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The following article was published in Your Health Magazine. Our mission is to empower people to live healthier.
Laura Wackett
Social Networking Spreads Medical Myths
Wackie Fitness Jazzercise

Social Networking Spreads Medical Myths

Its late and youre tired, so you write on your Facebook wall that you cant catch enough Zs. Within seconds a friend responds with a remedy for insomnia. Then another links to a blog jammed with tips for falling asleep quickly. Isnt social networking great?

Yes, but inaccurate medical advice is rampant online. Dozens of online sites can be helpful sources for health and wellness information, but they can also make it possible for the spread of misinformation.

Unfortunately, its not easy to know the difference.

Just this month, the American Journal of Infection Control published a study measuring the effects of social networking on modern day health care where they studied 52,000 tweets over four months. Researchers found that hundreds of Twitter users casually posted medical advice some of it inaccurate which then spread to millions of people. Although only two percent of tweets contained medical mishaps considered dangerous, the handful of harmful tweets actually reached tens of thousands of followers. In fact, one tweet with medical misinformation about antibiotics spread to more than 850,000 people.

Twitter, Facebook, and MySpace users can tweet and blog about, and chat rooms are jammed with, health and wellness advice that appears to be official, yet some of it has absolutely no medical basis.

Consider these five tips for weighing the accuracy of health and wellness information that you read online the next time you find yourself surfing the net for a cure to your latest ailment.

1. Consider the Source Stay away from personal blogs and go directly to official sites of reputable health organizations, such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the National Institutes of Health, the Mayo Clinic or WebMD.

2. Double-Check Your Information Its always best to check more than one source. If medical information is accurate, then multiple health organizations will concur with the findings.

3. Notice the URL Remember that sites ending with “.com” are typically for-profit sites, whereas official governmental sites end with “.gov,” and educational sites end with “.edu.”

4. Buyer Beware Reputable medical organizations will give sound advice without a sales pitch for the newest miracle drug.

5. Talk to Your Doctor Even though its more convenient to Google your latest symptoms, nothing takes the place of having an actual conversation with your doctor. Online anecdotal stories and advice dont account for your individual age, gender, prior illnesses, family history and risk factors.

Courtesy of Jazzercise, Inc.

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