The Health Source - Consumer Edition database contained a wealth of publications: books, journals and even pamphlets. I was surprised to be able to link to full-text articles in publications that are popular in my library, including Health and Natural Health. The article I read was about a specific prescription drug, and it was very clear and comprehensive. However, to read some of the academic journal articles I scanned, I'd want a medical dictionary handy. And it's easy to link to one right at the top of the page!
Among the top searches on MedlinePlus were autism, breast cancer and diabetes. Not surprisingly, one of the news stories today was on the nation's soaring diabetes rates. Also on the right was an opportunity to sign up for e-mail updates on topics of interest, which would be useful for patrons coping with various illnesses. How interesting that you can watch surgical procedures in the video library. That wouldn't appeal to everyone, but some patrons might find this helpful as they prepared for surgery themselves.
Although the drug article I read in MedlinePlus was almost exactly the same as the one I read in Health Source, MedlinePlus overall did seem to be geared more directly toward consumers. It returned only about half as many results as Health Source on the topic I searched, but they seemed to be more relevant. The opportunity to refine a search by keyword ("treatment") or type ("videos and tutorials" or "external links") was helpful.