Useful Websites

We list below a number of topics for which we have found some interesting websites. We include some direct links – just click on the blue underlined word or phrase. We cannot vouch for the content of other websites although all of the listed sites have been looked at a website is a dynamic thing that changes. Clearly websites belonging to established organisations such as the British Diabetic Association can be relied upon with more certainty. We do include some American websites because we feel that the content is interesting but please bear in mind that medical practice in the States is quite different in a number of areas.

As a guide we put an (R) next to the names of websites that we recommend that you visit and a (?) next to websites that are included out of interest but which may not contain wholly orthodox material. 

If you have any comments or ideas for other links please contact us. 

NHS Home Page The home page for the organisation. 
National Electronic Library for Health Fast becoming one of the foremost sites in the world for authoritative Health Information for Patients and Healthcare Professionals alike. 
NICE – The National Institute for Clinical Excellence. The official body that evaluates drugs and other treatments and advises Doctors and Health Authorities and Trusts as to which the NHS should provide. 
Darlington sites 
Regulatory Bodies for doctors, dentists, pharmacists, opticians, osteopaths and chiropractors
National & Local Government 
Health service 
Social services 

General information – Look here for links that don’t come under the subject headings below 

Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases 
Asthma and Allergy 
Back pain 
Bereavement 
Bowel Problems 
Cancer 
Childbirth, Pregnancy and Women’s Health 
Children and families
Diabetes 
Drug Information 
Epilepsy 
Eyesight problems 
First Aid and Accident Prevention 
Hearing problems 
Heart Disease 
Learning Disabilities 
Men’s Health 
Meningitis 
Mental Health Issues
Migraine 
Multiple Sclerosis 
Parkinson’s Disease 
Rare Diseases 
Sexual Health and Contraception 
Skin 
Smoking 
Stroke 
Teen-age 
Teeth 
Travel 
Weight Problems and Eating Disorders
SARS – Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome 

Darlington sites 

Regulatory Bodies for Doctors, Dentists, Pharmacists, Opticians, Osteopaths and Chiropractors. 

National & Local Government 

Health Service 

Social Services 

Miscellaneous Sites

Some link to other sites specialising in many different subjects:

