http://www.nlm.nih.gov/databases/alerts/2011_nhlbi_ifp.html

The National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of the National Institutes of Health, has stopped one arm of a three arm multi-center, clinical trial studying treatments for the lung-scarring disease idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) for safety concerns. The trial found that people with IPF receiving a currently used triple-drug therapy consisting of prednisone, azathioprine, and N-acetylcysteine (NAC) had worse outcomes than those who received placebos or inactive substances.

“These findings underscore why treatments must be evaluated in a rigorous manner,” said Susan B. Shurin, M.D., acting director of the NHLBI. “This combination therapy is widely used in patients with IPF, but has not previously been studied in direct comparison to a placebo for all three drugs.”

The interim results from this study showed that compared to placebo, those assigned to triple therapy had greater mortality (11 percent versus 1 percent), more hospitalizations (29 percent versus 8 percent), and more serious adverse events (31 percent versus 9 percent) and also had no difference in lung function test changes. Participants randomly assigned to the triple- therapy arm also remained on their assigned treatment at a much lower rate (78 percent adherence versus 98 percent adherence).

“Anyone on some combination of these medications with questions or concerns should consult with their health care provider and not simply stop taking the drugs,” said Ganesh Raghu, M.D., professor of medicine at the University of Washington, Seattle and a co-chair of this IPF study. “It is important to realize that these results definitively apply only to patients with well-defined IPF and not to people taking a combination of these drugs for other lung diseases or conditions.”

The other two study arms, or intervention groups, of this IPF trial comparing NAC alone to placebo alone will continue. In stopping this part of the trial, the NHLBI accepted the recommendation of the Data and Safety Monitoring Board (DSMB) – an independent advisory group of experts in lung disease, biostatistics, medical ethics, and clinical trial design. The DSMB has been monitoring the study since it began.

This study, called PANTHER-IPF (Prednisone, Azathioprine, and N-acetylcysteine: A Study that Evaluates Response in Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis) was designed and conducted by the Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Clinical Research Network, funded by the NHLBI. The PANTHER-IPF study was designed to evaluate whether this commonly used triple-therapy regimen could slow disease progression and improve lung function in people with moderate IPF.

PANTHER-IPF was the first study in IPF comparing the effectiveness of this combined treatment to a placebo for all three drugs. Each participant had a one in three chance of being randomized to receive the triple drug regimen, NAC alone, or placebo for a period of up to 60 weeks.

“We will continue to analyze the data to try to understand why this particular combination may be detrimental in people with IPF,” said Fernando Martinez, M.D., professor of medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor and co-chair of the PANTHER-IPF study. “The results are not explained by any differences between the two groups before the treatments started.”

IPF is a progressive and currently incurable disease characterized by the buildup of fibrous scar tissue within the lungs. This accumulation of scar tissue leads to breathing difficulties, coughing, chest pain, and fatigue. Approximately 200,000 people in the United States have IPF. The cause or causes of IPF remain unknown; as a result treatment options remain limited. PANTHER-IPF began enrollment in October 2009.

The study had enrolled 238 of a planned 390 participants prior to the stop announcement. Participants ranged from 48 to 85 years of age, with an average age of 68. The placebo and NAC arms will continue enrolling and following their participants, and this part of the PANTHER-IPF study is expected to be completed by late 2013.

In addition to NIH funding, the Cowlin Family Fund at Chicago Community Trust provided financial support for this study. Zambon donated the NAC and matching placebo; the prednisone, azathioprine, and their matching placebos were purchased using study funds.

Find more information about this clinical trial at http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00650091

To arrange an interview with an NHLBI spokesperson, please contact the NHLBI Communications Office at  (301) 496-4236 or nhlbi_news@nhlbi.nih.gov.

Resources:

• What is Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis?
• Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Clinical Research Network

Part of the National Institutes of Health, the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) plans, conducts, and supports research related to the causes, prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of heart, blood vessel, lung, and blood diseases; and sleep disorders. The Institute also administers national health education campaigns on women and heart disease, healthy weight for children, and other topics. NHLBI press releases and other materials are available online at www.nhlbi.nih.gov.

