December 16, 2014

FEATURE STORY

A Year of Health Planner covers

Order Your Free 2015 A Year of HealthPlanners Today!

Each day is a chance to get healthier! The National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS) offers a series of free multicultural health planners titled A Year of Health: A Guide to a Healthy 2015 for You and Your Family. Learn how to limit low back pain, have healthier skin, prevent sports injuries, keep your bones healthy, and many more health tips to manage conditions of the bones, joints, muscles, and skin. The four health planners, created with community input, are tailored for African Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives/Native Hawaiians, Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders and Hispanics/Latinos (bilingual planner).

Order Free Planners for Your Organization Today in Three Easy Steps!

To receive a large quantity (up to 200) health planners from the NIAMS:

  1. Visit the NIAMS Multicultural Outreach Initiative website.
  2. Download the bulk order form and complete it in its entirety.
  3. Email your completed form to the NIAMS Information Clearinghouse at niamsinfo@mail.nih.gov using the subject line “Health Planners.”

To receive 10 copies or less of the health planner, place your order directly through the NIAMS online ordering system.

NEWS AND EVENTS

StoryCorps participants

NIH and StoryCorps Partnering To Share Stories of Medical Research

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is launching an exciting project to capture the voices of medical research. We’ve partnered with StoryCorps, a national oral history project, to give patients, their loved ones, researchers, staff and others in our community an opportunity to share their stories.


colored people placing color puzzle pieces down

NIH Awards Nearly $31 Million To Enhance Diversity in the Biomedical Research Workforce

The NIH has awarded nearly $31 million in fiscal year 2014 funds to develop new approaches that engage researchers, including those from backgrounds underrepresented in biomedical sciences, and prepare them to thrive in the NIH-funded workforce. These awards are part of a projected 5-year program to support more than 50 awardees and partnering institutions in establishing a national consortium to develop, implement and evaluate approaches to encourage individuals to start and stay in biomedical research careers.


MedlinePlus logo

Responsive Design for MedlinePlus Mobile

The NIH National Library of Medicine (NLM) has released responsive versions of the MedlinePlus mobile sites in English and Spanish. The redesigned sites are optimized for mobile phones and tablets. Unlike the original mobile sites that contained only a subset of the information available on MedlinePlus, the new sites have all of the content found on MedlinePlus and MedlinePlus en español. They also have an improved design for easier use on mobile devices.


Genome: Unlocking Life's Codes

Genome Exhibition Departs Smithsonian for Multicity Tour: Enthusiasm for Genomics Grows With an Estimated 3 Million D.C. Visitors to Exhibition

With eye-catching models, interactive displays and engaging elements, the Genome: Unlocking Life’s Code exhibition is going on tour after having completed a 14-month engagement at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History in Washington, D.C.


New Supplemental Awards Apply Sex and Gender Lens to NIH-funded Research

The NIH has invested $10.1 million in supplemental funding to bolster the research of 82 grantees to explore the effects of sex in preclinical and clinical studies. This investment encourages researchers to study females and males, and is a catalyst for considering sex as a fundamental variable in research. The current overreliance on male subjects in preclinical research can obscure key findings related to sex that could guide later human studies.


graphical illustration of a skeleton doing yoga

Yoga for Health

This digest summarizes current scientific evidence about yoga for health conditions, including chronic low-back pain, asthma and arthritis. The scientific evidence to date suggests that a carefully adapted set of yoga poses may help reduce pain and improve function in people with chronic low-back pain.


FDA Working To Keep Patients Well Informed

The job of the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Office of Health and Constituent Affairs is to serve the nation’s patients in two ways: by listening to their concerns regarding the FDA’s policy and decision making and advocating for them within the FDA; and by informing many patients and patient organizations about the FDA’s mission and its work to advance the development, evaluation and approval of new therapeutic products.


graphic illustration of medicine and dietary supplement bottles

Mixing Medications and Dietary Supplements Can Endanger Your Health

When you take prescription or over-the-counter medications, do you also take a vitamin, mineral or other dietary supplements? Have you considered whether there is any danger in mixing medications and dietary supplements?


