Edited by author 10-03-2007 09:16 PM
I chose this topic because I have a friend with multiple slerosis and I want to understand how this happened to him. I feel my topic relates to this class because we have been discussing CNS and sensory and motor neurons and MS is a disorder when someone has lost sensation and motor control leaving affected regions numb and paralyzed.

1. Name of the website: Multiple Sclerosis: Hope Through Research
http://www.ninds.nih.gov/disorders/multipl...tiple_sclerosis.htm

This website was prepared by the offices of National Institute of Neurological Disorders or Strokes, National Institutes of Health. I know this because at the bottom of all the information is where this information is given. This website is a great tool to use if someone wants to understand MS better because it explains the disease, gives treatment options, diagnose process and states where to get more information on Ms. Tells how to help research, which would be great in supporting someone with MS. There are also websites to go to for support groups, which would help a MS patient, cope.

2. Name: What are the symptoms of multiple sclerosis?
http://www.mult-sclerosis.org/mssymptoms.html

This website posted by mailto:jones.paul@btconnect.com that out of his own pocket funded the entire website to answer impersonal questions to help people get a better understanding of MS. This website covers visual, motor, sensory, coordination, balance, bowel and bladder, sexual and cognitive symptoms. Explains MS, personal experiences, and links to go to for chats and forums, understanding MS and general medical information.

3. Name: Medline Plus: Multiple Sclerosis
 http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/multiplesclerosis.html

U.S. National Library of Medicine posted the website I discovered this by scrolling to the bottom of the page and clicking on copyright posted this website. This website covers the basics: overviews, latest news on this disease, diagnosis symptoms and treatments. We can learn more about alternative therapy, nutrition, rehabilitation/recovery, and coping. These are just a few of the subjects that this website covers. It is just full of information to answer questions that someone may have for a loved one or personally.

4. Name: Multiple Sclerosis: Diagnosis and Treatment Options at Mayo Clinic http://www.mayoclinic.org/multiple-sclerosis/

Mayo clinic post the website the copyright information reads terms of use and applicable to this site 2001-2007 May Foundation for Medical Education and Research. This website gives contact information right to the Mayo Clinic to answer questions, schedule an appointment and clinical trials that answer questions about new drugs, devices, therapies and treatments. This website also gives information on diagnosis and treatment options, doctors and departments of Mayo Clinic, education and research. Over this entire website really informs the public about the Mayo Clinic.

National Institute of Neurological disorders…

Informative website because it explained MS inflammation in white matter occurs in the CNS & followed by destruction of myelin, making neurological transmissions of messages slowed or completely blocked. (Exactly what we just learned in class) I couldn’t find anything negative about this website. It was very was very easy to find information and it also contained a glossary of terms used which was very helpful.

Mult-sclerosis

Good things about this website was it had tables with symptoms and descriptions which were easy to read and very informative. Also, it had personal experiences on this website. Negative item I found was it had a link for “ms news” and the most recent news it has posted in dated July 2004 so it has not been updated.

Medline Plus

This website has updated news, even as recent as 10/15/07 so that was helpful. It also had a link for Journal articles written regarding MS. I didn’t like the short definition of MS on the front page, needed to look for more information at different links on website. Also if you click on symptoms, for example, it doesn’t take you directly to information but instead another place to click on links to find such information.

Mayo Clinic

I like this site because I feel their information if accurate and very informative. Also, the information is very easy to navigate through and helpful. It also had information regarding clinical trials available, good information to know. Hard to find anything negative about his website because they seem to have all necessary information on their site.

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke
 
The two best things about this website is the quick access to information through links such as the alphabetical order of disease and the question links, and the fact that it can be translated to Spanish. The two worst things about the website are, really couldn’t find anything.

Multiple Sclerosis Symptoms

The two best things about this website is the straight forward information and the hyperlinks to the symptoms. The two worst things are the lack of research information and on the “about the site” page it says that they were in the third year and celebrating and it said it opened in 1999 so this tells me it has not been updated.

