Best and Worst Medical Information Sources
It can be hard to sort through the myriad sources of medical information online. Most people don’t know a lot about medical topics (which is the reason they’re looking the subject up) and will take whatever they find at face value. But not all information is equally accurate. That’s also something most people know. So how can you tell what information is reliable? It’s not always easy. Here’s a list of some ways to tell if a source is good or bad.
Good Sources
Good sources of medical information usually have a few things in common. A good source might not have every single one, but most often has most of them. Some of those are:
They are located on a reputable website
Some websites can be considered the gold standard of accurate medical information. Medical schools and hospitals typically offer some of the best medical information out there. If you’re reading something on one of their sites, it’s almost always a good source. Government organizations devoted to health, like Britain’s NHS, the CDC, or the NIH also offer accurate information.
This doesn’t mean anything not on these sites can’t be trusted; if it’s on another site you should check to see if it meets the other criteria.
They explain medical details in clear, matter-of-fact language
If a source of medical information is aimed at the general public and not medical professionals, it needs to be easy to understand. Lots of medical details can become very sophisticated, but a good source describes what the average person needs to know and doesn’t go into details they wouldn’t understand.
Tone is equally important; a particular condition or symptom might be a very bad thing to have, but the language shouldn’t be all gloom and doom. Likewise, even minor problems shouldn’t sound frivolous.
Sources given are from other reputable websites or from clinical research
Any source of medical information is only as good as the sources it relies on. If it isn’t one of the websites mentioned as reputable, look at the sources from any article. Good sources of information use reputable websites and and links to actual published research to write up articles and blogs.
They encourage you to see medical professionals if you have more questions
If you’ve ever gone searching for causes for your headache and convinced yourself you were now dying of a brain tumor you know how your mind can affect your physical state. Good sources of medical information understand that and emphasize that if you suspect you or a loved one have a condition you’re reading about you need to talk to a doctor or other medical professional.
Bad Sources
It’s not always obvious when a source of medical information is bad. Plenty of good sources of information exist outside of the best sites mentioned above. There are a few red flags that bad sources often have, and knowing those is as important as knowing what the good ones have. Some signs of bad sources are:
They’re selling something
Hospitals of course use their websites to advertise their care, but they’re usually not selling anything else. If a source of medical information is also offering you a supplement, or an amazing diet plan, or some new kind of treatment you can get directly from the site or the site owner, that’s a very bad sign. It’s especially bad if they’re selling it for what seems like everything under the sun.
They use hyperbolic language
The source you’re reading is telling you about some horrible condition that millions of people have and don’t know about it, and is listing off all the ways it can affect you. While there are under-diagnosed medical conditions, reputable sources will tell you some possible symptoms and tests for them. Bad sources will make it sound worse than Ebola and the bubonic plague put together and try to make you think you need treatment, now. If they point you towards a doctor, it’ll be one of the ones running or supporting the site.
Hyperbolic language goes both ways. If a site is also trying to tell you about some miracle treatment that will make you better than new, that’s another red flag. Even more so if the treatment is something they’ve invented or patented.
They link to other unreliable sources, or none at all
Densely footnoted articles and blog posts look good. But take a look at what the sources are. Are there any hospitals, medical schools, or government health researchers listed? Similar websites aren’t the same thing at all.
It might look better if those sources are all links to research articles. Take a look at what sort of articles they are first. Do they all come from one journal? It might seem unbelievable, but doctors and researchers with an agenda have started their own journals. They can then publish what mainstream medical journals reject. If they come from multiple journals, see what those journals are. Small medical publications can be a source of valuable research, but truly reliable information will also be published in larger ones. (Citations can of course be abused and used to say something they don’t really say, but that’s harder to do with multiple sources.)
No sources in anything mean there’s no way to validate anything the article says. You might as well be reading fiction.
It’s a blog or a Substack
This is somewhat conditional, as there are many good medical blogs out there. There are many good Substacks as well that give good information. But if that’s all there is to the source, that’s not much. Both of those are ultimately used to express one person’s thoughts and opinions. If you find a blog or Substack that intrigues you, search for its author and see if they are doing medical work or research elsewhere. Those sources can tell you whether that’s reliable. If whoever runs the blog is a random person who’s never seen a patient or set foot in a lab, you can safely ignore what they say.
If you know quick ways to look for reliable medical information, it will eventually become second nature and you’ll be able to sort through the good and the bad. That’s one step on the journey of being a savvy medical consumer.