Cyber Medicine & Health

The power of the Internet to heal and harm patients is at the center of a new controversy. On as many as 15,000 medical Web sites, consumers can find information ranging from articles in medical journals to real-time diagnoses from doctors. Unfortunately nearly half are "not respected sources of health information," according to a survey funded by a group of technology and health-care companies. For help with quacks and frauds see Quackwatch.

But for those that are careful, you can get advice and resources online that would have been unthinkable just a few years ago. One of our New Life Church members went online and found information about his ailment that his own doctor was unaware of. This led to a new form of treatment and cure! One thing is for certain: patients are no longer passive recipients of health care because of the Internet.

Here are some web sites that should prove both helpful and reliable:

American Medical Association - Archived articles from the Journal of the American Medical Association and a helpful online doctor finder.

Dr. Koop.com: Tackling Tobacco - This is an excellent resource for those trying to kick the cigarette habit. Includes solid information on how to quit.

Healthfinder

Mayo Clinic Health Oasis

Medline - Free access to the U.S. National Library of Medicine's vast database.

Medscape - Access to medical dictionaries, news.

New England Journal of Medicine

WebMD - A medical supersite covering everything from allergies and fitness to arthritis and cancer.

What The Bible Says About Healthy Living --

Finally! -- a book about diet, nutrition, and healthy living written with wit, humor, and Biblical wisdom by a Christian medical doctor: What The Bible Says About Healthy Living (Regal Books) by Rex Russell, MD. Dr. Russell, 56, interned at the Mayo Clinic, and currently is a board-certified invasive radiologist on staff at Sparks Regional Medical Center in Fort Smith, AR. He is a member of the First Baptist Church in Fort Smith. And he raises cattle on his Arkansas farm. To improve your physical and mental health and lift your spirits, Dr. Russell recommends that you add to your diet many of the natural foods which the folks in the Old and New Testament ate, while avoiding the foods that they avoided or ate sparingly. He also recommends doing what those Biblical folks did -- an occasional short fast. Click here for a Health I.Q. -- the check-up is taken from Dr. Russell's book.