Links to Other Health Sites

This part of the website provides your main access to all sorts of health information. A very wide variety of sites are listed here, some are very scientific and professionally based while others are more ‘popular’. The latter type of site does not contain lesser or information that is not true, but may be less guarded or committed to only making claims that have undergone rigorous examination and testing. Please take the time to visit many different sites with an open mind and always be on the lookout for other links of interest that you may find there. Don’t hesitate to use Google or other search engines to find more information about your topic of interest, just type in the topic or related key phrases and see what you can find. Be adventuresome, teach yourself to be a savvy consumer of health information.

GATEWAYS/PORTALS

http://www.health.gov/ is called a ‘portal’ because it’s an opening that allows visitors to quickly access a wide variety of Federal health agencies’ websites and helpful reference information like toll-free phone numbers and dates of national health observances (like, Diabetes Awareness Month). This page is like the ‘quick reference guide’ in a phone book that has a lot of important numbers that many people often look to reach.

http://www.som.tulane.edu/cancer/linkslist.html is a portal from the Tulane University Cancer Center that provides links to other websites that provide information about cancer.

http://www.nativescience.org/html/NativeCorporations.htm is a valuable portal compiled by the Alaska Native Science Commission that contains all the websites for Alaska Native statewide corporations, regional profit, regional non-profit, and regional health corporations.

ALASKA NATIVE/INDIGENOUS HEALING

Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium
ANTHC is part of the Alaska Tribal Health System, a network of tribes linked by common goals and objectives. We provide specialty medical care, community health services, construction of clean-water and sanitation facilities, information technology, training and educational support, and a host of other health services. ANTHC was formed in December 1997 to manage statewide health services for Alaska Natives. All Alaska Natives, through their tribal governments and through their regional nonprofit organizations, own the Consortium. The Consortium provides services to both communities and individuals. On the individual level, ANTHC operates the Alaska Native Medical Center the state’s largest and most complete provider of health services for Alaska Natives and American Indians . Through its community mission it monitors and conducts research on important health issues and provides education for prevention (http://www.anthc.org/cs/chs/).

ANTHC also collects and maintains the primary database of AN health at its Epidemiology Center. The EpiCenter’s mission is to contribute to the wellness of Alaska Native people by monitoring and reporting on health data, providing technical assistance and supporting initiatives that promote health.

The Alaska Native Epidemiology Center (EpiCenter) is part of the Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium's Division of Community Health Services. It is one of eleven tribal epidemiology centers established by the Indian Health Service (IHS) to assist the National IHS Epidemiology Program in improving the health of Alaska Natives and American Indians throughout the United States.

Alaska Native Health Board is the statewide voice for all Alaska Native tribes when it comes to health issues. Its purpose is to promote the spiritual, physical, mental, social, and cultural well-being and pride of Alaska Native people. Please note, some of the websites listed here have changed their address or are no longer available.

Yukon-Kuskokwim Health Corporation
Tanana Chiefs Conference Department of Health Services
Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association
Norton Sound Health Corporation
Bristol Bay Area Health Corporation
Chugachmiut Health Services
Southcentral Foundation
Kodiak Area Native Association Health Services
Maniilaq Association Health Services
SouthEast Alaska Regional Health Corporation

Native Health Database
Similar to the Health Science Information Service of the Consortium Library at UAA, this site and database is maintained by the University of New Mexico.

The Ringing Rocks Foundation aims to keep indigenous healing practices and cultural traditions from around the world alive through education, publishing and grassroots partnerships.

Indianz.com is a website dedicated to providing quality news, information and entertainment from a Native American perspective. While their mission is not specific to health, they do gather and make available health related news stories about Alaska Natives and American Indians.

