New and Updated Topics

What's New in the Healthwise® Knowledgebase

Version 9.6

January 2013

What's New

  • New Health and Disease Topics
  • New Illustrations
  • New Medical Test Topics
  • Enhanced Content
  • New NCI
  • New Medication Topics
  • New Aisle 7 (CAM) Content
  • Updated Actionsets
  • Updated Decision Points
  • Updated Health and Disease Topics
  • Updated Illustrations
  • Updated iTools
  • Updated Online Forms
  • Updated Medical Test Topics
  • Updated Symptom Topics
  • Updated NCI Topics
  • Updated Medication Topics
  • Topic Title Changes and Topic Replacements
  • Medical Guideline Reviews
  • What's Next

New Health and Disease Topics

  • High Blood Pressure During Pregnancy: This new topic explains high blood pressure during pregnancy that is not preeclampsia. It includes information on symptoms, exams and tests, treatment, and what you can do at home when you are pregnant and you have high blood pressure.
  • Long-Term Care Choices: This new topic covers what long-term care is and why it may be necessary. It gives examples of the different types of long-term care and how they differ. It also provides help on how to decide about long-term care.
  • Low Testosterone: This new topic discusses causes and symptoms of low testosterone. It covers testosterone replacement, including risks and side effects of this treatment.
  • Turning Off Your ICD: This new topic covers why someone might want to turn off his or her ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator). It provides information on what happens when an ICD is turned off and some things to thing about when making this decision.
  • Vascular Access Failure: This new topic explains how to take care of a vascular access for hemodialysis. It includes symptoms of access failure, when to call a doctor, and what happens if an access gets infected or stops working properly.

New Illustrations

New illustrations were added to these topics:

New Medical Test Topics

  • Nuchal Translucency Screening Test: This new topic explains why the nuchal translucency screening test is done and what it can show. It tells how to prepare for the test and what is done during the test. It explains how the test feels and what to look for afterward.

Enhanced Content

We've revised the following documents so that they are more concise and easier for readers to explore and use. The content is now more streamlined, there is less repetition across the various sections of each document, and we've provided more cues to the reader in the form of improved headings, lists, and well-placed links.

Other Enhancements

We revised the description of a speculum in the following documents. We now say "a lubricated tool called a speculum."

New NCI Topics

There are new Physician Data Query (PDQ) topics from the National Cancer Institute. Refer to your product Tech Docs for a complete list of new and updated titles.

New Medication Topics

Medication topics from Cerner Multum, Inc. are not included in all systems. Added topics may include new information and/or the addition of new drug names. Refer to the Tech Docs for a complete list of new and updated titles.

New Aisle 7 (CAM) Content

Refer to the Tech Docs for a complete list of new and updated Aisle 7 (CAM) content.

Updated Actionsets

A primary care physician or a specialist in the field reviewed the following topics. We verified all information for medical accuracy and added new medical information if available. While medically significant changes are listed here, minor revisions, such as editorial changes, may not be listed.

A primary care physician or a specialist in the field reviewed the following topics. No medical revisions were needed.

Updated Decision Points

A primary care physician or a specialist in the field reviewed the following topics. We verified all information for medical accuracy and added new medical information if available. While medically significant changes are listed here, minor revisions, such as editorial changes, may not be listed.

A primary care physician or a specialist in the field reviewed the following topics. No medical revisions were needed.

Updated Health and Disease Topics

A primary care physician and/or a specialist in the field reviewed the following topics. We verified all information for medical accuracy and added new medical information if available. While medically significant changes are listed here, minor revisions, such as editorial changes, may not be listed.

