NLM Director’s Comments Transcript
NIH MedlinePlus Magazine Spring 2012: 05/21/2012

Greetings from the National Library of Medicine and MedlinePlus.gov

Regards to all our listeners!

I'm Rob Logan, Ph.D. senior staff National Library of Medicine for Donald Lindberg, M.D, the Director of the U.S. National Library of Medicine.

Here is what's new this week in MedlinePlus.

The new edition of NIH MedlinePlus magazine encourages physical fitness, and provides a better understanding of multiple sclerosis, information about your thyroid gland, and control of seasonal allergies.

The cover features U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin M.D., who urges adults to be more fit. Dr. Benjamin encourages readers to visit Go4Life, a website that is a gateway to a new, national exercise campaign for adults after age 50. Dr. Benjamin says (and we quote): ‘If we want to become a healthy, fit nation, we need to increase the number of Americans who are healthy at every stage of life,’ (end of quote).

Dr. Benjamin adds (and we quote): ‘ We can get more than the current 25 percent of people age 65 to 75 to engage in regular physical activity because the Go4Life campaign is a new simple and easy tool that will help us engage in active living’ (end of quote). Go4Life, which is available in English and Spanish, is a product of the National Institute on Aging.

Dr. Benjamin notes (and we quote): ‘we want to make being healthy easy and fun. That’s the simple message we want to give’ (end of quote). To find Go4Life, just type ‘Go, the numeral 4 and Life (all one word)’ within Google, Bing, or other search engines.

NIH MedlinePlus magazine explains endurance, flexibility, balance, and strength represent four different types of exercise that help adults. For example, NIH MedlinePlus magazine notes endurance can be boosted by: brisk walking, yard work (such as mowing, raking, and digging), dancing, and swimming.

NIH MedlinePlus magazine also provides tips, such as exercises to boost shoulder and upper arm flexibility that require only a spare bath towel to achieve.

NIH MedlinePlus magazine additionally provides profiles of five adults who learned to live with multiple sclerosis (MS), including Neil Cavuto, an anchor at Fox News and Business. All five interviewees emphasize the importance of MS self-awareness as well as maintaining a positive attitude in order to manage the disease.

Although NIH MedlinePlus magazine notes there is no cure for MS, eight approved MS drugs now are available. These medications often target the early stages of the disease. NIH MedlinePlus magazine explains research to develop a new class of MS drugs hopefully will expand the treatment options for persons with MS in the future.

In another section, NIH MedlinePlus magazine describes some common health problems caused when the thyroid gland does not provide enough hormones to meet the body’s needs. About 4.6 percent of Americans (age 12 and older) have hypothyroidism, which is more common in women.

NIH MedlinePlus magazine reports common hypothyroid symptoms include: fatigue, weight gain, cold intolerance, constipation, impaired fertility, and depression.

NIH MedlinePlus magazine explains hypothyroid can be treated with medications that provides a synthetic form of the hormone naturally made by the thyroid gland. NIH MedlinePlus magazine recommends annual checkups to treat a hypothyroid condition.

Finally, NIH MedlinePlus magazine includes a page on controlling seasonal allergies. NIH MedlinePlus magazine notes there are five common allergy treatments, including over-the-counter antihistamines, and allergy shots.

The section describes four allergy research initiatives at NIH. NIH’s current research ranges from the prevention of asthma and allergic diseases to boosting the immune system in order to counter adverse reactions to spring and year round allergies.  

NIH MedlinePlus magazine is distributed to physicians’ offices nationwide by the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Friends of the National Library of Medicine. You can subscribe or find the latest edition online by clicking on ‘Magazine,’ which is on the bottom right side of MedlinePlus.gov’s home page.

Previous editions of NIH MedlinePlus magazine are available at the same site. A link to NIH MedlinePlus Salud, which provides other health information and resources in Spanish, is available there as well (see the top right of the page).

The web version of NIH MedlinePlus magazine now includes links that visually supplement the information in some articles. For example, the web-based section about physical activity provides videos of two NIH directors’ exercise routines.

Before I go, this reminder……. MedlinePlus.gov is authoritative. It's free. We do not accept advertising …and is written to help you.

To find MedlinePlus.gov, just type in 'MedlinePlus.gov' in any web browser, such as Firefox, Safari, Netscape, Chrome or Explorer. To find Mobile MedlinePlus.gov, just type 'Mobile MedlinePlus' in the same web browsers.

We encourage you to use MedlinePlus and please recommend it to your friends. MedlinePlus is available in English and Spanish. Some medical information is available in 43 other languages.

Your comments about this or any of our podcasts are always welcome. We welcome suggestions about future topics too!

Please email Dr. Lindberg anytime at: NLMDirector@nlm.nih.gov

That's NLMDirector (one word) @nlm.nih.gov

A written transcript of recent podcasts is available by typing 'Director's comments' in the search box on MedlinePlus.gov's home page.

The National Library of Medicine is one of 27 institutes and centers within the National Institutes of Health. The National Institutes of Health is part of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

A disclaimer – the information presented in this program should not replace the medical advice of your physician. You should not use this information to diagnose or treat any disease without first consulting with your physician or other health care provider. I want to take the opportunity to wish you a very happy holiday season and a healthy New Year. The National Library of Medicine and the 'Director's Comments' podcast staff, including Dr. Lindberg, appreciate your interest and company – and we hope to find new ways to serve you in 2012.

I look forward to meeting you here next week.