The National Library of Medicine (NLM), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), now offers Mobile MedlinePlus (go to m.medlineplus.gov/ on your smart phone) which allows access to an abbreviated version of Medline Plus from a mobile device.   The Mobile version consists of a subset of content from the full Medline Plus website.   It includes summaries for over 800 diseases, the latest health news, an illustrated medical encyclopedia and information on prescription and over-the counter medications.  The Mobile version delivers the same type of authoritative, consumer-friendly, health-related information as does the “regular” MedlinePlus, which is a good, reliable site to check from your desktop computer or laptop. 

So I checked it out on my iPhone.   What immediately impressed me was the larger than normal print, a plus for some of us!  There are 3 ways to bring up a health topic – searching for it in the search box, choosing a body location/system and then “drilling down”, or bringing up the alphabetical list and choosing your topic from there.  I did a sample search for “sinusitis” – the article that came up was written by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, an NIH entity.  Then I looked up “skin aging” (not that I have a personal interest in that topic, of course!).  That article was written by the National Institute on Aging, another NIH entity.  Obviously, both are authoritative sources.  And each article contained links to related useful information, definitely a plus.

There are 2 ways to bring up information on a drug/medication – searching in the box or choosing the drug from the alphabetical list.  The drug information is supplied by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists  and sponsored by NLM. 

All and all, I found the Mobile system easy to use.  The information is helpful, easy for the lay-person to understand, and easy to read due to the larger print, larger than the usual size print on a mobile system.  I would recommend this site for quick access to reliable medical information from your smart phone.  And, if you have an iPhone, I still also recommend the UMMC Encyclopedia App for similar health-related information, the subject of my previous blog.