  • A word of caution. By their very nature these sites refer and link to sites of varying quality and authoritativeness but they can lead into interesting areas. It’s probably not necessary to say this but look critically at any content you find. Obviously we have only looked at a fraction of the links so if you find anything really interesting contact us with the URL. 
  • Lab Tests Online – to find out what your lab tests mean. An authoritative site run by the Association of Clinical Biochemists.(R) 
  • The King’s Fund -(R) carries out research and provides advice relating to the delivery of Healthcare in the NHS. 
  • Disability UK – a number of items of interest – not all medical by any means. 
  • Patient UK – (R) A good authoritative, though commercial, UK based site. 
  • Druf & Therapeutics Bulletin – (R) provides rigorous and independent evaluations of, and practical advice on, individual treatments and the overall management of disease for doctors, pharmacists and other healthcare professionals.  
  • The Surgery Door – (R) a lot of general health advice. 
  • Darlington Drug and Alcohol Action Team – (R) 
  • Healthnet – general health information but especially in relation to Heart Disease. 
  • Self Help UK – an index of self-help groups. Not necessarily comprehensive, but useful. 
  • Go Ask Alice – from Columbia University in the US. An excellent health resource. 
  • Doctor’s Guide to the Internet – an American site with many links – obviously a mainly US perspective so some of it may not directly relate to UK experience.This link takes you to the patient’s section. 
  • Healthopedia.com  – an American site with a lot of good quality information. 
  • The doctor will see you now – an authoritative and fairly academic American site. 
  • Kids Health – an American site from the Nemours Foundation – a big site with Children’s, Parents and Professional sections. As with Doctor’s Guide there is a lot that’s useful but it does see things from an American point of view.
  • eMedical – an Australian site. Moderately commercial but authoritative and set up by some enterprising Australian GP’s. 
  • REMAP – A charity specialising in the manufacture of bespoke equipment for disabled people. This equipment is provided free and is designed by engineers and made by craftsmen. 
  • Medical World Search Engine – If you want to see if you can find some information yourself. 
  • Intelihealth – from Johns Hopkins University in theUSA. This University has been at the forefront for many years in the development of Western Medicine 
  • Primecare – this service provides the out-of-hours doctors service used by the practice. They have a website with some useful information on it. 
  • Darlington Domestic violence
  • Health Development Agency – Charged by Government with the task of promoting good health in the population at large. 
  • Current Problems newsletter from the goverment’s Medicine Control Agency and the Committee on Safety of Medicines. 
  • Omnisphere – Alta Vista, Hotbot, Excite, Infoseek, Lycos, Dejanews, Yahoo and Webcrawler – all these search engines on one site. 
  • Mayo Clinic – from the world famous Clinic – a general Health Information resource. 
  • GP-UK Archives – discussions that have taken place on the busiest GP mailing list in the UK since its inception in 1996. Topics include medicine, General Practice, the NHS, humour etc.. 
  • WCRF Healthcheck – discusses lifestyle issues such as diet – especially in relation to cancer risk. 
  • Healthy generations – You can build your medical family tree on this site – useful if there is a health problem that affects several family members. 
  • Endocrine web – for glandular problems – e.g.:Thyroid, Parathyroid, Adrenal, and Pancreas disorders, including Diabetes and Osteoporosis. 
  • The Healthcentre – A virtual healthcentre – a large UK site maintained by a former Yorkshire GP 
  • Yahoo health – Hosted by Yahoo who have the well-known search engine. Quite a lot of information but not all of it orthodox. 
  • Discern – How to evaluate health sites on the internet. An officially sponsored project. 
  • Health Central – Another American health resources site. 
  • CJD – monthly statistics – Keep abreast of the official figures on this condition including vCJD which is thought to be linked to BSE. 
  • Chief Medical Officer’s Update – Regular report from the Goverment’s top medical advisor. 
  • Health Protection Agency –  Information on infectious diseases. 
  • UN AIDS Program – Information. 
  • Reuters Health – a commercially produced health information site with a consumers and a professional (subscription) part. 
  • Aventis Pasteur – This website is produced by the company that manufactures a lot of vaccines and has information about travel health and vaccination. 
  • Royal College of General Practitioners (RCGP) – “Patient’s Centre”. This is the academic body to which many GP’s belong and which is dedicated to raising the standards in General Practice and GP training. 
  • National Kidney Research Fund.
  • They have a helpline for kidney patients and their carers on: 0845 300 1499     Or email them at [email protected]
  • Dr. McNabb’s medical bookmarks – This site has an extensive list of links to sites providing both information for the professional and also the general reader. 
  • The Health Quality Service – provides a resource for the NHS, looking especially at quality of care issues. 
  • The Audit Commission – is the official body which probes on the effective use of all public resources. 
  • Health problems related to the Gulf War: 
  • The US official site – to get the Transatlantic view.

Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases 

Asthma and Allergy 

Back Pain 

Weblinks:

Telephone nos. only (so far):

  • National Backpain Association: Tel: 0181 977 5474/5 
  • The Organisation of Chartered Physiotherapists in Private Practice: Tel: 01702 392 124 
  • Arthritis Care Association: Tel: 0800 289 170 (Monday-Friday 12 noon-4pm) 
  • The Back Shop: (Equipment, books and videos etc. for backpain sufferers): Tel: 0171 935 9148/9120 
  • General Council and Register of Osteopaths: Tel: 0118 957 6585 
  • British Chiropractic Association: Tel: 0118 975 7557 

Bereavement and Teminal Care

Terminal Care:

  • St. Theresa’s Hospice – in Woodland’s Road Darlington. 
  • Macmillan Cancer Relief – A charity providing expert help and advice in the relief cancer symptoms and the care of Cancer patients. Many will have heard of the specialist Macmillan nurses who work in this field. 

Bereavement:
Hospices – links above – are a very useful source of information and practical help and they are not going to turn you away just because you didn’t need their services in the deceased person’s lifetime. 

