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20 Useful Pharmaceutical Search Engines

Linda — Tue, 15 Feb 2011 15:35:05 +0000

Americans, both patients and professionals, who look for for medical information online turn to search engines two-thirds of the time when they are seeking answers, according to a study by Manhattan Research. More US adults use the internet than they use doctors for obtaining health and medical information, which is why picking a credible pharmaceutical search engine is vital for accurate information. This list of 20 useful pharmaceutical search engines provides some of the most reliable tools for pharmaceutical searches today on the Internet.

This list is organized in alphabetical order within categories.

Search Engines

IFPMA Clinical Trials Portal: Developed in conjunction with information technology leader IBM, this was the first internet search engine constructed specifically to link to on-line information made available by the innovative pharmaceutical industry about clinical trials worldwide. This is a free and easy-to-use interface for patients and health professionals alike. The industry’s R&D pipeline contains hundreds of new medicines and vaccines being developed to address global disease threats, including cancer, heart disease, HIV/AIDS and malaria.
LegitScript: According to the site, this resource is a source of information for patients, Internet users, physicians, businesses and other third parties who need to know if an Internet pharmacy is acting in accordance with the law and accepted standards of ethics and safety. LegitScript is identified by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) as the only Internet pharmacy verification service that adheres to its standards. Currently, verification is offered as a free service to Internet pharmacies.
MediLexicon: MediLexicon has the world’s largest online database of pharmaceutical and medical abbreviations — over 230,000 and growing. MediLexicon contains searches, information, news and resources for medical, pharmaceutical and healthcare professionals. Search the drug databases for drug information including prescription drug information. Multiple drug searches available or use their Pharmaceutical Company Directory to find worldwide pharmaceutical companies.
Medtipster: Jeff Polter is responsible for the development of new content, products and services for Medtipster. He manages all pharmacy and retail chain relationships, business partnerships, and leads all of Medtipster’s business development efforts. You can find information here through a drug search and about various pharmaceutical concerns.
Omni Medical Search: This search engine offers search options, a reference desk, information about conditions and diseases and a local directory — all gathered from 25 databases, including authoritative medical search engines, image libraries and the latest health and medical news.
Pharmacy Pages: Whether you need to find you local corner drugstore or search the many online pharmacies in this database, the Pharmacy Pages provides directions to the nearest drugstore or the ability to send an email to your pharmacist for information on prescription drugs or over-the-counter medicine. For the quickest pharmacy search results try the Quick Search by entering your Zip Code. Pharmacy Pages is a free web directory sponsored by Pharmacy Choice, the premier web portal for the pharmacy industry.
PogoFrog: Studies have shown that physicians rarely find links to credible medical information on the first few pages of a keyword search when using the popular consumer search engines. In fact, they often must search through dozens of results pages before finding the credible medical information they need. PogoFrog provides a medical research engine for physicians who use the Internet regularly to research varied healthcare subjects.
RXCut Pharmacy Search Engine: Use this mashup of Google Maps and a database to find a pharmacy located near you. Enter the full search address or Zip Code or the first few letters of the medication name to complete your search options.

Directories

BioPharmaLink: Initially BioPharmaLink provided an easy tool to retrieve information about companies and institutions that contribute directly to the development, manufacturing, licensing and distribution of medicines and therapies for the prevention and treatment of human illness. The concept has been further developed into a network of biopharma professionals, who meet online through showrooms visited daily by a global community.
Pharmacy Checker: PharmacyChecker.com was founded by a medical doctor in 2003 to help consumers safely save money on medication. It independently checks the credentials of online pharmacies and lets you easily compare drug prices. Its online pharmacy verification program is the largest and most accepted — referenced by AARP Magazine, Smart Money, and Consumer Reports.
PharmWeb: Since its launch in 1994 PharmWeb has developed into the premier online community of pharmacy, pharmaceutical and healthcare-related professionals with over 40,000 self-registered users. This site also includes a library of archives from over 100 moderated discussion forums. Until recently, PharmWeb was operated with minimal resources and was maintained by Tony D’Emanuele, assisted by John Heaton and Anthony Howarth. PharmWeb has developed into a professionally managed Internet provider specializing in pharmaceutical- and health-related information.
RPhWorld: RPhWorld.com was created to organize and keep track of links of websites pharmacists may need to use in our daily practice. The purpose of this site is to enable pharmacists, as well as other healthcare professionals, to access free and reliable clinical resources on the internet from one easy to remember location.
RxList: RxList is an online medical resource dedicated to offering detailed and current pharmaceutical information on brand and generic drugs. Founded by pharmacists in 1995, RxList’s knowledgeable staff continuously reviews and updates the site with articles written by pharmacists and physicians and data provided by credible and reliable sources like the FDA and First Data Bank, Inc. to ensure the most accurate and beneficial information is provided. RxList is 0wned and 0perated by WebMD and part of the WebMD network.

