1. Finding Medical Information on the Internet
October 14, 2000
Finding Medical Information on the Internet
Ralph Becker

2. Finding Medical Information on the Internet
October 14, 2000
Introduction
Reliable Medical Information
I’m a JDMS dad
Work at Lucent Technologies
Author, Julia’s JDMS Diary web page / frequent poster on the MAA BB
Used properly, the internet gives everyone quick & easy access to medical info. < 5 years ago, information like this was only available from medical libraries. Most doctors appreciate well-informed patients.
This talk will NOT:
- teach how to access the internet or use internet tools, like a web browser
- be able to answer If a particular site is good or bad. You need to decide this for yourself!
- Should not be considered medical advice
This talk WILL:
- Help you FIND information on the internet
- Help you decide if it’s reliable or not
- Give you some online resources to start with
These slides will be available as a web page, URL at the end
October 14, 2000
Finding Medical Information on the Internet

3. Finding Medical Information on the Internet
October 14, 2000
Topics of Discussion
What’s Reliable?
Searching
Medical Sites
Drugs
Treatments
Medical Products
How do we know when to trust information we find?
Search Engines, Indexes, and Medical sites
October 14, 2000
Finding Medical Information on the Internet

4. Finding Medical Information on the Internet
October 14, 2000
What’s Reliable?
Consider the source
Is the information verifiable?
How does the information fit with your own experience?
Source: is the site well established? Is it easy to contact the site owner?
Is it backed by a government or academic organization? (good)
Is it backed by a medical or drug company? (bad)
Is the site up-to-date? Is the site is good financial shape?
Can you find similar information on other sites?
- several sites with similar information is generally good verification
- be careful of IDENTICAL information - sites sometimes share information or articles; this does not increase confidence in them. E.g.,
You’ve all heard this before - “if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is”. This is good advice. A true “miracle” treatment would be heralded by your doctor and the mainstream press.
Not all advice works for everyone! Question everything, and don’t make any changes without consulting your doctor.
October 14, 2000
Finding Medical Information on the Internet

5. Finding Medical Information on the Internet
October 14, 2000
Searching
Search Engines
Indexes
Links pages
Search Engines map the web - they use programs that visit sites, either submitted or linked to, and stores their contents in a database. We can then search the databases through a web page interface. E.g., Google, Alta Vista, Lycos, HotBot.
Meta-Search engines search multiple search engines at the same time. They take your search request and send it to a bunch of search engines and return all the results together. E.g., Dogpile, AllTheWeb, MetaCrawler.
Indexes (indices) are categorized lists of links to other sites. These don’t list as many sites as Search Engines, but return a high quality selection of links. The best known of these is Yahoo!, others include dmoz.org. LookSmart, and About.com.
October 14, 2000
Finding Medical Information on the Internet

6. Finding Medical Information on the Internet
October 14, 2000
Medical Sites
Cover only health topics
Often too general for rare diseases
Usually reliable
Beware of buying
Sites include;
WebMD, DrKoop.com, MedScape, Virtual Hospital
Do not be deterred if a site is targeted to doctors and medical professionals. The information may be more technical, but can still be valuable.
Often, these sites have only the most basic information on rare diseases like Myositis. The can be a valuable source of information about drugs, medical news, and other more general topics.
Buying from these sites can be risky - they make money for selling certain brands or items, so you may not have access to better, cheaper competitors.
These sites make money from advertising. If you like and use a site, do click on an ad if it interests you.
October 14, 2000
Finding Medical Information on the Internet

7. Finding Medical Information on the Internet
Links
All links are available at:
Some good links: - General health site - Medical news and reference Drug reference site National Council for Reliable Health Information
October 14, 2000
Finding Medical Information on the Internet

8. Finding Medical Information on the Internet
Things to Remember
The Internet is a valuable and convenient tool, BUT...
Ensure your source is reliable
Bookmark useful sites
October 14, 2000
Finding Medical Information on the Internet

9. Finding Medical Information on the Internet
Resources
This presentation is available as a web site:
me with questions:
October 14, 2000
Finding Medical Information on the Internet