April 2002
Mouse Calls
You try to ignore the fact that, for the past couple of days, you’ve been feeling a steady pain in your elbow or you see lightening bolts in your left eye or “pins and needles” plague your hands and feet. Like many people, running to the nearest hospital at the first sign of an ailment is not your bag. The Internet can be a valuable place to turn in deciding what tack to take. At
www.mayohealth.org, the afflicted can click on diseases or conditions from A to Z to help pinpoint a problem. The information you will receive is both helpful and accurate—there is also a section where questions may be, or have already been, answered directly by Mayo Clinic specialists. A health library is available at
www.healthfinder.com, where thorough information on medical concerns ranging from infant care to eating disorders are addressed. There, a section on alternative remedies and medical dictionary terms is also a click away. For strictly female info, visit the National Women’s Health Information Center site,
www.4woman.gov, or type in
www.power-surge.com, a site that offers message boards, doctor’s chat forums, live guest conferences and a wide range of advice concerning menopause. Men will want to visit the World Wide Web’s virtual library of health issues at
www.vix.com/pub/men/health/health.html or explore the long list of typical male ailments at
www.aomc.org/HOD2/general/menshealth.html. Most health sites on the Web stress that the Internet is no replacement for a “live” medical consultation, but you may save yourself a trip to the doc if you are sure that you can accurately self-diagnose bursitis, ocular migranes or a low estrogen count.
