Study says Internet provides vital health information

[Guest guest]

http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2003/07/26/study_says_internet_provides_vit\

al_health_information.htm

 

 

 

 

July 26, 2003

Study says Internet provides vital health informationHealth

 

Marian Sandmaier, journalist and writer, tells us of a recent research " Internet

Health Resources " recently released, which examines the question of health

research on the internet and comes to the conclusion: We may not always get what

we want, but often enough, we get what we need.

 

This is a surprising outcome, contrary to the widespread perception which sees

the " medical Web " as a kind of Snake Oil Central, a repository of all manner of

health rip-offs, quackery, and at best, well-meaning error.

 

Marian's conclusion is, that there is useful health information on the web,

certainly more than you are likely to get from your medical doctor during one of

those " nanosecond doctors' visits " .

 

What can we learn from her experience? We are responsible for our own health,

and we better get the information wherever we can find it. Doctors we may look

up to as the " experts " often don't know either.

 

 

Take 2 aspirins and go online

 

by Marian Sandmaier

 

posted on APFN - Thu Jul 24 20:57:22 2003

 

Marian Sandmaier, a writer in Merion, Penn., is the recipient of the 2001 June

Roth Award for Medical Journalism of the American Society of Journalists and

Authors, 07/24/03

 

 

Last year, when my daughter Darrah began to complain of severe headaches and a

bizarre " whooshing " sensation in her head, not one but two doctors assured us

that nothing serious was amiss. I looked at my daughter's face and knew the

doctors were wrong, so I went on the Internet to try to diagnose the trouble

myself. There I discovered that my 16-year-old had developed a rare neurological

reaction to a new antibiotic she was taking--a reaction that could result in

blindness and lifelong pain. I took her off the drug and within days, her

symptoms began to reverse and she is fully recovered.

 

Apparently, I'm not the only one who seeks a second opinion from Google.com in

the throes of a health crisis. According to " Internet Health Resources, " a

national survey released last week by the Pew Internet & American Life Project,

nearly half of all U.S. adults - some 93 million Americans - surf the Web in

search of medical guidance. Our motives are diverse and urgent, from trying to

diagnose an elusive disease to researching a prescription's side effects to

preparing for surgery. But the most surprising news about these dogged Web

quests: We may not always get what we want, but often enough, we get what we

need.

 

This is news indeed, since a popular conception of the " medical Web " is as a

kind of Snake Oil Central, the repository of all manner of health rip-offs,

quackery, and at best, well-meaning error. Certainly the medical establishment

is wary of it: An editorial in the Journal of the American Medical Association

last spring charged that " a plethora of inaccurate and even potentially

life-threatening content [is] readily available to anyone with a modem and an

Internet browser ... " Rough translation: Surf and perish.

 

Yet when you ask ordinary Americans what they've experienced - and the Pew

researchers asked more than 4,000 people nationwide - nearly three-quarters of

Internet users say that the Web has improved their health knowledge and, by

extension, their medical care. Most reported that their online research has

empowered them to ask more informed questions of their doctors - and at least

some physicians seem to be responding. A study published in the March 2003 issue

of the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that when a patient brought online

medical information to an appointment, the doctor spent about 10 extra minutes

discussing it with them.

 

This is not to idealize the Internet as a peerless health resource; it has

plenty of growing up to do. Anyone who has surfed the Web in the midst of

medical crisis knows the sense of flailing panic that accompanies the struggle

to decipher often pitilessly technical information from Web sites of vastly

different quality and reliability. In my own anxious search to find out what

ailed my daughter, I encountered one site that said 5 percent of patients with

Darrah's disorder would lose their eyesight. Another site claimed 22 percent.

Still another site's verdict: 96 percent.

 

Yet even in my panic and confusion, I was aware of feeling grateful. The Web, at

least, was giving me something - some crude but compelling outline of what my

daughter might be up against - whereas before I had nothing at all. The

information spurred me to act decisively: first, to take Darrah off the

offending medication before it was too late, and, second, to bring her to a

first-rate neuro-ophthalmologist, who confirmed my Web-based diagnosis and

carefully monitored my daughter's condition until she had fully recovered.

