The Internet offers a great resource for researching every ailment from toe fungus to rare birth defects.
A bottle of pills with a name you can’t pronounce. Drug interactions. Symptoms you can’t explain. A scary diagnosis. Emerging experimental treatments. So much about medicine is a mystery revealed only to doctors and nurses, but the Internet offers a great resource for researching every ailment from toe fungus to rare birth defects. Although the Internet also offers some unreliable information and ways of procuring illegal prescriptions, there are also valuable prescription resources, free medical journals, supportive message boards and disease-specific sites that can help you learn more about a medical problem and how to live with it.
And while it’s no substitute for professional care, online advice can at least answer some questions while you’re on the road or help you decide if you need to deadhead home for a doctor’s appointment.
Whether you’re in that situation or just looking for information under more relaxed circumstances, be cautious in your research. There are a few ways to separate the legitimate sites from those trying to sell you a miracle cure or push unorthodox methods of healing:
