Database Digest

MEDLINEplus (NLM Consumer Health)
http://www.medlineplus.gov/

The MEDLINEplus database is a great source for authoritative and up-to-date health information for consumers and health professionals. MEDLINEplus is produced by the National Library of Medicine and contains information on more than 500 diseases and conditions from the National Institutes of Health and other reliable sources.

To best utilize the MEDLINEplus database, you can search it two ways: 1) by entering your topic of interest in the Search box, found at the top of the home page, and then selecting from the results; or 2) by navigating through one of the five categories below, which you will see on the MEDLINEplus home page, to find your topic of interest.

Health Topics - Information on conditions, diseases and wellness. You can browse through the list of health topics alphabetically or by broad groups, or you can use the MEDLINEplus search function to enter your topic. The Adam Health Illustrated Encyclopedia is available and includes over 4,000 articles about diseases, tests, symptoms, injuries, and surgeries. It also contains an extensive library of medical photographs and illustrations. You will already find plenty of health information in Spanish, and the entire database will be searchable in Spanish by Fall 2002. Fun and informative topical Interactive Tutorials can also be found.

Drug Information - Generic and brand name drugs. Information on thousands of prescription and over-the-counter medications is provided through two drug resources -- MedMaster, a product of the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP) , and the USP DI Advice for the Patient, a product of the United States Pharmacopeia (USP). You can browse by the first letter of generic or brand name drug or enter drug name using the search feature.

Dictionaries - Spellings and definitions of medical terms. Provides access and links to a collection of online medical dictionaries, general and specialized. Some of the dictionaries available are: Cancer.gov Dictionary (National Cancer Institute); Heart & Stroke Encyclopedia (American Heart Association); Merriam-Webster Medical Dictionary (Inteli-Health, Inc.); Multilingual Glossary of Technical and Popular Medical Terms in Eight European Languages (European Commission); and Word! A Glossary of Medical Words (Nemours Foundation) - for kids

Directories - This feature will help you find the locations and credentials of general doctors and dentists, specialists, other healthcare providers, hospitals and clinics, and other healthcare facilities and services.

Other Resources - Access to organizations, consumer health libraries, international sites, publications, MEDLINE and more.