[herpie]

The obligatory skeptic's site
Check it out before spending big bucks on unproven therapies! Many of those just can't work, what's more, they usually cost a lot and/or may put your health at risk without any real benefit and that's where hard facts from QuackWatch are priceless.

NOTE: The author is a kind of extreme skeptic, recommending to use only therapies that have hard scientific data proving their efficacy. Some of the "alternative therapies" that we've found helpful (like some supplements) may be supported by only anecdotal evidence and preliminary clinical studies - the evidence isn't "good enough" to be accepted by QuackWatch author. In such situations, you must decide yourself (or let your doctor decide).

Herbal supplement references:
HerbMed, a database of research related to various herbs. What's effective or traditionally used for what diseased, what's toxic and when etc.
PDRHealth herb guide, a handy reference of herbal supplements.

Miscellaneous supplement references (amino acids etc)
PDRHealth supplement guide, a handy reference of dietary supplements. Covers the most basic vitamins, amino-acids and more, with references to relevant studies.
University of Maryland alternative/complementary medicine pages - haven't made up my mind about that one...
Integris Health contains a good database of supplements and their usefulness in particular medical conditions (grouped by supplement and by condition). Just ignore everything related to homeopathic remedies ;-)

Research sites:
PubMed, the wet dream of a cyberchondriac (research type). A full-text searchable database of articles in medical journals (most of them are for-pay, and only abstract are freely browsable, but that's better than nothing).
BioPsychiatry, a pro-crazy-med propaganda site, with selected links to interesting (but very expensive) articles.

This post has been edited by herpie: 24 May 2005 - 09:13 AM

[herpie]

Government sources of information (posted by viking)

You may not know of these sites for illness, nutrition, herb and supplement information.  They may even be on this site already. 

The government sites are probably conservative but reliable.  You can order free copis of their booklets and stuff.  You can even order them for you MD if you think your MD needs to read them!  My personal fave is Neurological Disorders: Voluntary Health Agencies and Other Patient Resources (2004) 

National Institutes of Health Office of Dietary Supplements health info page
http://www.ods.od.ni...nformation.aspx

Nantional Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke disorder page (with link to ordering materials) http://www.ninds.nih...order_index.htm

National Insitute of Mental Health info page
http://www.nimh.nih....ation/index.cfm

National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine info page
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/

Not government sites:

American Association of Naturopathic Medical Colleges info page
http://www.aanmc.org...urces/about.php

American Herbalist Guild
http://www.americanherbalist.com/

American Botanical Council
http://www.herbalgram.com/

[herpie]

Commercially-oriented (mis)information (advertisement?) sources
Those may or may not be good, however, keep in mind that there may be a conflict of interest here, because those sites usually sell supplements they praise. Beware of unsubstantiated claims, and always check the claimed benefits with other sites!

http://www.sjwinfo.org/

Vitamin Shoppe (after plecosaur): depression, bipolar, autism, ADD, Insomnia.

Nordic Naturals (they sell Omega-3 fish oil)
TwinLab (they sell a wide range of dietary supplements)[/url]

More to come later!

This post has been edited by herpie: 22 May 2005 - 05:27 PM

[plecosaur]

Herpie,

Only linked the vitamin shoppe Health Notes, because it's easily accessable. It's a pay-for database of information with bibliographical notes at the end. You can find it on other websites, but it's easiest to navigate from there.

This This explains better what it exactly is, and how the information is extracted and compiled from medical journals.

Other places to access the same information (so we don't feel like we're endoring Vitamin Shoppe)
1, 2.

I mainly use it for a quick look up of a herb and basic properties of it, and then roughly look at their "guide" for conditions with star ratings based on prior published research on that supplement for that condition.

I wouldn't, in any circumstance purchase a product from that online store though or any of the ones I linked in this post.