Important Links

Links:

Drugs.com - Drug Interactions Checker

This is a great (free) service that allows you to check various custom combinations of medications (precription & over-the-counter) for possible contraindications / negative interactions. Check your own medications as well as those of your friends and loved ones. If you are taking two or more medications (including Aspirin, Ibuprofen, Tylenol etc.), this check will help you stay away from some of the more obvious safety concerns associated with various combinations of self-prescribed and doctor prescribed medications.

Intelihealth - features Harvard Medical School's Consumer Health Information

Aetna InteliHealth's mission is to empower people with trusted solutions for healthier lives. We accomplish this by providing credible information from the most trusted sources.

MedicineNet.com

MedicineNet.com is an online, healthcare media publishing company. It provides easy-to-read, in-depth, authoritative medical information for consumers via its robust, user-friendly, interactive web site. Since 1996, MedicineNet.com has had a highly accomplished, uniquely experienced team of qualified executives in the fields of medicine, healthcare, Internet technology, and business to bring you the most comprehensive, sought after healthcare information anywhere. Nationally recognized, Doctor-Produced by a network of over 70 U.S. Board Certified Physicians, MedicineNet.com is the trusted source for online health and medical information.

PubMed - Medline (National Library of Medicine, National Instute of Health)

PubMed, a service of the National Library of Medicine, provides access to over 17 million MEDLINE citations back to the 1950's and additional life science journals. PubMed includes links to many sites providing full articles and other related resources. While many consumers will find this site to be too technical, it is an extremely valuable and up-to-date resource for those who want access to in-depth information via current and past medical research on the gamut of health related topics.

Wikipedia

Wikipedia is a multilingual, web-based, free content encyclopedia project. Wikipedia is written collaboratively by volunteers; its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the Internet. Wikipedia has more than 2 million articles written in the English language (approximately 9.25 million total article written in 253 languages) and they cover a broad variety of topics including many health related topics. It is an excellent resource for educating yourself about almost anything and two scholarly studies have concluded that Wikipedia is roughly as accurate as other encyclopedias. However, you should compare its information with other reputable sources and discuss the information with your doctor.

Herbs & Botanicals - Information Resource - Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Information resource for many of the most often used natural supplement products. Site information includes clinical summary, purported uses, constituents, mechanism of action, warnings, adverse reactions, drug interactions, literature summary & critique.

USDA - National Nutrient Database – reference

U.S. Department of Agriculture web site that breaks down more than 6000 common foods into 117 nutrient categories including vitamins, minerals, fatty acids, proteins / amino acids, carbohydrates, fiber and calories. The nutrient categories are very detailed and many are not even included on the food package labels themselves. Look up your favorite foods, choose the serving size, and see the details about the 117 nutrients.

Tool for designing your FAMILY HEALTH HISTORY

The Surgeon General's office has designed a tool to help you easily create a "private" family health history that can be readily shared with your doctors, and other family members if you choose.

Questions & Answers for Consumers and Practitioners
Why is family health history useful?
Your family health history can help your health care practitioner provide better care for you. It can help identify whether you have higher risk for some diseases. It can help your health care practitioner recommend actions for reducing your personal risk of disease. And it can help in looking for early warning signs of disease.

What are the key features of the Surgeon Generals family health history tool?
The Surgeon Generals "My Family Health Portrait" is an internet-based tool that makes it easy for you to record your family health history. The tool is easy to access on the web and simple to fill out. It assembles your information and makes a "pedigree" family tree that you can download. It is private--it doesnt keep your information. It gives you a health history that you can share with family members or send to your health care practitioner.

How long does it take to fill out the form? What do I do with it then?
It should only take about 15 to 20 minutes to build a basic family health history. Individuals with larger families will spend more time entering in their information. Then you have the option of sharing it with other family members, if you wish. They may help provide information you didnt know. And relatives can start with your information and create their own history. You will also probably want to provide your health history to your health care practitioner. You and your health care practitioner should review it together before making it part of your medical record.

What about my privacy? Does the government (or others, like my employer) have access to my information?
The Surgeon Generals family health history tool does NOT make your health information available to the government or to anyone else but you. It only provides the software for organizing your information. By accessing the tool on the web, you make use of that software. But the information you fill in is never available to anyone else, unless you decide to share it. After you fill in your information, it is available only to you for downloading into your own computer. After that, its up to you whether you want to share the information with other family members or provide it to your health care practitioner.