Other Search Tools

MedHelp: Founded in 1994 out of a shared need for better medical information and support, MedHelp is the pioneer in online health communities. Today, MedHelp empowers over 12 million people each month to take control over their health and find answers to their medical questions.
MedicineNet: Since 1996, MedicineNet.com has had a highly accomplished, uniquely experienced team of qualified executives in the fields of medicine, healthcare, Internet technology, and business to bring you the most comprehensive, sought-after healthcare information anywhere. Nationally recognized, doctor-produced by a network of more than 70 U.S. board-certified physicians, MedicineNet.com is the trusted source for online health and medical information.
Pharmocracy: This is a Connected Market Space platform, and it was developed by E-Health online, a division of CMAEON. CMAEON is the parent company of a host of world-class subsidiaries and brands that apply technological and strategic expertise to assist clients in a broad variety of market sectors. Users can search for medications and purchase those meds from pharmacies listed on this database.
PubMed: PubMed comprises more than 20 million citations for biomedical literature from MEDLINE, life science journals, and online books. The focus is on medicine, clinical trials and biotechnology. Sponsored by NCBI (National Center for Biotechnology Information), its mission is to develop new information technologies to aid in the understanding of fundamental molecular and genetic processes that control health and disease.
RXinsider: This portal is a marketing, networking and software development firm providing solutions to the healthcare sector with a focus on the pharmacy profession. Their mission is to develop and market profitable, industry-leading technologies that connect end-users to relevant resources that provide valuable advantages to our clients. They offer educational resources and a CE search engine.
The New England Journal of Medicine Advanced Search: The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) is dedicated to bringing physicians the best research and key information at the intersection of biomedical science and clinical practice, and to presenting the information in an understandable and clinically useful format. Use this advanced search to find information from over almost two centuries worth of publications. Through the NEJM archive, every article published in NEJM since 1812 is available and completely searchable online.
U.S. National Library of Medicine: The National Library of Medicine (NLM), on the campus of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, is the world’s largest medical library. The Library collects materials and provides information and research services in all areas of biomedicine and health care. As part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), This library offers databases for a variety of medical and pharmaceutical sites as well as access to all NLM databases.

Everything You Need to Know About the Male Birth Control Pill

Linda — Thu, 18 Mar 2010 21:03:24 +0000

Depending upon funding, it appears that new methods for birth control are on the horizon — for men. While men and women both have their thoughts about the ability for men to take control over their sexual lives in a way that women have had since the 1960s, others may not understand how this birth control might work, or how this transition of “power” might feel. Although there are qualms on both sides of the fence about hormonal birth control for men, the current alternatives for men include vasectomy (painful and not always reversible), condoms (blunt pleasure and may break or slip off), coitus interruptus and trust in the female partner to take a birth control pill.

The following two lists contain everything you might want to know about the male birth control pill. One category includes both the various methods of male birth control now in experimentation and their known drawbacks. The second category contains perceptions about male birth control today. The links in this article all lead to various news articles, encyclopedias and more than illustrate and help to explain the options further.

