Looking for a list of medications for treating sinusitis? Wondering what adverse effects are possible with warfarin? Find answers fast with Medscape DrugInfo, Medscape's newly enhanced drug database.

Medscape's DrugInfo provides you with information from two authoritative sources: the American Hospital Formulary Service Drug Information reference by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP), and First DataBank's National Drug Data File. So, you can run a search on either a drug or a disease name, and within seconds DrugInfo will return comprehensive, printable information about nearly every pharmaceutical drug marketed in the United States, including OTCs.

Take a Tour of Medscape DrugInfo

If you haven't searched for drug information on Medscape lately, you'll want to see what you're missing. Let's try a search for "aspirin."

To begin, click on http://www.medscape.com/druginfo/tips (or paste the preceding Web address into the "Address" window of your browser and press the "return" key) and type "aspirin" into the search box. Note that you have the option of searching by disease as well.

TIP: You can also search DrugInfo from the bottom of any Medscape page. Simply type a drug name into the white search box, click the button next to the "Drug Info" database, and click on "Go."

First, the engine will return a list of aspirin-containing preparations. Let's continue by searching for "aspirin oral." To do so, click on the "aspirin oral" link.

Once your browser loads results, take a moment to look in the left-hand navigation bar at the types of information you can get -- everything from uses and dosage to patient handouts.

What about all those links in the left-hand Navigation Bar?

Let's take a closer look at some of the highlights in the information before you in the left-hand navigation bar.

• Uses & Dosage: Labeled and unlabeled uses, as well as dosing information separated into sections on different conditions and symptoms.

• Adverse Effects: Commonly reported adverse effects ("Incidence more frequent") as well as those that may occur less often ("Incidence less frequent") with use of aspirin and other drugs classified as Nonsteroidal Anti-inflammatory Agents.

• Precautions: Look here for standard label warnings. Also, drug-disease contraindications grouped by "most significant," "significant," and "possibly significant."

• Drug Interactions: Drug-drug interactions are sorted into "contraindicated," "severe," and "moderate" categories. Drug-food interactions are grouped into five areas of varying significance. Our "aspirin oral" search also provides detailed discussions on relevant topics ranging from "Effects of Buffers" to "Coronary Revascularization Procedures."

• Preparations: Manufacturers, brand names, forms, strengths, and routes

• all on one easy-to-use chart.

• On a PC, open a "Find" box by holding down the "Control" and "F" keys. Then, enter your search term and click "Find" (or "Find Next") to locate your term anywhere on the page.

• On a Macintosh, hold down both the "Command" and "F" keys  to open a "Find" box, enter your search term, and click "Find" (or "Find in Page") to locate the term.

• Patient Handout: Explains what a patient can expect when taking a particular drug. Side effects, precautions, even a section on how to take the medication all are clearly spelled out. The handout is designed to be printed and distributed to patients along with their prescriptions.