All About Access

Look up drug information, learn about diseases and conditions, and read articles about healthy living: It’s all at Yahoo Health, and it’s all accessible!

I periodically get migraines. They’re not the really bad kind that some people get, but they’re not completely trivial either. Many eons ago, after various tests and treatments, my doctor had me try Midrin. And it works quite well, so I’ve been taking it ever since. I’ve had several doctors between then and now, and each one has prescribed Midrin for me—and each one gave me the same instructions, more or less: Take 2 capsules as soon as I feel a migraine coming on and then 1 capsule every hour or so until the symptoms subside, as long as I don’t go over 5 capsules.

Recently my doctor retired, so I have a new doctor at a new practice. When he asked about my migraines and I told him about the Midrin, he looked at me like I had three heads and then proceeded to tell me that that dosing was completely wrong, that I was taking too much, that I should only be taking one pill every 4 hours, etc. “Huh,” I thought. And that’s probably what I said too. I mean, what would you say in response to that? But I did want to know more. Were my previous doctors wrong? Had new recommendations come out? Time to go to http://health.yahoo.com.

One of the features at Yahoo Health is the Drug Guide which you can, not surprisingly, access by following the “Drug Guide” link. On the main page of the Drug Guide, you have several options:

• You can browse the Drug Guide alphabetically by following the appropriate link (like the “M” link for Midrin). This is handy for those times when you cannot quite remember the drug name, but will recognize it when you see it.
• You can browse the “Top 100 Drugs.” Have you ever seen those commercials which feature happy people going about their daily lives and then end with the instructions, “Ask your doctor if prowhateveradin is right for you.”? Well, if prowhateveradin treats the symptoms of menopause and you’re a 20 year-old or a guy, you are going to lose whatever credibility you had with your doctor. So before you ask your doctor if something is right for you, check out the Top 100 Drugs list. For the most part, if it’s in a commercial, it’s in this list.
• You can search for your drug by name or keyword in the “Search the Drug Guide for” edit box. This is what I typically do.

My search for “Midrin” produced one result: A link called “Isometheptene, Dichloralphenazone, and Acetaminophen (Systemic).” Following that link took me to the overview page that includes the brand names, a description, instructions for proper use, dosing, and storage. In the dosing section I learned that what my previous doctors had instructed me to do was indeed correct. I also learned that the dosing instructions from my current doctor are correct—but for folks with tension headaches; not migraines.

On each overview page, you will also find a link called “Precautions & Side Effects.” The information you find there is the equivalent of the printed drug information sheet that the pharmacy provides along with your medication. Only at Yahoo Health, it’s accessible!

Yahoo Health is not limited to information about medicine. They also have very detailed information available on a variety of different diseases and conditions. Follow the “Diseases & Conditions” link to access the Yahoo Health Encyclopedia. And if you just want to learn more about healthy living, there’s a link for that too.

Be well!
—jd

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 4th, 2005 at 2:30 pm and is filed under Web Access. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.