyone interested in Hepatitis will find lots of information. You can read articles from medical journals, find out about upcoming conferences, and see results from an online survey. Although the graphics are rather low key, they¹re adequate for the job. A quiz also tests your Hepatitis knowledge.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 13

Alternative Medicine
URL: http://www.alternativemedicine.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
If you equate alternative medicine with crunchy granola and do-it-yourself food co-ops, you might be surprised by the look and feel of this site; it¹s clean to the point of sterility. Taking a pop approach to maintaining wellness, the site has excerpts from a print magazine called Alternative Medicine Digest (subscribe via a toll-free number ). Topics cover all aspects of health, with a strong focus on longevity and self-healing. A number of promising areas were still under construction, including an online Yellow Pages for alternative medicine and a ³Health Mall.²
Overall Rating (out of 18): 11

Funkier Than Chitlins with Gravy and Grits
URL: http://deja-vu.oldiron.cornell.edu/~jabbo/index.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
Not only does this site have a great name, but it tackles a serious subject with great graphics and a light approach. From the bright green peas that decorate the home page to the open forum devoted to food-related essays, there¹s a lot to study here. And if you¹ve ever wanted official answers to your nutrition questions, check out the FAQ section, with its shiny police badge. Great link list, too.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 11

The Body Project
URL: http://www.bodyzine.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0696
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Good
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
This still-in-development e-journal intends to expose ³myths surrounding fad diets, food supplements, nutritional products, and exercise equipment.² When I visited in mid-March, there were only two issues available ‹ both from late 1995. Maybe tardiness doesn¹t matter, though, for articles devoted to the efficacy of ³sex² pills or a nutritionist¹s tips. One proposed feature that may make this site worth a revisit ‹ Fat Loss Forum, an online training and nutrition group. The Body Project also features ³infomercials² for various products, though there¹s no ordering online (and none of its writers, it notes, have contractual agreements with these sponsors).
Overall Rating (out of 18): 10

Homeopathy
URL: http://www.dungeon.com/home/cam/homeo.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
A giant collection of links to resources about this alternative form of medicine, this page is nicely put together, and very functional. Linked resources are divided into helpful categories ‹ Resources/FAQs; Reference Library; Mailing Lists; News groups; Subscription Services; Computer Software; Commercial Sites; and Other WWW Resources. You don¹t buy into homeopathy ‹ the law of similars, the single medicine, and the minimum dose? Well, you can still get the weather in Cambridge, from whence the site originates.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 10

Arthritis Foundation
URL: http://www.arthritis.org/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
Exercising isn¹t just about trying to look buff; it¹s also a preventive measure against arthritis, a disease that causes pain, swelling, and limited movement in the joints. Currently, one in seven Americans (40 million people) has arthritis, and it¹s the number one cause of disability in the U.S., according to the Arthritis Foundation Web site. This sober page gives you lots of tips to avoid getting arthritis (slide rather than lift objects), connects you to local and international arthritis offices, and lets you write in with questions. It may also give you the extra boost you need to start a fitness program.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 10

The Heart: A Virtual Exploration
URL: http://sln.fi.edu/biosci/biosci.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
The human heart is a tireless workhorse, beating more than two and a half billion times during an average lifetime. How does this life-sustaining machine keep pumping, and what can you do to maintain it? The folks over at the Franklin Institute Science Museum have put together a site that¹s at once a celebration of the mysteries of the heart and a resource for keeping it healthy. The long and short of it? Just like your mom always said: Get plenty of exercise; eat well; don¹t smoke; and stay off those drugs.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 10

WomenCare
URL: http://www.womencare.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
Using a women¹s clinic metaphor, Ob/Gyn Nurse Practitioner Karen Lee creates a safe place on the net for women over 40. Her site, devoted to helping women get the most from their next 40 decades, is chock-full of health planning resources that take into account medical and psycho-social aspects of health. Beside learning ³amazing facts about women¹s health,² you¹ll also be able to join a discussion group, get a hold of the Hot Flash of the Month Club newsletter and the Men oh Pause Survival Kit.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 10

Power Walking
URL: http://members.aol.com/RuthArtz/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0796
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Excellent
Site of the Month: No
Author: Minda Sandler
The enthusiasm of this site is infectious. And why not? Walking is the kind of exercise that comes easily ‹ you know how to do it, and you don¹t need special equipment. Just pick up the pace. There¹s a brief link list of ³walking clubs,² if you want to connect to folks on the same kick and a training program to prepare you for a marathon walk. If you don¹t mind lavender backgrounds and need an easy-to-follow fitness program, hoof it over to your computer and see for yourself.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 8

To Your Health
URL: http://www.vitamin.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0396
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Excellent
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
Dr. Art Ulene, who gained fame as the ever-calm and sensible doctor on ³The Today Show,² hosts a handsome page with good intentions, but there¹s very little there. For one thing, it hasn¹t been updated in months. The weight loss tips are, well, lame (³Go to the salad bar at a fast food restaurant... stretch a glass of wine by mixing in 50 percent seltzer to make a spritzer.² Doesn¹t everyone already know this stuff?!). There are nutrition ³strategies² that may be useful, but they¹re loaded with typos. Come on, Dr. Art ‹ we thought we could trust you.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 8

