Get Your ZZZ’s

In a long list of health observances, May brings you “Better Sleep Month.”

This awareness comes at a perfect time; as the days get longer and hotter, and people make time for well-deserved rest and relaxation.

Getting the right amount of sleep is just as important as a healthy diet and exercise. However, factors like stress and sleep illnesses can interrupt a satisfactory night’s rest.

Visit The Better Sleep Council to learn interesting sleep statistics, common sleep problems and to discover the interesting history of our wonderful friend, The Bed.

RefWorks Mobile

RefWorks, the popular web-based bibliographic management system, is now available via web-enabled mobile phones, smart phones, and personal data assistants (PDAs). Your Group code is required. For more information on group codes, see our RefWorks info page.

A RefWorks class will be held Thursday, May 28, 2009, 10 – 11 am, at the LSUHSC Main Campus- Library computer lab room 405. For more information, contact mknapp@lsuhsc.edu

USPSTF for iPhone

From AHRQ:

The DHHS Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is announcing the release of the Electronic Preventive Services Selector (ePSS) tool for iPhone/iPod Touch. Go to http://epss.ahrq.gov to download.

ePSS iPhone/iPod Touch Key Features:
* Search and browse the USPSTF recommendations
* View USPSTF recommended preventive tools
* Full mobility with USPSTF database on the iPhone/ iPod Touch
* User friendly interface customized specifically for iPhone/ iPod Touch
* Email notifications of available updates
* User friendly ePSS data updates

eBooks for your smartphone

STAT!Ref, an online book provider of over 80 medical, dental and nursing textbooks, is now optimized for mobile devices. Simply access the link from your phone or PDA’s browser and you will be automatically redirected to the mobile site.

You must be able to access to the internet on your mobile device to use STAT!Ref mobile.

Links
STAT!Ref on campus: http://online.statref.com/Search.aspx?grpalias=StFH&mobile=true
STAT!Ref off campus: http://0-online.statref.com.innopac.lsuhsc.edu/Search.aspx?grpalias=StFH&mobile=true

More info from STAT!Ref.com.

Get Ready for National Women’s Health Week 2009!

This year the 10^th annual National Women?óÔé¼Ôäós Health Week kicks off today!?é?á It is a weeklong health observance coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services?óÔé¼Ôäó Office on Women?óÔé¼Ôäós Health (OWH). This year?óÔé¼Ôäós theme is ?óÔé¼?ôIt?óÔé¼Ôäós Your Time?óÔé¼?Ø.

Some tips to increase physical and mental health include:

• Getting at least 2 ?é?¢ hours of moderate physical activity, 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity, or a combination of both each week
• Eating a nutritious diet.
• Visiting a health care professional for regular checkups and preventive screenings.
• Avoiding risky behaviors, like smoking and not wearing a seatbelt.
• Paying attention to mental health, including getting enough sleep and managing stress.

Locally there are a few events that are taking place:

Taking it to the Streets ?óÔé¼ÔÇ£ A City Walk and Lunch promoting women?óÔé¼Ôäós mental and physical health (http://www.tulane.edu/~tuxcoe/NewWebsite/com_womens_health/index.html)

Ask your Health Provider ?óÔé¼ÔÇ£ Clinical screening & exam, HIV & STI treatment and/or prevention, Taking the Pledge! (http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/offices/?ID=264)

So far, Louisiana only has 6 women who took the pledge and is trailing far behind Missouri which has 155 pledges, so take the pledge today!

One week, not enough?

If you?óÔé¼Ôäód like to continue the Woman Challenge there is an eight-week online activity program that allows you to track your progress, so sign up today!

For more information please visit http://www.womenshealth.gov/whw/ .

May bike days

Bikes in the Roman Street Parking Garage. Can you guess which one is mine?

In line with National Physical Fitness Month, May is also deemed National Bike Month by the League of American Bicyclists.

Bicycle commuting is a great way to squeeze regular exercise into a hectic schedule. Commuting time can be used to stay in shape instead of sitting frustrated in traffic. Bicycle commuters get to work on time more often and are happier and more productive. 80% of people who switch from sedentary commuting to cycling improve their heart, lungs and blood vessels greatly in 6-8 weeks, so they get sick much less often.

For a 180 pound man, a 10 mile round trip bike commute burns 400 calories. For a 130-pound woman this same commute burns 300 calories. In fact, children who walk or bicycle to school have higher daily levels of physical activity and better cardiovascular fitness than do children who do not actively commute to school, according to a 2008 article from Preventing Chronic Disease.

Local Bike Links:
New Orleans Metro Bicycle Coalition: http://www.mbcnola.org/
Includes official bike route maps

Bikely: New Orleans bicycle routes
http://www.bikely.com/listpaths/srchkey/new+orleans/country/254/region/140
Bikely lets you map your own bike paths or search paths others have created. Here’s one for biking Uptown to the Medical district.