ALTERNATIVE HEALTH

NIH Office of Dietary Supplements
University of Washington, Medicinal Herb Garden
Naturopathic Medicine Network

PRIMARY SITES

American Heart Association
American Diabetes Association
American Lung Association
American Dental Association
American Psychological Association
American Breast Cancer Association
American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology
American Cancer Society
Mayo Clinic Here’s a trustworthy site from one of the premier providers in the country. It includes information on diseases and conditions, drugs and supplements, guides to help in making decisions about the type of treatment to use, healthy living tips for different populations, health tools, a frequently asked questions section that allows you to ask new questions of their staff specialists, and finally health related slide shows, videos, blogs and podcasts.
American Academy of Family Physicians
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Not only does this site monitor and report health and disease trends across the US, but at their Traveler’s Health page they provide information about immunizations and allow you to look up specific destinations of travel and learn about health concerns there.
The National Women’s Health Information Center (US Department of Health and Human Services)
Harvard Health Publications, Harvard Medical School
US Food and Drug Administration Another agency within the US Department of Health and Human Services the FDA monitors for our protection foods, drugs, medical devices, biological products like blood and vaccines, animal and veterinary products, cosmetics, and radiation-emitting products like cell phones and microwave ovens. The FDA also has a page especially for teens

POPULAR HEALTH SITES

By ‘popular’ we mean that these are sites that are aimed towards and popular with the general public. While the information here may be just as valid as what you get at a government site or one belonging to a professional medical association they may not provide as thorough a discussion of your topic, and they often rely on advertising to pay the bills so they may at times present biased information.

WebMD This is a very popular site that covers all health topics, lets you research drugs and treatments, has specialized pages for women, men, and children, provides blogs and message boards for communication, and even has a ‘symptom checker’.

Alternative Health News Online

Ask Dr. Weil Andrew Weil is the Director of the Program in Integrative Medicine at the College of Medicine, University of Arizona and the author of many interesting books on health, nutrition, and aging. His philosophy of ‘integrative medicine’ is based in natural and preventive health practices that are applied to the mind and Spirit as well as the body.

HealthCentral.com is a site that was developed in connection with a popular, pioneering health call-in radio show hosted by Dr. Dean Edell. This site is quite extensive and technologically advanced but not difficult to use. Each choice of disorder or health topic will take you to it’s own ‘health site’ where you’ll find headline information about recent news in the particular field, a symptom checker, drug information, a physician locator, clinical trials information, related websites, as well as treatment, prevention and management of the disorder. One of the highlights of this site is its substantial collection of videos and ‘3D medical animations’ available for viewing. HealthCentral does a good job of networking with other sites and they offer a wide variety of online newsletters specific to different disorders, groups and health issues.

Dr. Greene.com is a popular pediatric health site with all the trimmings including health topics, a parents’ playground where not only information is available but ways for parents to talk and share with one another, and a section for expectant parents.

HealthTalk.com is a site that does a really good job of providing health information in forms other than just the written word. While it doesn’t cover an all-encompassing, A - Z list of health topics it does a good job with the major health conditions, and in many different ways. It provides videos, webcasts (audio archives), you can subscribe to podcasts, internet radio shows, and you can submit questions to a doctor by email. You can even join a ‘HealthTalk Community’ which is a group of people, including doctors, with a particular health concern that you can talk to, receive treatment information by email, and receive invitations to shows on the web about your topic.

Foot.com bills itself as ‘the most comprehensive source of foot health and foot care on the web’ and I have no reason to doubt them. I learned of this site from a wound nurse who treats many diabetics who have foot and leg problems due to poor circulation and nerve damage in these parts of the body. The site is not limited to just problems related to diabetes, but does cover a wide variety of foot conditions.

NUTRITION

US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Information Center

Penn State University Nutrition Information and Resource Center

This is the food and nutrition portal from the Iowa State University, University Extension Service that provides many valuable sites for youth as well as parents.

American Dietetic Association

Tufts University Health and Nutrition Letter

Arbor Nutrition Guide

MENTAL HEALTH/SUICIDE PREVENTION

Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)
This is the federal government’s primary agency for substance abuse and suicide prevention information and research. Not only do they sponsor the national hotline listed below, but they provide many resources for those looking to take action to prevent suicide and/or substance abuse. This site also links visitors to resources available in their state; Alaska resources are available here.

