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Great Patient Education Links.

(Click on the topic below and you be sent to the specific area on the page.)

To get the fastest, most accurate information,

use this search box to search only sites reviewed by us.

General references

Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)

Immunizations

Depression and Insomnia

Diabetes (Types 1 & 2)

Physical Medicine and injuries

Upper Respiratory Infection (Cold's, Sinusitis, etc.)

Congestive Heart Failure

Hypercholesterolemia (High Blood Cholesterol)

Menopause

Smoking Cessation

Nutrition

Geriatrics/Medicare

Community Resources

 

 

General references

 

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        1. American Academy of Family Practice:        

Wonderful collection of readable articles about a variety of conditions

 

2.       Health Finder:        

A great source for a variety of conditions

 

3.        Travel Tips:        

These are from the Center for Disease Control

 

4.        Medline Plus:        

This is another wonderful source of information

 

5.     MayoClinic.com

This site has great patient information that is interactive. It even has animations that demonstrate disease states and normal and abnormal anatomy.

 

6.    Quit smoking. This is a great site sponsored by the CDC and National Cancer Institue with on line tips on how to

                        quit  smoking. It's called Smokefree.gov. If you smoke, check it out!

 

7.    Understanding your lab results. This wonderful site explains any lab test you may have questions about.

 

 

   

 

Hypertension (High Blood Pressure)

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1.        Heart disease information from John's Hopkins

         A site from Johns Hopkins with lots of general information about heart disease.  Includes information on

         heart attack, lifestyle changes, nutrition, and medical procedures.  Is not updated regularly, however, so

         some specific information about procedures may be dated.

 

2.       Hopkins hypertension

         A site from Johns Hopkins with some general information about hypertension.  It’s a quick read, with

         information about risk factors and some helpful suggestions about how to lower your blood pressure.

 

3.        American Heart Association

         The American Heart Association’s official site on hypertension.  Includes a wealth of information about

         hypertension including risk factors, medications, lifestyle changes, and the reasons for controlling blood  

         pressure.  Regularly updated.

 

4.        University of Iowa Hypertension Information

A website at the University of Iowa.  Particularly useful if you are between the ages of 18-40.  Includes both older and newer articles.

 

5.        UK "Your Heart" Hypertension Website

A United Kingdom website, it includes information on a variety of topics.  This link takes you directly to their discussion of hypertension.  It is a good general discussion, including topics such as how often to have your blood pressure checked.  Just remember, however, that there may be a few differences between the website and your doctor’s instructions due to the differences of healthcare in UK and USA.

 

6.        National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute

Contains numerous publications and fact sheets on hypertension, strategies to lower your blood pressure, and women’s health issues with hypertension.  Highly recommended.

 

7.        Medline Hypertension

Some information is geared more towards providers, but under general/overviews you may find some good information.  A big advantage to this site is that it is updated regularly.

 

 

Immunizations

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1.     The Immunization Action Coalition

The Immunization Action Coalition website.  This is a non-profit organization working to increase immunization rates and prevent disease.  It includes lots of useful information, including, if English is not your first language, materials in different languages (see “free print materials”). 

 

        2.       Medline Immunization Medline Child Immunization

Medline’s information on immunizations and vaccines.  The first link is for general information on immunizations, while the second link gives some specific information about children.  Both are good sites with frequent updates, highly recommended.

 

3.       Center for Disease Control and Prevention

This is the Center for Disease Control’s National Immunization Program webpage.  You can find all the most recent official recommendations for immunizations.  A great site, with a great deal of information.

 

 

Depression

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1.      Web-based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for depression

Mood Gym. This is an interactive web site that runs the user through 6 sessions of cognitive behavioral therapy for depression. It is interactive. It is geared toward young adults, but there have been adults of all ages who have used this site with some success. It is great to help with mild anxiety and depression. It isn't a substitute for a good psychologist, but if you can't get into a psychologist, try this site.

 

       2.      The Northern Rivers Division of General Practice: Depression

Its very short, only 1 page, but has some good general information.  Northern Rivers is a practice in Australia, and they have 4 doctors and 1 journalist review each of their web publications for medical content and readability.  Just remember that healthcare recommendations may differ slightly between Australia and the United States and if in doubt, follow the advice of your doctor.

 

       3.      Docguide on Depression

Docguide’s website for patient information on depression.  Here you'll find basic information on depression, medications, and some useful discussion groups.

 

       4.      Medline Depression

This is an excellent site run by the National Institute of Health, and has all the latest clinical and scientific developments in the field. 

 

5.       Healthfinder Guide to Depression

Useful articles on depression and some of the medical illnesses which may predispose you to depression, such as heart disease, stroke, or diabetes. 

 

        6.     American Academy of Family Physicians Depression

From the American Academy of Family Physicians, this site is an excellent resource for anyone with depression, or even if you would simply curious about the subject.

        7.     Bipolar Education

This link has some good information about bipolar depression and some ways to treat it. It is written by a physician in Corvallis, Oregon.

        8.     Insomnia treatment (Web based cognitive behavioral therapy)

This is an excellent web based treatment for insomnia. Studies have shown that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is MORE effective than Ambien or other sleeping medications. This course costs $39.00, but it is evidence based, and well done.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Diabetes

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        1.     Docguide on Type 2 Diabetes

This site contains useful information about type 2 diabetes for both you, your family, and friends.

