CVS On-Line Pharmacy Store - A true on-line pharmacy providing wholesale pricing information; this particular page lists their top-selling several hundred products.  Very informative, especially for comparing the retail price of a drug you or a friend may take with the wholesale price.

DrugDigest - "DrugDigest is a noncommercial, evidence-based, consumer health and drug information site dedicated to empowering consumers to make informed choices about drugs and treatment options."

Drug Information (PDRhealth) - the site installed by the publishers of the PDR, now that it is no longer available unless you are a drug prescriber. Its resemblance to the PDR is similar to the similarity of watered-down root beer to the real thing......

Drug Interaction Checker from Drugs.com - a very good interactive utility for checking whether two or more medications you've been prescribed have the potential to interact with each other in a harmful way.

Drugs.com   Welcome to the most popular, comprehensive and up-to-date drug information resource online. Fast, easy searching of over 24,000 approved medications. Possibly the most complete, comprehensive, authoritative site on all aspects of drug therapy on the entire web.

Medications - Internet Mental Health - a large amount of information on most pharmaceuticals used in the treatment of mental illness.  Similar to Rxlist (above), but confined to this single drug area; however, the information available is somewhat more extensive on each drug contained.

MedicineNet  a huge amount of health/drug data written by physicians, covering every imaginable topic.

MedLine Plus - contains consumer information on over 9,000 Rx and OTC medications.  Very nicely done, but there is no real technical data, such as mechanisms of action, metabolism, pharmacokinetics, etc.

The National Library of Medicine's MEDLINEplus - Not only MedLine, but also many links to medical dictionaries, libraries, databases, publications and news.   Very worthwhile.

Physicians' Desk Reference (PDR) - no longer available on-line, unless you're a physician, nurse, or other potential drug prescriber

RxList- A collection of specific data on all prescription drugs, very similar to that contained in prescription inserts.  Covers chemical data, contraindications/drug interactions, pharmacokinetics, metabolism, how supplied, etc.  Try it out, in the box to the right! U.S. Pharmacopeia   establishes purity standards for thousands of drugs for human/verterinary use.

Dr. Koop  - very comprehensive site, with sections on women, teens, etc.; drug info (including recalls),  rotating features.

Healthfinder - Government site from DHHS - very nicely organized, with a huge database.

Internet Mental Health - an incredibly broad, extensive resource for any question about the diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis of mental disorders.  Features pages on disorders, medications, diagnosis, research, internet links (very good), and an index.

Johns Hopkins Health After 50 Online - over a dozen "resource centers" for topics ranging from breast cancer and depression to stroke and memory.

The Merck Manual - the centennial edition of this classic manual and diagnosis and therapy is now online and free.  Published by Merck & Co., this is on the bookshelf of all physicians, nurses, and related health professionals.

Medical Dictionary - Merriam-Webster's online dictionary is easy to use, and allows searching by word fragments, usage, and generally makes finding the definitions of medical terms very easy.

Medical Dictionary - Cancerweb (U.K.) dictionary, more popular than the Merriam-Webster publication. Extensive hypercrosslinking makes this a really excellent resource.

Medscape  - This is a very useful clinical medical site that includes peer-reviewed articles, arranged by specialty, and daily medical news for health care providers and consumers.  Heavy focus on cancer and cancer-related issues.

MediConsult- a diverse page with a dictionary of medical conditions (with links as the "definitions"), information on a large selection of conditions, drug information, etc.  Definitely worth looking around, although it's geared toward the lay person.

Online Medical Dictionary  from WebMD, this is a fast, accurate dictionary.  Strong negative is a total absence of graphics.

PSL Group (Doctors' Guide) - a summary of very recently published research on medical topics.  You can subscribe to the email edition at no cost; this way you'll receive an update about twice per week with links to each article summarized.  An excellent way to stay abreast of late-breaking medical news.

Virtual Hospital - Family Practice Handbook - written for physicians - a very comprehensive resource of hospital procedures.

Pill Identification

Doctors' Lounge - Help! Pill ID a discussion board where you post the info you have, and the on-line doctors and pharmacists wil try to help you.

Drug Image Search from Drugs.com, a visual-based search engine for pill ID.

Drug Information Center from "A Healthy Me", a link collection covering all aspects of drug use; the ones on pill ID comprises a short but useful list.

FAQ: Pill Identification a short monograph on pill ID from the National Library of Medicine (part of NIH).

Pill ID Resources a collection of approaches and databases to help ID that pill you totally forgot about. Also features a line of timed medication dispenser systems; many of the dispensers can be locked.

Pill Identification Tool   from WebMD, this is very easy to use and feaures a huge database, so you're likely to ID your unknown pills.  Just enter any letters or numbers on the tab, its shape and color, and in a second you'll have the answer.

Pill Identification Wizard   from Drugs.com, very easy to use. Enter what physical features the pill has, and the program returns a selection of images of pills that match your description.

Tools and Resources for Pill Identification a small collection of links from MIT.

What's My Pill? from Pharmer.com, features a short discussion of each drug class, with hyperlinks to images of every pill mentioned. Much more useful than it sounds!