  • Altitude Sickness:
    • Topic Overview: Under "Can you prevent altitude sickness?" we now mention a study that showed that starting to take ibuprofen 6 hours before climbing to high elevations and then taking it every 6 hours while climbing may help prevent altitude sickness.
  • Bed-Wetting:
    • Treatment Overview: Under "What to think about," we now say that treatment is usually not a cure and that the goal is to reduce the number of times the child wets the bed and to manage the wetting until it goes away on its own.
    • Other Treatment: We now say that it's not a good idea to have your child wear diapers or pull-ups at night on a regular basis.
    • Daytime Accidental Wetting (Diurnal Enuresis) (Special): Under "Home treatment," we removed bladder exercises, because research hasn't shown that they work well.
    • Moisture Alarms for Bed-Wetting (Special): We now say that moisture alarms aren't meant for children who wet the bed only once or twice a week.
  • Bursitis: Under "How is it treated?" we say that NSAIDs come in pills and in a cream.
  • Cardiac Rehabilitation: Throughout the topic we renamed the phases of cardiac rehab. We renamed the Home Program to Phase II. In turn, we renamed Phase II to Phase III and Phase III to Phase IV.
  • Cervical Cancer Screening: We updated the information about screening for cervical cancer to include the new guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
  • COPD (Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease):
    • Medications: We added that the newly-approved medicine aclidinium (Tudorza Pressair), which is delivered through a dry powder inhaler, may be taken as a daily controller medicine to prevent COPD exacerbations.
  • Colorectal Cancer, Metastatic or Recurrent:
    • Treatment Overview: We now include targeted therapy with monoclonal antibodies and say this may be given along with chemotherapy. We also include a section on pain control and say that cancer pain can almost always be controlled.
  • Crohn's Disease:
    • Biologics for Inflammatory Bowel Disease: In What to Think About under "Drug safety," we added information on who may be at risk for getting the brain infection progressive multifocal leukoencephalopathy (PML). In How Well It Works under "Ulcerative colitis," we added research about adalimumab (Humira).
  • Farsightedness (Hyperopia):
    • Dry Eye Syndrome (Special): We now include other treatment options, such as prescription eyedrops, punctal occlusion, or omega-3 fatty acid supplementation.
  • Health Screening: Finding Health Problems Early:
    • Screening, Adult Women: We revised the cervical cancer screening information based on new guidelines from the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG).
  • Hepatitis A:
  • Hepatitis E: Under "How is hepatitis E spread?" we added that people also can get hepatitis E from contact with an animal, such as eating undercooked meat from or touching an infected pig.
  • Lice:
    • Treatment Overview: We now say if you still see live lice on a household member 7 to 10 days after he or she had the first treatment, it's best for that person to have a second treatment.
    • Lice: Cleaning Lice From Combs, Clothing, and Other Items (Special): We now say that removing lice from objects is not a necessary part of treatment for head lice. We updated the list of tips based on CDC recommendations.
  • HIV: Preventing Infections: We now say it is important to be up to date on PCV, PPSV, and Tdap immunizations.
  • Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Infection:
    • Topic Overview: Under "How can you prevent HIV?" we added "You also can take antiretroviral medicine to help protect yourself from HIV infection. But to keep your risk low, you still need to practice safer sex even while you are taking the medicine."
    • Exams and Tests: In a new section called "Home test kits for HIV," we describe the test OraQuick and a home blood test kit.
    • Nucleoside/Nucleotide Reverse Transcriptase Inhibitors for HIV (Drug Detail): We added the medicine Stribild (cobicistat, elvitegravir, emtricitabine, and tenofovir) as an example of a combination medicine that contains a nucleoside/nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitor for HIV.
  • Immunizations:
    • Adult Immunizations: Regarding pneumococcal vaccination, we now say that people ages 19 and older who have immune system problems, cerebrospinal fluid leaks, cochlear implants, no spleen, or a damaged spleen need both PCV and PPSV.
  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome:
    • Medications: Under "Constipation medicines," we added the newly approved medicine linaclotide (Linzess).
  • Marijuana: We added information about synthetic marijuana and its side effects.
  • Medical Marijuana: We added information about synthetic marijuana and its side effects.
  • Osteoporosis:
    • Other Treatment: We say that there is not good evidence that soy products reduce the chance of broken bones, but that they are a good source of non-dairy protein. We also deleted hip protectors, since they are no longer widely used.
    • Bisphosphonates for Osteoporosis (Drug Detail): Under What to Think About, we now say "It is not clear how long you should take bisphosphonates. Experts have suggested that taking bisphosphonates for 3 to 5 years may be enough if you are at low risk of fractures. Talk to your doctor about how long you should take these medicines."
    • Raloxifene (Drug Detail): Under Why It Is Used, we say that raloxifene may be a good choice for women who are considering medicines to prevent or treat osteoporosis and who also have a high risk for breast cancer.
  • Osteoporosis in Men: Under "How is it treated?" we added denosumab.
  • Pain Management:
  • Pneumonia:
    • Prevention: We now say that some adults need both types of pneumococcal vaccine.
  • Skin Cancer, Nonmelanoma:
  • Surgery: What to Expect:
    • Before Surgery: Under "Just before surgery," we added a link to a new illustration of the FACES pain scale.
  • Tendon Injury (Tendinopathy):
    • Treatment Overview: We say that NSAIDs come in pills or in a cream that you rub over the sore area. We also say that platelet-rich plasma (PRP) is being studied.
  • Type 1 Diabetes: We organized, streamlined, and used plain language to make content easier to understand and reduce redundancy within the topic.
  • Urinary Incontinence in Women:
  • Warts and Plantar Warts:
    • Treatment Overview: We now talk about treating warts in children. Under "Treatment by your doctor," we include chemical peels.
    • Home Treatment: We include information on over-the-counter cryotherapy kits.