Also: 

  • Cruse is the well respected national network of self-help groups which has a branch in Darlington and where you are most likely to find someone who has the insight into your situation which only those who have had a similar experience themselves can truly have and where, as your hurt begins to heal, you may yourself be a source of comfort to others. 
  • Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society (SANDS)  provides support for those who suffer the tragedy of losing a child before birth or in the early weeks of life. 

Bowel Problems 

  • The Gut Trust – (R) for Irritable Bowel Syndrome: IBS Network Northern General Hospital SHEFFIELD S5 7AU 
  • NACC (R) – National Association for Colitis and Crohn’s Disease. An authoritative site about these two debilitating conditions. 
  • Cancer Research Campaign  (R) has pages about Bowel Cancer amongst others. 

Cancer 

  • Cancer Index (R)- an authoritative index of websites and other information about cancer.
  • National Institutes for Health. An American Government sponsored resource. Authoritative but American approaches to cancer treatment may be significantly different from those in the UK – especially in relation to experimental treatments. 
  • Cancer Research Campaign – This site has a lot of information about cancer research as well as many of the diseases that come under the heading of “Cancer”. 
  • Macmillan Cancer Relief (R) A charity providing expert help and advice in the relief cancer symptoms and the care of Cancer patients. Many will have heard of the specialist Macmillan nurses who work in this field. 
  • St. Theresa’s Hospice – in Woodland’s Road Darlington.   
  • The Prostate Cancer Charity (R) is a charity specifically set up to provide information about this increasingly common condition and the treatments available as well as stimulating further research in what has been a relatively neglected field. 

Childbirth, Pregnancy and Women’s Health 

Telephone Nos:

  • Maternity Alliance TEL. 0171 588 8582 
  • National Association for Premenstrual Syndrome (NAPS: includes advice on postnatal depression). TEL. 01732 741709 
  • National Childbirth Trust TEL. 0181 922 8637 
  • Pennell Initiative for the Health of Women in later Life TEL. 0161 275 2901 
  • Women’s Aid (help for women experiencing domestic violence) TEL. 0345 023468 
  • Miscarriage Association TEL. 01924 200799 Women’s Health TEL. 0171 251 6580 

Children and Families

  • Diabetes – see diabetes links
  • Epilepsy – see epilepsy links
  • Asthma – see asthma links
  • Healthy Children – Family health page. A site mainly for professionals but some good patient information. 
  • Kids Health Org An American site from the Nemours Foundation – a big site with Children’s, Parents and Professional sections. As with Doctor’s Guide there is a lot that’s useful but it does see things from an American point of view. 
  • Kidsgrowth.com Another American site with useful information about Children’s Health matters including their development. 
  • Foundation for the Study of Infant Deaths Also TEL. 0171 235 1721 
  • Stillbirth and Neonatal Death Society (SANDS) TEL. 0171 436 5881 
  • NSPCC Also TEL. 0800 800 500 
  • CaF Contact a Family is a national registered charity, founded in 1979, dedicated to helping families who care for children with any disability or special need. Contact a Family helps in four ways: * by providing information about the disabilities * by putting families in touch with other families * by assisting parents to develop their own local or national support groups * by providing a voice to raise awareness and campaign for families 

Telephone Numbers: 

Diabetes 

  • Diabetic UK – This is the association for all involved with diabetes in the UK.; patients, parents, partners, carers and diabetic professionals. 
  • American Diabetes Association – The American equivalent of the BDA. An authoritative source of information – but be aware that there may be some differences from UK practice.
  • Diabetic Eye Disease – A site provided by the RNIB
  • Children with diabetes
  • Doctor’s Guide – Diabetes Information and Resources
  • Endocrine web – for glandular problems – e.g.:Thyroid, Parathyroid, Adrenal, and Pancreas disorders, including Diabetes and Osteoporosis. 
  • Mydiabetes.com – an American self-help site. 

Drug Information

Epilepsy

Eyesight Problems 

Royal National Institute for the Blind (R) – homepage and guide to services. 

