Medical Information on the Internet

These free resources can help you with patron medical and health reference questions:

Research Your Health Care Providers

To find out more about your health care provider, see these websites:

• State of Ohio eLicense Search: Verify whether your physician is licensed by the State Medical Board of Ohio. The license look up also indicates if any disciplinary action has been taken against a professional licensed by the board. A search at this eLicense site also allows you to search the state dental, nursing, psychology, counseling boards, and more.
• Is your Doctor Board Certified: Since 1933, the American Board of Medical Specialties Member Boards have been certifying doctors to help assure patients that these doctors are qualified to provide expert health care in an ever-expanding number of medical specialties and subspecialties. It’s free to use this tool, but you must first register for an account in order to search.
• AMA DoctorFinder: Published by the American Medical Association the AMA DoctorFinder provides professional information about virtually every licensed physician in the United States and its possessions — including more than 814,000 doctors of medicine and doctors of osteopathy or osteopathic medicine.

Addiction

For authoritative, accurate, and current information about addiction, see these websites:

• National Institute on Drug Abuse: Purpose is to advance science on the causes and consequences of drug use and addiction and to apply that knowledge to improve individual and public health. Contains articles about drugs of abuse and lists of further resources.
• Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration: An agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services that leads public health efforts to advance the behavioral health of the nation. SAMHSA’s mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities. Includes hotlines to call and information about how to get help and treatment.
• MedlinePlus Health Information on Drug Abuse: Published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, MedlinePlus provides easy to understand health information for consumers. The Drug Abuse section includes basic information about common drugs that are abused, symptoms of addiction, and options for help.

Dementia

For authoritative, accurate, and current information about dementia, see these websites:

• Dementia (including Alzheimer disease) (Beyond the Basics): A very comprehensive article provided for free by UpToDate, a subscription based physician tool.
• MedlinePlus – Dementia: MedlinePlus provides comprehensive personal health information and is published by the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. The Dementia section includes overviews, Diagnosis and Tests, Prevention and Risk Factors, Treatments and Therapies, Living with Dementia, and links to many other resources.

Drugs and Supplements

For authoritative, accurate, and current information about drugs and supplements, see these websites:

• MedlinePlus – Drugs, Herbs and Supplements: Published by the U.S. National Library of Medicine, MedlinePlus provides easy to understand health information for consumers. Learn about your prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines. Includes side effects, dosage, special precautions, and more.
• Drug Information from the National Library of Medicine: Includes these tools:
  • Drug Information Portal, which includes comprehensive information on over 53,000 substances for the consumer, health professionals, and researchers
  • Drugs, Herbs and Supplements, that lists side effects, dosage, special precautions, and more about drugs and effectiveness, usual dosage, and drug interactions for supplements
  • Pillbox, a tool that aids in the identification of unknown solid dosage pharmaceuticals
  • DailyMed, which includes FDA labels (package inserts)
  • Dietary Supplement Label Database (DSLD), which includes name, form, active and inactive ingredients, amount of active ingredient, manufacturer/distributor information, label claims, warnings, percentage of daily value, and additional label information for vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, and other specialty supplements
  • LactMed, which has information on drugs to which breastfeeding mothers may be exposed, and the effects of those agents on nursing infants and on lactation
  • LiverTox, which includes information about medications, herbals, and dietary supplements that can affect the liver

• Drugs@FDA: U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved drug products. Includes basic information about all FDA approved drugs, recent news on drug approvals, and drug safety information.

 

General Resources

For authoritative, accurate, and current health information, see these websites:

• MedlinePlus: Comprehensive personal health information from the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health. Includes drug information and lab tests information.
• Mayo Clinic Patient Care and Health Information: Easy to read and A to Z sections on Diseases and Conditions, Symptoms, Tests and Procedures, and Drugs and Supplements.
• Merck Manual Consumer Edition: Easy to understand sections including Medical Topics, Symptoms, Emergencies, and Drug Information. Also available freely through Merck Manuals is Merck Manuals Professional Edition, and Merck Veterinary Manual.

Lab Tests

For authoritative, accurate, and current lab test information, see these websites:

• Lab Tests Online: Maintained by the American Association for Clinical Chemistry. Search for lab tests by disease or lab test name. Normal ranges for tests are not provided.
• MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia: Look up a lab test to see normal ranges.

Mental Health

For authoritative, accurate, and current mental health information, see these websites:

• The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA): An agency within the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services whose mission is to reduce the impact of substance abuse and mental illness on America’s communities. Includes these sections: Mental Health Information, Consumer Health Publications, and Help for Mental Illness.
• The National Institute of Mental Health: the lead federal agency for research on mental disorders and is published by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the National Institutes of Health. This resource includes sections like Mental Disorders and Related Topics, Treatments and Therapies, and Finding Help as well as the latest research on mental health.
• National Alliance on Mental Illness (NAMI): The nation’s largest grassroots mental health organization dedicated to building better lives for the millions of Americans affected by mental illness. Includes sections on Mental Health Conditions, Treatment, downloadable Fact Sheets, and Finding Support.

 

Written by Terese DeSimio, Reference Librarian