A primary care physician or a specialist in the field reviewed the following topics. No medical revisions were needed.

Updated Illustrations, iTools, and Forms

Updated Illustrations

Updated Interactive Health Tools

A primary care physician or a specialist in the field reviewed the following topics. No medical revisions were needed.

Updated Online Forms

Updated Medical Test Topics

A primary care physician or a specialist in the field reviewed the following topics. We verified all information for medical accuracy and added new medical information if available. While medically significant changes are listed here, minor revisions, such as editorial changes, may not be listed.

  • Potassium (K) in Urine:
    • How It Is Done: We removed the instructions for a "clean-catch midstream one-time urine collection," because this test is almost always done on a urine sample collected over 24 hours.

A primary care physician or a specialist in the field reviewed the following topics. No medical revisions were needed.

Updated Symptom Topics

A primary care physician or a specialist in the field reviewed the following topics. We verified all information for medical accuracy and added new medical information if available. While medically significant changes are listed here, minor revisions, such as editorial changes, may not be listed.

A primary care physician or a specialist in the field reviewed the following topics. No medical revisions were needed.

Updated NCI Topics

There are updated Physician Data Query (PDQ) topics from the National Cancer Institute included in this release. Refer to your product Tech Docs for a complete list of new and updated titles.

Updated Medication Topics

Medication topics from Cerner Multum, Inc. are not included in all systems. Updates may include new information and/or the addition of new drug names. Refer to your product Tech Docs for a complete list of new and updated titles.

Topic Title Changes, Topic Replacements, Medical Guideline Reviews

Topic Title Changes

Topic Replacements

The following searchable topics have been archived, and replacement topics are listed. Many rank-3 frames, which are non-searchable documents, have also been archived, because they contained duplicate information. See your product Tech Docs for a complete list of archived documents.

Medical Guideline Reviews

The following medical guidelines have been reviewed to ensure Healthwise content is accurate, consistent, and helpful to consumers.

  • American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (2012). Screening for Cervical Cancer. ACOG Practice Bulletin No. 131. Obstetrics and Gynecology.
  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (2012). Use of 13-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine and 23-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine for adults with immunocompromising conditions: Recommendations of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).

What's Next

The next release of the Healthwise Knowledgebase is scheduled for April 2013.