 

        2.     Children with Diabetes Web Community

An interesting web-community for children AND adults with diabetes.  A useful resource if you are looking on the web for support and understanding about diabetes.

 

3.       Mayo Clinic on Diabetes

The mayo clinic’s information website on diabetes.  Includes information on type 1 and 2 diabetes in a user friendly webpage.

 

4.       Medline Diabetes

This is Medline’s diabetes website.  This site is full of information on diabetes that is impartial, dependable, and regularly updated. 

 

5.       National Diabetes Education Program

As the title suggests, it has some education pamphlets available on line to explain how to manage your

diabetes.

 

 

 

 

Physical Medicine and Injuries

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        1.     North American Spine Society

This site has information on preventing and treating spine injuries.

 

       

Upper Respiratory Infections (URI)

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        1.       National Institute of Health (NIH)

The NIH website about the common cold.  It has lots of great information that you can depend on.

 

2.     Handout about over the counter medications

This handout is written by our own Dr. Bigley. It is not biased towards any medication. It gives a simple straightforward approach to the vast selections we are presented with at the drug store.

 

 

 

 

Congestive Heart Failure

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        1.     Medline Congestive Heart Failure

Medline’s website on heart failure.  Includes information on a variety of topics, such as medications, research, and the physiology behind heart failure.  Highly recommended.

 

        2.     Docguide on Congestive Heart Failure

Docguide’s site on congestive heart failure (CHF).  Has news about recent developments in the field of CHF research, general information about CHF, and links to discussion groups among other things.

 

        3.     Texas Heart Institute

The Texas Heart Institutes website.  This is a non-profit organization based in Texas, and the website has a lot of useful information.

 

        4.     Heart Failure Society of America

A site from the Heart Failure Society of America.  Includes a set of education modules on-line to educate patients about heart failure.  Be aware that it is supported by a round-table of pharmaceutical companies.

 

       5.       UK "Your Heart" Website on Congestive Heart Failure

A website from the UK about heart failure.  Has some good information about heart failure as well as other disorders.

 

 

Hypercholesterolemia

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        1.     Mayo Clinic on Cholesterol

This is the mayo clinic’s website on high blood cholesterol.  It has some good information on cholesterol, including a discussion of what ‘good’ and ‘bad’ cholesterol are.

 

        2.     American Academy of Family Physicians

This is the American Academy of Family Physicians website.  This particular article is from 2001 and, among other things, gives definitions for some terms you might hear from your doctor.

 

3.       American Heart Association

This is The American Heart Association’s website about cholesterol.  Includes some tips for eating out and a checklist to help you lower your cholesterol.

 

4.       Medline Cholesterol

Medline’s website about cholesterol and the treatment of high blood cholesterol.  An excellent source, with tons of links and information.

 

Menopause

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        1.     Docguide's Menopause Website

Docguide’s website for menopause.  Has lots of information about menopause, what it is, how it happens, etc., plus links to other helpful websites.

 

        2.       Medline Menopause

Medline’s site on menopause.  Like all Medline sites, you can expect tons of information on a variety of topics, as well as up-to-date information about the latest news with menopause research.

 

 

Smoking Cessation

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        1.     www.quitnet.com

This is a site from the University of Boston that helps you develop a personalized quit plan

 

        2.     American Lung Association

This guides you through "Freedom from smoking" modules to guide the smoker through the quite process

 

        3.     TryToStop.org

This is a personalized "Quit Wizard" program

 

Nutrition

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        1.     Ways to Enhance Children's Activities and Nutrition

This web site as a lot of great resources to help get children eating healthy and staying active. It features many good recipes

 

2.     Diet advice and the new food pyramid:

                        The USDA has revised the food pyramid. Now it is personalized for age, sex and physical activity.

                        This is good, common sense advice and it is interactive.

 

Geriatrics/Medicare

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        1.    Medicare Part D information.

                                This web page is designed to help explain the rules surrounding the Medicare drug benefit, and

                                other issues about Medicare.

 

        2.    Medicare Part D Plan finder.

                                This is part of the Medicare web site that will tell you the plan that works best with the

                                prescriptions that you are on. Get your Medicare cared and gather up all of your

                                medications before using this site.

 

       3.     Medicare Part D Handout

                                This handout is written by Consumer Reports on others not affiliated with Medicare. It is written in

                                plain language and very straight forward. If you have trouble understanding Medicare lingo, this

                                should work well for you.

 

       4.    Lane County Senior & Disabled Services

                                Within the pages of this site, you can find information about nursing facilities, Medicaid,

                                Meals on Wheels, Oregon Project Independence, and many other services for Oregon seniors and

                                people with disabilities

 

Community Resources

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        1.    Living with Serious Illness.

                                This page was designed by Partners to Improve End of Life Care. It explores issues associated with

                                and other end of life issues. It gives advice and can point you in the right direction if you are seeing

                                help.

 

        2.    Lane County Community Resources.

                                This is a page that is maintained by Cascade Health Solutions. It lists many agencies in Lane County

                                can help someone with a chronic disabling condition.

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