 

What I've learned from our hairsbreadth escape from medical disaster is this:

Each of us must be prepared to understand and aggressively manage our health

care as never before. I believe that the first two doctors who saw Darrah and

misread her symptoms were well-intentioned. But in today's world of nanosecond

doctors' visits, physicians barely have time to respond thoughtfully to

commonplace ailments, much less the rare and complex diseases that come their

way. More than ever, patients and doctors need to collaborate on health-care

knowledge and decision-making--and the Web, cautiously used, can be a vital tool

in that partnership.

 

I am among the lucky ones with the means and know-how to scour the Web for

medical information. The Pew survey reports that some 24 million Americans still

have no access to the Internet, while many others lack the health literacy

skills to make good use of it. Rather than malign the Web for its medical

frailties, let's figure out how to make it more accessible, user-friendly and

responsible. For like it or not, the Internet is becoming a critical form of

health insurance. Let's make sure we get the coverage we need.

 

--\

-------------------------------

" I am only one, but I am one.

I cannot do everything, but I can do something.

And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the something that I

can do.

What I can do, I should do. And what I should do, by the grace of God, I will

do. "

---Edward Everett Hale

-------------

 

 

Posted at July 26, 2003 01:25 PM | TrackBack

 

 

 

 

 

@

 

Alternative Medicine/Health-Vitamins, Herbs, Aminos, etc.

 

To , e-mail to:

alternative_medicine_forum-

 

Or, go to our group site at:

alternative_medicine_forum

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Guest guest]

I say without a doubt that the internet has saved my autistic

daughter's life. Thanks to the information super-highway, my once

non-verbal, withdrawn child is now verbal and by age six will

probably be in a typical kindergarten doing near-typical work.

Internet's advise: do everything. Ped's advice: let's wait another

18 mos and do nothing and see where she is then.

 

In addition, my 10 mo old might have had her health saved because I

knew so much more about potential causes/triggers of autism and have

been able to make health care adjustments to try to protect her

health. She is the healthiest of my 3 children.

 

Debi

 

, Frank

<califpacific> wrote:

>

http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/sepp/2003/07/26/study_says_internet_p

rovides_vital_health_information.htm

>

>

>

>

> July 26, 2003

> Study says Internet provides vital health informationHealth

>

> Marian Sandmaier, journalist and writer, tells us of a recent

research " Internet Health Resources " recently released, which

examines the question of health research on the internet and comes

to the conclusion: We may not always get what we want, but often

enough, we get what we need.

>

> This is a surprising outcome, contrary to the widespread

perception which sees the " medical Web " as a kind of Snake Oil

Central, a repository of all manner of health rip-offs, quackery,

and at best, well-meaning error.

>

> Marian's conclusion is, that there is useful health information on

the web, certainly more than you are likely to get from your medical

doctor during one of those " nanosecond doctors' visits " .

>

> What can we learn from her experience? We are responsible for our

own health, and we better get the information wherever we can find

it. Doctors we may look up to as the " experts " often don't know

either.

>

>

> Take 2 aspirins and go online

>

> by Marian Sandmaier

>

> posted on APFN - Thu Jul 24 20:57:22 2003

>

> Marian Sandmaier, a writer in Merion, Penn., is the recipient of

the 2001 June Roth Award for Medical Journalism of the American

Society of Journalists and Authors, 07/24/03

>

>

> Last year, when my daughter Darrah began to complain of severe

headaches and a bizarre " whooshing " sensation in her head, not one

but two doctors assured us that nothing serious was amiss. I looked

at my daughter's face and knew the doctors were wrong, so I went on

the Internet to try to diagnose the trouble myself. There I

discovered that my 16-year-old had developed a rare neurological

reaction to a new antibiotic she was taking--a reaction that could

result in blindness and lifelong pain. I took her off the drug and

within days, her symptoms began to reverse and she is fully

recovered.