New Topics

New topics on the following subjects are in development and are expected to release within the next 6 months:

  • Aggression in youth
  • Anal cancer
  • End-of-life care: Newborn
  • Golfer's elbow
  • Growth and development milestones
  • High- and low-potassium foods
  • Hodgkin's lymphoma
  • Sonohysterogram
  • Staying healthy around animals
  • Suprapubic catheter
  • Teens and birth control
  • Unused medicine

Enhancements

The following topics are currently being revised to improve the readability and key actions for consumers:

  • Bed Rest in Pregnancy
  • Chronic Lung Disease in Infants
  • Colorectal Cancer
  • Colorectal Cancer, Metastatic or Recurrent
  • Cushing's Syndrome
  • Cystic Fibrosis
  • Developmental Dysplasia of the Hip
  • Dupuytren's Disease
  • Gum Disease
  • Hair Loss
  • Hammer, Claw, and Mallet Toes
  • Hip Fracture
  • Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy
  • Ménière's Disease
  • Nephrotic Syndrome
  • Paget's Disease of Bone
  • Patellar Tracking
  • Placenta Abruptio
  • Placenta Previa
  • Poison Ivy, Oak, or Sumac
  • Spina Bifida
  • Tooth Decay
  • Urinary Incontinence in Men
  • Wisdom Tooth Problems

Updates

We will be updating the following topics:

  • Abdominal Problems, Age 11 and Younger
  • Abdominal Problems, Age 12 and Older
  • Abnormal Pap Test
  • Abscessed Tooth
  • Achilles Tendon Problems
  • Acne
  • Age-Related Macular Degeneration
  • Angiogram
  • Arthroscopy
  • Atrial Fibrillation
  • Bartholin Gland Cyst
  • Basic Dental Care
  • Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo (BPPV)
  • Blisters
  • Body Temperature
  • Bone Marrow Aspiration and Biopsy
  • Bruises and Blood Spots
  • Burns
  • Child Abuse and Neglect
  • Chlamydia
  • Chronic Fatigue Syndrome
  • Chronic Pain
  • Clubfoot
  • Color Blindness
  • Confusion, Memory Loss, and Altered Alertness
  • Depression
  • De Quervain's Disease
  • Diabetic Nephropathy
  • Dizziness, Lightheadedness, and Vertigo
  • Exposure to Sexually Transmitted Infections
  • Eyelid Problems
  • Family Life Cycle
  • Feeling Depressed
  • Fibrocystic Breasts
  • Folic Acid Deficiency Anemia
  • Genital Herpes
  • Growth and Development, Newborn
  • Health and Safety, Ages 2 to 5 Years
  • Health and Safety, Birth to 2 Years
  • Healthy Eating
  • Homocysteine
  • Hospital Discharge Planning
  • Iron Deficiency Anemia
  • Kawasaki Disease
  • Klinefelter Syndrome
  • Leukemia
  • Male Genital Problems and Injuries
  • Malocclusion and Orthodontics
  • Meningitis
  • Miscarriage
  • Mitral Valve Prolapse
  • Navigating Your Hospital Stay
  • Ophthalmoscopy
  • Oral Cancer
  • Parkinson's Disease
  • Pelvic Inflammatory Disease
  • Postoperative Problems
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
  • Preterm Labor
  • Prevent Medical Errors
  • Pulmonary Embolism
  • Radon
  • Ringworm of the Scalp and Beard
  • Ringworm of the Skin
  • Scabies
  • Scalp Problems
  • Seborrheic Keratosis
  • Shingles
  • Skin Changes
  • Sleep Problems, Age 12 and Older
  • Smallpox
  • Speech and Language Development
  • Stroke
  • Suicidal Thoughts or Threats
  • Swollen Glands and Other Lumps Under the Skin
  • Tennis Elbow
  • Testicular Cancer
  • Testicular Problems
  • Tonsillitis
  • Type 1 Diabetes: Children Living With the Disease
  • Uterine Cancer
  • Vitamin B12 Deficiency Anemia
  • Von Willebrand's Disease
  • Weakness and Fatigue

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