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What sources do you trust for medical information?

Posted by Scott R L @scottrl, May 31 4:16pm

As you may know, on this site there's a discussion about whether AI can be trusted for medical information:
https://connect.mayoclinic.org/blog/about-connect/newsfeed-post/can-you-trust-ai-for-health-advice/

It made me wonder -- what sources *can* you trust?

To be honest, I've gotten some bad information from doctors. It's made me wary of snap judgments, and skeptical in general. (By nature, I'm a contrarian anyway.)

What sources of information/data do you trust?
Advertisements for prescriptions or supplements?
Friends (anecdotes, etc.)?
Professionals?
Internet research (which can run the gamut from "Dr. Google" to published research)?
Personal experience?

If you went to a doctor who handed you a pill and said, "Take this right now," would you? (I wouldn't, not without knowing what it was, how much, side effects, etc.)

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Just Want to Talk Support Group.

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shmerdloff | @shmerdloff | 4 days ago
In reply to @scottbeammeup "I've been REALLY fortunate to have an amazing GP who always looks out for me and..." + (show)
Profile picture for scottbeammeup @scottbeammeup

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.

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@scottbeammeup

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Rubyslippers | @triciaot | 3 days ago

I use Mayo Clinic and Cleveland Clinic most. If I read any research on NIH, Science Direct, or any university or disease association site, I check to see how large the sample group was, randomized to treatment and control group, and if the research was peer reviewed. I also check to see if there are conflicts of interest in who paid for the research.

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jiatong | @jiatong | 2 days ago
In reply to @scottbeammeup "I've been REALLY fortunate to have an amazing GP who always looks out for me and..." + (show)
Profile picture for scottbeammeup @scottbeammeup

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.

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@scottbeammeup , spot on reply

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Pattee Fletcher | @fletchette | 1 day ago

NIH, MEDLINEPLUS, Cleveland Clinic, Mayo Clinic. I find them to be reliable and valid sources of information.

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