My NCBI — Enhancements to My Bibliography

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From the 24 June 2011 NLM Technical Bulletin

Citations stored in My Bibliography will soon display links to Free full text, Related citations and articles Cited in PMC (PubMed Central®). See Figure 1. In addition, My Bibliography will be enhanced to include a portlet for Related PubMed® Citations.

Figure 1: My Bibliography with links and Related PubMed Citations portlet.
The “Free full text” link will be available for a citation when the article full text is found in PubMed Central. The link goes directly to the PMC article.

The “Related citations” link retrieves articles that are topically related to a single citation stored in My Bibliography. The related citations are displayed in PubMed.

The “Cited in PMC” link retrieves articles found in PubMed Central that reference a single citation present in My Bibliography. The cited by articles are displayed in PMC.

The Related PubMed Citations portlet will present a brief list of citations recently added to PubMed. Citation retrieval for this portlet is based on the research topics found in the citations stored in My Bibliography. The portlet will be updated weekly, providing users with the latest information related to their research interests.

By Lidia Hutcherson
National Center for Biotechnology Information

My NCBI allows you to create (within PubMed) automatic email alerts, save your searches and records, filter results by subject, and much more.

 

Related Resources

• PubMed MyNCBI trifold handout
• Saving Searches (My NCBI)
  • Saving Searches and Creating E-mail Alerts (4 min., revised April 2011)
  • Changing Saved Searches (2 min., revised April 2011)
  • E-mail Alerts for Articles from Your Favorite Journals (3 min., revised April 2011)
• Collections and Bibliographies (My NCBI)
  • Collections (3 min., revised April 2011)

  Preferences and Filters (My NCBI)

  • Changing Your Default Display Settings (2 min., revised April 2011)
  • Filters
    • Links to Full Text from Your Library (Library LinkOut Filters) (3 min., revised April 2011)
  • Selecting Your Outside Tool Preference (3 min., revised April 2011)

A gut-full of probiotics for your neurological well-being

From the 5 July 2011 Science Daily article

Probiotics, often referred to as ‘good bacteria’, are known to promote a healthy gut, but can they promote a healthy mind? Exploring the new world of neurological probiotics, researchers in BioEssays present new ideas on how neurochemicals delivered directly to the gut, via probiotic intestinal microbiota, exert their beneficial effects in maintaining gastrointestinal health and even psychological well-being.
The research, led by Professor Mark Lyte from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, proposes that through a unifying process of microbial endocrinology, neurochemical-producing probiotics could act as a delivery mechanism for neuroactive compounds that could improve a host’s gastrointestinal and psychological health.
“This paper proposes a new field of microbial endocrinology, where microbiology meets neuroscience,” said Lyte. “There is already evidence to suggest that the connection between gut microbes and the nervous system represents a viable route for influencing neurological function. A recent study in mice, for example, showed that the presence of neurochemicals such a serotonin in the bloodstream was due to direct uptake from the gut.”
In his hypothesis Professor Lyte considers the selection of probiotics, such as lactobacilli and bifidobacteria, and how the active uptake of neurochemicals, generated by bacteria in the gut and circulated through a patient’s bloodstream, represents a pathway for probiotics to exert extra-intestinal effects including behavioral changes.

 

A link to the abstract of the research article may be found here.
Access to the full text of the article requires a subscription.
Click here for suggestions on how to get this article for free or at low cost. 

Related articles

• Probiotics for Kids (everydayhealth.com)
• Should I Take Probiotics? (everydayhealth.com)
• Safety of Probiotics Used to Reduce Risk and Prevent or Treat Disease (jflahiff.wordpress.com)

Best U.S. hospitals are run by physicians, study finds

From the 6 July 2011 Science Daily item

 Top-performing hospitals are typically ones headed by a medical doctor rather than a manager. That is the finding from a new study of what makes a good hospital.The research, to be published in the elite journal Social Science and Medicine, is the first of its kind. Its conclusions run counter to a modern trend across the western world to put generally trained managers — not those with a medical degree — at the helm of hospitals. This trend has been questioned, particularly by the Darzi Report, which was commissioned by the U.K. National Health Service, but until now there has been no clear evidence….

Integrating Science And Medicine In The Treatment Of Chronic Disease

From the 6 July 2011 Medical News Today item

 

Chronic non-communicable diseases (NCD), such as cardiovascular disease,diabetes, arthritis, chronic respiratory disorders and cancer represent the major global health problem of the 21st century and affect all age groups. The cost of treating these diseases is substantial, and for many countries is an under-appreciated cause of poverty.

In BioMed Central’s open access journal Genome Medicine an international group of scientists and medical doctors have proposed an integrated method, using systems medicine, research, and personalized patient centered treatment, to look at chronic disease as a whole. ..

…Prof Jean Bousquet, from Arnaud de Villeneuve Hospital, CHU Montpellier, said, “Integration between results from primary care, research, and public health studies would fine tune computational and mathematical modeling. Increased access to patient data by health professionals (as long as patient confidentiality could be assured) would feed into this data pool in order to provide a better understanding of disease progression and treatment.

