Doing Your Own Research

By David Spero Doctors used to be the only source of medical information. Not anymore. You can get much of the same information on the Internet. Problem is, not all of the information you'll come across online is good. Here are some ways to empower yourself with good Internet research: • It's good to have some general "search engine" sites as a starting point on your quest for information. I usually start with Google. Yahoo and Bing are also good. Search engine sites will give you a list of more specific sites where you can get the information you seek. For example, a Google search for "diabetes" gives over 70 million possibilities, starting with the American Diabetes Association, WebMD, Wikipedia, the National Institutes of Health, and Mayo Clinic. All of these sites give good information, but you shouldn't trust any of them alone. Always seek a second or third opinion. There's no shortage of sources on the Internet! • If your first search brings results you're not interested in, try slightly different keywords. A wikiHow article on web searching suggests adding more specifics for some searches; for example using "continuous glucose monitor accuracy" instead of "blood sugar monitors" if you are trying to compare continuous glucose monitors. • If you're looking for information on a medicine, you can use a general search or go to a number of medicine-specific websites. I use WebMD's medication index or Drugs.com. You can also type the drug's name into a Goog...
Source: Diabetes Self-Management - Category: Diabetes Authors: Source Type: blogs