What sources do you trust for medical information?

@johnbishop I plan what I'm going to say to my neurologist and it helps.

@frouke
I agree! I was taught the same thing regarding a doctor...do what they tell you to do...nowadays things in the medical arena are much different. I had “old school” doctors diagnose me correctly and heal me, but sometimes newer ones totally miss it or just blow it off like it is nothing. And if you speak up or disagree a lot of them just get mad about it. (not all doctors but it’s a crap shoot who will get it right)

@jenben59 You’re so right about that, all the good doctors are retired or plan to we never realized how good we had it.

@frouke
The first batch left when malpractice insurance cost a quarter million dollars because the ambulance chasers switched to Med Mal when no fault automobile was passed.
Gotta find SOMEONE to sue.

I'm fortunate to live in the Bay Area where we have many great dr's. I am in a healthcare system where if I don't really like the Dr I am seeing, I can easily see another one. It has taken years to find competent Dr's. I 've also gotten assigned to dr's, like the eye surgeon I've recently been seeing that I like very much. Health care these days is difficult. In the system I am in, Dr's often have to take care of so much themselves and aren't given much time between patients. Covid changed care so much. Video appts are pushed. I am not afraid to ask a dr what he is prescribing and why. Honestly, I don't take many meds so it is easy. I will not leave an office unless/until I get questions answered. If a Dr is not ok with that, then I need a new dr. The pharmacy is under the same system. Asking for the manager is very helpful if I haven't already found answers to my questions. Respected cites, like Mayo or Webmd. Yes, one truly has to be an advocate. I found this site bc I didn't feel I was given adequate information on a dx. I have since told the dr so. I think at the time I needed information it was unfortunate timing. I will give the dr the benefit of the doubt. .....this time.

First doctor and my own instincts. When told something that is not familiar, I will go to a Mayo website to gather some general information. It is strictly to be somewhat informed so that I know what questions to ask my doctor. Last month, I had an appointment and my doctor asked if I minded her using AI to summarize the visit. I agreed, more out of curiosity. When I went to MyChart after the visit to read what AI had summarized, I found some inaccurate information. I will be sending the information that needs to be corrected to my doctor. We all know our own bodies. With that knowledge and being honest with your doctor, those are what has gotten through 75 years and only taking one prescription medication after my fabulous team helped me beat cancer.

http://www..medscape.com WebMD Mayo Clinic NIH NIMH

On the Medscape web site, you can find information about topics discussed at major medical conferences all over the world.

On Medscape, you can also get up to date information on the results of recent, reliable clinical trials.

Information posted on the web sites of reliable medical schools, e.g., Hopkins, Harvard, Stanford, Columbia, Cornell, Duke, Vanderbilt, UCSD, UCLA, UCSF, MGH in Boston, NYU

Some nonprofits like COPD FOUNDATION and American Lung Association also have great information. For lung information, National Jewish Health is very highly regarded in the respiratory community and also has great information.
Your local medical school librarian is also a wonderful resource in helping you source and sort reliable medical sources.

I’ve had continued success finding great APRNs, doctors and pharmacists by asking current medical teams who help me who they would trust to treat their most loved family members. The answers have been insightful and quite helpful. Best wishes.

I've been REALLY fortunate to have an amazing GP who always looks out for me and goes above and beyond. He specifically asked to be linked to all the records for my various specialists during prostate cancer treatment and reads them.

I trust most of the specialists I see, but within limits. For example, my oncologist is ONLY concerned with cancer remission, my cardiologist is ONLY concerned with my circulatory system, etc. Having a GP that synthesizes this information for me and knows where I place quality of life vs. treatments and my risk tolerance is HUGE.

I trust ChatGPT in the sense that if I feed it a complicated medical study I don't understand it can summarize it fairly accurately.

I trust my support group in that the guys in it are accurately describing their own personal experiences. I realize mine may differ but it's a good place for general info.

I DO NOT trust anything written by pharmaceutical companies and find they greatly downplay side effects. For example, they will say "while on this drug, most men don't have side effect x ..." and then studies show that 40% of men have the side effect so, while what they say is TECHNICALLY true, it's misleading.