“Many people who suffer from chronic NCD are affected by more than one disease and would benefit from a personalized holistic treatment at the level of primary care. A better understanding of chronic disease through systems medicine would allow a more efficient use of health resources and focus attention on prevention as well as control, so reducing the cost and burden of care to society.” ..

Related articles

• Questions to Ask Your Doctor About Chronic Kidney Disease (everydayhealth.com)
• Coping with diseases can go beyond medication (search.japantimes.co.jp)
• Patients with chronic conditions get one-stop care (theglobeandmail.com)

Air Pollution Linked To Learning And Memory Problems, Depression

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From the 5 July 2011 Medical News Today item

 Long-term exposure to air pollution can lead to physical changes in the brain, as well as learning and memory problems and even depression, new research in mice suggests.

While other studies have shown the damaging effects of polluted air on the heart and lungs, this is one of the first long-term studies to show the negative impact on the brain, said Laura Fonken, lead author of the study and a doctoral student in neuroscience at Ohio State University.

“The results suggest prolonged exposure to polluted air can have visible, negative effects on the brain, which can lead to a variety of health problems,” Fonken said.

“This could have important and troubling implications for people who live and work in polluted urban areas around the world.”

The study appears online this week in the journal Molecular Psychiatry.

A link to the abstract of the research article may be found here.
Access to the full text of the article requires a subscription.
Click here for suggestions on how to get this article for free or at low cost. 

 

Related articles

• Air Pollution Tied to Brain Damage (newser.com)
• Indoor Air Pollution and Blood Pressure (iapnews.wordpress.com)

Natural Marijuana-Like Chemicals In Our Bodies Make Fatty Foods Hard To Resist

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From the 5 July 2011 Medical News Today item

 

Recent studies have revealed potato chips and french fries to be the worst contributors to weight gain – and with good reason. Have you ever wondered why you can’t eat just one chip or a single fry? It’s not just the carbohydratesat fault.

UC Irvine researchers Daniele Piomelli, Nicholas DiPatrizio and colleagues found that fats in these foods make them nearly irresistible and trigger a surprising biological mechanism that likely drives our gluttonous behavior. The apparent culprit? Natural marijuana-like chemicals in the body called endocannabinoids.

In their study, the Piomelli team discovered that when rats tasted something fatty, cells in their upper gut started producing endocannabinoids. Sugars and proteins, the researchers noted, did not have this effect. ….

…Study results appear this week in the online edition of Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

A link to the abstract of the research article may be found here.
Access to the full text of the article requires a subscription.
Click here for suggestions on how to get this article for free or at low cost. 

Related articles

• Can”t resist another potato chip? Pot-like chemicals in our body are at fault (news.bioscholar.com)
• Overeating? Blame Your Body’s Marijuana Chemicals (newser.com)

Health Insurance Doesn’t Always Protect People From Medical Debt

From a 1 July 2011 Medical News Today item

In 2010, about 40 percent of Americans-or 73 million people-had trouble paying medical bills, up from 34 percent in 2005. Now, a new study confirms that having health insurance coverage is no guarantee against accumulating medical debt for working-age adults. Not surprisingly, the study likewise finds that both medical debt and lack of insurance coverage lead to reduced access to health care.

“We think of insurance as protecting us from unexpected large financial impact. We have car insurance, house insurance and other kinds of insurance for that reason,” said Patricia Herman, lead study author and an economist at the University of Arizona. “There is an expectation that if you have health insurance that you are protected from being financially devastated by illness or injury. Unfortunately, this isn’t always the case.”

The study, which appears online and in the August issue of the American Journal of Public Health, used data from the 2008 Arizona Health Survey of 4,200 state households.

A link to the abstract of the research article may be found here.
Access to the full text of the article requires a subscription.
Click here for suggestions on how to get this article for free or at low cost. 

Related articles

• Medical debt occurs despite insurance, UA study shows (eurekalert.org)
• 5 Tips For Dealing With Your Medical Debt (christianpf.com)
• 5 Tips for Dealing with Medical Debt (helpwithdebtnow.com)

Pillbox Beta helps one to identify pills (solid medications)

Pillbox Beta: Rapid Identification, Reliable Information

Need help identifying your medications? Pillbox can recognize over-the-counter and prescription pills by their imprint, shape, color, size, and score marks. This web site is under development by the NLM, NIH, and HHS. (Please note that as of press time, Pillbox is up and running but is still being tested in beta format.)

Related articles

• Tips for Remembering Your Medication (everydayhealth.com)
• Preventing Poisoning: Safety Tips for You, Your Family, and Friends (education.com)

Expert on Mental Illness Reveals Her Own Fight

From the NY Times 23 June 2011 article (includes video)

The patient wanted to know, and her therapist — Marsha M. Linehan of theUniversity of Washington, creator of a treatment used worldwide for severely suicidal people — had a ready answer. It was the one she always used to cut the question short, whether a patient asked it hopefully, accusingly or knowingly, having glimpsed the macramé of faded burns, cuts andwelts on Dr. Linehan’s arms:

“You mean, have I suffered?”

