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Originally Posted by $5 submissions
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I have taken a "basket" of common health issues, ranging from minor to potentially life-threatening, and compiled data from authoritative sources (Cochrane Reviews, Clinical Evidence, UpToDate, etc.) on prevention, treatment and management of those health problems.
For all popular medical websites being examined, their advice about the health issues in the basket is compared to the available evidence-backed data. Websites are graded on the degree to which their advice corresponds with accepted standards.
Of course, in practice it's a fair bit more complicated than it sounds (the advice to see a doctor for potentially dangerous conditions is taken as a plus, non-standard treatments that are backed with research are not taken as a negative, etc.), but the end results manage to give a pretty good indication of whether the info on a website is any good.
So far, sites made by companies based in India (based in India - so that excludes Indian-American owned companies) have given the worst results. And I'm not talking about small stuff, either.
Here are some examples of bad information I've encountered:
- Use two condoms on top of each other for double protection.
- Only gays can get HIV.
- Treat yeast infections with antibiotics.
- Masturbation can cause schizophrenia.
- You can't get pregnant from the first time you have sex.
- Ignore chest pain if you're not overweight.
- Avoid exercise more strenuous than walking.
- Your diet should not contain any oil.
- Avoid meat, nuts, fish, dairy and soy.
And that's just a very small selection.
The most troubling thing is that many websites appear to simply base their information on whatever crosses their path - ranging from actual studies to urban legends that happen to get mentioned in a news story.
Here's a hoax that has been featured as "research" on hundreds if not thousands of health-related websites:
http://www.snopes.com/humor/iftrue/breasts.asp