Wellbeing on the web 2: consultations
Wellbeing on the web 3: the best portals

You’re in the doctor’s surgery and you chance your arm by suggesting you know a little bit about the dermatitis he’s just diagnosed.

“How did you know that?” he’ll retort. Well, I read it on the internet. “Oh, I’d be very wary of that,” will be the reply. The world’s full of internet doom-mongers — warning that we’ll be snared by those who distort health information in an attempt to sell us something, or lure us into a cult of shark-fin-consuming alternative-health nutters.

Well, don’t believe them. We are more knowledgeable about our health than ever before, and it’s largely down to the internet. Yes, there are plenty of unreliable, misleading and downright daft websites but, if you’re savvy about where and how to look, you have the world’s biggest health encyclopaedia at your fingertips. Here are our suggestions for how to get the best out of health information on the internet, along with the first 20 of our top 50 health websites, as chosen by our experts.





WHAT TO LOOK FOR
Is it British?
It may sound jingoistic, but if you’re using a search engine such as Google and you limit your search to pages from the UK and Ireland you’re already cutting out about 90 per cent of the misleading rubbish published about health worldwide. The benefits of doing this outweigh the limitations of your trawl.







Is it from an organisation that’s well known?
It sounds obvious, but on a Google search you can immediately tell something about the status of an organisation by its address — whether you know its name and whether it’s got a good simple domain name. It’s a generalisation, but some cranky organisations have quite convoluted website addresses, indicating that there’s one person behind them. Single-issue websites with titles such as “waterispoisonous.com” are also unlikely to have a balanced view.







Does it have a seal of approval?
Many attempts have been made to try to “kitemark” health websites — with organisations giving a stamp of approval to indicate that the information contained on it is reliable. One of the widest reaching is the HON code, originating from the Swiss Health On the Net Foundation. Sites that carry the HON logo (left) have signed up to eight ethical principles which they have to abide to (www.hon.ch). Also look for best website awards from the British Medical Association and the Plain English Campaign.



Look for a health gateway
These are websites that provide links and free access to an array of other sites, often under subject categories. Though they don’t usually guarantee the quality of the information provided by the sites they link to, if you choose a reputable gateway you can usually be sure they’ve been checked out. Some of the most reputable and accessible health gateways are www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk and www.patient.co.uk. For detailed searches there are many academic ones, too, such as Intute health and life sciences research database (www.intute.ac.uk), the National Electronic Library for Health (www.nelh.nhs.uk) and Medline Plus (medlineplus.gov).

WHAT TO BE WARY OF
Websites set up by companies
Always look for information about who produced the website, usually under “About us”. Its origins may be hidden but there are thousands of sites out there that look as if they’re giving independent health advice when they’re trying to flog you something. If that’s their object, you can’t rely on the impartiality of the information.



Sponsored websites
Look for “supported by” or “sponsored by” or “copyright of” in small lettering towards the bottom of the website. Drug companies in particular support hundreds of health information and patient organisation websites. That doesn’t mean they’re bad; in fact they’re often accurate. But they may be biased, with an emphasis on medication rather than other treatments. Remember that this information is not from an independent source.



Sites set up by one person with an agenda
They may have titles such as doctorsruinedmylife.com. Fun, interesting and possibly important, but campaigning rather than informative.



Online diagnosis websites
Tempting as it is to find out what’s wrong with you and what to do about it by ticking boxes and submitting a form, avoid these sites. Few doctors would diagnose by questionnaire, and sites that tell you what’s wrong with you and how to cure it are invariably selling something.



TOP TIPS
Know your search engines
Google is great but remember that by using the advanced search options you can narrow down the returns you get according to country of origin. And don’t forget to specify only recently updated pages, which is another good indicator of quality. There are also specialist medical search engines — try www.hon.ch — where you can limit your search to websites that have declared themselves accurate and unbiased.







Look at the layout and use of English
If little care has been taken over the appearance of the words on the site, then the content probably hasn’t received much attention either.







Look for the background and qualifications of those who produced the site
If they say they are doctors, make sure they’re medical doctors, and not doctors of Ancient Egyptian studies.







Get to know your suffixes
Educational organisations end with .edu; .gov is a government body, and .org is usually a non-commercial outfit. Generally, for health info, they can be relied on more than .com or .co.uk



The pick of the portals (Part 1)

ILLNESS: TOP 10

It’s Saturday morning, you’ve got a bit of a headache that might be a hangover but you’ve also got a scratchy feeling in the back of your throat and you feel a bit shivery. Your GP’s surgery is closed and a Google search for sore throat gets 4.7 million results. What now?

