Behind the headlines

This week's website concerns yesterday's Telegraph.co.uk publication with the headline:

Free 'health MoT' for over-40s to be unveiled.

The article explains Health Secretary Alan Johnson's pledge for free health checks for everyone in the country once they reach 40.  The story was also carried online by the Daily Mail (A free health MoT for everyone over 40 in a bid to tackle lifestyle diseases).

Behind the headlines, part of the NHS Choices online service describes itself as:

"Your guide to the science that makes the news."

The site does exactly what it says on the tin, gathering links to articles from various mainstream organisations, clearly explaining the science behind the issues.  While it does little in terms of multimedia content, in many cases the site provides a better source of news than sites such as the BBC Health pages.  The information is focused toward the consumer, providing a brief introduction to news issues before focusing on the medical facts most important to the public, ignoring the politics behind the story.

For a clear and uncomplicated explanation of breaking medical news which provides detailed and uselul consumer advice, Behind the headlines should be a consumer's first port of call.

Patient UK

This week's website concerns yesterday's BBC Health article with the headline:

Wheeze 'link' to baby milk powder.

The article explains research conducted by the University of Birmingham which suggests that prolonged exposure to infant milk powder can increase the risk of breathing problems.

Patient UK describes itself as a resource which aims to be:

"a reliable and comprehensive source of health and diseasse information, mainly aimed at the UK general public, but of interest to all."

The site provides several unique features, gathering news from various mainstream organisations and offering the consumer a range of options:

• Visit the article source:  Users are provided with a link to the source article.
  
• Discuss this:  Users are linked to a discussion board where they can discuss the topic with other interested and opinionated readers.
  
• Read background:  Patient UK performs a search within its own online database, producing articles and explanations relating the the the main news story.

The search funtion alone makes the site an indispensible resource, removing the need for consumers to either search through years of archived material or enter search criteria.  When searching for the latest medical news online and detailed explanations, Patient UK should be ignored at your peril.

NetDoctor.co.uk

Last week I was hopefully searching for a UK health news resource to rival that of Web MD and although I'm not quite there yet, I'm certainly getting closer.

This week's website is the UK independent health website NetDoctor.co.uk and refers to yesterday's article with the headline:

BMI may predict risk of aggressive breast cancer.

The article concerns research conducted by a team at the University of Texas who claim that body mass index (BMI) may prove useful in determining the prognosis of women with breast cancer.

Although NetDoctor is a fairly limited resource, in the majority of cases merely providing basic articles, it does have several useful features.  The site has a comprehensive and detailed encyclopaedia aswell as an advice section and discussion boards.  By far one of the most useful features however is the provision of links within the article body to encyclopaedia entries explaining key terms (see cancer link below).

NetDoctor fails however to provide many of the features common to those sites reviewed in earlier posts as a result of which the site will probably be considered by many as resource of last resort.

Web MD: Better Information. Better Health.

This week's webiste is the US medical guide Web MD and refers to yesterday's article with the headine:

Eating Breakfast May Beat Teen Obesity.

The article concerns research published by the American Academy of Pediatrics which claims that eating breakfast every day may be the first step in fighting teenage obesity.

Despite having a mainly American focus, Web MD provides a fantastic online multimedia resource, producing its own content from a range of referenced sources.  Each article is reviewed and edited by a medical professional, ensuring quality and accuracy throughout.

The site provides a wealth of multimedia content, providing video footage, related advertisements, 'must-see' links and options to share the article online through social networking sites such as Facebook.

If only such a resource was available for UK medical news.  If one exists I haven't found it yet.

Hitting the healines

This week's website concerns yesterday's Telegraph.co.uk publication with the headline:

One embryo at a time 'makes IVF less risky.'

The article explains research conducted by a British study which reveals the risk of multiple IVF births is reduced by women having just one embryo implanted during fertility treatments.  The story was also carried online by the Independent (New IVF technique: greater success rate, fewer multiple births) and the Guardian (Fertility clinic boosts safety and success).

The NHS National Library for Health Hitting the Headlines archive describes itself as a directory:

"developed to help you discover and make use of important, good quality health-related newsfeeds."

The archive provides a superb online resource, not only gathering news from various mainstream organisations, but assessing the accuracy of the reports.  While lacking in multimedia, the archive has a trick up its sleeve that few other websites can match.  With its official NHS stance, the articles are able to describe and analyse the evidence and references behind the news, providing links to all references used as well as additional consumer information.

A vital tool for those who really want to understand the news behind the news, the only drawback to this excellent resource is the planned cessation of the news archive as of March 31 2008.  Daily articles will still be available.