Medline Plus

The two best things about this website is the “Clear thinking about alternative therapies”. It gives a fact or fiction list about these therapies and what to watch out for. Also, the library feature is good. The two worst things are, again really couldn’t find anything.

Mayo Clinic

The two best things about the website are the easy to find tabs to find symptoms and treatments and the publications under the “Medical Professionals” section. The two worst things about this website are the personal stories, there are only two. Also, the descriptions of symptoms and treatments seem very brief for such a reputable medical establishment.

N.I.N.D.S.
This website was very informative. On the table of contents page it had all of the necessary questions one would ask about M.S., with the answers one click away or a few scrolls down. I really didn’t see any weaknesses. It was all right there for me.
M.S. Symptoms
I liked this website because it was simple and it definitely pertained to what we learned as far as the nervous system goes. With each part that M.S. affects, it would give a certain symptom or symptoms. It was on point yet informative.
Medline
This website was more of a link site. It had a brief explanation of M.S. and then many links to sites covering all the different aspects of M.S.
Mayo Clinic
An incredible resource for someone looking into M.S. treatment. There was tons of information.

1st website : This website is very professional looking, and helpful. It also helped me with all the very typical questions accompanying M.S. Quite honestly, I really didn’t see anything that I didn’t like about the website because it has everything you need, and it gives helpful info about who the people are producing the website, and you get the gist that the info presented is legit.
2nd website: I like this website because it is broken down for you but I didn’t like the way it was broken down. To me it didn’t make sense but other than that, it seems like they were trying to make it easier for people to get the information they wanted which is good.
3rd website: I liked that this covered all of the basics and is updated very often so you know its not totally out of date info. I didn’t like how they set up some of the links because it doesn’t take you there directly so you have to scroll through other info other than what you wanted to see.
4th website: I like that they have copyright info, terms of use and that it is from a major clinic here in az. I also liked that it gave contact info which could be very useful is you need to get in touch with somebody. I couldn’t really find anything bad about it because it has many good details.

Stacie, great job. Your quick website descriptions are succinct, let us know who is posting and why, and what is there. I have nothing to add to your peers' comments. Obviously, the one website that is from a lesser institution is 2. Although it is very impressive in its information and organization. So you would probably want to choose it as one that you would review.
LF

Choose topic: 10 points
Find four websites: 20 points
Peer reviews: 10 points

Edited by author 11-18-2007 08:19 PM
Title: I am reviewing the Mayo Clinic website http://www.mayoclinic.org/multiple-sclerosis ,as my large website, this is organized, user friendly and full of information on multiple sclerosis. I have respect for the Mayo Clinic, they take great care of there patients. This facility tries there best to accommodate the needs of sick people. Their website shows this, they want to get information out there and provide the help needed for those with multiple sclerosis in the easiest most efficient way possible. My friend that I spoke of with MS has told me he feels like he is part of a family when he has visited the Mayo Clinic, Wow that’s says it all.

Mayo clinic post the website the copyright information reads terms of use and applicable to this site 2001-2007 Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research. I read the first paragraph of this website and instantly felt that this facility could be trusted. I believe that the Mayo Clinic put this website together because they give statistics of 2,500 people that the Mayo Clinic cared for. Patients, who need to talk with a neurologist, go into Doctors put in multiple sclerosis in search box and a list of physicians comes up. I clicked on one of the doctor’s names and information on there experience is provided as well as their medical experience. There are also patient stories to read. This website gives contact information right to the Mayo Clinic to answer questions, schedule an appointment and clinical trials that answer questions about new drugs, devices, therapies and treatments. This website also gives information on diagnosis and treatment options, doctors and departments of Mayo Clinic, education and research. This entire website really informs the public about the Mayo Clinic and the services they offer.

