The Virtual Woman: A Woman's
Weekly Guide To Cyberspace
On rare occasion, like this morning, I venture out from the safe, warm, buzz
of cyberspace into RL (real life). It is that time of year. Time for The
Virtual Woman's annual check-up. I bus it downtown. I am early. I am
nervous. I am neurotic. I sit in the fluorescent waiting room, a space so
dimly lit even Cindy Crawford would look like death. Finally, my name is
called. My doctor greets and guides me into an examining room, "Virtual
Woman," she shakes her finger at me, "You're looking a bit pale." Of course
I'm pale, I think to myself, it's called a monitor tan. I never leave the
house. Whatdyah expect? Twelve minutes pass and we're done (hey, this is an
HMO we're talking about). "Everything checks out but I think you need to
get out into the sunshine bit more!" she remarks cheerfully. I smile. Yeah,
right-o, doc. When donkeys fly. It's been less than 90 minutes, email is
already stacked up and she wants me to make like Bambi and frolic in the
park. I need an Internet dial-up connection and I need one NOW. I rush
home, get online and life, again, is good. So in celebration of my annual
exam and getting it over with, this week I've decided to answer health
related questions. Thanks for reading and keep those emails coming!
Dear Virtual Woman:
The Internet scares the heck
out of me when it comes to trusting it for
medical information. I hear that anyone can give out advice on the Internet
and that I should take most of what I read with a grain of salt. I was
wondering if you feel comfortable with any site out there relative to
getting quality medical information?
- Joan K., California
Dear Joan:
With medical sites cloning themselves faster than Dolly the sheep you're right to be a bit wary. One site I found that is excellent is the Mayo Health Clinic Oasis (http://www.mayohealth.org). Mayo's site is presented by a team of 1,200 physicians and medical experts and is updated daily. If watching ER is the source for most of your medical knowledge as it is mine, you'll be happy to find that the information here is not only relevant but also in a format that's easy to use and understand.
The Oasis homepage is divided into separate areas for medical news with individual centers for specific health topics and questions. For instance, if you click onto the women's center you can view an extensive list of well written, easy to read articles on a variety of interesting topics (I spent more than a little time reading the articles, they're great and hotlink you to more research and information). For those days when you're feeling a bit more interactive, there are also quizzes and a Mayo physician to whom you can email your questions.
Dear Virtual Woman:
I've been in situations
where two or three second opinions on a medical problem would really help.
Is there a list of doctors and their specialties online somewhere?
- Caroline O., Honolulu, Hawaii
Dear Caroline:
Direct your browser to the American Medical Association's Physician Select: The On-Line Doctor Finder at http://www.ama-assn.org/aps/amahg.htm This site offers its users an online way of obtaining general information on 650,000 licensed physicians or doctors of osteopathy (DO) in the United States.
The benefits of this site are twofold: First, it makes finding a second opinion easier by allowing you to quickly locate many doctors in your area by his or her specialty. Simply enter the city, state and zip code if you have it, and the site turns out the names, phone numbers, and locations (some even include maps) of the specialists in your area. Second, if you already have a name or two and your interest lies in investigating the education or board certification of a doctor, you can do a search according to the physician's name to find out more. Understandably, Physician Select’ s function is to list doctors and their general information, not to make endorsements.
Dear Virtual Woman:
My sister recently completed a recovery program for alcohol abuse. I want to help in her recovery as much as possible but need more information. Any recommendations for starting points online?
- Concerned in Lexington
Dear Concerned:
A great place to start is The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, or NIAA http://www.niaaa.nih.gov. Begin by consulting the FAQ for a basic understanding of the characteristics and symptoms of alcoholism. Then if you'd like to dig in deeper, the NIAA site offers an extremely comprehensive bibliographic data base of over 100,000 records on alcoholism.
Your sister might also want to take a look at Women For Sobriety (http://ns.mediapulse.com/wfs/) an organization and self-help program founded in 1976 to specifically to address the needs of women alcoholics. According to Women For Sobriety, your sister has a lot of company; in the United States alone there are an estimated 7,500,000 women alcoholics. This non-profit is the dream of Dr. Jean Kirkpatrick whose own recovery is based on a program other than AA, and is geared specifically towards women. Make sure to check out Kirkpatrick's inspirational stories, the pen pal program and, for America Online members, an online chat group led by a Women for Sobriety facilitator.
Finally, chances are your sister is not the only one who'll need support. Al-Anon (http://www.al-anon.alateen.org/) represents the voices of the families and friends of alcoholics. Al-Anon is a great organization that will help to support you and your family through this devastating disease. Click on the "How to Find Help" link to locate the local chapter nearest you.
Happy Surfing!
Find these links and more at WWWomen.Com (http://www.wwwomen.com) the web's largest search directory of topics for women online. Email the Virtual Woman with your Internet questions or send snailmail to: WWWomen.Com, Attn: Virtual Woman, 3701 Geary Blvd., #325, S.F., CA 94118. Copyright, 1998. WWWomen, Inc. All rights reserved.
This column can only be re-distributed with written
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Knight Ridder/Tribune News Service or WWWomen, Inc.
Contributing Editor: Rita Kennen
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