Pharmacy/Pharmacology/Anatomy

Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry, ABPI - The ABPI represents about 80, prescription-medicine-producing companies in Britain; organisations involved in pharmaceutical research and development; and anybody with an interest in the pharmaceutical industry.

The Biochemical Society - The searchable Biochemical Society site gives latest society news, details on membership, information about the society, medals and lectures, meetings, groups, professional issues, education, policy, grants and funds, publications, links and contact details.

BioMedNet-  a superlative site, containing over 170 biological and medical journals, including the Trends and Current Opinion review journals.

Clinical Pharmacology Online - a listing of hundreds of drugs, contains much pharmacological data on each drug, even in combined-product formulations.  Includes mechanism of action and pharmacokinetics, including metabolism.

Drug Metabolism and Disposition -- Search - search engine for the highest rated journal for the publication of pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data, as well as metabolic and toxicological information.

Martindale's Pharmacy Center - The leadoff page for the pharmacy section of Martindale's, a huge and popular web site in the physical and life sciences.

Metabolic Pathways - a one-page, hyperlinked summary of all of the metabolic pathways operative in the human body. Easy to visualize and conceptualize.

Molecular Pharmacology -- Search - the search engine for one of the most authoritative journals in pharmacology.

National Institutes of Health - one of the foremost centers for biomedical research in the world, consisting of many individual expert scientists, as well as supporting top-quality rsearch throughout the world in rersearch universities and colleges, private reseach institutiohns, etc.

Pharmacological Reviews -- Search - the search mechanism for the highest rated review journal in pharmacology.

Pharmacy Top Links - the most popular and useful links in the area of pharmacy, drug formulation, etc.

PharmaWeb   - large, very complete source of pharmacy/drug information.

The United States Phamacopeial Convention, Inc. -- Welcome to The USP - the USP is the governing body which sets the analytical and other standards for drugs, preservatives, and other consumables.

Virtual Hospital : Health Topics A-Z [from the University of Iowa]:

• Brain and Nervous System
• Procedures and Therapies
• Endocrine System (Hormones)
• Anatomy
• Normal Radiologic Anatomy: X-Ray, CT, MRI and Ultrasound
• Illustrated Encyclopedia of Human Anatomic Variation
• A digital library of pediatric health information

Medical Library Association's Top 10 Most Useful Medical Websites

Cancer.gov- Covers cancer information, clinical trials, research programs/funding, statistics

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)- large, very useful site from the most respected diagnostic facility in the world. Specific offerings include travelers' health advice, a large encyclopediac database, statistics by the truckload, issues concerning terrorism and biohazards, even a page to deal with rumors and hoaxes.

Familydoctor.org-  extremely basic collection of health information - from Amer. Acad. of Family Physicians.

Healthfinder©  - government site from DHHS - very nicely organized, with a huge database.

HIV InSite  - UCSF Hospital's comprehensive site for information on HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention, and policy.

Kidshealth© - actually a trio of sites about kids' health - one each for parents, kids, and teens.

Mayo Clinic - a superb source of health data - articles on diseases/conditions, drugs, topics of current interest.

MEDEM - from a partnership of medical societies, a detailed, complete library on diseases/conditions, therapies and health strategies, life stages, health and society; Learning Centers on topics like Alzheimers and chemotherapy; a physician finder, much more.

MEDLINEplus (English Spanish)- THE search engine for medical/pharmacological topics.  Essentially, it's the medical equivalernt of Chemical Abstracts.

NOAH- from the New York Online Access to Health, a very comprehensive site.

Drug Development

New Sources of Lead Compounds

Wealth of the Rainforest - from Raintree Nutrition, Inc.
 
Annonaceous Acetogenins - a plant family of fatty acid-derived natural products; the subset containing two THF rings exhibits very powerful activity against certain human tumor cell lines.

Sources of Botanicals, Herbals, & other Natural Products

Herbal Remedies  - On Vitaminsdiary.com, you can learn all about herbs and many herbal and natural remedies listed for various ailments.

Herbs, Botanicals & Other Products - Sloan-Kettring's AboutHerbs® site features a wealth of scientific, referenced data on any herb. If possible, every citation is linked to its MedLine abstract.  The scientific discussion of herbs is a real

HerbMed - an interactive, electronic herbal database - provides hyperlinked access to the scientific data underlying the use of herbs for health.

Stoney Mountain Botanicals - "Your Source for Essential Oils & Bulk Herbs" - primary an outlet, but the prices are really good.

Whole World Botanicals - everything you could ask for from botanical sources!

Medical Tests/Procedures

***As the population has aged, the need for more and highly accurate medical tests has become more acute. Although this listing is not meant to be exhaustive by any means, it does provide an overview of the more comon tests, the expected outcomes, and what results outside the "normal" range could mean. Be sure and consult with your phsycian before trying to interpret any medical test yourself, even with the help of a well-meaning chemcial technician. Remember - this section is a guide only, and not a substitute for a discusion with your healthcare provider.***

Lab Tests Online - designed by members of the American Association of Clinical Chemists, who are the professionals who carry out the great majority of laboratory medical tests.  Unique site, written with the lay patient in mind.