About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation’s medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.

The following post about our new Public Health Coordinator position, inaugurates a series of articles—About Us—detailing the duties of the staff at the NN/LM SE/A. Because we have initiated some changes in our responsibilities, we think that this will be a good place to inform our membership, on a position-by-position basis, what we do and who we are. We anticipate that there will be one article per month for the next 8 months. If you have questions or comments, please feel free to use the comment functionality after the post. These comments may not show up immediately because we monitor our comments for spam, but we welcome any and all.

Sheila Snow-Croft

With the new 2011-2016 NN/LM SE/A contract, my position changed from Outreach Education Coordinator to Public Health Coordinator. Outreach to the Public Health workforce has long been a priority for the National Library of Medicine (NLM). While the SE/A has consistently exhibited at public health conferences and taught public health classes (Public Health on the Web, for example) throughout the region, we feel this audience requires more specific attention in order to adequately address their needs. We plan to assist the public health workforce and the librarians who support them by providing education and training to increase successful research, encouraging network membership and partnership with network members to elevate the quality of health information access.

Education

We are already working to establish partnerships with and promote the online free training available from established public health organizations, including the National Network of Public Health Training centers (PHTC), the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), and the Society for Public Health Education (SOPHE). We want to ensure public health workers have access to training in evidence based public health, health literacy issues, and awareness of health disparities. Along with encouraging these organizations to include NLM resources in their training materials, we will make sure they are referenced in our own materials, and partner with them whenever possible to help meet the needs of our public health workforce.

Exhibiting

Our efforts will also include joining public health organizations at state and regional levels and providing a presence at their meetings, exhibiting and submitting program presentations at as many state and local chapters of public health workers as we can. With such a large and well-populated region, we cannot hope to adequately address the needs of the public health workforce without the help of our network members and the many libraries who support public health; collaboration with the 37 Schools of Public Health at the university level located within the SE/A Region is a priority.

Funding

The Express Outreach Award and Express Information Technology and Policy Awareness Award are appropriate for this population, as they fund projects that average one year in length, can be adapted to address various needs and specific projects, and encourage departments of public health to both join the Network and work together with librarians who support them to achieve common goals. Such partnerships not only assist with the individual partners, they also raise awareness of libraries and encourage cooperation between organizations.  As time goes on we hope to develop awards to specifically address the needs of the public health workforce.

We welcome your suggestions and assistance in our goal to address the needs of the public health workforce in the 13 states and territories of the Southeastern Atlantic Region.

The Health Data Tools and Statistics page, http://phpartners.org/health_stats.html, on the PHPartners.org website has been reorganized to make public health data and statistics easier to find and use.

New Public Health Data Tools and Statistics Categories:

• County and Local Health Data
• State Health Data
• Individual State Data
• National Health Data
• Global Health Data
• Statistical Reports
• Demographic Data
• Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
• Training and Education
• Health Information Technology and Standards
• Tools for Data Collection and Planning

The Partners in Information Access for the Public Health Workforce (PHPartners) is a collaboration of U.S. government agencies, public health organizations, and health science libraries. The mission of PHPartners is to help the public health workforce find and use information effectively to improve and protect the public’s health.

PHPartners.org welcomes suggestions of public health online information resources. Submit new link suggestions at http://phpartners.org/suggestlink.html.

Questions, comments, and feedback about PHPartners.org can be submitted at http://phpartners.org/about.html#Contact%20Us.

Are you a librarian? Do you work in public health? If so, you should consider attending the American Public Health Association (APHA) Annual Meeting this year in Washington, DC from October 29 – November 2, 2011. This year’s theme is Healthy Communities Promote Healthy Minds & Bodies.

This should be a particularly great year to attend as a librarian, since librarians do a lot of important community work. Our public health impact can be seen both directly through health literacy projects and outreach as well as indirectly through education of future nurses, doctors, and public health workers. And, there is funding available through the Sewell Fund to help subsidize costs of attendance at the meeting!

