SEARCHING
FOR INFORMATION ON MEDICAL RESEARCH ON-LINE AND OFF
Compiled by a patient with NO medical
training - Last updated on 12 May 2007
CONTENTS
FINDING
MEDICAL
RESEARCH
- Everyone
interested in current
and
past medical research should know about the National Library of
Medicine (NLM) search engine at http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov
- Using “gateway”, one has
access to the Medline database, MedlinePlus,
PubMed, PubMed Central, drug information. health information, a medical
dictionary and
medical encyclopedia, and other National Library of Medicine
resources.
- Gateway is the perhaps the
best single access to NLM
information.
- Using
the National Library of
Medicine search engine at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi one can
search using the PubMed access to the Medline database for listings of
medical journal articles using various search criteria.
- In many
cases it is possible to get abstracts on-line, and even some full text
articles.
- Other
NLM databases can be accessed and searched by going to http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gquery/gquery.fcgi
- Clicking on ENTEREZ HOME will
give
you wider search capabilities over more databases with more search
criteria than PubMed.
- There
is no way currently to
allow release
of all full text
articles from Medline to the public at no cost due to
copyright law.
- Arrangements may be possible
through a local
health science library (read “hospital medical library) to receive
articles at an agreed cost and methods of payment and delivery.
- Once a contract with the
library is signed and approved, a password
will be issued.
- That will give individuals
the ability to order
full text articles through the NLM on-line service, “Loansome Doc”,
once a password has been obtained.
- For more, see http://www.nlm.nih.gov/pubs/factsheets/loansome_doc.html
- A change in 2005 made
some full text articles available on line, but some being available
only after a time
limit following publication.
- Some full text articles may be
obtained on-line from the Medline database and from PubMed
Central. See below.
SEARCHING
THE
MEDLINE DATABASE
- Searches of the PubMed database can be
done by two methods:
- With the Gateway access at http://gateway.nlm.nih.gov
(Select "Medline/PubMed".
- There's access to other medical information from other
National Library of Medicine sources.
- Wwith National Library of Medicine search
access at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Next to "Search", select the PubMed
database (or others as desired).
- Gateway
searches the National Library of Medicine Medline database listing of
thousands of medical journal articles.
- Gateway also provides a
link to the MedlinePlus databases of information on diseases and
medications as well as links to medical dictionaries and encyclopedia.
- To
search Medline using Gateway, use “Limits” to select the desired
language such as “English only” and to specify search years.
- There are instructions under
“Help” and in the FAQ (Frequently Asked
Questions and answers) on how to search by author, title, date, “MeSH
terms”, etc., or to search for articles in other languages.
- “Help” will tell how one can
use Boolean logic operators in the search
criteria, such as AND, OR, NOT, etc.
- For
a
simple search, enter the search terms, the click on “Limits”, then
select "English" and the "Start" and "End" years.
- To the
right of the entry box, click on “Search” to begin the search.
- When the results come up,
there will be 20 listings per page.
- Use
the "more" button at the bottom of the list to get the next 20 listings
- To read the
abstract or the full text listing:
- The secret is the rectanglar miniature page
icons to the left of each numbered item in the search results.
- If it's blank, there's no abstract, and no
full text
- Clicking on it will be the same as
clicking on "Related articles, links" to the right of the search
results listing of items found.
- If it has two pages and three lines..
click on it for the abstract.
- If it has four pages and five lines
that has a green bar on the top, click on that to get the full free
text.
- If it has four pages with five lines,
and both a yellow and a green bar, to open a window where you can click
on "Free full text article - link to PubMed Central".
- There may be a separate link somewhere in
the header of the item that links to the full text location.
- When done reading or copying,
use your browser "back" button to return
to the roughly the same place where you were in the listings.
- For more
complex searches
consult the
“Help” and the “FAQ”.
PubMedPlus
DISEASE
AND MEDICATION INFORMATION
Those interested in medical knowledge
other than that in medical journal abstracts and articles should know
about the National Institutes of Health (NIH) at http://www.nih.gov/ and MedlinePlus at http://medlineplus.gov/ for general
disease and medication information.
PUBMED
CENTRAL
- Using
PubMed Central at http://www.pubmedcentral.gov/
allows one to view full text articles on-line, but only those articles
in selected journals after certain dates.
- Not all medical journals
submit articles to PubMed Central.
- A list of journals and
related
dates that are included in PubMed Central is available on the PubMed
Central web page at http://www.pubmedcentral.nih.gov/fprender.fcgi?cmd=full_view.
