UpToDate for Patients: A Unique Resource

UpToDate for Patients provides free access to current information on hundreds of health topics to inform patients and help them share in the decision making process with their healthcare providers.

Similar to the information UpToDate creates for healthcare professionals, the patient information topics are reviewed every four months based on the recent medical literature. All patient information topics are written and edited by UpToDate's in-house nurse practitioner and physician editors and reviewed by an external physician author and section editor. Thus, their information is current, accurate and evidence-based.

The health topics include an in-depth discussion of the risk factors, causes, diagnostic processes, preventive measures, complications, and recommended treatments for many of the most common conditions. There are extensive references and links to article abstracts.

You can find UpToDate's website on the UCSF Patient Health Library's Health Information Websites page along with many other health information resources.

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

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Health Newsletters at the Patient Health Library, March 2012

Not all information is free and not all of it is online! The UCSF Patient Health Library subscribes to a number of health and wellness newsletters that are not otherwise free to the public. Here are some highlights from recent newsletters.

To see the entire articles, visit the Patient Health Library!

Consumer Reports on Health
Feb 2012
-Know your headache, pp.1-5
-Heart failure: 3 things you need to know, pp.6-7
-Should you avoid gluten? p.10
-Vitamin B12: panacea or placebo? p.11

Harvard Men's Health Watch
Jan 2012
-Kidney stones: common, painful, preventable, pp.1-5
Feb 2012
-Understanding the controversy over PSA screening, pp.1-4
-Obesity in America, pp.5-7

Harvard Women's Health Watch
Feb 2012
-Eating disorders in midlife and beyond, pp.1-3
-Treating essential tremor, p.7

Johns Hopkins Medical Letter: Health After 50
Jan 2012
-Is your constant cough COPD? pp.1-2
-FDA approves new melanoma treatments, p.3
-A closer look at glaucoma, supplement pp.1-4

Mayo Clinic Health Letter
Mar 2012
-Nonalcoholic fatty liver disease, pp.1-3
-Risks of vitamin supplements, pp.4-5

Medicine on the Net
Nov 2011
-Hospice and palliative care resources, pp.13-19
Dec 2011
-Resources for cancer in children, pp.7-12
-Dementia resources, pp.13-19

Tufts University Health & Nutrition Letter
Feb 2012
-Lower back pain: yoga versus conventional stretching, p.3
-Tufts’ MyPlate for Older Adults, pp.4-5
-Benefits of Seafood, supplement pp.1-4

UC Berkeley Wellness Letter
Dec 2011
-Coming clean about cleansers, p.3

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Toxic Substances in the Home and Out

Have you ever wondered what those chemicals in your household cleaning products are?  Or wondered what effects you might suffer living near an oil refinery, a power plant or on a former industrial site?  Use the following websites to learn about toxins, household products, and environmental health risks. 

Poisoning Prevention
Resources from MedlinePlus

UCSF Toxic Matters Website
Tips on reducing exposure to metals and synthetic chemicals in everyday life—at home, at work, and in the community—and links to other sources with more detailed information.

NLM Household Products Database
Learn about ingredients in brand-name products.

Tox Town
An introduction to toxic chemicals and environmental health risks you might encounter in everyday life and in everyday places from the National Library of Medicine

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Emergency Preparedness

Ready.gov: Prepare. Plan. Stay Informed
[From the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)]

• Making a basic emergency supply kit
• Making a plan in case of emergencies
• What you should know in the event of emergencies ranging from biological threat to earthquake to tornado to flood to wildfire and more.
• Much, much more

Preparedness Fast Facts
[From the American Red Cross]

• Be Red Cross Ready (general preparedness) (English pdf | Spanish pdf)
• Earthquake Safety (English pdf | Spanish pdf)
• Fire Prevention & Safety (English pdf | Spanish pdf)
• Flood Safety (English pdf | Spanish pdf)
• Flu Checklist (English pdf | Spanish pdf)
• Heat Wave Safety (English pdf | Spanish pdf)
• Hurricane Safety (English pdf | Spanish pdf)
• Landslide Safety (English pdf | Spanish pdf)
• Oil Spill Checklist (English pdf) 
• Pets and Disaster Safety (English pdf | Spanish pdf)
• Tornado Safety (English pdf | Spanish pdf)
• Tsunami Safety (English pdf | Spanish pdf)
• Wild Fire Safety (English pdf | Spanish pdf)

Emergency Preparedness and You
[From the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)]

• What does it mean to "shelter-in-place" and how do I prepare for it?
• Understanding Quarantine and Isolation
• Tools for coping with disaster

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Facts about Smoking and Help for Quitting

• Cigarette smoke contains more than 7,000 chemicals and compounds. Hundreds are toxic and at least 69 are known to cause cancer.
• Damage from tobacco smoke is immediate; the chemicals in tobacco smoke reach your lungs quickly every time you inhale.
• Low levels of smoke exposure, including exposures to secondhand tobacco smoke, lead to a rapid and sharp increase in dysfunction and inflammation of the lining of the blood vessels, which are implicated in heart attacks and stroke.
• About 60 percent of American children ages 4-11 are exposed to secondhand smoke at home.
• The list of diseases caused by smoking includes chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD, including chronic bronchitis and emphysema), coronary heart disease, stroke, abdominal aortic aneurysm, acute myeloid leukemia, cataract, pneumonia, periodontitis, and bladder, esophageal, laryngeal, lung, oral, throat, cervical, kidney, stomach, and pancreatic cancers. Smoking is also a major factor in a variety of other conditions and disorders, including slowed healing of wounds, infertility, and peptic ulcer disease.
• Smoking has been linked to at least one-third of all cancer-related deaths in the U.S.
• Smoking causes more than one in five deaths in America.
• Smokers die significantly earlier than nonsmokers: 13.2 years for men and 14.5 years for women.
• Since 1965, more than 45 percent of adults who have ever smoked have quit.
• Quitting at any age and at any time is beneficial. It's never too late to quit.

[Compiled from the resources below]

Smoking Facts
From the American Lung Association

Smoking - The Facts
From MedlinePlus

U.S. Surgeon General's Report on How Tobacco Smoke Causes Disease
Factsheet | Full report (PDF)
From the U.S. Surgeon General and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

Smoking: Do you really know the risks?
From the American Heart Association

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Guide to Quitting Smoking
From the American Cancer Society

Smoking Cessation Products
From the FDA

How To Handle Withdrawal Symptoms and Triggers When You Decide To Quit Smoking
From the National Cancer Institute

The UCSF Medical Center's Tobacco Education Center offers classes as well as individual consultations with doctors trained in treating tobacco addiction. They help smokers maximize the likelihood of success in their efforts to quit. Services include:

•     Smoking Cessation Classes
•     Relapse Prevention Program
•     Doctor Consultation

For more information, to schedule an appointment or to enroll in a class, please contact the Tobacco Education Center at:

UCSF Medical Center at Mount Zion
2330 Post St., Suite 420
San Francisco, CA 94115
(415) 885-7895

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