FCPL Curated Content: Health and Medicine: Health Information

Disclaimer

This page is intended to provide general health & wellness information. Some material may contain information that is the opinion of the author and not necessarily that of a doctor.

Only a health professional can interpret and individualize information for a specific person's condition or situation.
Information provided by Fairfax County Public Library (FCPL) does not imply medical recommendation, endorsement, or approval by the FCPL.
Please consult your health care provider with specific medical questions.

Reliable Sources of Health and Mental Health Information

Family Health
- Family Doctor
  The American Academy of Family Physicians provides medical and health information for the whole family. Also available in Spanish.
- Nemours KidsHealth
  Doctor-reviewed advice on hundreds of physical, emotional and behavioral topics — from before birth through the teen years. Separate sections for parents, kids and teens. Easy-to-follow articles, slideshows, videos and health tools. From the Nemours Foundation. Also available in Spanish.
Mayo Clinic
A comprehensive site for finding information about diseases and conditions, drugs, treatment decisions and healthy living topics. Also available in Spanish and other languages.
MedlinePlus
The National Library of Medicine provides current, trusted health and medical information. Includes descriptions of diseases and conditions, their symptoms, treatment and prevention; a medical encyclopedia; information on drugs, herbs and supplements; and more. Watch videos and interactive tutorials, or sign up for free email updates on the latest health or medical news. Information is also available in Spanish.
Mental Health
- American Psychiatric Association
  Learn about common mental disorders, including symptoms, risk factors and treatment options.
- American Psychological Association
  Articles cover a variety of psychology topics.
- National Alliance on Mental Illness
  Learn more about mental health conditions such as schizophrenia, PTSD, bipolar, borderline personality disorder, ADHD, OCD, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, suicide, addiction and others. Also available in Spanish.
- National Institute of Mental Health
  Offers information about mental disorders, related topics and the latest mental health research. It also provides brochures and fact sheets — many available in Spanish.
Merck Manuals
Information on medical conditions and their diagnosis, treatment and prevention. Choose the Consumer Version, written in everyday language, the Professional Version with more advanced content or switch between the two. Both versions provide images, video and audio resources. Also available in Spanish.
National Institutes of Health — Health Information
The primary federal agency for conducting and supporting medical research. It offers health and medical resources, including information on clinical research trials, and PubMed, a database of citations of professional biomedical and life sciences literature (with links to free, full-text sources where available). Information on the NIH website is also available in Spanish.

In addition, many websites of NIH divisions are good sources of health information:

National Cancer Institute
Includes information about cancer in general as well as specific types of cancer. It addresses treatment, causes and prevention, screening, clinical trials, the latest research and much more. Also available in Spanish.
National Institute on Aging
Provides information on health topics related to aging as well as information on healthy eating, cognitive health, clinical trials, caregiving and more.
More NIH Institutes and Centers
For information on additional disorders, conditions or issues, follow the links provided on this full list of NIH Institutes and Centers.

Nutrition.gov
Provides consumers with easy access to reliable information on food, healthy eating, food safety and physical activity. Also available in Spanish. Sponsored by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.