Last week’s Journal Watch had at least three research articles on how unreliable Tik Tok and social media sites (e.g. Reddit and YouTube) are and how dangerous some of the information can be. Unfortunately a number of people regularly use these sites for health information.
It is amazing the high number of videos currently that promise large benefits from eating Jello or doing Tai Chi in just a matter of a few weeks. As a fan of Tai Chi and Qigong, these ancient practices can do a lot for your health, but it’s not going to cause rapid weight loss and having you looking like a model in five weeks.
While Tik Tok and other social media sites are often inaccurate, and could be harmful, there are some physicians and health professionals that are using these platforms to promote evidence based research and to provide accurate information. Warning, just because they have scrubs on or wielding a stethoscope doesn’t mean they are a doc or even a health provider. Always check who is providing health information, current board certified; license; where they practice medicine; what research are they using to back up their claims etc.
In the past, when asked about accurate sites for on-line health information, sites ending in .gov, .org or .edu were recommended. However, with the current head of Health and Human Services, who isn’t a doctor or other health professional, promoting practices contrary to good public health and research, I’m less willing to recommend .gov sites. Just this week HHS rejected publishing a study that shows the benefits of the Covid 19 vaccine, which has been shown again and again to reduce hospitals, long Covid et.c Below are some options to consider:
- Talk to your medical provider for a website prescription-what sites do they recommend.
- Disease specific organizations like the American Cancer Society, American Heart Association. Click here to learn about organizations that may cover your condition.
- Mayo Clinic Disease & Conditions
- Mayo Clinic Health Information Library
- Mayo Clinic Drugs and Supplements
- State health department: This is an excellent source of information about what’s going on in your area, resources etc. Click here to find your state health department.
- Complementary & Alternative Medicine website:
- Pub Med: From the National Library of Medicine, it is a free resource supporting the search and retrieval of biomedical and life sciences literature with the aim of improving health–both globally and personally.
- Medical specialty organizations for PAs
- Medical Associations: Organizations like the American Academy of Pediatrics and other organizations list best practices.
Sites/videos/reels to be wary of
-They are trying to sell a product or service
- It sounds too good to be true
- It tries to scare you, “You’re doctor won’t tell you this!”; “This one ingredient is killing you!” They want your attention not your well-being. The more emotional it is, the more wary you should be of it.
- Miracle cures and quick fixes. One supplement, exercise or food isn’t going to solve all your problems
- It says doctors and experts can’t be trusted. You see this a lot around vaccines saying people are guinea pigs etc. Vaccines go through years of testing and monitoring and save lives.
- Doesn’t list any credible sources. Does it list peer reviewed research? Animal studies are interesting but they often don’t pan out when the drug or procedure is conducted on humans.
- Talks about health conspiracies e.g. the CIA deliberately infected African Americans with HIV; genetically modified foods are a conspiracy to reduce population worldwide; and water fluoridation is used to cover up pollution.
- Use domains that end in.biz or .info
- It’s years old. Health information changes rapidly so look for current data, research
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