How to Avoid Bad Health Advice Online

Health news researchers rated the weight loss advice on 103 websites according to evidence-based criteria. Health blogs, government, medical and academic websites had the highest quality information while 80% of websites were below average. Unfortunately, 90% of all clicks usually originate on the first page of search results, which is where websites with poor information…

So What?

In our last blog post we learned the most critical stage of “filtering the firehose” of health information: knowing what health info you can trust. However, that can still leave us with a LOT of solid health advice. The firehose is still spewing more than we can drink, so we ask our second filter question:…

Now What?

We’ve been filtering the firehose of health information with some simple questions. Q: Know What? A: Rely on what trusted health sources claim. Q: So What? A: Focus on relevance; choose health info that supports your personal health goals. The next logical question is... Now What? It’s a simple process of making one of…

Know What?

In my last blog post, I gave an overview of how to “filter the firehose” of health information overload. You don’t need to know it all; you only need to know enough to make positive choices for your health. It requires filtering for trusted information you can act on. I suggest using a three question…

“Know-It-All” or Know Enough

If you're like me, you can often suffer from health information overload. We both want to make positive choices about our health. However, one Google search can explode into a plethora of passionate predictions from doctors, health researchers, naturopaths and snake-oil salesmen leaving you with a mountain of “irrefutable” yet often contradictory advice. Never mind…

Beware the Epidemiologic Dragon

A recent online health service noted that “40% of cancers are due to avoidable life choices....Tobacco causes 23% of [cancer] cases in men and 15.6% of cases in women. The next largest cause of cancer in men was lack of fruits and vegetables in their diets...”Hold it right there! When someone says that a certain…

Getting Health Advice Online Requires Caution

Lots of people use the Internet in the USA. About 74% of Americans over 18 are online, and most people (60%) access the Internet with high-speed broadband connections. Up to 80% of people use the web to search for health information, among their other online activities.

Bad Antibiotic Information on Twitter

Have you ever had a question about symptoms or medications? Do you go to the internet to find answers? Researchers from Columbia University analyzed more than 1000 tweets on Twitter in an effort to see what kind of information was being shared about antibiotics. Not surprisingly, some tweets offered to share medications with friends, asked what…