What if I need help in filling out the tool?
The tool should be easy to complete. But help is available from the Application Support Desk at that National Cancer Institutes Center for Biomedical Informatics and Information Technology (CBIIT). You can contact the CBIIT help desk by email at ncicb@pop.nci.nih.gov and by telephone at 888.478.4423 (toll free) or 301-451-4384. The CBIIT help desk is open from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM Eastern time, but they can take recorded messages from 8:00 PM to 8:00 AM Eastern time. The help desk can assist you with problems with the tool, but questions about your health history or medical conditions should be referred to a qualified health professional.

Why is it important that the tool "re-indexes" as different family members use it?
If you share your family health history with a relative, they can use your information as a starting point to create their own family health history. This is made even easier by re-indexing. "Re-indexing" means your relatives can make themselves the center of the information, start their own family health history, and the information that you provided is automatically readjusted to show its correct relationship to them.

How can I encourage other family members to share their health information?
Privacy is important, and no one should be forced to share personal health information if they dont wish to. But knowledge of family health histories may be spread over different family members, so sharing can help create the best product. Maybe the best way to encourage sharing is to help make it clear how this information can help health care practitioners provide better care and make more informed decisions.

What security precautions should I take when I share information with relatives?
Since the information that is aggregated by the FHH tool is personal health information, you should take reasonable precautions when sending this information to relatives. You should encrypt the information before sending it via email. If you dont have access to encrypted email; it may be better to transfer the information on a CD or memory stick; either in person or by regular mail.

What if my knowledge about my family health history is incomplete or imprecise?
Very few people are likely to have detailed and precise information about their family members/ health histories. But any information can be helpful. Once you have completed your history, it is important to talk about it with your health care practitioner. He or she may be able to help provide perspective, or even provide more detail based on the knowledge you bring.

Why is it important that the tool is "EHR- and PHR-ready"?
Electronic health records (EHRs) can help improve quality of care and improve cost-effectiveness of care at the same time. With interoperable EHRs, your health information can be available when and where it is needed--whether in an emergency, or merely when seeing a new physician. For EHRs to be useful, products like family health history need to be compatible and "EHR-ready." That way they can be embedded in EHRs (or in PHRs, the electronic "personal health record" maintained by the consumer). The Surgeon Generals family health history tool is ready for use in EHRs.

What is "clinical decision support"? How does it apply to family health history?
"Clinical decision support" refers to software tools that help health care practitioners deliver the best quality care. These tools usually operate as a feature of EHRs. For example, these tools can alert a practitioner to potentially dangerous drug interactions by automatically matching a new prescription with the drugs a patient is already taking. Likewise the tools can remind a physician or consumer when certain procedures may be due. Such tools can interact with your health history information and help in forming personalized health recommendations.

Can doctors use information from the tool even if they dont have EHRs?
Yes. The most important goal is simply to record your information. The Surgeon Generals family health history tool can help you do that easily. The information will be useful to you and your health care practitioner whether or not the practitioner uses electronic records yet.

Will the family health history tool give me advice on actions I should take?
No. The Surgeon Generals tool helps gather information that will be useful for you and your health care practitioner, but it does not provide medical advice. You should consult with a health professional about advice based on your family health history information.

H1N1 Flu Self-Evaluation

Are you or a loved one sick and worried
you might have H1N1 Flu?
During flu season this year, you might have to wait a long time in a crowded waiting room before you can see your doctor or be seen in an Emergency Room. Some people with the flu need to be seen right away. Other people can often take care of themselves at home just fine. This information may help you better understand the flu and what people like you should do.

This information is not a substitute for your doctor's advice. The H1N1 Flu Self-Evaluation was developed in collaboration with the Emory University School of Medicine and is here to help you understand the flu symptoms you or your family member may be having so that you can make your own health decisions.

This information is only for individuals ages 18 and above. You can find additional information on flu and young adults or children at www.flu.gov.

H1N1 Vaccine Information from the FDA (US Food & Drug Administration)

H1N1 Vaccine Information from the FDA (US Food & Drug Administration)plus links to PDF's of Package Inserts from Vaccine Manufacurers. Package Inserts include the following information:

Indications and Usage
Dosage and Administration
Dosage Forms and Strengths
Contraindications
Warnings and Precautions
Adverse Reactions
Drug Interactions
Use in Specific Populations
Description (includes Non Virus related components and chemicals in Vaccine)
Clinical Pharmacology
Non-Clinical Toxicology
Clinical Studies
References
How Supplied / Storage and Handling
Patient Counseling Information