Medical Library - A Healthy Me - features dozens upon dozens of medical tests, along with the normal values for each. Don't go examining this resource, looking for what dread malady might finally explain why you've been feeling the way you have!!

Medical Tests - truly excellent, easy to use site from the Health Library of the super LaurusHealth.Com site, which is a cooperative effort of over 2000 community-owned hospitals.

Virtual Hospital : Health Topics A-Z : Procedures and Therapies - again, this is an excellent, meticulously detailed site, that could drive the determined hypochrondriac right into the psych ward. Leave medically-intensive sites like this to the physicians for whom they were written!

Virtual Hospital: Normal Radiologic Anatomy: X-Ray, CT, MRI and Ultrasound - this is actually a very intriguing piece, and does a very good job of explaining the purpose of the newest, radiarion-based diagnostic tools thathave made explatory surgery almost a thing of the past.

WebMD - authored by the Yale University School of Medicine, this fascinating site links to background information on each organ system and how physicians diagnose a wide variety of ailments. WebMD.com is incredible, providing links to diseases/conditions,drugs/herbs, clinical trials, genetics, nutrition, sports/fitness...you get the picture.

Popular Tests

Here is a list of commonly performed medical tests. The aforementioned cautions about driving yourself bonkers still apply.

ADD (attention deficit disorder) - this is a battery of tests administered by a psychologist or psychiatrist.

Aging - there are too many tests to go into here; visit the linked site for more information.

Overactive Bladder (OAB) Symptoms Quiz - see above.

• Adult Child of Alcoholics Screening Quiz
• Alcohol Withdrawal
• Alcoholism Remains Under-Diagnosed AMA Says
• Alcoholism Screening Quiz
• Anandamide Compound Targets Brain's 'Bliss' System
• Benztropine May Help Treat Cocaine Abuse
• Controversial Drug Cuts Alcohol Consumption
• Drug Abuse Screening Quiz
• Gene Study May Unlock Cause of Alcoholism
• Modafinil May Help Cocaine Dependence
• Seeking a Cure

Alzheimer's Disease

• Alzheimer's Caregiver: Table of Contents
• Alzheimer's: Coping, Support, Nutritional Needs and Memory Aides
• Fruit, Veggie Juices May Cut Alzheimer's Risk
• Healthy Gums May Help Fight Alzheimer's
• Herbal Supplement May Treat Forgetfulness
• Small Study Targets Alzheimer's Brain Plaque
• Statins May Not Fight Dementia

SW School of Botanical Medicine - many great links, from medicinal plant images to manuals, classic texts, folios, resources, FAQs, regional plant checklists etc.

Edmund's Page - links to many health-related sites, including pharmacy, medical, nursing, dental, bioscience, poison control centers, nutrition, etc.  Constantly updated.

Medicinal Chemistry Links  - features sections on "general information" (links to a few other link lists), online searching, and chemical suppliers.

"Useful Drug and Medical References Links" - Australian site with a huge number of links to drug/medicine databases.  Some of the Australian sites are really slick.

Drug InfoNet - A really excellent site with useful information regarding specific pharmaceutical products, disease and an "Ask the Experts" forum.  Also lots of great links.

PubMed - National Library of Medicine's (NLM) search service to access the 9 million citations in MEDLINE and Pre-MEDLINE (with links to participating on-line journals), and other related databases. A very good tutorial is recommended for novices.

Internet Grateful Med - IGM searches Medline using the retrieval engine of NLM's PubMed system.  Features a variety of databases to search, along with many links describing search strategies, getting hardcopy document delivery, etc.

Medical Matrix - A good links site for Internet clinical medicine resources.

Mosby's Search for Articles - sponsored by Mosby, Inc., this site allows searching for specific journals and then searching for information by keyword, author, or article title.  Very comprehensive and useful.

Pill Identification Wizard   - For identifying unknown pills - enter as much physical description data as possible, and a choice of photos of pill candidates is produced!

Selected Professional Societies, Databases and Other Useful Links

ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry - the usual ACS divisional info: meetings, abstract deadlines, search/browse engine for abstracts, workshops/short courses.  Unique among ACS divisions is its inclusion of non-ACS events in its listings, esp. those of AAPS.

American Academy of Pediatrics

American Cancer Society

American Dental Association

American Medical Association

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)

Clinical Examination

Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS)

Miscellaneous Links

Entheogen Dot Com - another eclectic site, similar to the Lycæum (see next item in list), called the "psychoactive plant community", with menus covering articles, forums, images, essays, downloads, and web links.

The Lycæum - an eclectic site, self-titled "Entheogenic Database & Community", consists of two primary databases - chemicals and plants.  Much about psychoactive chemicals.  A fascinating site, better to experience than attempt to describe.

Medicinal and Poisonous Plant Databases - separate medicinal plant and poisonous plant databases; sub-links to pharmacognosy, chemistry, herbalism.