| Surf Your Way to the Information You Need |
Content on the Internet is unregulated, which means anyone can publish anything they want - including health information. These tips from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission can help you make sure the information you are reading online can be trusted:
Who owns the website? Can you trust the source to give you reliable, unbiased information about health? Examples of reliable sources would be the sites of medical schools, physicians groups, government, hospitals, universities, health libraries, etc. Look for a link that says "About us" or, even better, a Mission Statement to learn more. Also, the name of the site's originator will often be provided at the very bottom of the home page.
Is the site current? A good website will generally provide a date when information was last added. This can often be found either in the top right corner of the home page and/or down at the very bottom.
Who is the intended audience? The site may be directed toward health professionals or medical students and contain a great deal of technical data and medical terminology. Or it may be directed at high school students and be quite simple. Ensure that you are obtaining clear, accurate information at a level you can understand.
Is there advertising on the site? Be very wary of sites that contain advertising. The content may be biased to please the advertiser. There are exceptions. For instance, the Mayo Clinic's website does contain some advertising, but because of the institution's long-established authority and standard of excellence it is a recommended source.
Is the content accurate? Any study or survey presented should provide full information about the purpose, scope, author, location and date of the study. Do not trust statements such as "a study shows..." when further information is not given.
Is the content biased? Make sure that the information is not slanted to support a particular idea or theory. If it is, then a disclaimer letting you know this should be provided. Also, check for vested interests - for instance, web sites sponsored by a particular commercial organization.
Is the site well designed and easy to follow? Badly designed sites can cause you to miss vital information. If you are lost trying to navigate a site, look for a "Site map" link. This is often helpful as it should detail where to find specific things on the site. If a search engine is included on the site, make sure you are aware of its scope. Sometimes they are very basic and may be misleading.
Are there links to other useful sites? Links to other sites can be very useful, provided the person or group making the selection has the authority and credentials to do suggest them. If there are many "dead" links - that is, links to sites that no longer exist or have changed - be wary of the list. A good one should be constantly updated.
| TWO IMPORTANT ONGOING STUDIES |
The Nurses' Health Study, established in 1976, and the Nurse's Health Study II, established in 1989, are among the largest prospective investigations into the risk factors for major chronic diseases in women. Registered nurses were selected to be followed prospectively. It was anticipated that, because of their nursing education, they would be able to respond with a high degree of accuracy to brief, technically-worded questionnaires and would be motivated to participate in a long-term study.
The Framingham Heart Study, initiated in 1948, was designed as an investigation of physical and environmental factors associated with the development of cardiovascular disease. It has been conducted by employing long-term surveillance of an adult population in Framingham, Mass. The Framingham Offspring Study was initiated to assess familial and genetic factors as determinants of coronary heart disease. Key goals are to identify new risk factors for heart, lung and blood diseases; identify genes that contribute to good health and to the development of heart, lung and blood disease; and to develop new imaging tests that can detect very early stages of coronary atherosclerosis in otherwise healthy adults. |
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Lately, it seems to happen almost every day - you hear about the results of some new medical research on TV or read about them in the paper. Often the study points to your risk of having a particular disease or health problem.
After you watched or read the story, did you worry because the numbers made your chance of becoming sick seem high? Or did it confuse you because you remember a news item not too long before about research on the same health problem - but with a very different finding? What does it all mean? Which studies can you trust?
The National Institutes of Health has developed some guidelines to help you sort it all out - and better understand the results of health-related studies:
First, be aware that different types of numbers can be used to explain the same facts. The ways in which these numbers are presented can change how you feel about the results. For example, let's say you heard that only 1 percent of people in America had a disease. You might nthink that was very many - until you realize that's almost 3 million people! When you hear numbers like these, it's important to try to put them in context to help you understand how important they really are.
Second, pay attention to how risk is presented. When investigators report their findings, especially from large clinical trials, they often talk about risk. They might mention relative risk, absolute risk or both. These are different ways to explain how likely someone is to have a certain health problem. Relative risk is usually shown as a ratio or a percentage. An absolute risk is nothing more than a number found by subtraction. How these numbers are presented can sway how you feel about the finding aaffect whether you change your behavior.
For example, consider an imaginary new drug. After testing this fictitious drug in a large clinical trial, the investigators learn that the relative risk of getting a certain side effect from the medicine is 2.0, which means the risk is increased by 100 percent. Sounds serious. But that doesn't mean that all of the people using the drug will have that side effect. It means that twice as many people on the drug get the symptom as those not taking the drug (news reports often phrase it this way, too). So, if six people out of every 10,000 normally have a symptom in one year, then 12 people out of 10,000 using the medicine might have it. The absolute risk of this side effect is twelve minus six, or six more people out of every 10,000 using the medicine. Many people who really need a new medicine might not consider six in 10,000 a large enough risk to prevent them from taking it, even if the side effect is quite serious.
Third, it's important to be critical when reading or listening to reports of new medical findings. The next time you read or hear about a medical study in the news, ask yourself the questions in the following list:
- Was it a study in animals or in people? The results of research in people are more likely to be meaningful to you.
- Does the study include enough people like you? You should check to see if the people in the study were the same sex, educational level, income group, and ethnic group as yourself and had the same health concerns.
- Was it a randomized controlled clinical trial involving thousands of people? They are the most expensive to do, but they also give scientists the most reliable results.
- Where was the research done? Scientists at a medical school or large hospital, for example, might be better equipped to complex experiments or have more experience with the topic. Many large clinical trials involve several institutions, but the results may be reported by the coordinating group.
- Are the results presented in an easy-to-understand way? They should use absolute risk, relative risk, or some other easy-to-understand number.
- If a new treatment was being tested, were there side effects? Sometimes the side effects are almost as serious as the disease. Or, they could mean that the drug could worsen a different health problem.
- Who paid for the research? Do those providing support stand to gain financially from positive or negative results? Sometimes the Federal government or a large foundation contributes funding towards research costs. This means they looked at the plans for the project and decided it was worthy of funding, but they will not make money as a result. If a drug is being tested, the study may be partly or fully paid for by the company that will make and sell the drug.
- Who is reporting the results? Is the newspaper, magazine, or radio or television station a reliable source of medical news? Some large publications and broadcast stations have special science reporters on staff who are trained to interpret medical findings.
- The bottom line? Talk to your doctor. He or she can help you understand the results and what they could mean for your health. Remember that progress in medical research takes many years. The results of one study often need to be duplicated by other scientists at different locations before they are accepted as general medical practice. Each step along the research path provides a clue to the final answer.
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