Health
Just Diagnosed With Cancer? See These Sites for Information
ThirdAge Staff
Say you just got some life-changing news: You -- or someone you love -- has been diagnosed with cancer. What do you do? Many people go into research mode and comb the Web for information on the disease and how best to treat it.
One of the first things you may want is a second opinion. FindCancerExperts will refer you to specialists, who will bill you directly if you request a pathology second opinion.
With a confirmed diagnosis, Support Works is a good place to start. It is an index of valuable cancer resources online, including links to a variety of cancer organizations.
"Credible, current, comprehensive" information is what you're after, and you'll find it at the National Cancer Institute. This site offers the latest from the Institute, part of the government's National Institutes of Health.
Survey the most recent cancer literature by searching the PubMed database, which is linked to publishers of biomedical literature.
The deeper you delve into these sites, the more confused you may become by the medical terminology. MedTerms is an online medical dictionary that translates the specialized language into plain English.
Somewhat more accessible are MedClips from CancerEducation.com. These are streaming audio and video clips aimed at educating patients and their families. For instance, listen to a clip of 11 interviews with health authorities describing new developments in the disease, as well as other cancer-related news webcasts.
When conventional therapy fails, you may want to search for clinical trials of new treatments through the NIH or at OncoLink. CenterWatch allows you to sign up for e-mail notification of new trials in your area of interest.
If the stats aren't good, take heart. In "The Median Isn't the Message," evolutionary biologist and author Stephen Jay Gould gives reasons for an optimistic take on even a difficult prognosis.
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