National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)
As they indicate at their site, NIMH is the largest scientific organization in the world dedicated to research focused on the understanding, treatment, and prevention of mental disorders and the promotion of mental health. By clicking on Mental Health Topics under the Health and Outreach bar you can reach resources on specific mental health topics including suicide prevention.

AtHealth.com is an interesting site for both mental health practitioners as well as consumers. In addition to being able to gather information about specific disorders and conditions, consumers can also locate practitioners and treatment centers, learn about prescription medications, and keep on top of important issues through their featured articles, resource center, bookstore and self-help store. Mental health practitioners can access professional books and articles, information about medications, take advantage of services and professional tools to help manage their practice, as well as participate in online continuing education courses.

Mental Help Net

National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
24 hour call-in, 1-800-273-TALK(8255)

MEDICINE/PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

Many of the larger more complete sites have their own pages that provide information about prescription drugs (like Medline Plus below), however in this section we will stick primarily to sites that specialize in this type of information.

Medline Plus, Drugs & Supplements pages

Physicians Desktop Reference Health

Rxlist.com

Drugs.com

YOUTH AND/OR FAMILY HEALTH (Physical and Mental)

American Academy of Pediatrics
This is a strong site that not only serves parents and caregivers, but professionals of pediatric medicine as well. Not only do they cover diseases and health conditions under their Health Topics tab as many other sites limit themselves to, but include many other areas of health that are important to families, such as mental health, healthy development, family and community health, navigating the health care system. They also have a section here for populations with unique health care needs that include consideration of special needs of Native American children and families, however, at this point they have little information for parents there. Rather, they are looking to interact with experienced and knowledgeable health professionals who can educate them in this regard. Parents have a tab of their own that provides access to many health issues that are important to all parents (http://www.aap.org/parents.html).

KidsHealth
Three sites in one here for kids, teens, and parents; also claims to be most visited site for children’s health.

GirlsHealth
This site is developed by the Office on Women’s Health in the Department of Health and Human Services, to promote healthy, positive behaviors in girls between the ages of 10 and 16. The site gives girls reliable, useful information on the health issues they will face as they become young women, and tips on handling relationships with family and friends, at school and at home.

Healthy Schools Healthy Youth is the website of the CDC’s Division of Adolescent and School Health.

Child and Adolescent Mental Health is the SAMHSA website that focuses on information specifically for this age group.

Mental Health America Factsheets for Youth and Families formerly the National Mental Health Association, not only share information for youth experiencing mental health problems but for families who have parents afflicted by mental illness. Additionally, a link is provided for mpower, the site for ‘musicians for mental health’ that is aimed specifically at teens and young adults.

Children and Teenagers is the Medline Plus portal for all topics related to this age group.

HHS For Kids is the ‘kid-friendly’ website from the US Department of Health and Human Services. It is particularly helpful because it not only provides information for kids, but additional groups such as girls, parents, teachers, and youth/adolescents.

Kids.gov is the official kid’s (grades K - 8 only) portal for the US government, so it provides lots of other information in addition to that related to health such as arts, careers, government, computers and technology, money, math and social studies. Besides information on health issues for this age group there are resources for fitness and exercise as well as safety. Resources for educators on these same issues are also available.

Kids’ Quest On Disability and Health is an internet-based program for 4th – 6th graders aimed at helping them learn about living with a disability or with those who have a disability.

The Child Development Institute is a site developed by a psychologist from the University of California, Irvine School of Medicine. Not only does it provide information based on the developmental levels of children, but it does a good job of covering health issues as well as mental health and safety issues. Lots of information is available on parenting and they do a good job of sharing the research to back up suggestions in all areas.

See Iowa State University Food and Nutrition portal above (Food and Nutrition) for youth specific sites as well as parent sites.

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