The Mayo Clinic Health Oasis Digestive Resource Center provides up-to-date information, answers and advice. It furnishes medical illustrations to help people better understand and learn about the organs of the digestive system including the stomach, intestines, liver and pancreas. Other services include an E-mail service to alert people to new material on the site.

"The digestive system plays a critical role in your health," says Dr. John E. King, medical director of the new resource center and a Mayo Clinic gastroenterologist. "We will update our center frequently and add new features including interactive feedback mechanisms so we can find out how well we are meeting user needs."

One of the first resources to be available on the center is a table demonstrating Mayo Clinic's current understanding of ulcer disease and dispelling old beliefs. This table reveals that most ulcers are now considered curable, yet past beliefs were that people with ulcers would endure a lifelong chronic illness. It also reveals that stress and spicy foods were once considered the causes of ulcers, but new evidence reveals that the cause is bacterial infection combined with stomach acid. (See attachment for the complete diagram, which you may reproduce).

Here are some other topics that are covered in the Digestive Center: 

-- How to control the symptoms of non-ulcer dyspepsia. Non-ulcer dyspepsia is a relatively new term that describes a common and painful disorder of the esophagus, stomach and duodenum. It affects 15-20 percent of adults.

-- Peptic ulcer treatments to help the 10 percent of Americans who are affected by this condition.

-- Symptoms, causes and risk factors of gastrointestinal disorders.

 Mayo Clinic Health Oasis, begun in 1995, was one of the first Web sites devoted to health and wellness. Mayo Clinic Health Oasis draws upon the expertise of Mayo's 2,000 physicians to provide the public with accurate answers and information to help people live healthy lives. The site has more than 6,000 pages of content and receives more than 1.6 million visits each month. Any proceeds generated by Mayo Clinic's Health Information services are used to support medical research and education.

ST: Minnesota