Best Treatments (www.besttreatments.co.uk)
Sourced from the British Medical Journal, this fabulous new website should be your first port of call. It gives you a wealth of authoritative information about common conditions, and treatments are rated as “likely to work”, “helpful but with downsides” or “probably not worth trying”. It is so well written and easy to use that many GPs already use it in their surgeries.



Patient UK (www.patient.co.uk)
Though not pretty, this is one of the best of the bunch, produced by doctors working with an information systems company. The admirably simple home page channels you down any number of routes. If your local surgery uses EMIS software - and more than half of them do - you can even book a doctor’s appointment online.





NHS Direct (www.nhsdirect.nhs.uk; www.nhs24.com for Scotland and www.nhsdirect.wales.nhs.uk/ for Wales.)
Whatever you think of its helpline counterpart, NHS Direct’s homepage is user-friendly, accessible in a dozen languages and a postcode search can help you to find your nearest doctor, dentist or optician.







Net Doctor (www.netdoctor.co.uk)
Safe and accessible information on common complaints.

BBC (www.bbc.co.uk/health/conditions)
The good old Beeb has accessible, well-written and generally reliable information on everything from the common cold to social anxiety disorder. A good resource for finding out about complementary therapies.



Medline Plus (www.medlineplus.gov)
OK it’s American, but it’s government-sponsored, remarkably comprehensive, based on the latest research and arguably the best Encyclopaedia-style health website around. Watch out for drug names though, the American versions are sometimes different from ours.



MedHunt (www.hon.ch/MedHunt)
A search engine from the Health on the Net Foundation which, when you search for a word, allows you to view sites that have agreed to uphold standards of accountability.



Dr Foster Intelligence (www.drfoster.co.uk/public.asp)
Health-data company Dr Foster not only allows you to check out the credentials of doctors, specialists and hospitals near you — it also includes an A-Z of health, and a personal health profile where you can calculate your risk of coronary heart disease. The organisation has a code of conduct and an ethics committee.

The Mayo Clinic (www.mayoclinic.org)
American again, but one of America’s most prestigious medical centres also provides award-winning health information. The site is a little overwhelming but includes very detailed questions and answers on common, and not so common, conditions.



BUPA (www.bupa.co.uk/health_information/)
There’s an obvious commercial motive for providing such comprehensive (and high Google-rated) health information, but it’s hard to pick holes in BUPA’s straightforward Q&A-style approach to health problems and explanation of treatments.





KEEPING WELL: TOP 5
Most internet sites that promise you a brighter, healthier life are trying to sell you something. Some of these are, too, but it doesn’t interfere too much with sound advice.







BBC (www.bbc.co.uk/health/healthy_living/)
Sensible, factual advice on your weight, nutrition, fitness, health at work, travel health and complementary medicine.





Brighter Living (www.brighter-living.co.uk )
Sponsored by drug company Pfizer, it’s noticeable that the conditions that this website focuses on are those that Pfizer makes drugs for. But it’s generally non-drug orientated, and has good information on healthy living, assessing your health and getting support.







Male Health (www.malehealth.co.uk/)
Comprehensive and clear, if slightly leaden, health advice aimed at men from the independent Men’s Health Forum.





Women’s Health Concern (www.womens-health-concern.org)
Good women’s health information is sparse on the internet. This, from a counselling charity founded by a nurse, is one of the best — the fact sheets are clear and accessible.





My simple guide to high blood pressure (www.mysimpleguide-bloodpressure.com)
Wish it had a simpler name but, for the millions out there who have hypertension, this design-heavy site gives you all the information you could ever want, including advice on lifestyle modification. From the European Society of Hypertension.



CHARITY: TOP 5
Charity websites are the mainstay of good health information, even though questions have been raised about their independence, given industry sponsorship. If you know what your condition is, the first place you should consult is the website of the biggest organisation most relevant to your condition. It may not be right but it’s true that the biggest charities have the best websites.







Cancerhelp (www.cancerhelp.org.uk)
Cancer Research UK’s patient information website provides the benchmark for most charities — a huge amount of information beautifully marshalled into different levels of detail so that you can find out just as much as you want to without getting confused.







Cancer Backup (www.cancerbackup.org.uk)
Won an award from the Patients’ Association this year for it’s practical emphasis on living with cancer. More than 4,500 pages of information for patients, families and carers.







Diabetes UK (www.diabetes.org.uk)
Not overburdened with information, but clear and practical, providing lifestyle advice alongside the medical facts.





Asthma UK (www.asthma.org.uk)
Well designed, clear information for people with asthma and their families. Not too grand to think it shouldn’t deal with hay fever, too.





Alzheimer’s Society (www.alzheimers.org.uk)
Comprehensive information for people with all forms of dementia.