Essential bookmarksTell us about yourfavourite health sites [email protected] 27 Dec 2019-7Jan 2020^17Patient
patient.info
With somuchconfusing and conflicting health adviceonline,it’simportant tohavea
resourceyoucan rely on, which is whatmakes Patient suchabrilliantbookmark. It
coversavastrange of medical topics,including allergies, chest, heart, kidneyand
seniorhealth, ininformative,jargon-free articles thatarewrittenandreviewedby
doctors. Particularly impressiveisthe Treatment section,which providesdetailsof
every drugand medicine you’relikely toencounter,and letsyou browse bydrug
name or condition. The siteincludes testsand tools suchasaBMI calculator,
symptom checker and‘DoIhavediabetes?’ quiz, recipesfor healthymeals, athriving
communitywhereyoucan getanswers toyourhealthquestions,and much more.
NHS 111 Online
111 .nhs.ukWhenyoufeel ill but it’s not an
emergency, call 111 or visit the service’s
NHSwebsitetoseek medical help near
you. Simplyenteryour postcode(orclick
‘Usemycurrent location’), sexandage,
then searchforthesymptom that’s
botheringyoumost, such as ‘rash’ or
‘feeling sick’,orbrowsethetopicsby
category.Onceyou’veansweredafew
questions aboutyourcondition,the site
willtell youwhatactiontotake–which
is oftensimplyto contactyour GP.Italso
suggestswaysyoucan treatyourself and
tellsyouwhattodoifyoustartfeeling
worse.Foralistofinstances whenyou
should phone 999 immediately,visit the
NHS pageatbit.ly/when999.Cancer Info &Support
your.macmillan.org.uk
This recentlyredesigned section of
the Macmillanwebsiteisasuperb
resourceforanyone who hasbeen
diagnosed withcancer oris simply
worried aboutit. With so manydifferent
types,terms and treatmentsforpatients
tounderstand,thesite’s‘AtoZ’
directories offereasyaccesstoall the
informationyouneed.There’san
alphabetical listof articles on the
‘Impacts of cancer’–from‘Anger and
frustration’to‘Work and cancer’, and
comprehensiveguidestothe different
stages of cancer,including diagnosis,
treatment and after treatment.Thesite
even providescontact detailsforfurther
sourcesofhelp and support,aswell as a
linktoMacmillan’sfriendly (and
anonymous)onlinecommunity.WebMD Symptom
Checker
symptoms.webmd.com
This handy onlinetool is no substitutefor
an appointmentwithyour GP,butit can
giveyouarough idea of whatailsyou.
Tell ityour age and gender,thenprovide
details ofyoursymptoms–orchoose
from presets such as headache,cough or
fatigue–toviewalistofmatching
conditions. Clickaresulttosee thefull
details of thatcondition,including how
commonit is,riskfactors and howto
obtainadiagnosis, aswell asrelevant
facts, such as: “Going outside withwet
hair will not giveyou the flu”.The site
also suggestspreventativemeasures,
treatment options andquestionstoask
your doctor, and includeslinkstothe
relevantWebMD discussion boardfor
further advice.
ESSENTIAL BOOKMARKS THISISSUE: HandyhealthresourcesCheckYourHealth
bit.ly/check 491
Areyouoverweight? Isyour heart
ageingfaster than therestofyou?
Areyou sleepingenough?Find out
atthissitefromPublic Health
England, which providesarangeof
testsandquizzestohelpyougauge
your physical and mental health, and
offers adviceand linkstorelevant
resourceswherethere’sroomfor
improvement.TheHeartAgetest,
forexample,usesyour height,
weight and otherfactorstoestimate
howlongyoucanexpecttolive(73,
forus).The sitestresses thatits
questionnaires arenot medical
assessments and thatyou should
speaktoaprofessionalifyou’re
worried aboutyour health.DON’TMISS!