The Methods and Drawbacks

Extra Testosterone: Researchers at Edinburgh University’s Centre for Reproductive Biology have found a way to suppress daily sperm production while maintaining normal testosterone levels. Giving a man extra testosterone can essentially shut down sperm production.
Drawbacks to Testosterone: The trouble with this method is that giving a man the amount of testosterone necessary to suppress sperm production can cause several unwanted side effects, including acne, weight gain, prostate-gland growth and abnormal liver function. Some men who have participated in test studies, however, feel few side effects.
Progesterone: A more promising alternative uses a combination of testosterone and another sex hormone: progestogen (progesterone). In low doses, progestogen suppresses the reproductive hormone system of both men and women — progestogen is a component of the female birth-control pill. In men, it inhibits sperm production in the testes.
Drawbacks to Progesterone: The drawback to using progesterone is that it can also affect male sexuality and sexual characteristics, so men who take progestogen must also have testosterone injections to maintain those characteristics. In some male birth control studies, a simple testosterone injection was used with great success.
Eppin: Another form of male birth control targets the immune system. A protein called eppin, which is produced in the testes and epididymis, facilitates sperm maturation. Scientists at the University of Washington have been able to immunize monkeys against eppin. Monkeys that developed an immune response against eppin became infertile, and when they stopped receiving the vaccine injections, they regained their fertility.
Drawbacks to Eppin: As with female birth control, doctors say hormonal contraception for men will have no lasting effects on fertility, and that sperm counts should return to normal quite quickly once a man goes off the injections. Some men may experience mild side effects from the jabs such as hot flashes, mood swings or acne.
Progestogen Etonogestrel: Researchers from the pharmaceutical companies Organon and Schering AG have conducted a major study on a male contraceptive implant. In 2002, they began phase II clinical trials of a male birth-control implant containing the progestogen etonogestrel — a hormone also present in hormonally-based contraception for women (Note: Organon has been a part of the Schering-Plough corporation since 2007).
Drawbacks to Progestogen Etonogestrel: Because etonogestrel blocks testosterone as well as sperm production, men who get this implant would also need to receive testosterone injections. The phase II trial finished in December 2005, and by 2008, when the etonogestrel esters were introduced on the patent market, it was stated that no effective and efficient methods of male contraception from this method were available.
Non-Hormonal Methods: Because of the challenges of creating a hormonally-based male birth-control pill, researchers are looking into non-hormonal methods to lower sperm count or somehow disable the sperm so that they cannot fertilize an egg. The idea behind non-hormonal methods is to use a biochemical messenger to block a protein called “Cs” that ‘turns on’ the tail of the sperm that allows that sperm to swim through the epididymis. But, the process would need to block the sperm and yet leave it basically healthy.
Drawbacks to Non-Hormonal Methods: However, many scientists feel the non-hormonal method is the ‘holy grail‘ in male contraceptive research, as Big Pharma might be less interested in a product that is less profitable.
High-Tech Solutions: New techniques that do not involve Big Pharm or hormones include ultrasound methods that scramble the sperm, an implantable ring that zaps sperm rather than blocking the passage of that sperm and devices that actually block the sperm. At present all these methods are undergoing clinical trials, but you can learn more about them at Male Contraceptives.
Drawbacks to High-Tech Solutions: None known yet, other than getting them from the laboratory to the market.

Issues Surrounding Male Birth Control

Ignorance: Despite the progress on male birth control, and despite the fact that female contraceptives have been on the market for almost half a century, there is much ignorance about how and when to use birth control. For instance, 29 percent of men and 32 percent of women reported knowing “little or nothing about condoms.” 78 percent of men and 45 percent of women said the same about birth control pills.
Willingness to try: Of the 71 percent of American men who said they’d be willing to try at least one form of male contraceptive, 66 percent said they’d try the pill. And, in an international study of 4,000 men and women, more than two-thirds of the men said they would use a birth-control pill if it were available, and 75 percent of the women said they would trust their partner to handle the birth control.
Reduction of Condom Use: Health experts fear that the use of the pill among men who are not in monogamous relationships could reduce condom use and increase the spread of sexually-transmitted diseases. People felt that regardless of a woman’s use of other contraceptive methods, a condom should always be used for protection. This belief, however, differed markedly from actual practice.

While men have fewer and more drastic choices available to them today, the possibility that a male birth control method is on the horizon is a distinct possibility. Learning about the various methods now may help individuals choose what they would like to do in the future, should the need arise. Men may have more options for birth control in the future than women did in the past.

50 Free Sites Where You Can Review Clinical Medical Research

admin — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 03:21:11 +0000

Clinical research is an important aspect of all health care fields, as this research impacts the technology we use and the way we are able to treat patients. Reading about this research and these findings can be interesting for not only health care workers, but anyone who has been a patient before. You can read up on the latest results from trials and studies to give you a good idea of what is happening in the medical world. These 50 websites are excellent resources to read, for free, the results of various clinical medical research that’s happening:

Government Resources for Clinical Research

Governments offer great resources for reading about clinical medical research. Most developed countries have places where the public can go to read about what’s happening in the world of clinical trials.

FDA: This is the Web site run by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. You can find information about pending applications and review regulations and clinical research.
European Medicines Agency: The European Union has its own agency designed to help keep track of clinical and medical research. You can learn about regulations and the results of applications as well.
Therapeutic Products Directorate: This is the Canadian agency that reviews clinical research and sets guidelines for substances used in the country.
Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency: In the United Kingdom, this is the body that is in charge of reviewing clinical medical research and evaluating the effects and usage in the general population.
Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare: The Japanese site offers interesting information and reviews of medical research conducted for use in that country.
State Food and Drug Administration: Provides information about medical and clinical trials and research for the use of the country of China.
Therapeutic Goods Administration: The Australian agency regulates goods associated with medical and health benefits, and reviews claims of efficacy.
Australian Drug Evaluation Committee: This agency is another one that offers insight into claims made by different companies and shares research and information on drugs seeking approval in Australia.
Swedish Medical Products Agency: Get information from the Swedish government about clinical research and medical information.
Norwegian Medicines Agency: Find out about what is looking for approval in Norway in terms of medicine.
Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products: This is Belgium’s attempt at regulating medicines and sharing some information on testing, trials and medical reviews.

Medical Journals

You may have to pay for print copies, but the headquarters for many journals offer free analysis and reports of the results of clinical trials and medical research. These are quite handy to look at.