>

> Apparently, I'm not the only one who seeks a second opinion from

Google.com in the throes of a health crisis. According to " Internet

Health Resources, " a national survey released last week by the Pew

Internet & American Life Project, nearly half of all U.S. adults -

some 93 million Americans - surf the Web in search of medical

guidance. Our motives are diverse and urgent, from trying to

diagnose an elusive disease to researching a prescription's side

effects to preparing for surgery. But the most surprising news about

these dogged Web quests: We may not always get what we want, but

often enough, we get what we need.

>

> This is news indeed, since a popular conception of the " medical

Web " is as a kind of Snake Oil Central, the repository of all manner

of health rip-offs, quackery, and at best, well-meaning error.

Certainly the medical establishment is wary of it: An editorial in

the Journal of the American Medical Association last spring charged

that " a plethora of inaccurate and even potentially life-threatening

content [is] readily available to anyone with a modem and an

Internet browser ... " Rough translation: Surf and perish.

>

> Yet when you ask ordinary Americans what they've experienced - and

the Pew researchers asked more than 4,000 people nationwide - nearly

three-quarters of Internet users say that the Web has improved their

health knowledge and, by extension, their medical care. Most

reported that their online research has empowered them to ask more

informed questions of their doctors - and at least some physicians

seem to be responding. A study published in the March 2003 issue of

the Journal of Clinical Oncology found that when a patient brought

online medical information to an appointment, the doctor spent about

10 extra minutes discussing it with them.

>

> This is not to idealize the Internet as a peerless health

resource; it has plenty of growing up to do. Anyone who has surfed

the Web in the midst of medical crisis knows the sense of flailing

panic that accompanies the struggle to decipher often pitilessly

technical information from Web sites of vastly different quality and

reliability. In my own anxious search to find out what ailed my

daughter, I encountered one site that said 5 percent of patients

with Darrah's disorder would lose their eyesight. Another site

claimed 22 percent. Still another site's verdict: 96 percent.

>

> Yet even in my panic and confusion, I was aware of feeling

grateful. The Web, at least, was giving me something - some crude

but compelling outline of what my daughter might be up against -

whereas before I had nothing at all. The information spurred me to

act decisively: first, to take Darrah off the offending medication

before it was too late, and, second, to bring her to a first-rate

neuro-ophthalmologist, who confirmed my Web-based diagnosis and

carefully monitored my daughter's condition until she had fully

recovered.

>

> What I've learned from our hairsbreadth escape from medical

disaster is this: Each of us must be prepared to understand and

aggressively manage our health care as never before. I believe that

the first two doctors who saw Darrah and misread her symptoms were

well-intentioned. But in today's world of nanosecond doctors'

visits, physicians barely have time to respond thoughtfully to

commonplace ailments, much less the rare and complex diseases that

come their way. More than ever, patients and doctors need to

collaborate on health-care knowledge and decision-making--and the

Web, cautiously used, can be a vital tool in that partnership.

>

> I am among the lucky ones with the means and know-how to scour the

Web for medical information. The Pew survey reports that some 24

million Americans still have no access to the Internet, while many

others lack the health literacy skills to make good use of it.

Rather than malign the Web for its medical frailties, let's figure

out how to make it more accessible, user-friendly and responsible.

For like it or not, the Internet is becoming a critical form of

health insurance. Let's make sure we get the coverage we need.

>

> -

-----------

> " I am only one, but I am one.

> I cannot do everything, but I can do something.

> And because I cannot do everything, I will not refuse to do the

something that I can do.

> What I can do, I should do. And what I should do, by the grace of

God, I will do. "

> ---Edward Everett Hale

> -------------

>

>

> Posted at July 26, 2003 01:25 PM | TrackBack

>

>

>

>

>

> @

>

> Alternative Medicine/Health-Vitamins, Herbs, Aminos, etc.

>

> To , e-mail to:

> alternative_medicine_forum-

>

> Or, go to our group site at:

> alternative_medicine_forum

>

>

>

>

>

>