The rapid growth of technology over the past few years has enabled healthcare professionals to share medical information via the internet. Thousands of people including teens, youths, and adults visit these sites on daily basis in search of effective healthcare content to manage their health and well-being. Obtaining online medical information has become an easy way for people to learn new and useful healthy behaviors. However, not all sites contain accurate and reliable health information.
MayoClinic.com is one of the sites that offers accurate and trustworthy medical information due to its clinical approach. The organization’s experts consistently share evidence-based updated information through its platform to patients. For instance, “Healthy Food Lifestyle can help Prevent Cancer” is an article shared via the Mayo Clinic site by Fjeldberg (2016) who is a registered dietician -nutritionist. The content of the article is evidence-based since the author has clinical expertise and bases her claims on scientifically proven data. Fjeldberg (2016) cites reliable sources like the American Cancer Society to support her claims that women who consume two to five alcoholic drinks a day are one-and-a-half times more the risk of developing breast cancer as compared to those who do not consume alcohol. The author equally argues that regular exercise and the intake of sufficient amounts of fruits and vegetables potentially lessen the risk of cancer as revealed by prevalent scientific research. Therefore, this site is reliable and can be effectively utilized by patients to improve their health.
There are several unreliable medical information sites such as the naturalnews.com. The medical information shared on this site is unfounded. The participants of the site are less equipped with health information since they majorly focus on commercial activities. For instance, a post by Toledo (2020) on naturalnews.com indicate that properties of clove, Oregon, and peppermint can be used in a home remedy spray to reduce inflammation and gum pain. This claim is not supported by any evidence to reflect the effectiveness of the properties. Thus, the site cannot be recommended to patients.
Medical information is shared on a wide range of online sites including reliable and unreliable platforms. The Mayoclinic.com site is one of the trustworthy site that shares accurate and reliable information, whereas naturalnews.com is an unreliable site that shares unproven information.
References
Fjeldberg, G. (2016). Healthy Food, Lifestyle can help Prevent Cancer. Mayo Clinic. Retrieved from https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/healthy-food-and-a-healthy-lifestyle-can-help-prevent-cancer
Toledo, A. (2020). Home Remedies for quick gum pain Relief. Natural News. Retrieved from https://yournews.com/2020/06/18/1688581/home-remedies-for-quick-gum-pain-relief/