What's on the web? Health news

Websites can be invaluable sources of health news, and many are reliable and well researched. We are all expected to keep up to date with medical developments for personal interest, when writing essays, or to keep abreast of patients- concerns'health news websites are a good addition to any medic-s favourites list.

The best place to start is definitely www.yahoo.com. Choose News & Media from the website directory and then click on Health@. Although Yahoo is not the best direct access site to health news it has a list of links to all of the health news websites worth visiting, as well as some rather weird and wonderful ones such as www.junkscience.com, which claims, rather overconfidently, to "examine questionable 'scientific developments,- focusing on the public health research arena."

On www.reutershealth.com health news is divided into three sections for the professional, the industry, and the consumer. This website has the world renowned reliability that comes with the reputation of Reuters and is up to date all year round. News stories that result from research are normally referenced, which can prove helpful. This website is also guaranteed to cover stories worldwide. If you only have time to access one site this website is guaranteed to cover any news story of international importance. A search engine allows you to find older stories.

Perhaps the slickest of all the websites are http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health and www.cnn.com/health These websites are colourful, easy to access, and easy to use. Current and well researched, they are referenced, reliable, and sure to cover the important news stories. The BBC-s site has a video choice on a health topic, links to health programmes, and gives advice on different health conditions. CNN-s site is similar with many added extras including a diet and fitness section and special reports. Both sites have excellent search engines; old news stories are easily found.

For information on medical breakthroughs, www.ivanhoe.com is the place to go. This site is one of four to be recognised for journalism excellence by the Online News Association. This site is slick, current, and aimed at lay people. The site also has a discussion group and a section for readers- questions.

www.docguide.com is "the doctor-s guide to the internet." This site is journal based, drier, and more scientific. There is a personal edition function on this site which allows you to register and get free email updates in your areas of special interest, creates links to your favourite journals, and allows special searches and access to further resources.

www.healthscout.com is worth a visit. Having already visited the BBC-s or CNN-s site, you may find this site redundant as it overlaps considerably. Easy on the eye, its layout is similar to these two sites, and, in essence, it covers the same news stories. It also has other features such as television specials, medical breakthroughs taken from www.ivanhoe.com, and daily health titbits.