Medical encyclopedia

The Hippocratic Oath is an oath traditionally taken by physicians pertaining to the ethical practice of medicine. It is widely believed that the oath was written by Hippocrates, the father of western medicine, in the 4th century BC, or by one of his students

A medical encyclopedia is a comprehensive written compendium that holds information about diseases, medical conditions, tests, symptoms, injuries, and surgeries. It may contain an extensive gallery of medicine-related photographs and illustrations. ^[1] A medical encyclopedia provides information to readers about health questions. It may also contain some information about the history of diseases, the development of medical technology uses to detect diseases in its early phase. A licensed physician should be consulted for diagnosis and treatment of any and all medical conditions.

Characteristics

World Health Organization Headquarters in Geneva

Four major elements define a medical encyclopaedia: its subject matter, its scope, its method of organization, and its method of production:

• Encyclopaedias can be general, containing articles on topics in every field. A medical encyclopedia provides valuable health information, tools for managing your health, and support to those who seek information.^[2]
• Works of encyclopedic scope aim to convey the important accumulated knowledge for their subject domain, such as an encyclopaedia of medicine.
• The articles on subjects in a medical encyclopedia are usually accessed alphabetically by article name or for health topics.
• As modern multimedia and the information age have evolved, they have had an ever-increasing effect on the collection, verification, summation, and presentation of information of all kinds. Medical encyclopedias such as Medline Plus, WebMD, and the Merck Manual are examples of new forms of the medical encyclopedias as information retrieval becomes simpler. Some online encyclopedias are medical wikis, which use wiki software to write the information collaboratively.

Medical Encyclopedia MedlinePlus

MedlinePlus is a free Web site that provides consumer health information for patients, families, and health care providers. MedlinePlus brings together quality information from the United States National Library of Medicine, the National Institutes of Health (NIH), other U.S. government agencies, and health-related organizations. The U.S. National Library of Medicine produces and maintains MedlinePlus.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (or CDC) is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services based in the Metro Atlanta area, adjacent to the campus of Emory University and northeast of downtown Atlanta.^[3][4] It works to protect public health and safety by providing information to enhance health decisions, and it promotes health through partnerships with state health departments and other organizations. The CDC focuses national attention on developing and applying disease prevention and control (especially infectious diseases), environmental health, occupational safety and health, health promotion, prevention and education activities designed to improve the health of the people of the United States.

Medical Encyclopedia WebMD

WebMD Health, LLC (NASDAQ: WBMD) is an American provider of health information services. It is primarily known for its public Internet site, which has information regarding health and health care, including a symptom checklist, pharmacy information, blogs of physicians with specific topics and a place to store personal medical information.^[5] The site was reported to have received over 17.1 million average monthly unique visitors in Q1 2007^[6] and is the leading health portal in the United States.^[7] The site receives information from accredited individuals and is reviewed by a medical review board consisting of four physicians to ensure accuracy.

WebMD also offers services to physicians and private clients. For example, they publish WebMD the Magazine, a patient-directed publication distributed bimonthly to 85 percent of physician waiting rooms.^[8] Medscape is a professional portal for physicians with 30 medical specialty areas and over 30 physician discussion boards. Recently WebMD has been acquired by the News Corporation.

MedicineNet

MedicineNet, Inc. is owned and Operated by WebMD and part of the WebMD Network emphasizing non-technical, in-depth medical peer-reviewed information for consumers. Founded in 1996, WebMD acquired MedicineNet in 2004. MedicineNet, Inc.'s main office is in San Clemente, Calif., and the corporate office is in New York City.

Webster's New World Medical Dictionary is authored by MedicineNet. John Wiley & Sons, Inc.; ISBN 0470189282.

See also

• Pharmacopoeia, a list of medications and their properties
• Materia medica, an encyclopedia of medications
• List of medical wikis
• List of online encyclopedias

References

1. "Medical Encyclopedia Medline Plus". 26 February 2009. Medline Plus a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health.
2. "Medical Encyclopedia WebMD". 17 May 2009. About WebMD.
3. Home Page. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Retrieved on November 19, 2008.
4. "Druid Hills CDP, GA." United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on May 5, 2009.
5. "More turn to Internet for medical advice," WWAY News Channel 3, September 7, 2007
6. "WebMD Has Tremendous Growth Ahead," Seeking Alpha,September 04, 2007
7. comScore Media Metrix
8. "WebMD Corporation Launches Print Magazine," The Write News, April 22, 2005

External links

• Medical Encyclopedia WebMD
• Medical Encyclopedia MayoClinic
• Medical Encyclopedia University of Maryland Medical Center
• Encyclopedia of the Human Body. 3D Human Anatomy Model