The National Institutes of Health (NIH) have established the NIH Intramural Center for Genomics and Health Disparities (NICGHD), a new venue for research about the way populations are impacted by diseases, including obesity, diabetes and hypertension. NICGHD employs a genomics approach, collecting and analyzing genetic, clinical, lifestyle and socio-economic data to study a range of clinical conditions that have puzzled and troubled public health experts for decades. An additional focus of NICGHD will be to provide training opportunities for students and established scientists from developing countries and from minority groups in the United States. Fuller information about NHGRI can be found at its Web site,  http://www.genome.gov.

The trans-NIH center is directed by internationally renowned genetic epidemiologist Charles N. Rotimi, Ph.D., former director of the National Human Genome Center at Howard University. Read the complete NIH News Release at http://www.nih.gov/news/health/mar2008/nhgri-17.htm

New Spanish Ad Campaign Features “Superhéroes” Theme

Created pro bono for the Ad Council by the advertising agency Casanova Pendrill, the public service advertising campaign includes new television, radio, print and Web advertising featuring the theme, “Superhéroes.” The focus of the campaign was developed from insights gained in the Ad Council’s focus group research, which found that most Hispanic adults do not visit their doctor regularly and only go when they experience symptoms of illness. The lighthearted ads encourage Hispanics to be heroes for their families by getting the preventive health care they need.

The campaign encourages Hispanic adults to visit a comprehensive Web site, www.ahrq.gov/superheroes. The site provides tips on ways to stay healthy and talking with your doctor, recommendations on preventive testing, help in understanding prescriptions, a quiz and glossary of medical terms as well as links to other resources that provide health information.

For the detailed press release, visit http://www.ahrq.gov/news/press/pr2008/superheropr.htm

A new Web resource providing scientists and consumers with the latest information on significant topics in women’s health research from scientific journals and other peer-reviewed sources is now available through the National Library of Medicine (NLM). The NLM Division of Specialized Information Services, Office of Outreach and Special Populations has partnered with the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH) to create this one-stop resource.The 2008 National Institutes of Health (NIH) Research Priorities for Women’s Health were used to identify overarching themes, specific health topics, and research initiatives in women’s health. Within each section of the Web site are topics with links to relevant and authoritative resources and research initiatives for women’s health.

Women’s Health Resources from the NLM Web site can be found at: http://sis.nlm.nih.gov/outreach/womenshealthoverview.html

Women’s Health Resources from the ORWH Web site can be found at: http://orwh.od.nih.gov/nat_lib_med.html

The National Library of Medicine has released the NLM Drug Information Portal. The site is at http://druginfo.nlm.nih.gov. The NLM Drug Information Portal gives the public, healthcare professionals, and researchers a gateway to current, accurate and understandable drug information from the National Library of Medicine and other key government agencies.

More than 12,000 drug records are available for searching. The search interface is straightforward, requiring only a drug name as a search term, and successful searching is enhanced by the assistance of a spellchecker. Information buttons and balloon pop-ups guide the user by providing helpful hints or a description of the resource and links to the source website.

Listen to the NLM Director’s Comments on Ethnicity and Pain Relievers. The transcript is also available. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/podcast/transcript021408.html

Emergency room patients, who are white, receive more pain relievers than other Americans, finds a recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Researchers primarily based at the University of California-San Francisco found all emergency room patients received significantly more pain relievers nationwide during a 13 year period.

MedlinePlus contains two health topic pages that provide insights on both pain management and the problems associated with prescription and non-prescription narcotic drugs. MedlinePlus’ pain health topic page contains a good overview of pain management while MedlinePlus’ drug abuse health topic page drug abuse health topic page adds information on the serious side effects from narcotic prescription and illegal street drugs.

Visit www.pandemicflu.gov for one-stop access to U.S. Government avian and pandemic flu information, including health care planning resources and guidelines.

Where do you live

Selecting this map will take you to a page with links to state pandemic planning information, state pandemic Web site information, and local state contacts.

State & Local Planning & Response Activities:
Alabama: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/alabama.html
Florida: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/florida.html
Georgia: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/georgia.html
Maryland: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/maryland.html
Mississippi: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/mississippi.html
North Carolina: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/northcarolina.html
Puerto Rico: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/puertorico.html
South Carolina: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/scarolina.html
Tennessee: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/tennessee.html
Virgin Islands: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/vislands.html
Virginia: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/virginia.html
Washington, D. C.: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/dc.html
West Virginia: http://www.pandemicflu.gov/plan/states/wvirginia.html

The February issue of NIH News in Health, the monthly newsletter bringing you practical health news and tips based on the latest NIH research, is now online at http://newsinhealth.nih.gov/.

