THURSDAY, April 24 (HealthDay News) -- The Internet offers a
dizzying amount of health information -- whatever ails you, someone
is sure to have posted something about it somewhere on the Web.
But all that information can lead to overload -- or worse. You
might end up heeding the wrong voice and getting some fairly bad
advice.
"There's a lot of quackery on the Web," said Don Powell,
president and CEO of the American Institute for Preventive
Medicine. "There's a lot of bias on the Web. The Web is just
wrought with misinformation and badly dated information."
One good basic piece of advice is to stick to sites ending in
".edu," ".gov" or ".org," Powell said. That means the site is run
by a school, a government agency or a nonprofit organization and
is, therefore, less likely to push a biased point of view, unlike
some ".com" -- or commercial -- sites.
Another good way to judge a site is to see whether it's been
accredited, Powell said. He noted two groups that are active in
certifying sites as accurate and up-to-date: URAC and Health on the
Net (HON).
"We ask people when they look on the Web that they make sure the
site is accredited," he said. "It's a good way to establish
trustworthiness."
Web sites published by companies or individuals can contain some
good advice, but health consumers need to be more discerning when
using those sites, said Dr. Jim King, a family practice doctor in
Selmer, Tenn., and president of the American Academy of Family
Physicians.
First, see who is paying for the information you are viewing.
The ads supporting a site can be a hint to possible bias, King
said. "It may be skewed one way or the other, based on their
advertisements," he said.
Who owns the site also can be a clue. For example, is a
pharmaceutical company presenting the information? "Clearly,
there's a bias there toward using their own medicines," Powell
said.
Powell also recommends that you double-check when the
information was last updated. "Information is constantly changing
in the health industry," he said. "You want to make sure it's
accurate and up-to-date."
For example, a Web site recommending the use of ipecac to prompt
vomiting after someone has ingested poison is running counter to
the latest advice from the American Academy of Pediatrics, which
recently advised against it, Powell noted. And the guidelines for
judging high blood pressure also were revised recently, and someone
relying on outdated information could be in trouble and not know
it.
The American Academy of Family Physicians provides a quick
checklist that can help determine a site's value:
- Who wrote the information? Health-related Web sites often post
information from other sources, and those original sources should
be clearly stated.
- If a health-care professional didn't write the information, was
it reviewed by a doctor or medical expert?
- If the information contains any statistics, do the numbers come
from a reliable source?
- Does something on the Web site appear to be opinion rather than
fact? If so, is the opinion from a qualified person or
organization?
As a final test, King recommends taking yourself off-line to
discuss what you've learned with your own doctor.
"Before you act on anything, bring it to your physician to look
it over," he said. "You can educate your doctor about pages that
have good data, and they have a chance to say, 'No, this isn't
really accurate.' You can learn from each other."
King has seen the impact of the Internet's health information on
his own practice, and it's generally been positive.
"It helps educate my patients and direct their questions," he
said. "Under the constraints we have now, we [doctors] can't spend
as much time with patients as we used to. This way, they can come
in well-educated and ready to discuss their condition. At the end
of the visit, I might also refer them to a Web site for more
information."
Powell rattled off a list of things that medical Web sites are
great for: helping consumers decide when they need to see a doctor;
giving them information on selecting the right physician; showing
them how to evaluate the treatment they receive; providing
questions to ask about an invasive procedure or surgery.
But in the end, King said, your doctor is always going to be
able to provide the best assessment of your health.
"I think the computer and the Internet is an excellent tool," he
said. "But that's all it is. It doesn't take the place of the
relationship between the physician and the patient. Don't think
this can become a replacement for your health-care provider."
More information
To learn more about evaluating health information on the
Internet, visit the
U.S. National Library of Medicine.
