Website Help

This website functions like any other:

When you see words or phrases that are underlined or are in a different color, using your mouse or touchpad to run the arrow over those words will change the arrow into a "hand", indicating that this is a live link which when clicked on will take you someplace else.
If after reading the information where the link took you you wish to return to the original page, you should always be able to find a left arrow at the top of your browser window which will take you back. Alternatively, hitting the "alt" and left arrow keys simultaneously should also return you to the previous page.

A few other useful tips:

You may find some of the text a bit small and hard to read. All browsers have the capability to easily increase the size of text but I find that many people are not aware of this. In all three of the browsers that I am familiar with - Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Google Chrome, using the "Ctrl" "+" combination (in other words, simultaneously holding down the control and plus keys) will enlarge the text, and repeating this will enlarge it further. It does not matter whether you use the plus key on the keyboard or the keypad on the right of most keyboards. Likewise, the control and minus (-) keys will reduce the text size. If you are a Mac person the equivalent is command +.

On the home page, if you click on the line that says "Click Here to Send a Question or Comment" you will be taken to a form. Simply enter your question or comment and click "submit". When you do this, your message will be directed to a specific inbox in my e-mail which receives only messages originating in the website. If I receive a great many messages in this manner I will not be able to respond to all of them, but will respond in the "Answers to Your Questions" section to those that seem of general interest. Your name and email address will never be used. Interesting comments may also be posted without a response if this is not necessary. Please understand that questions should be of general interest. Questions relating to your own personal health issues should be discussed with your own physician.
Some articles have highlighted links to the original journal article. Most journals provide free access to full articles, usually as Adobe Acrobat pdf files (download the free pdf reader here), once they are beyond a certain age, often one year. Such articles will download when you click on the link. But newer articles may not download unless you are connected through a school (such as UMass Medical School), library or workplace that provides access. Journals such as JAMA and the New England Journal of Medicine also often provide free access to new artices that they consider especially important.