I will explain how this website relates back to the basic anatomy and physiology of the body:
Multiple Sclerosis is a chronic, could be a debilitating disease of the central nervous system, made up of the brain and spinal cord. In MS, the body mistakenly directs antibodies and white blood cells against proteins in the myelin sheath, a fatty substance that protects nerve fibers in your brain and spinal cord. This results in inflammation and injury to the sheath and ultimately to the nerves that it surrounds. This result may be multiple areas of scarring (sclerosis). Eventually this damage can slow or block the nerve signals that control muscle coordination, strength, sensation and vision. All this ties into what we studied week 5 and week 6 in Anatomy and Physiology. Which was the nervous system, including the spinal cord, nerves, reflexes and neuron physiology along with the location and function of neurons. In Multiple sclerosis, the damage occurs on the myelin sheath around nerves associated with the brain and spinal cord. There is no protection for these nerves so sensory and motor neurons are not able to transmit message properly. Action potentials become blocked so the body responds by not moving or partial paralysis because messages are not enforced through out the body. This depends though on the location of the affected nerve fibers. If the damage occurs around motor neurons that conduct impulses along the efferent pathways from the CNS to effector (muscle), the gastrocnemius muscle will have difficulty in responding by contracting to lift the leg in step.

The two best features of Mayo Clinic’s website:
The list of doctors available to research credentials, so when the patient makes an appointment they have an idea of who to see. I just clicked on doctors & departments entered neurology in the search window and just clicked on the doctor’s name.
There are other peoples experiences with MS available to read by going to diseases and treatments and click on patients stories.

The two worst features I cannot find any with this website it is so easy to navigate and research.

This website review was created by:
Stacie Streit

Title: I am reviewing the http://www.mult-sclerosis.org/mssymptoms.html website for my smaller personal type of website. A man spoke of his own experiences with MS and shared this with others; this is very commendable and admirable. Putting this website together is great for people diagnosed with this horrible disease, so people can hear other ways MS challenges the body and how other people have dealt with those challenges. In my opinion, it takes brave people to talk about their problems, so I have a lot of respect for the way this website was put together.

This website posted by mailto:jones.paul@btconnect.com that out of his own pocket funded the entire website to answer impersonal questions to help people get a better understanding of MS. This website covers visual, motor, sensory, coordination, balance, bowel and bladder, sexual and cognitive symptoms. Explains MS, personal experiences, and links to go to for chats and forums, understanding MS and general medical information.

This website relates back to what we learned on week number 5 and week number 6 when we discussed the nervous system. The nervous system is the brain and spinal cord. In anatomy and physiology, we learned how a message is transmitted through a nerve to the brain and spinal cord to make an action potential happen. This website explains neurons as nerve cells, which do all the processing and communication, and trillions of support cells called glial cells, which assists its functioning and repair damage. The website goes on to explain the two different regions in the CNS, the grey and white matter. Grey matter is where all the processing is done and white matter is responsible for the communicating between regions of grey matter and the grey matter and the rest of the body. There are also explanations of the myelin sheath being the insulation around neurons in the brain, dendrites that receive the bulk of the nerve signals and the axon that the nerve signals travels on to the brain. First, this website explains the process that a nerve signal goes through then what happens to this process in an individual with MS.

The two best features of this website would be being able to read other peoples experiences with MS. How they cope with this disease and what treatments they chose. Another good feature is the explanation that the writer has given so people can understand what has happened to their body. The way he put it together is well organized and user friendly.

The two worse features would be that the MS news is not updated. The last posting was in 2004, which would make a reader think that this is old news and question the reliability of the material. Another feature I am not sure about would be the links. I do not know where this man got his information, if I click on the link is my computer going to get a virus? This always makes me a little nervous when I am doing research on a topic.

This website review was done by:
Stacie Streit

Nothing is missing from this review. Both reviews are very thorough and well explained. The best thing about this review is how well it is written. I do not see anything bad about this review. Good Job!

Wow! These reviews couldn't have been any better. Everything was explained in detail. It seemed like a lot of research was done. There's nothing negative to say.

Great website reviews. I feel that they were very well written and extremely detailed. Both had great information regarding MS and explained the disease in a way that was easy to understand. I feel you did a wonderful job explaining how MS relates to our A&P class. Best features of both reviews is how you got the most out of your websites and were able to explain the information they provided in a lot of detail. Again, great job.