In this issue:

Preventing Cancer Learn How to Lower Your Risk
If you think there’s nothing you can do to prevent cancer, you’d be wrong. Learn about the steps you can take to reduce your cancer risk.

Soothing the Sting of Shingles - When a Childhood Virus Comes Back to Bite You

Even when chickenpox is gone, the virus that causes it stays with you for life, hidden and inactive in your nerve cells. As you get older, the virus may make a second, unwelcome appearance and cause a painful disease called shingles.

Health Capsules:

• Brain Injuries and PTSD Risk
• Sealing Out Tooth Decay
• Featured Web Site: My Family Health Portrait

You can also click here to download a PDF version for printing.
Subscribe, unsubscribe or change your options for this LISTSERV at any time by going to https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=nihnewsinhealth-l&A=1.

Please pass the word on to your colleagues about The NIH News in Health. The National Institutes of Health will send a limited number of print copies free of charge for display in offices, libraries or clinics. Just contact NIH for more information. E-mail: weinh@od.nih.gov

Did you know that the majority of those who die suddenly of heart disease have no previous symptoms? Heart disease is the #1 killer of Americans, claiming more than half a million lives each year.

Check out the MedlinePlus topic pages on Heart Diseases and Heart Disease Prevention. Also read the latest news on heart disease at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/alphanews_h.html#heartdiseases. For heart disease prevention, go to http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/heartdiseasesprevention.html.

Know the risk factors of heart disease and the signs and symptoms of a heart attack. The Healthy Heart Guide (PDF) from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services provides an action plan for improving your health and outlines four major habits that help prevent heart disease:

• Eating healthy foods
• Getting regular physical exercise
• Maintaining a healthy weight
• Avoiding smoking

Your Guide to a Healthy Heart can be found at http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/other/your_guide/healthyheart.pdf

Women and Heart Disease: Quick Facts can be found at http://www.cdc.gov/DHDSP/library/fs_women_heart.htm

By Mandy Meloy, community outreach coordinator

Most of us know that Medlineplus.gov is a reliable, up-to-date health information website for consumers created by the National Library of Medicine (NLM). But, did you know that Medlineplus.gov offers resources for health professionals, too?
These resources include:

• Patient Education Materials such as handouts, pictures, easy-to-read resources, and interactive tutorials in English and Spanish.
• Access to images, diagrams, surgical videos, directories, and the latest health news.
• Searches in Pubmed/MEDLINE
• Links to other NLM and National Institutes of Health (NIH) databases including ClinicalTrials.gov, NIHSeniorHealth.gov, DailyMed, Dietary Supplements Labels Database, and Genetics Home Reference
• Links to additional resources including professional organizations and popular topics such as genetic testing and health literacy.

To further help health professionals keep up-to-date, MedlinePlus offers email lists and RSS feeds on general or specific topics and a subscription to the NIH MedlinePlus Magazine. MedlinePlus can also assist health professionals with free materials to empower patients to look up quality information on their own health at www.informationrx.org.

For a MedlinePlus brochure for Health Professionals, please see http://nnlm.gov/training/resources/mp4hptri.doc. This brochure may be freely reproduced and was developed by the National Network of Libraries of Medicine (NN/LM) staff.

http://www.hrsa.gov/healthliteracy/training.htm/

The Health Resources and Services Administration is offering a new, free, online course, “Unified Health Communication 101: Addressing Health Literacy, Cultural Competency, and Limited English Proficiency”. Those taking the course can receive five credits (CEU/CE, CHES, CME, CNE). The course does not offer MLA CE, but is valuable for librarians as they reach out to provide support and information to the public and health professionals and would provide them another option to obtain continuing education units. To take the course, you will need to register with TRAIN, the distance-learning resource for public health professionals sponsored by the Public Health Foundation with support from HRSA.

In addition, The Unified Health Communication course complements The Medical Library Association and National Institutes of Health/National Library of Medicine (NLM) work in literacy research, curriculum design and hospital outreach. Please, freely share this information with other colleagues.