Math Model Designed To Replace Invasive Kidney Biopsy for Lupus Patients

Researchers developed a math model that can predict the progression from nephritis—kidney inflammation—to interstitial fibrosis, scarring in the kidney that current treatments cannot reverse. A kidney biopsy is the only existing way to reach a definitive diagnosis of the damage and its extent.

Events

Behavioral and Social Sciences Lectures

The Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Coordinating Committee and the Office of Behavioral and Social Sciences Research regularly convene a series of guest lectures and symposia on selected topics in the behavioral and social sciences. These presentations by prominent behavioral and social scientists provide overviews of current research on topics of scientific and social interest. All seminars are open to the public.


NIH Health Disparities Seminar Series

The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) sponsors the monthly NIH Health Disparities Seminar Series. The forum disseminates information on advances, gaps and current issues related to health disparities research. It features national and international health disparities research experts, including many funded by the NIMHD, the other NIH Institutes and Centers and federal agency partners. Each seminar focuses on a specific theme.

FEATURED RESOURCES

NIAMS Patient Experiences: Lupus Patient Videos

Shirley and Liliana, who are living with lupus, describe their experiences as patients at the NIH Clinical Center.


screencap of Shirley Aviles Liliana Chavez

New NIAMS Health Information Basics Series

The NIAMS has updated four of its popular brochures and has combined them into a series called “Health Information Basics.” These brochures, available in English and Spanish, present fundamental information in a simple, easy-to-read format and are enhanced with stunning images. The topics include:

brochure image

The brochures are available free in bulk copies and are perfect for placement in health clinics, medical offices, health fairs and for distribution to patients at health visits and support groups. To order up to 25 copies per brochure, please visit the NIAMS Publication Ordering System. For larger bulk orders, contact the NIAMS Information Clearinghouse toll free at 877–226–4267 or email NIAMSinfo@mail.nih.gov.


New From Coverage to Care Materials Are Available in Spanish!

From Coverage to Care (C2C) is an initiative from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services designed to help people with new health coverage understand their benefits and connect to primary care providers and the preventive services that are right for them. C2C resources in Spanish are now available to download and print.

Available resources include:

  • A Roadmap to Better Care and a Healthier You (Una Guía para Un Mejor Cuidado y Una Vida Más Saludable) that includes 8 steps to explain what health coverage is and how to use it to get needed care
  • Consumer tools including a sample insurance card and a sample explanation of benefits
  • An 11-part video series that helps explain the information covered in the Roadmap

To download, print and order these resources in English and Spanish, please visit https://marketplace.cms.gov/c2c.


Complementary Health Approaches for Chronic Pain

This digest summarizes current scientific evidence about the complementary health approaches most often used by people for chronic pain, including fibromyalgia, headache, irritable bowel syndrome, low-back pain, neck pain, osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis.


Technology Assessment: Pain Management Injection Therapies for Low-Back Pain: Topic Refinement

Low-back pain is one of the most frequently encountered conditions in clinical practice. Up to 84 percent of adults have low-back pain at some time in their lives, and a national survey of U.S. adults in 2002 found that over one-quarter reported low-back pain lasting at least a whole day in the past 3 months. Low-back pain can have major adverse impacts on quality of life and function and is frequently associated with depression or anxiety. Low-back pain is also costly. Find out more in this technology assessment [PDF - 76 KB] from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

Other Resources

NIH News in Health

Read practical health information in NIH News in Health, which is reviewed by the NIH’s medical experts and is based on research conducted either by the NIH’s own scientists or by its grantees at universities and medical schools around the country.

illustration of spine

When Your Back Hurts: Don’t Let Back Pain Knock You Flat

Is your back hurting? You’re in good company. In any 3-month period, about 1 in 4 adults in the U.S. has at least 1 day of back pain, mostly in the lower back.


NIH MedlinePlus Magazine

NIH MedlinePlus Magazine

NIH MedlinePlus magazine presents reliable, up-to-date health information and the latest breakthroughs from NIH-supported research.

WHERE IS NIAMS?

The NIAMS Exhibit

The NIAMS exhibit will be traveling to several events in 2015. See the schedule of health fairs and exhibits.

The NIAMS can provide health information or staff to help make your community event or health fair successful. Please contact Sara Rosario Wilson by email, srosario@mail.nih.gov , for more information.

Image: the NIAMS Exhibit

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