Next to asking your doctor directly, physicians advise sticking to the major league players in medical information.
“The Web sites of medical associations, foundations and societies are going to have the most comprehensive and up-to-date information on diseases and treatments,” says Steven R. Gambert, M.D., chief of the Department of Medicine at Sinai Hospital.
That means if you’re looking for more information on Parkinson’s disease, for example, you would surf over to www.pdf.org to read the latest from the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation. Want to create your own personalized heart- healthy shopping list? Click on www.americanheart.org and do it on the American Heart Association Web site. Society Web sites, like the one for the North American Spine Society (www.spine.org), are directed toward health care providers, but most have patient-friendly pages. At the NASS site, you can take a quiz about spine and back health or learn all about the latest surgical techniques in easy-to-read articles. Web addresses from government institutions (.gov), from nonprofit organizations (.org), universities (.edu) or from medical journals are also typically excellent sources of information.
WebMD (www.webmd.com) is another popular choice for general medical information because physicians review articles on this site for accuracy. In addition, WebMD offers free e-newsletters, message boards and even online, noncredit classes on pregnancy or managing your diabetes. Physicians advise, however, that information gleaned from a Web chat room—even a WebMD message board—needs to be taken with a grain of salt.
Even physicians are using the Internet as a diagnostic tool to evaluate lab results and to get news on up-to-the- minute research. Most physician sites require a paid subscription or membership. If you’re willing to wade through some medical lingo, one of the most reliable sources of free information is the National Library of Medicine's Web site (www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov). From here, you can access several other government sites relevant to medicine as well as use PubMed to search MEDLINE, an archive of over nine million articles from almost 3,900 medical journals. Another site, Online Physician’s Desk Reference (www.pdr.net), maintains an excellent consumer-friendly companion site called PDRHealth (www.PDRhealth.com).
Locating reliable medical information on the Internet can be a challenge. Learning about a medical hoax or rumor, however, is a snap. Just open your e-mail. The rumor mill churns out at least one nearly believable tall tale a month. Lee Cook, a medical librarian at Sinai Hospital, suggests logging onto the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Web site on hoaxes and rumors (www.cdc.gov/hoax_rumors.htm). The site lists many of the most popular medical myths circulated over the last several years. The main page of the CDC site is also a good place to research the answer to any medical question.
Regardless of where you get your medical information, it’s always a good idea to ask your doctor about what you’ve read. Only he or she will be able to determine if the data is accurate, current or even true. Print a copy of the pages in question and take them with you to your next appointment.
Here’s a sampling of a few other sites that might be worth bookmarking: |
Healthfinder.gov: |
Created by the Department of Health and Human Services, this site is simple to navigate. Cool feature –“Just for You” health topics organized by sex, age, race and ethnic background. |
Kidshealth.org: |
Topics for kids, parents and teens from children's hospitals around the country. |
Veritasmedicine.com: |
Want to learn about clinical trials or become part of one? Head over to this easy-to-navigate site. |
Oncolink.com: |
One of the most comprehensive cancer sites around. |
Mdmdmagazine.org: |
That’s right! This magazine's archived articles from our first issue are available online. |
(from the Good Housekeeping Institute and other sources) |
Related Links:
Sinai Hospital
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