Two articles in this week's BMJ analyse the impact and cost effectiveness of defibrillators in public places (p 1312 and p 1316) and argue that there are better strategies for preventing unexpected death. Another two papers assess the use of aspirin after coronary surgery (p 1322) and its effect when given with ibuprofen (p 1298).
Cardiovascular diseases are a major burden in the United Kingdom, and prevention is even more important than treatment. Now adding to the vast array of websites on cardiovascular health comes the National electronic Library for Health's (NeLH) cardiovascular diseases specialist library (http://rms.nelh.nhs.uk/cardiovascular/). It is a welcome addition. Launched last week, the site is part of the wider NeLH programme developed in conjunction with the NHS and providing information in a range of fields from cancer to women's health.
The cardiovascular diseases specialist library aims to support the professional community, patients, and public alike. Well designed and extremely user friendly, the site provides much information that can be used for clinical decision making by doctors and that can advise patients about the risks of smoking, for example.
From a drop down menu users can rapidly gain access to guidelines, systematic reviews, bibliographies, a clinical database, and reviewed internet sites. A search option is available for the specialist section and the complete NeLH electronic library, and there is access to the full text version of nearly 1000 medical journals.
A useful feature is “hot off the press,” which highlights the most important papers published on cardiovascular diseases, with hyperlinks to the journal pages. Information is available on multiple conditions, causes and risk factors, diagnosis and management, and policies and prevention.
Should you need to access other branches of the NHS, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence (NICE), and the National Patient Safety Agency, there are direct links to them. There are also quick links to the main organisations that may be of use, so you do not have to look around for their home pages.