The Diseases Database is a cross-referenced index of human disease, medications, symptoms, signs, abnormal investigation findings etc. This site provides a medical textbook-like index and search portal covering areas including

• Internal medical disorders
• Symptoms and signs
• Congenital and inherited disorders
• Infectious diseases and organisms
• Drugs and medications
• Common haematology and biochemistry investigation abnormalities

To find items please search using words you would look up in the index of a standard medical textbook (i.e. a single subject). Our search engine does not support "Ask Jeeves" style natural language queries or logical operators (e.g. AND, OR etc).

The Diseases Database was inspired by the 'surgical sieve' classification and memory technique used at medical school e.g.

Q. What are the causes of splenomegaly?
A. There are congenital causes and acquired causes...

Quick ways to get an overview of coverage include:

• Some causes of clubbed nails
• Randomly selected items
• Alphabetical index

Only generic (non-brand, non-proprietary) drug names are held. More on what isn't covered can be found within the frequently asked question page.

What does the database do?

The Diseases Database contains many human diseases, medications, symptoms, signs, abnormal investigation findings etc (referred to as 'items'). This site provides

1. Lists of items beloved of examiners in Medical School and beyond e.g. causes of erythema nodosum
2. Dictionary type definitions for many items via links to the National Library of Medicine's Unified Medical Language System. e.g. this definition for HLA B27
3. Subject specific hyperlinks to web information resources for many items. e.g. the UK's National Institute of Clinical Excellence's Guidelines on taxanes are available, whether you come from breast cancer or taxol/paclitaxel or taxanes
4. A 'pre-loaded' multiple search engine enquiry page using all item synonyms e.g. search on Klinefelter's syndrome.
5. Where suitable UMLS equivalents of items exist, the terms under which those concepts are known (including languages other than English), the source and the 'code' are shown. e.g. appendicitis

These facilities are tightly cross-navigable and you may search for items as detailed in the next section.

Searches

The words you can search on are those you would find in the index of a medical textbook (n.b. generic drug names only).
The search tips page contains further detail on searching.

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©MOOSe Technology. Last update 2008-05-02

This medical information is intended for education, background reading and general interest. The Diseases Database is not a diagnostic or clinical decision-making tool.
Please consult your own licensed physician regarding diagnosis and treatment of any medical condition!
Content is not asserted complete or error free, please see also our disclaimer.