How much of what you read do you believe? One thing is a fact, doctors don't like their patients going to the Internet for health advice. Actually, from prior research online, I've found out that different things can have different websites telling about them. Unfortunately, they don't all agree. Thoughts?
It depends on the source of the information. If it's some random "influencer" or a Youtube video, I definitely consider the source. If I go to the Mayo Clinic or MD Anderson website or something similar, I tend to believe what I read. All the news outlets are left-leaning for the most part so I just read fluff and scroll through most of it.
I read several sources. One weird thing I just had was a blood panel done by my doctor, and my liver enzymes are above the Normal Range. The two leading causes of this are alcohol consumption (I don't drink) and having a fatty liver. The only change I've made recently was to take Butyric acid along with my probiotics. So I looked Butyric acid up on a couple of trusted medical websites and they said nothing about it affecting one's liver one way or the other. I then searched on "Butyric acid liver" and got search results stating the it actually helps a fatty liver. I don't believe 100% of anything or anyone, and I don't like being around people who do (because they lack reason.) I just hope that my subjective analysis has not been too compromised by all the bull poop I've been subjected to in my life.
Going in, I already know that what I read is not necessarily true and correct. I even feel the same way about what I read in the newspaper, especially when the topic is political. There is always some bias. Some things I read can only be partially true even when written with the best of intentions. If I myself post on a subject I think I know something about, I will later re-think what I posted and find that it was not totally correct but won't go back to re-do. Water over the dam.
Generally, while I'm posting something, if a question comes into my mind about what I'm posting, I will do some research online to make as sure as possible that what I post is correct.
I do not read any Sponsored things next to article I am trying to read. News I go to several and then decide may be true. Make sure what you read is not a direct opinion from a person versus the actual news. Like Beth I will go to the older more reliable sources for medical.
I agree. There's nothing wrong with being wrong once in a while. I don't post things that I know to be wrong, and I generally (but not always) do some research before posting something, or at least I'll qualify my statement. However, if I later find that something I had posted was wrong, it wouldn't be fair of me to go back and correct it so as to make it appear that I had been right all along. If it's nothing important, I'll probably not worry about it; otherwise, I'll admit that I had been wrong in a separate post. Trust me, I hate doing that because I would like to be always right.
I trust very little from a single source, whether it be medical, news or whatever. MD Anderson, Mayo, or Cleveland Clinic sites will give you valid current medical information. Just remember, however, that medical publications in the past (before websites) stated that milk was good for ulcers and that Crisco was better than lard for the heart, both of which have been disproven since. Also current medical advice in the U.S. at least is always colored by Big Pharma since that is who pays for most of the research here. I just am not very trusting person. I believe what makes sense to me.
What Beth said. I go to websites like the Mayo Clinic. My doctor is young, so she has not problem with me bringing up something from Dr. Google and then we discuss. I always accept her medical advice because she knows my medical conditions and medications. If I didn’t trust my doctor, I’d find a new one.
We changed to Devoted Health Insurance for our medicare coverage for 2024, since it had much better benefits than even our Humana Advantage plan has. Devoted is new in Alabama this year (although well established in many other states, and growing) ; so our doctor had never heard of them, and didn’t want to carry them as one of the insurance they accepted. Because of that, we have to start over with a new doctor this year, and will have our first appointment in January. For my health, I depend on my doctors for understanding health conditions and medications; but beyond that, i do my own research, both online and with books. I have been reading Dr. William Davis books about gut health, and how some foods that we consider very healthy (such as wheat and many other grains) are actually causing problems with our digestive system , and they manifest as a lot of varied symptoms. The GMO grains we have now, in no way are the same as they were before being modified, and here in the US, we have a lot of GMO foods now. You would not think that things like muscle/joint pain, IBS, and depression would all come from an intolerance of wheat (not just gluten) ; but there is a lot of evidence that it does affect all of these ailments, and more. Because the mega-corporations helps finance the medical trials, a lot of the actual evidence is there, but does not come out in what is published in major news journals. So, studying about what helps keep us healthy is a good thing, and reading different opinions helps me to come to my own conclusions. I definitely recommend this book, and i was thinking that this might especially benefit you, @Jan Ahlmann , because of the joint pain and depression that you have mentioned.