“No, Marsha,” the patient replied, in an encounter last spring. “I mean one of us. Like us. Because if you were, it would give all of us so much hope.”

“That did it,” said Dr. Linehan, 68, who told her story in public for the first time last week before an audience of friends, family and doctors at the Institute of Living, the Hartford clinic where she was first treated for extreme social withdrawal at age 17. ….

The article goes on to tell Dr. Linehan’s journey to “radical acceptance” on how she uses this concept in therapy.

 

Meet e-patient Dave – a voice of patient engagement (and related resources)

https://ted.com/talks/view/id/1181

e-patient Dave de Bronkart was successfully treated for kidney cancer at a very late stage. He credits his recovery to using the Internet to find trusted medical information as well as to get advice from patients via support groups.

His video Let Patients Help outlines how and why patients should empower themselves.
Some video highlights

• Patients are presently the most underutilized part of the health team
• The e-patient movement is at least partly based on hippie ideals of self-reliance and self-care (think Whole Earth Catalog)
• e-patients are empowered, engaged, equipped and enabled through finding information to use in discussions regarding treatment options with their health care providers
• Support groups often are useful in providing information not available at other sites (as which doctors specialize in certain treatments)
• Patients not only need quality information, but also access to their raw medical data

Related Resources

How to evaluate medical and health information

• Evaluating Internet health information (Penn State)
• Evaluating Medical Research Findings and Clinical Trials (Family Caregiver Alliance)
• A Consumer’s Guide to Taking Charge of Health Information (Harvard Center for Risk Alliance)
• Evaluating Health Information on the Internet (National Cancer Institute)
• Quackwatch: Your Guide to Quackery, Health Fraud, and Intelligent Decisions (Stephen Barrett, M.D.)

Great starting places for quality health and medical information

• MedlinePlus (US National Library of Medicine/National Institutes of Health)
  Links to information on over 700 diseases/conditions, drugs & supplements, videos & tools (as health calculators, anatomy     videos, directories (as Find an Eye Doctor), and links to organizations

• UpToDate For Patients
  Click on the Patient Information tab to find free information written for patients. These topics help one to learn more about a medical condition, better understand management and treatment options, and have a better dialogue with health care providers. This free information is adapted from the subscription based service UpToDate (which is for and by physicians and researchers).
• US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
  Includes Health Topics A to Z, and sections  as Diseases and Conditions as  Healthy Living
• eMedicine Consumer Health
  Comprehensive continuously updated health and medical information written by physicians. Information on specific diseases/conditions includes overviews, causes, diagnosis, treatments, outlook, and additional links. Slideshows, images, pictures,medications, and quizzes.
  emedicine.com is geared towards health professionals. However it is free to all who register.

•  But Wait, There’s More!
• Online consumer health guides, as Consumer Health (University of Toledo), Consumer Health (University of Florida), Consumer Health Guide (University of California)
  Libguides are written by librarians on every subject imaginable. They are free to all.
• Never underestimate the finding power of a librarian.

Many academic and medical institutions offer at least some reference services to the general public.  Be sure to ask for a reference librarian. He or she not only has a master’s degree in Library Science, but often additional related education in health related areas.

Online Health Communities/Support Groups

• Self-Help Group SourceBook Online
  A starting point for finding every type of national, international, model and online self-help support group that is available starting point for finding every type of national, international, model and online self-help support group that is available. (MentalHelp.net)

• MedlinePlus 
  Search with a phrase as “support groups” cancer or select a Health topic and select an organization.
• Medpedia communities
  This site allows people with common health interests to share information and communicate. Anyone may create a community of interest and anyone may join.Medpedia is an open platform connecting people and information to advance medicine. Users include health care professionals, health care organizations, expert lay persons, students, and scientists.
• MedHelp International
       This online health community which not only provides health information but helps patients actively manage their health through online personal health records andMedhelp trackers (iphone friendly options).
  The People option allows one to search by a disease or condition to find related information (including symptoms, treatments, resources). One can also view postings and blogs by other members and interact with them.
  Medical experts helps users by answering questions in Ask-an-Expert forums, participating in conversations with members in free live health chats, and sharing their knowledge and the latest news in blogs
• Mayo Clinic Online Community is ” free and is open to anyone, whether you have been a patient at Mayo Clinic or not. It includes content from various Mayo Clinic blogs,health and medical videos from Mayo’s YouTube channel and links to news articlesabout Mayo Clinic research and treatment advances. It also features a discussion forum where members can connect with others who have similar interests or concerns.”

A few related postings from my blog

• [How to] Explore Your Treatment Options
• Free Online Anatomy Sites 
• How to obtain free/low cost articles from medical journals
• Plain language summaries Web sites explain medical studies for all