NetWellness Premieres New Colon Cancer Topic for Consumers

NetWellness (www.Netwellness.org) combines comprehensive expertise from three medical centers to provide vital information for consumers about this crucial health issue

            CLEVELAND -- In conjunction with National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, NetWellness (www.NetWellness.org), a highly regarded consumer health Website, premieres a new section on colon cancer.  On the new site, consumers will be able to find a comprehensive approach to understanding colon cancer, prevention and screening, treatment and tests, complications, and other information.

            The information reflects the medical expertise found at the three academic medical centers operating NetWellness: Case Western Reserve University, The Ohio State University and the University of Cincinnati.

            The site highlights original feature articles written by an interdisciplinary team of faculty from the three partner institutions and links to many high-quality Websites including to the National Cancer Institute, one of the National Institutes of Health.  This team approach with university experts is rarely available directly to consumers.

            Colon cancer, with cancer of the rectum, is the second leading cause of cancer-related death in the United States for men and women combined.

            NetWellness supports the goals of National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month with science-based, unbiased content written for consumers.

            Daniel B. Ornt, M.D., associate dean for clinical affairs at Case's School of Medicine, said, "We are pleased to present this topic and trust that NetWellness can make an important contribution to increase public awareness of this highly preventable condition."

            With NetWellness receiving 48 million hits annually from an international audience, cancer expert Janice Rafferty, M.D., from the University of Cincinnati, observes, "NetWellness provides a confidential and anonymous source for people to get specific information they need about cancers of the colon and rectum directly from university experts."        

            James Thomas, M.D., from the James Cancer Center at OSU, states, "There have been tremendous advances in the treatment of colorectal cancer in the last decade.  NetWellness is an important avenue to disseminate the latest research findings from the university to the public."

            Celebrating its 10th anniversary, NetWellness (www.netwellness.org) was one of the first consumer health websites on the internet, and remains commercial-free to this day. NetWellness is a non-profit, Web-based consumer health and education resource created in response to the growing trend of a public turning to the internet for information about health and medicine.  It is designed to give consumers single-point access to current health information to foster prevention, choice and to enhance the patient-provider relationship. The site incorporates many features including information on hundreds of topics, current health news, an extensive health encyclopedia and an Ask an Expert feature where users are able to question faculty experts from the three universities obtaining individual responses.  Over 385 medical professionals donate their time through both writing articles on many of the health topics, and by responding to questions sent to the site's Ask an Expert feature.

Release date: 3 March 2006