How to Get Health News

If you've got a computer, a world of health news is literally at your fingertips. On any given day, a quick check on search engines turns up no less than 788,000,000 results pertaining to health matters. The challenge for the consumer of this information overload is to sort through and find the fraction of sites of well-respected authorities from where to get reliable, trustworthy health news.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderately Easy

1. Choose your topic or topics and begin your research with larger health organizations, such as the Mayo Clinic. Besides having a symptom checker, topics of concern are categorized and specialists answer questions about them.
2. Check out a few well known health insurance company web sites for topics that interest you. These are corporations whose financial bottom line is greatly affected by subscribers using their coverage more for emergency than preventative care. Therefore, you can usually count on plenty of information dedicated to staying healthy.
3. Become a subscriber of news alerts, health newsletters or lists from sources you trust most, particularly if they discuss a topic specific to your needs. This is an excellent way to stay on top of all the latest treatments and not have to waste time sorting through questionable facts.
4. Get interactive with a website that offers more than content. Some also offer blogs, message boards, videos, surveys, contests and have a family focus.
5. Review opportunities to participate in clinical trials. Present the information to your physician for his or her approval before applying for a trial.

Tips & Warnings

• When researching a health condition online, no matter the respectability of the source of information, always get your doctor's advice before starting or stopping any medications or changing current treatments.