April 29, 2002
If you have a health issue that you cannot find information about on the internet, you need to call the medical researchers because you have something new! Among the billions of web pages out there are thousands — no doubt millions — that talk about health issues.
Before we get any further, two cautions: never make health decisions without first consulting your physician; and just because you found it on the Internet does not make it correct or true.
With so much information out there, where do we start? How about the Ministry of Health Services? From their URL at www.healthservices.gov.bc.ca/exsites/index.html we can follow an excellent series of links to both Ministry information and to outside links that should keep you busy for days. Its table of contents includes far-ranging categories such as Healthy Living, Diseases & Conditions, Health Protection. Each of these has multiple related links from subsequent pages. Going to the BC Health Sites leads to the BC Cancer Agency, BC Medical Association, Hospital Employees’ Union, First Nations Health Committee and many more. Digging deeper within these leads to even more sources.
One of the most effective places to start is in the “Consumer Health” category. From here, you can link to the BC Health Guide, Canadian Health Network, …. The “Major Health Sites” topic leads to equally useful links such as the Centers for Disease Control, Health Canada Online and so on.
To help you get a feel for the information you will find, we review a few of the more outstanding sites. While there are sites that cover very specific conditions and topics, we will focus on the general sites and let readers follow the particular links into the more detailed locations.
Health Canada Online <www.hc-sc.gc.ca/english/>
This Federal Government site is amazingly complete — both a plus, and a negative. Its table of contents leads off with major topics like Healthy Living, Diseases & Conditions, Health Protection... with every one having multiple further links. The site is indexed alphabetically for browsing, or can be searched using a thorough search engine. Unfortunately, therein lies the problem. With so many documents available, from obscure reports and research papers to current health information, the number of hits any search will bring tends to be in the thousands. If you do a search, start from the main search page where you can limit or filter your query. On the positive side, Health Canada will impress with the sheer volume and breadth of information. Also popular should be the Warnings & Advisories section on the front page. For those who prefer to browse topics for information, this is an excellent choice.
BC Health Guide <bchealthguide.org/kbhandbook.jsp>
This is the online edition of the guide mailed to each British Columbia household last year. While you do need to use your health card number to access its information, that access is free. There are also links to other services such as Nurse Line which can put you in touch with a nurse at any time of day.
Medline Plus <www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/>
This U.S. government website is one of the best organized and thorough you will find. It is operated by the National Library of Medicine and includes a wealth of topics right from the front page. Its table of contents opens with Health Topics (conditions, diseases and wellness, plus a medical encyclopedia); Drug Information (listings for 9000 prescription drugs, both brand names and generics); Dictionaries (spellings and definitions of health terms). The search engine on this site is also very effective — as always, we recommend the advanced searches for tailoring information to your exact needs.
MedBroacast.com <www.medbroadcast.com/main.shtml>
This is another well-organized site and easily navigated. Its starting points include diverse topics: Aging, Men’s Health, Babies, Back Pain, Death & Dying, Herpes, Ergonomics, Nutrition… a long list of places to start. One of the most interesting is the interactive link to the “Health Toolkit” section.
With the millions of sites within our reach there is little information about health that is not available. Websites can inform and guide on topics from the most advanced to the most general; from natural products and treatments to the newest available drugs and procedures. It’s all there. Of course, as we said at the outset, just because someone made a web page about a topic does not mean you should believe every word. As you surf the web, make sure to have your container of digital salt with you as some of the material may demand a grain or two. And don’t forget, check with your health professional first. Okay?
— 30 — Call-out: “…just because you found it on the Internet does not make it correct or true.”