Online creditability: Going to the source

By Ruth SoRelle, M.P.H.

Your doctor has referred you for a colonoscopy, and you want to know what you are facing. There are pamphlets and descriptions, but nothing matches a step-by-step animated tutorial that takes you through the before, during and after of the test. For that kind of thing, go to http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorial.html and choose "colonoscopy" or one of the other many tests described on this innovative site.

The reach of the Internet into our daily lives is immense, but sifting through the various forms of information and determining which is valid and which is scam can be difficult. Nowhere is that more obvious than in the area of health.

Many sites affiliated with academic institutions provide good information about services. For example, the Baylor College of Medicine (www.bcm.edu) and Baylor Clinic (www.bcm.edu/baylorclinic/) sites have good information about services available at the College and clinic.

MedlinePlus, through the National Library of Medicine (http://medlineplus.gov/), provides encyclopedic information about health conditions, treatments, current news and even directories. One interesting site is called "Go Local," and gives local information about medical services throughout the country. Check out the site for the Texas Gulf Coast at http://apps.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/local/texasgulfcoast/homepage.cfm?areaid=25.

Want to know more about different diseases or conditions? There's a page on the MedlinePlus site that lists conditions from abdominal aortic aneurysm through warts. The tutorials will describe tests from amniocentesis through upper GI endoscopy. These are animated audio descriptions of the diseases and conditions presented in a step-by-step fashion that is easy to understand. These tutorials as they are called can give you a good handle on any new diagnoses presented to you and your family or on tests and procedures you might face. Give it a try at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/tutorial.html. They are a fascinating addition to your understanding of health and health education. Many are also available in Spanish.

Want to understand more about a drug? MedlinePlus has information on drugs and supplements as well, all listed in alphabetical order, at http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/druginfo/drug_Ba.html.

Does one of your children have a health or biology project due? Go to the A.D.A.M. Medical Encyclopedia with its more than 4,000 articles about diseases, tests, symptoms, injuries, and surgeries as well as medical photographs and illustrations. http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/encyclopedia.html. There's also a medical dictionary along with lists of other resources – from libraries in your community to directories and various databases. And there's more.

It's all worth a look and it may provide an authoritative start for your search for information about your own health or that of those you love.