What can you expect from attending APHA? Librarian attendees from the past 10 years report a wide variety of outcomes from attending the meeting. Outcomes range from being written into grants; having parts of their salaries paid by other departments; being asked to give presentations at local, state, national, and international meetings; being asked to become regular faculty members in schools of public health; and in general earning the respect of their public health colleagues.

Please visit our website (listed below) to learn the full details of the Sewell Stipend and download an application today! The deadline for applications is Friday July 29, 2011!

http://www.phha.mlanet.org/blog/activities/sewell-stipend/

If you have any questions, please feel free to contact me or any one of the committee members listed on our site.

Hope to see you there!

Barbara Folb and Joey Nicholson
Co-Chairs, Client Relations Committee 2011
Public Health/Health Administration Section
Medical Library Association

MedlinePlus.gov Connect

MedlinePlus Connect now responds to requests for lab test information.

EHRs and patient portals may now send LOINC (Logical Observation Identifiers Names and Codes) codes to the MedlinePlus Connect system. MedlinePlus Connect responds with links to MedlinePlus consumer health information  for the lab tests related to those codes.

This functionality is available in both the MedlinePlus Connect Web application and Web service. This new feature complements MedlinePlus Connect’s ability to respond to information requests for specific diagnosis or medication codes.

See details on implementing it via the Web application at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/connect/application.html and for the Web service at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/connect/service.html. NLM has also enhanced the MedlinePlus Connect demonstration pages to illustrate how MedlinePlus Connect replies to lab codes. Visit the Web application demo page at http://apps.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/services/demo.html and the Web service application demo page at http://apps.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/services/servicedemo.cfm.

The lab test responses are available for many of the most frequently used lab tests. NLM plans to further expand the lab implementation in the future.

MedlinePlus.gov Tour

Today NLM released a new version of the MedlinePlus tour in English and Spanish.  The tours highlight important features of MedlinePlus.gov and describe where you can find certain types of information on the site. The tours last approximately 8 minutes and they include audio. We invite you to view the tours to see all the wonderful features MedlinePlus and MedlinePlus en español have to offer!  There’s also a downloadable version of each tour so you can play them without an Internet connection.  If you have comments or questions about the MedlinePlus tours, send a message to the MedlinePlus team via the contact form on MedlinePlus.gov.

DigitalLiteracy.gov

The Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) released www.DigitalLiteracy.gov.  The web site provide librarians, teachers, workforce trainers and other practitioners a central location to share digital literacy content and practices. These trusted groups can, in turn, better teach residents of their communities the skills today’s employers need.

The web site, a collaboration of nine federal agencies, features the work of the medical librarian community, such a “Beyond an Apple a Day” and “ABCs of DNA.” Please have a look and continue to submit new materials for inclusion in the portal.

Many libraries in the Southeastern Atlantic Region of the National Network of Libraries of Medicine are using LibGuides to share knowledge and information. LibGuides by Springshare is touted as a practical Web 2.0 application specifically built for libraries and educational institutions. The company has over 1700 libraries using this application with 125,000+ guides by 25,000+ librarians and more than 50 million page hits per month. Coordinators at NN/LM SE/A were impressed by a poster at the MAC 2010 meeting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina from West Virginia University, in which LibGuides were used to incorporate information literacy into the health sciences curriculum at their institution. Librarians at WVU were very helpful in providing more information and offered to answer any questions and share their LibGuides with NN/LM staff. To see their poster, please visit: http://macmla.org/events/2010/presentations/arnold.pdf

After seeing how useful these guides can be, further discussion regarding the use of LibGuides for NN/LM SE/A took place and led to an information webinar session for the staff. We are pleased to announce that we will be implementing LibGuides for our network members. Each coordinator in the office has specific duties related to particular health topics. For example, the Consumer Health Coordinator specializes in various subjects related to consumer health, such as senior health, veterans health information resources and consumer genetics. The Community Outreach Coordinator specializes in resources for specific populations and is planning a LibGuide for population specific health resources for Native Americans, African Americans, etc. These guides will lend themselves quite readily to the mission of NN/LM and will be an excellent way to provide this information to network members. As a content sharing system, LibGuides can act as a gateway to specific resources on a wide variety of health topics and cool tools can be incorporated into the guides, such as RSS feeds, interactive polls, and videos, just to name a few.

