Patients with health and medical
questions are increasingly turning to the internet for
answers. The latest survey by Hitwise, a US service which
tracks web site use, shows that a third of internet visitors
are looking for medical and health news and advice. Use
has surged almost 20% in the last 12 months.
Since the information they gleam
from these electronic fishing trips often determines
what actions they take -- and what questions they put
to their physicians -- it's worthwhile having a look
at where they go.
Your first choice for what to do
with the little spare time you have, the usual subject
of this column, may not be surfing medical sites on
the net but it can be more fun than it sounds. Type
"medical advice" into Google and you'll be rewarded
with 6.78 million URLs that will take you to places
both strange and predictable. Strange: www.pendletoneye.com,
a British site that goes to considerable lengths to
deny that they give medical advice and then goes on
to give it when you click on "I acknowledge that this
site gives no medical advice." Predictable: Hundreds
and hundreds of your US colleagues are in the business
of dispensing medical advice for a fee -- $25 to have
a question answered is common. Predictable again: many
sites have sponsors, often pharma companies.
Finding good Canadian sites is
tough. There are so few that they're overshadowed by
the vast number of US sites.
Here are some of the best:
www.WebMd.com
-- This was the most popular site on the Hitwise
survey by a wide margin. The reasons for the high ranking
are clear to any visitor. Type 'chest pain' into the
search engine and a long list of clickable triaged articles
appears. Clear, concise and well written, the material
offers just the kind of information a patient would
get from a physician who had all the time in the world.
The site also offers MD services.
www.YourDiseaseRisk.Harvard.edu
-- This is strictly for patients. A series of questionnaires
assess your risk for five major conditions: cancer,
heart disease, stroke, diabetes and osteo. The questions
ask about age, dietary and exercise habits and family
history. Simple lifestyle tips are on provided on how
to alter high-risk behaviour. You might want to try
this one yourself, especially if you're shy about going
to a colleague for a checkup.
www.medlineplus.gov
-- Useful both to physicians and lay people, was ranked
51st in the Hitwise study. Your colleagues, on the other
hand, rank it near the top. The links pretty well cover
the medical waterfront from clinical trials to medical
journal searches.
www.hc-sc.gc.ca
-- This is the Health Canada site. Clearly not ranked
by Hitwise, it's easy to use and comprehensive up to
a point. Good place to look for information unique to
this country for patients and physicians alike. The
surprise: It's more comprehensive and better designed
than you might expect.
www.myelectronicmd.com
-- A diagnostic site that allows you to click through
illustrations and symptom boxes to a final conclusion
about what ails you and suggestions about what you might
do about it. The layout is easy to use and the options
can be subtle and probing.
This smattering of sites scarcely
scratches the surface. They do, however, provide enough
solid information to convince any skeptic of the net's
growing role -- and usefulness -- in medical practice.
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