The internet offers access to a wide range of information, including medical data. With internet access, it’s possible to research your symptoms, learn about health conditions, and locate an appropriate care plan developed by medical experts.
This process is complicated, however, by sites that don’t use medical science to verify the data they present. It can also be challenging to sift through the information presented because medical terminology can be hard to understand without medical training. Using these tips will help you locate reliable information presented in a straightforward manner that’s easy to understand and make informed decisions about your healthcare.
Skip Google.
Perform your health searches on a credible medical search site, such as MediFind. Family practitioners can’t keep up with the volume of medical research reports generated each year. Still, sites with advanced analytics can process over a million research reports and integrate that information into their system. Users can select several options on the site, including the symptom checker, condition search, or MediFind’s second opinion. When you’re using the site, you’re prompted to list your symptoms, input conditions you’ve been diagnosed with, enter your age, select your gender at birth, indicate whether or not you’re pregnant, and identify the country where you live. The site’s algorithms use the information you provide and research findings to eliminate conditions. It lists the most likely and less likely source of your symptoms. You can click on the potential diagnoses to read research summaries and increase your medical knowledge. You can also learn about potential treatment options.
If you’ve seen a doctor and received a potential diagnosis, you can use the second opinion option to locate another physician who can verify the diagnosis. Enter the name of the doctor who diagnosed you, your location, and the condition diagnosis you received. The system generates a list of other physicians in the same geographic area you can see for a second opinion. Patients in the U.S. and Canada can locate other healthcare providers in the mainstream health system.
You can learn more about complex health conditions, such as heart disease, with the site’s condition search option. Once you enter the condition, the site displays information about the condition and a list of the top global experts who treat patients with that condition. If you haven’t located a doctor yet, you can use the search tools to find a physician in your area. MediFind also has tools for accessing the latest research data about health issues and locating clinical trials offering innovative treatments that could address your health concerns.
One of the advantages of using a site like MediFind is that you can access a wide range of medical information from one source. The site also breaks down medical knowledge from the research reports and presents it in plain language that’s easy for people who aren’t medical experts to understand.
Verify data.
Misinformation is prevalent online, so once you’ve received a diagnosis or identified potential diagnoses that could be causing your symptoms, you may want to refer to the research used to connect your symptoms to each potential diagnosis. Reputable government websites can provide more extensive information. Still, they don’t offer search tools to help you locate doctors or generate a list of potential diagnoses that could be causing your symptoms. Reference these sites once you’ve used a symptom checker to learn more about specific conditions.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) presents research findings online. For example, if you’ve been diagnosed with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), you can review research data to review research about treatment options, such as the potential benefits of using antihistamines to treat IBS. This information isn’t broken down into plain language, includes medical terminology, and explains the research methods used to generate conclusions.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) provides information about infectious diseases and how they can be prevented. The CDC also presents information about medical statistics and links to the source of the information they present. For example, suppose you’re concerned about contaminants in your tap water. You can refer to the CDC’s drinking water information, which includes information about chlorine and fluoride in public water. It also provides data about bisphenol A (BPA) in bottled water. Use their commercially bottled water data to identify the best bottled water in Canada or the United States to ensure your water is safe to drink.
The internet contains a lot of credible information, but it also contains websites that present unverified data. When you’re looking for health information, it’s essential to turn to verified sites that present credible information. MediFind can help you locate medical doctors and medical experts in your area. You can also use the symptom checker and condition search tools to learn about what could be causing your symptoms. You can review studies and learn more about common health problems and rare diseases from government health websites.
