If you like to do your own searching, here are some resources to help you find research studies, full text articles, reports, analyses and other data.
Tutorials
Published research, also referred to as published studies or research, can be hard to follow. These links from the National Library of Medicine can simplify the way you read a published study and help you find out what information they contain, how to read them and how to understand the medical terminology used in many studies.
Tips for reading research studies:
Studies are usually divided by abstract, introduction, methods, results/findings and discussion/conclusion. Consider these questions when reading a research study:
- Are you or your family member like the people who are studied? If you're not, then a comparison may not be helpful.
- How large is the study? Bigger is often better.
- Does the study have standards for comparison: a control group that does not receive the experimental intervention compared to the experimental group that does?
- Is the study “cross-sectional,” meaning that it was correlated among groups of participants at a single point in time or “longitudinal,” meaning that it followed individuals over time?
- What did the research find and is it relevant to you?
- Do the conclusions suggest more research is needed?
Databases
WorldCat is a global network of libraries with an online catalog of tens of millions of records of books, DVDs, CDs and articles. Find Alzheimer's materials in libraries near you through WorldCat. These links will help:
Tips for searching WorldCat:
- Search by title or topic.
- Find a copy in a library near you.
PubMed is a free searchable database from the National Library of Medicine in Bethesda, Maryland. It includes millions of citations from medical and science journals back to 1948. It is where peer-reviewed research (research that has been reviewed and accepted by experts in a field of study) is collected and indexed. Most citations have abstracts (summaries of research) that provide information on what the research study is about. In some cases, the full text of the study on Alzheimer's disease and other topics is available.
Tips for searching PubMed:
- PubMed Help: to learn how to search, get a full-text article, save your searches, and make the best use of the database.
- Can't think of the search term? Use the MeSh Database of controlled vocabulary, which is used to index articles in online databases. It consists of preselected words and phrases that describe the research.
- Combine medical terms in a string: "Alzheimer's disease anesthesia".
- Limit by year, full text and more options through Advanced Search.
PubMed Central is where to find the full-text of biomedical and life sciences journal articles for free. Search your topic then look for Free article, FREE in PubMed Central or the publisher's icon.
The U.S. government hosts a comprehensive online database of medical research on all diseases at ClinicalTrials.gov. You can also search for clinical trials related to Alzheimer's disease and other dementias by using Alzheimer's Association TrialMatch®. Find studies in any U.S. state or Canadian province.
The RePORT Web site from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) provides access to reports, data, and analyses of NIH research activities including information on expenditures and the results of NIH-supported research. Such searchable public databases as Science.gov, Research.gov, Community of Science, RePORT, CRISP, ClinicalTrials.gov, PubMed and PubMed Central, are also available here.
The Plain Language Medical Dictionary is sponsored by University of Michigan Taubman Health Sciences Library. Click on the drop down menu to browse the list of high-level medical terms and search the dictionary.