Thursday, December 23, 2010

Making Your Resolutions Stick

New Year’s resolutions—they’re easy to make but easier to break. Why is it so hard to make the healthy changes that we know can help us feel better and live longer? And why is it so hard to make them last?

The UCSF Patient Health Library has compiled the following tools that can help you remove the barriers to making good habits a part of your life:

How to Create Healthy Habits
From the National Institutes of Health's News in Health Newsletter
http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/issue/Dec2010/Feature1

Healthy Lifestyles, Healthy Outlook
From the UCSF Medical Center - Patient Education
http://www.ucsfhealth.org/education/healthy_lifestyles_healthy_outlook/

Behavior Modification Ideas for Weight Management
From the UCSF Medical Center - Patient Education
http://www.ucsfhealth.org/education/behavior_modification_ideas_for_weight_management/index.html

Passing on Healthy Habits to Your Children
From FamilyDoctor.org
http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/healthy/food/kids/781.html

The Healthy Habits of Good Sleep
From the American Academy of Sleep Medicine
http://www.sleepeducation.com/Hygiene.aspx

Healthy living
From MedlinePlus
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002393.htm

Friday, December 17, 2010

MedlinePlus: Online Health Information

MedlinePlus is a free, easy-to-use health information service of the National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.

Resources and tools include:
  • Health Topics: Over 800 topics on conditions, diseases and wellness
  • Drugs & Supplements: About your prescription and over-the-counter medicines, herbs and supplements
  • Videos, Tutorials and Cool Tools
  • Medical Encyclopedia and Dictionary
  • News: Current health news and press announcements
  • Directories: Find doctors, dentists and hospitals
You can find the MedlinePlus website on the UCSF Patient Health Library's Health Information Websites page along with many other health information resources.

Need more help? Contact the Patient Health Librarian by email, telephone, or in person.

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

Consumer Health Information from the FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is the government agency responsible for protecting the public health by assuring the safety, efficacy, and security of drugs, medical devices, food supply, cosmetics, and products that emit radiation.

The FDA's consumer health website provides a wealth of useful information.  Check out the following:
  • Consumer Updates
  • Timely and easy-to-read articles covering all FDA activities and regulated products
  • Free Print Publications
  • In addition to offering consumer materials online, the Food and Drug Administration will mail or fax brochures, articles, and other print publications at no cost. They also provide many downloadable, printer-friendly documents.
  • Multi-Media Consumer Information
  • Videos, photo slide shows, podcasts and audio
You can find the FDA website on the UCSF Patient Health Library's Health Information Websites page along with many other health information resources.

Need more help? Contact the Patient Health Librarian by email, telephone, or in person.