At the recent Oversight Committee meeting in Baltimore, members suggested that NN/LM SE/A be a source of information on topics important to NN/LM network members. One such topic mentioned was electronic health records (EHRs). Announcements and updates regarding EHRs come at a rate that is almost impossible to keep up with, yet it’s a topic that many health sciences librarians want to know about. LibGuides will make it possible to have all of the pertinent information in one location. Based on that suggestion, the topic of the first NN/LM SE/A LibGuide is EHRs. To take a look at this LibGuide, please visit: http://seaguides.hshsl.umaryland.edu/emr. Future LibGuides from NN/LM SE/A will be found at: http://seaguides.hshsl.umaryland.edu/.

As always, the NN/LM SE/A would like your input and feedback on these LibGuides as we put them into practice. Suggestions for LibGuides topics are most welcome. We’ll be exploring this application and seeking new and creative ways to make use of these guides. One potential idea we’re exploring is the use of LibGuides as a collaborative workspace. Many network members have developed curricula and projects that can serve as “best practices” for the Region and it would be great to have a space where these projects can be shared with everyone. If you have any suggestions or comments, please email any coordinator in the SEA office or send us an email: HSHSL-NLMsea@hshsl.umaryland.edu

The Center for Food Security and Public Health at Iowa State University has launched a new website:

ALL HAZARDS: Resources to help rural communities prepare for disasters and other hazards.

“As winter rapidly approaches, take time to prepare your family, farm, pets and livestock, for severe weather conditions. The CFSPH, through funding from the Multi-State Partnership for Security in Agriculture has developed a new website (www.Prep4AgThreats.org), filled with resources to help rural communities prepare for any number of hazardous conditions that can impact families, farms and rural business.”

URL: http://www.prep4agthreats.org/

The Resource Guide for Public Health Preparedness has a new look and new web address, http://phpreparedness.nlm.nih.gov. It is now a featured resource on the Disaster Information Management Research Center (DIMRC) web site, http://disasterinfo.nlm.nih.gov.

The Resource Guide was first developed by the New York Academy of Medicine Library in 2002 with funding from the National Library of Medicine (NLM) National Information Center on Health Services Research and Health Care Technology (NICHSR). The Guide is now jointly funded by NICHSR and DIMRC. The Guide continues to provide access to no-cost web materials on public health preparedness topics for the public health workforce.

Recently, this database and web site moved to NLM and the content continues to be maintained by the New York Academy of Medicine Library. Previous web addresses will automatically take the user to the new web address. Comments and questions about the Resource Guide may be sent to tehip@teh.nlm.nih.gov .

The Health Communication and ehealth Team
Office of Disease Prevention and Health Promotion
US Dept Health and Human Services

Please see the attached Service Fellowship Position Announcement  (PDF) and application form (PDF).

DEADLINE FOR APPLICATIONS: Friday, June 4, 2010

To help public health professionals respond to the problem of limited health literacy, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have launched a free “Health Literacy for Public Health Professionals Online Training” program. The purpose of this training is to educate public health professionals about limited health literacy and their role in addressing it in a public health context.

This is a web-based course and can be accessed 24/7 by any computer with Internet access. It takes 1.5 to 2 hours to complete. Trainees can earn a variety of continuing education credits. You can access the training program from: http://www2a.cdc.gov/TCEOnline/registration/detailpage.asp?res_id=2074.

For a link to CDC’s and other HHS’ agencies’ health literacy sites, check out AHRQ’s Health LIteracy and Cultural Competence Resource Links at: http://www.ahrq.gov/browse/hlitres.htm [Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ)]