MedlinePlus
MedlinePlus is a U.S. National Library of Medicine health information website for patients, families, caregivers, students, and the public.
What MedlinePlus is
MedlinePlus is a health information website at medlineplus.gov from the U.S. National Library of Medicine. It is designed for patients, families, friends, caregivers, and the public, with pages about diseases, symptoms, medical tests, prescription drugs, over-the-counter medicines, supplements, genetics, healthy living, and links to reliable health resources.
Who runs it
MedlinePlus is a service of the National Library of Medicine, the biomedical library within the National Institutes of Health. Its about page says the mission is to provide high-quality, relevant health and wellness information that is trusted, easy to understand, free, and available in English and Spanish.
Health topics and encyclopedia
The Health Topics area groups information by body system, condition, diagnosis, therapy, age group, wellness theme, and other categories. The Medical Encyclopedia gives shorter reference-style entries on diseases, symptoms, tests, injuries, procedures, and basic medical concepts. These sections are useful when a reader needs a plain-language starting point before asking a clinician more specific questions.
Drugs, supplements, and tests
MedlinePlus includes drug and supplement information, medical test explanations, and genetics resources. These pages can help readers recognize terms, understand why a test may be ordered, or learn general safety questions to ask. They should not be used to start, stop, or change treatment without guidance from a qualified health professional.
Source selection
MedlinePlus links to selected health information from government agencies, medical organizations, and other reviewed sources. The site says it is free of advertising and does not endorse companies or products. That makes the website different from many commercial health sites, though readers still need to pay attention to dates, scope, and whether a page applies to their own situation.
Spanish and accessibility
MedlinePlus publishes a Spanish-language site, MedlinePlus en espanol, and includes easy-to-read health information and multilingual resources. This matters because health information is only useful when people can understand it before, during, and after conversations with care teams.
Why it matters
People often search the web first when they notice a symptom, receive a diagnosis, or hear an unfamiliar medical term. MedlinePlus matters because it gives readers a noncommercial, government-backed place to begin that search. Its strongest role is educational: helping people ask better questions, understand basic terminology, and find trustworthy next steps.
WHOIS domain data
Data pulled: June 1, 2026View current WHOIS record
- Domain
- medlineplus.gov
- IP address
- 3.170.3.7
- Registrar
- get.gov
- WHOIS server
- whois.nic.gov
- Referral URL
- https://get.gov
- Created
- February 4, 2000
- Updated
- May 15, 2026
- Expires
- September 15, 2026
- Nameservers
- gslb01.nlm.nih.gov (130.14.252.50); gslb02.nlm.nih.gov (165.112.6.3); gslb03.nlm.nih.gov (130.14.252.53)
- Domain status
- serverTransferProhibited
- Contact privacy
- Registrant, admin, and technical contact details are redacted for privacy.
- Security email
- responsibledisclosure@hhs.gov
- DNSSEC
- signedDelegation