New Orleans Bicycle Club: http://www.neworleansbicycleclub.org/
For the local bike racing enthusiast

Rubarb bikes: http://www.rubarbike.org/
Upper 9th ward community bike shop

Plan B: http://www.bikeproject.org/
Community-run bike project that functions as an open workspace for bicycle repair

Nolacycle: http://www.nolacycle.blogspot.com/
Ongoing project aimed to create a high quality cycling map of New Orleans

Bike Polo: http://www.nolabikerace.com/
Not for the faint of heart.

It’s the Midnight Special

Remember the Isché Library is open until midnight tonight (Friday, May 8th) and tomorrow (Saturday, May 9th) for special exam hours. Time to get studying!

iPhone Clinical Trials

A new application for iPhone allows users to access the database of the National Library of Medicine and National Institutes of Health which holds the results of and information pertaining to more than 71,500 clinical trials.

ACCESS NOW: iClinical Trials

Of course, there is always clinicaltrials.gov if you don’t have an iPhone.

Read more: “Ivor Kovic, M.D. ?é?? Blog Archive ?é?? NIH Database More Accessible to iPhone Users” – http://ivor-kovic.com/blog/?p=419#ixzz0EqGkrQSH&A

Get Fit!

Who remembers the President’s Fitness Challenge from grade or high school? The pull-ups were my most hated event.

president fitness challenge

President Obama has reiterated that May is National Physical Fitness and Sports Month. There are guidelines for adults, seniors, teens, and children. I’m willing to try the Physical Activity Guidelines, just so long as no on makes me do pull-ups ever again.

Happy National Nurses Week to All of the Nurses in the LSUHSC-NO!!

National Nurses Week is celebrated every year beginning on 6 May, National Nurses Day, and ending on 12 May, the birthday of Florence Nightingale, the foundress of modern nursing. Included in this week of celebration is National Student Nurses Day on 8 May.

The theme for the 2009 celebration is Nurses: Building a Healthy America

?óÔé¼?ôThis year?óÔé¼Ôäós theme reflects the commitment nurses make every day in building a healthy America for the public we serve,?óÔé¼?Ø said ANA President Rebecca M. Patton, MSN, RN, CNOR. ?óÔé¼?ôANA has long advocated for meaningful health system reform and in 2008 re-released ANA?óÔé¼Ôäós Health System Reform Agenda, an ANA blueprint for reform that focuses on the basic ?óÔé¼?ôcore?óÔé¼?Ø of essential health care services, which is essential in building a healthy America for everyone.?óÔé¼?Ø

New! Rehabilitation Reference Center

A new database for PTs, OTs and rehabilitation professionals is now available.

Rehabilitation Reference Center is a clinical reference tool designed for use by rehabilitation clinicians, physical therapists, and occupational therapists at the point of care. It provides valid and relevant information intuitively and conveniently, using the best available evidence to help support clinical decisions.

FEATURES

The RRC is available to LSUHSC faculty staff & students, & can be accessed off campus with a valid LSUHSC library barcode & PIN. You can find a link to the RRC from our Electronic Resources page.

Live Help now available

You can now get live help on the web with our new library chat service. Simply type us a question and get a response instantly! The library chat service is open Monday-Thursday from 8-8 and Fridays from 8-4:30. Access is available from the library homepage under the link to Help/live chat or directly from our help page.

Live help from the LSUHSC library, over the web!
http://www.lsuhsc.edu/no/library/services/help.html

PsychiatryOnlineBook of the Month: Eating Disorders

Just in time for Mental Health Month comes PsychiatryOnline.com’s Book of the Month for May: Yager & Power’s Clinical Manual of Eating Disorders.

ACCESS NOW: Clinical Manual of Eating Disorders

Clinical Manual of Eating Disorders provides sound therapeutic advice based on current research and clinical practice. It includes detailed discussions of various aspects of assessment and treatment, featuring up-to-date evidence- and consensus-based information. Ranging from the determination of initial treatment approaches to problems posed by unique groups of patients, it marks the first APPI volume specifically directed toward the clinical management of patients with eating disorders-and the first book to focus squarely on what psychiatrists need to know about the clinical assessment and management of patients with anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa, binge eating disorders, and obesity.

You can access the Book of the Month from the home page, at www.PsychiatryOnline.com. You’ll have access to Clinical Manual of Eating Disorders as a PDF download for the month of May.

Off campus? Use this link: http://0-www.psychiatryonline.com.innopac.lsuhsc.edu/

Melanoma Monday

Today is Melanoma Monday so check those spots! See the Melanoma Monday website for more information: http://www.melanomamonday.org/. See also the National Library of Medicine’s Medline Plus web information on skin cancer: http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/skincancer.html.

May is Skin Cancer Awareness Month

The American Academy of Dermatology has established May as Melanoma/Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month, and Monday, May 4th is Melanoma Monday. Please visit the AAD website and the Melanoma Monday website for more valuable information regarding skin cancers. There you will find fact sheets, a self-check guide, and printable body maps to keep track of your moles. There are also search tools to locate a dermatologist in your area and find a free screening location. So as the AAD says, “See spot, check spot!”