Breakthroughs in Health and Fitness
URL: http://www.wdn.com/mirkin/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0396
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
Dr. Mirkin is one busy guy, what with his daily radio health tips, newsletter, video course, and fitness clinic. At his site, you can read his tips, search a file of articles on practical health matters (³Health Benefits in Food, Not Supplements²). There¹s a helpful link to lots of fat-free recipes for entrees, soups, and desserts. But wait, there¹s more: You can also order his videos, books, and his very own collection of spice blends for cooking. If he doctors as well as he markets, we¹re in good shape (or will be).
Overall Rating (out of 18): 7

The Good Health Web
URL: http://www.social.com/health/index.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0396
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
The good folks at Good Health offer you a no-frills site, with a good amount of well-organized information. You can link to newsgroups on illnesses and preventive health care and health FAQs (AIDS, migraines, typing injury). There¹s a searchable database of a thousand health organizations, and a helpful clutch of health care mailing lists you can subscribe to. Best link of all is ³Interesting Sites,² which takes you to several government agencies (HHS, FDA, CDC) and other meta-pages. Good job, Good Health.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 7

The Weight lifting Page
URL: http://www.cs.unc.edu/~wilsonk/weights.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0396
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
Power lifting, Olympic weight training, hardgaining: this is an excellent place to get inspired ‹ or at least be impressed by the passion of the Seriously Muscled. This well-organized site contains lots of links to e-mail lists and FAQs on exercising, training, the ever-challenging abdominal muscles, and more. You can find lots of nutrition and diet info geared to the serious lifter, as are many links for diet supplements, vitamins, and the powdered food forms they favor. A few gyms have pages, and the personal pages feature lots of GIFs of major muscular magnitude.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 7

Kundalini Resource Center
URL: http://aloha.net/~bpeay/kundalini/xindex.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0496
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
Kundalini is a form of yoga that focuses on the coiled energy at the base of the spine, and the reservoir of psychic and emotional energy to be gleaned from its proper treatment and use. This page from a Norwegian Kundalini practitioner serves as a primer. It contains a FAQ, a few book reviews, a discussion area and some articles. It¹s all text, however. There¹s no way to study the various poses and gestures used. Nor are there even descriptions of poses. (This may be because proponents say kundalini should be supervised by a qualified teacher.) Perhaps most useful and interesting are the related links to numerous healing and spiritual pages.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 5

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry
URL: http://atsdr1.atsdr.cdc.gov:8080/atsdrhome.html
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0496
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
This site is worth a visit, but first you must fight your way through a generous sprinkling of government acronyms to learn what ATSDR stands for, and that it¹s part of the U.S. Public Health Service. The Registry works like this: Type in the name of a substance, like fingernail polish, and you¹ll get a helpful fact sheet on toluene, the toxic ingredient it contains. This is a good stop for science students and researchers who want to learn more about the everyday toxic substances with which we all live.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 5

The Cyberider Cycling WWW Site
URL: http://blueridge.infomkt.ibm.com/bikes/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0496
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Good
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
If you¹re into racing or off-road biking, check out Cyberider for information on bike clubs, national events, vendors, notable cyclists, trail descriptions, equipment, training and racing tips. There¹s also fiction, humor, imagery, and even an elevation chart for Skyline Drive in Virginia. But wait, Webmaster Steve Ciccarelli has also created a list of personal bike pages from all over, and a full-text search of the entire site, which gives you detail down to the level of newsgroup posting references. Steve is clearly a biking hound, and it shows. This is a useful stop to make while you¹re out riding the Web.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 5

Internet Athlete
URL: http://www.athlete.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0396
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
I¹m afraid the Internet Athlete, ³your worldwide source for athletic information,² is down for the count. It¹s supposed to be a place where runners, swimmers, bikers, and triathletes find out about upcoming races and results, teams, features articles, and the inevitable products ‹ but nothing is open past the top level. Worse yet, the latest date on the page is July 1995. Folks: We would gladly trade a nice clean home page for some gritty, useful information. You did it backwards, and we have no reason to visit.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 4

Chinese Herb and Health
URL: http://geog.hkbu.edu.hk/health/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0496
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
The wonderfully named Bosco Tsang of Hong Kong Baptist University would like you to subscribe to this discussion forum on Chinese herbology and health, and you may do so from here. There¹s not much else on the page except for links to the host server and links to a couple of external pages. It is one of the few pages currently available in English and Chinese.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 3

RxList
URL: http://www.rxlist.com/
Category: Health & Fitness
Issue: 0496
Content Quality: Not Rated
Aesthetic Quality: Not Rated
TechnoSmart Quality: Poor
Site of the Month: No
Author: Karen Wickre
Are you looking for drug brand names (Advil), generic names (ibuprofen) or category names (nonsteroidal anti-flammation agent)? RxList, created by a pharmacist, offers a searchable database of some 4,000 names. Unfortunately, this is the entire site. It would be a real public service to go further and link to articles pertaining to consumer use of medications. As it is, RxList is good for comparing brand names to generic names so you can find cheaper versions at the drugstore. There is also a page of health, medicine and pharmaceutical links that adds to RxList¹s value.
Overall Rating (out of 18): 3