Tuesday, February 22, 2011

NMCD--what's in it for you?

Have you checked out the Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database (NMCD) lately? NMCD provides unbiased, scientific clinical information on complementary, alternative, and integrative therapies. And the best part for SCAN members is that access is free, one of many SCAN member benefits.

Today I put in the search term: omega-3. As you can see from the screenshot below there is a full monograph that summarizes safety, effectiveness, mechanism of action, etc. and a reference list.


If you are a SCAN member, it is easy to access the NMCD. Here are the instructions:

Login as a member to the SCAN website (http://www.scandpg.org/)

Under Nutrition Info, click on Natural Medicines Comprehensive Database (in the pulldown menu or near the bottom of the column on the left hand side of the page)

Click on the NMCD icon

You should be automatically logged in. You will know you are logged in by looking at the top upper left corner. Next to Home, it should say Logout (meaning you are currently logged in).

Many of you have a lot more experience with the NMCD than I do. Please post any tips or suggestions so we can all learn more. Best, Marie

Marie Dunford, PhD, RD

SCAN's volunteer Web Editor