Telephone Nos:

First Aid and Accident Prevention

Telephone Nos:

Hearing Problems 

Heart Disease 

Learning Disabilities 

Men’s Health 

Meningitis 

Mental Health Issues

Royal College of Psychiatrists information leaflets (R

  • These cover important issues such as depression, schizophrenia, anorexia nervosa, bereavement, sleep, memory problems, anxiety, alcoholism, social phobias and manic depression. Very authoritative and very readable. 

Alzheimer’s Disease 

MIND – A National Charity dealing with mental health issues and with an extensive local branch structure (including a branch in Darlington) which provide practical facilities for those with mental health problems and their carers. http://www.mind.org.uk Tel. 0845 7660 163 

SANE – Originally founded to deal with issues relating to schizophrenia and those with the condition this charity now has a wider interest in mental health matters. http://www.sane.org.uk/  SANE LINE – 0845 767 8000 (local rate).

DEPRESSION ALLIANCE A self-help network.http://www.depressionalliance.org    Tel. 020 7633 0557 

WHICH HEALTHLINE TAPE ABOUT DEPRESSION Tel. 0645 245 089 (Local Rate within the UK) 

Migraine 

Multiple Sclerosis 

Parkinson’s Disease

Rare Diseases 

  • National Institutes for Health. An American Government resource has information on a number of rare diseases. 
  • Endocrine web – for glandular problems – e.g.:Thyroid, Parathyroid, Adrenal, and Pancreas disorders, including Diabetes and Osteoporosis. 
  • CaF Contact a Family is a national registered charity, founded in 1979, dedicated to helping families who care for children with any disability or special need. Contact a Family helps in four ways: by providing information about the disabilities, by putting families in touch with other families, by assisting parents to develop their own local or national support groups, by providing a voice to raise awareness and campaign for familie. 

Sexual Health and Contraception

Telephone Nos:

  • Brook Advisory Centres (Advice for young people on contraception and pregnancy). Tel.: 0171 713 9000 
  • Contraception Education Service (CES) (Advice on all sexual health matters). Tel.: 0171 837 4044 
  • Darlington Memorial Hospital Genito-Urinary Medicine (Sexual Diseases) Clinic Tel.: 01325 743203 (Direct Line) 

Skin 

Telephone Nos:

Smoking 

  • ASH – Action on Smoking and Health. The Authoritative campaigning site with a lot of information. 
  • Quitsmoking – the self-help site with chat rooms etc.
  • Smoking Links – numerous links on this page. 

Stroke 

Teen-age 

Teeth 

Travel 

  • Department of Health travel information.(R) 
  • World Health Organisation. (R) 
  • CDC Atlanta Georgia  travel health information with an American flavour but authoritative(R) 
  • The Foreign Office Travel Advice Page. More to do with practical and political problems – but then bullets are a health hazard! (R) 
  • British Airways Travel Clinics No you don’t have to be travelling by B A and we’re not biased as to which airline you use but they are an excellent and authoritative resource. The nearest one to Darlington is at the University Medical Centre in Newcastle/Tyne. Tel. No.: 0191 230 3721. 
  • Aventis Pasteur. This website is produced by the company that manufactures a lot of vaccines and has information about travel health and vaccination. 
  • CIA. Yes the CIA have a website. They have an extensive amount of economic and political data on every country in the world but it’s not necessarily totally up to date. 
  • http://www.oratory.com/travel. An American site but some useful travel tips 
  • Travel Health Online: Another American site with a commercial flavour but seems quite authoritative. 
  • http://www.tmvc.com.au/info10.html.Australian. Certainly worth looking at if you’re going to the Southern Hemisphere. 
  • http://www.chu-rouen.fr/cap/svhomeng.html A French site based in Rouen. You go to a home page in English – all the pages are in both languages if you want to try out your French. A bit dry and academic, in contrast to the American sites. 
  • Mapquest is a database containing maps of varying scales right down to street maps. Extensive coverage including Europe and North America. 

Weight Problems and Eating Disorders 

Sars – Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome