University of Wisconsin - Extension

Contact: Marma McIntee, 262-335-4479, marma.mcintee@ces.uwex.edu

West Bend, Wis.—Turning to the Internet for information is second-nature to many people today. But when the information you seek pertains to your health or that of a loved one, it pays to be cautious.

“Before you put faith in health advice from the Internet, there are some things you need to know,” says Marma McIntee, University of Wisconsin-Extension family living educator from Washington County. “There are certain signs that will tell you if the information comes from a reliable source.”

For example, does the site:

• List a sponsor? Is it hosted by a federal agency such as the Food and Drug Administration, a well-known medical school, or an organization such as the Red Cross?
• Give the names of people you can contact?
• Provide up-to-date information?
• Clearly separate advertisements from health-related information?
• Make claims that seem too good to be true?
• Guarantee to protect the privacy of your personal information?

“Any health-related website should state prominently that information from the web never takes the place of the relationship between a patient and a health care professional,” says McIntee

When you’re looking for health information on the Internet, recommends using a subject gateway or directory—a website that evaluates the information on other sites before linking to them. In addition to referring users to reputable websites, gateways save you the time you’d spend locating those sites on your own.

Good health information subject gateways include:

• Healthy Wisconsin People ( http://www.healthywisconsin.org/)
• MEDLINE plus ( http://medlineplus.gov/)
• healthfinder ( http://www.healthfinder.gov/)
• BadgerLink for library resources ( http://www.dpi.state.wi.us/badgerlink/)

And finally, McIntee adds, remember to discuss any medical information you get from the Internet with a licensed health care provider.