The Journal of the American Medical Association: Includes extracts and abstracts of articles, as well as some free full text articles from the journal. Also includes podcasts of audio commentary.
Southern Medical Journal: From the Southern Medical Association, the SMJ is focused on providing information on a number of diseases and areas of medical research. Includes information on spirituality and medicine.
British Medical Journal: Contains news and information on clinical research. Also includes free full text articles on some medical research topics.
The Lancet: In order to read most full articles from this world-renowned medical journal, you will have to pay. However, you can get medical research news, as well as summaries of articles and clinical results, for free.
Canadian Medical Association Journal: Provides a number of PDF articles as well as online articles that you can peruse with regard the latest developments in medicine.
Calicut Medical Journal: This free journal provides access to information on medical research and clinical trials from alumni of the Calicut Medical College in India.
Highwire Press: This is a service from Stanford University that offers free, online full-text articles related to medical and clinical research.
Medscape: A service from WebMD provides the latest news and information from the medical research field, as well as free full-text articles from a variety of medical journals.
Free Medical Journals: Offers access to content from some medical journals. Provides information about different area of medicine.
Geneva Foundation for Medical Education and Research: You can find access to a number of free medical journals by going through this Web site. Get them in German, French, Spanish and Italian in addition to English.
Carpenter Center Library: This is a service from Wake Forest University that offers a directory to free medical journals and databases.
JournalWatch: Summarizes information and medical research from a number of journals.

Pharmaceutical Research

One of the most common types of clinical research is done with pharmaceutical drugs. You can find a great deal on different types of pharma research online. There are several sites that can help you look over the latest findings and review some of what is up and comping in the pharmacy world.

Pharmaceutical Business Review: Offers information related to pharma as a business. Get the latest results on clinical trials and medical research, and keep up to date on what’s happening in different phases of different trials.
DrugLib.com: Learn about different drugs, and review their effectiveness and the results of clinical trials and research.
PHRMA.org: Provides news, information and results on the latest drug clinical trials.
Tropical Journal of Pharmaceutical Research: Get information on pharma research and the results of clinical trials.
Pharmacist.com: This is the Web site of the American Pharmacists Association, and provides information on drug trials and results, as well as news.
Cafe Pharma: A great place to congregate to get the latest news from around the Web related to drugs, drug trials and pharma research.
BioSpace: A community focusing on pharmaceuticals and on the news related to clinical research.
Pharmaceutical Market Research Reports: Even though you have to pay to get some of the reports on pharma research and clinical trials, there are some free sections of this site that provide no-cost access to information.
Pharmaceutical Industry Blog: BusinessWeek helps you keep up to date on the latest in pharma, as well as provide some information on the outcomes of clinical trials.

Clinical Trials and Medical Research News

There are some sites that offer information on specific types of clinical trials and their results. Visit them to learn about different subjects in medical research.

Cancer.gov Clinical Trials Home Page: This is from the National Cancer Institute in the U.S., and provides the outcomes of cancer clinical trials, as well as help locating clinical trials.
Clinical Connection: Learn about clinical trials, what is happening with them and who sponsors them. Also get health news, results and more.
Clinical Trial Results: Get a look at different clinical trials, and find their results. Includes news and multimedia.
CenterWatch: Provides news and information on clinical trials, and results of medical research.
Medical News Today: Includes information on drug trials and other medical research. Health news headlines and information on a range of diseases.
Healthcare Finance News: Focuses on the business and finance side of medical research. Offers news and clinical trial research results.
The Medical News: Looks at the latest in medical research and results.
SciCentral: Health and Medical News: This section of the SciCentral Web site focuses on medical research and clinical results.
Science Daily: Plenty of news from the world of medical and clinical research.
Molecular Station: Medical news and information focusing on molecular biology.
MDLinx: This is an interesting service that summarizes the news and journal articles from a variety of sources and then delivers them to your email address.

Learn About Clinical and Medical Research Design

Get educated about what goes into clinical trials, and how medical research is performed. Learn about how trials are designed and carried out.

ClinicalTrials.gov: Learn about the requirements of clinical trials and what they are meant to accomplish.
Learn About Clinical Trials: This primer from the University of Michigan is rather educational.
Drug Creation Process: Get a quick overview, from Wyeth — a pharma company – - about the drug creation process. Also includes clinical trial results and listings.
Types of Trials: This page from the Moffitt Cancer Center is very helpful in learning about the different trials available, and how they work. Also provides searches of active trials, and videos.
Clinical Trials: This page from the Canadian government describes the ethics involved when using human participants in clinical trials.
Making Sense of Medical Research: This resource guide helps you figure out how medical research works.
Adaptive Clinical Trials: An overview of adaptive clinical trials, which are growing in popularity.