Finding the Facts When Your Health Is In Question

According to a Pew Research Survey, 83% of internet users have looked for health information on the internet. What that statistic doesn't tell you is how many of those 83% actually found the information they needed.

Doctors are known for keeping their cool, but the phrase, "I read on the internet that..." is almost guaranteed to make your doctor shudder. There is a lot of misinformation about health on the internet, and when your wellness is on the line it is critical that you have access to facts, not fiction.

So how can you find the health information that you need?

1. Start at http://health.nih.gov for an overview. The consumer health information provided by the National Institutes of Health is constantly reviewed to make sure it is up to date and accurate. The information you find at NIH may not answer all of your questions, but it is a good place to start, and can often give you other keywords you can use in your search that describe the medicine or medical condition you are researching.

2. Use your library databases. The Terrebonne Parish Library subscribes to several health related databases you can access from any computer with internet access and your library card number. That gives you an easy way to search thousands of trusted health journals, including many that your doctors read to keep up with the latest research.

• Consumer Health Complete offers good introductory material. Like the NIH consumer material, you can find easy to understand descriptions and other useful keywords to use in your searches.
• Health Source - Consumer Edition also offers health information in plain English. Here you will find nearly 80 full text, consumer health magazines with information on many topics including the medical sciences, food sciences and nutrition, childcare, sports medicine and general health.
• Health Source - Nursing/Academic Edition allows you access to 550 scholarly full text medical journals, and access to the Lexi-PAL Drug Guide, which includes 1,300 generic drug patient education sheets for more than 4,700 brand name prescriptions.
• AltHealthWatch can help you find information on alternative and complementary therapies, with full text articles from more than 180 international, often peer-reviewed, journals and reports. In addition, there are hundreds of pamphlets, booklets, special reports, original research and book excerpts.

3. Turn to trusted health organizations. For every aspect of health and every medical condition, there is a non-profit dedicated to finding and distributing the best health information in that field. For example, the American Cancer Society web site, www.cancer.org, has a wealth of doctor and patient reviewed material on cancer diagnosis and treatment, as well as related topics like pain management, quality of life, and nutrition.

The Cochrane Collaboration, another trustworthy source, is an independent organization that reviews the scientific evidence for the effectiveness of medical treatments, both mainstream and alternative. On the web at http://summaries.cochrane.org you can search free summaries of their reports.

For links to all fourteen of our health databases and a complete overview of some of the best health related information available to you through the Terrebonne Parish Library on the net and in print, see our subject guide at http://mytpl.org/health-and-medicine.

Your library reference team is also available to help you find trustworthy sources and information on health and any other research topic you may have. Call us at (985) 876-5861, option 2, or email reference@mytpl.org.

Image Credit: Molly Zisk. Health Hazards of Sitting. Orange County Register, Jan. 16, 2012. Copyright (c) 2012 Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service.

World Religions Online: Learning About the World's Faiths

World Religions Online is a great, easy-to-use database for learning about faiths from around the globe.  To access this database, go to the library website, at www.mytpl.org, and click Research on the menu bar.  In the dropdown menu, pick Databases by Subject.

Now go to Religion and Philosophy.  Notice that we have a wide range of other electronic resources on this topic.  For now, click on World Religions Online.  If you are in a Terrebonne Parish Library, the link will take you straight into World Religions Online.  If you are logging in from a computer in a non-library location, you'll be asked for your library card number.  No pin required!

 

As the image below shows, World Religions Online has articles, videos, and images about all the major religious traditions. 

To begin exploring, click on one of the Topic Centers, as shown above.  Each Topic Center is a gateway to all kinds of information about the religion covered.  There is a a multimedia introduction with videos, as well as a timeline, fact file, image and video galleries, and a list of holidays observed in that tradition.  Toward the bottom of the page, you can find hyperlinked lists of deities, key topics, schools of thought, festivals, and more. 

Whatever religion you want to explore, World Religions Online is a great place to start!

How To Find Good Diet and Nutrition Advice

With the New Year underway, many of us are resolving to start eating healthier foods (some of us will even keep our resolutions).  But just what is a healthy diet?  Everybody knows there are a million diet books out there, and many of them give terrible advice.   Who should we listen to? How do we know which ones are providing us with the proper information?  One thing we can do is get the opinions of people with formal training in diet and nutrition, called registered dieticians.  These are people with extensive training and certification in scientific principles of human physiology and nutrition. 

The professional organization for registered dieticians, the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, has an excellent website with good information on nutrition and diet:  www.eatright.org/Public/

Here you can find professional advice on dieting, eating right, preparing healthy meals for your family, and more.  One of the most valuable sections of this website is its Popular Diet Reviews, which evaluates the merits (or lack thereof) of popular diets and diet books.  Each review is broken down into four different sections: Claims, Synopsis of the Diet Plan, Nutritional Pros and Cons, and Bottom Line.  This feature can help guide you in the right direction to get the most knowledgeable science-based information regarding diets.

Another thing to keep in mind when evaluating diet and nutrition information is the distinction between registered dieticians and nutritionists.  Some registered dieticians may refer to themselves as nutritionists, but not everyone who claims to be a nutritionist is a registered dietician.  In many states, anyone can call themselves a nutritionist.  These self-proclaimed "experts" may have no training, or they may have gotten their degree from a “degree mill” that required nothing from them but a fee.   To show how dubious this is, some doctors and dieticians have obtained bogus degrees in “Nutrition” for dogs, cats, and even hamsters.  If a school is giving diplomas to hamsters, you probably don’t want to trust the advice of anyone with that diploma on their wall.  For more information about telling registered dieticians from untrained “nutritionists”, see the FAQ section of www.eatright.org.  

Have healthy and nutritious 2012! 

Jardon Thomassie and Ross Mays

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Other Recommended Resources:

Where to Get Professional Nutrition Advice

Louisiana Dietetic Association

American Dietetic Association complete food and nutrition guide / Roberta Larson Duyff