- A search window makes it
easy to find articles
in the various forms such as summaries; page browser; full text pdf
files.
- One can also browse the
list of Journals or obtain a full
listing of available journals.
- There is a standard six month
delay before making full text articles available.
NIH
CLINICAL
STUDIES
The Gateway site links to a page http://clinicalstudies.info.nih.gov/
that lists current NIH study protocols and research studies that enroll
patients with specific conditions. Most of the study protocols
pay much of the expenses the patient incurs once enrolled, including
travel to the NIH periodically medications, and perhaps allowances for
meals.
ALTERNATIVE
WAYS
TO ACCESS MEDICAL JOURNAL RESEARCH INFORMATION
- Actual
full text journal
articles may
(in some cases) be obtained from a "local health science library",
which is usually in a hospital, clinic, or medical school.
- Copies
may be free or may cost a nominal fee for copying or may cost a
substantial fee if obtained from a distant health science library.
- To
get articles from those
medical
libraries, it might be well to get an introduction to the Librarian in
order to establish a good working relationship.
- The libraries
exist primarily to assist physicians, and in some cases, may refuse to
provide information to patients.
- In those cases, it might be
effective to go to higher authority in the hospital, or to one’s
physician.
- One’s physician may be
willing to order medical
journal articles through his office, but that seems unlikely to be a
common practice.
- It
may be possible to get
journal
articles through inter-library loan.
- If nothing else works,
try a
large public library in a city like N.Y. or Chicago or L.A., though it
is doubtful that they subscribe to very many medical journals out of
the thousands that are published hard copy and some on-line.
- Some
medical journals are
available
on line at no cost.
- There
is a large effort
underway to
open all medical journal articles to the public on-line and at no
cost.
- The British Journal of
Medicine and the NIH are leading the
way, due to strong efforts by a number of researchers and
educators.
- Southhampton University in
the U.K. has a strong
advocacy for researchers to self-archive their work, making the
information freely available to all.
- There
are on-line services that
will
provide copies of medical articles.
- Medscape at http://www.medscape.com/ provides
that service, and there are other similar services on-line.
- Most
services charge for downloading full text articles.
- Some public libraries subscribe
to "infotrak" or similar service, which has some of the same
listings as Medline and can be searched at no cost and printed at costs
determined by the library ”infotrak” may permit viewing on-line.
ON-LINE
SUPPORT
AND INFORMATION FROM PATIENTS AND OTHERS
- For
on-line users, there are
e-mail
groups dedicated to support and information on specific diseases.
- Some can be found by going to
http://groups.yahoo.com/
and searching by disease or other criteria.
- One can subscribe to
the particular group one wants to join (at no cost), but first must
have a Yahoo identity (also free).
- Other sources for e-mail
groups can be found by searching Google.
- Other
support groups exist
on-line as
message (or discussion) boards.
- These can be found by
searching http://www.google.com
for “health
message boards” or “medical discussion forums” or similar phrases.
- There
are "usenet" newsgroups such as
sci.med.cancer and alt.support.arthritis, which provide information and
support for a variety of diseases and conditions.
- A book on using
the Internet will explain how to access both e-mail groups and
newsgroups, or just attempt to use your Internet browser to
subscribe.
- Try searching for information
on using “newsgroups” by
accessing the browser help function.
- The newsgroup list can be
downloaded
and searched for particular subjects by using the e-mail program in
one’s Internet browser (Internet Explorer , Safari, Netscape,
etc.).
- Some groups are moderated,
that is, messages are screened
by a moderator before being posted.
- Others are unmoderated so
anything one sends to the group is immediately posted.
- The
first time one tries to
subscribe
to a newsgroup (and only the first time), the entire list of 40,000 or
so newsgroups on your Internet Service Provider newserver will be
downloaded.
- You can then search the list
for the newsgroups you
are interested and subscribe to only those you want to see.
- You
can locate particular
groups by
going to http://www.google.com and
clicking on “GROUPS”.
- You can then search for
particular diseases
such as lupus, or categories such as autoimmune.
- You
can also search for particular groups in Netscape ISP.
- A final
note.. Don't think that
because you're not a medical professional you can't understand these
articles.... You can!
- Most abstracts and
medical journal articles
can be understood by non-medically trained persons providing they have
a command of the common medical terms and/or have access to an on-line
or hard-copy medical dictionary.
SOME
E-MAIL GROUPS
CONCERNING VASCULITIS AND AUTOIMMUNE DISEASES