Most of the information you find on the internet these days is polluted by advertising, special interests, and your general whack-job opinions masquerading as fact. Now, I don’t mind opinions – God knows I’m full of them and always eager to share – but at least let me know it’s your opinion and what your qualifications are for lending that opinion credibility.
As a result, there are very few sites that are balanced in their views and untainted by either a for-profit motive or a desire to steer your behavior in a specific direction. When it comes to buying a car for instance, there is only one to my knowledge, and that is Consumer Reports. There may be more, but I’m not aware of them, and this after spending six months researching my last car purchase in October.
Health sites are no different…probably even worse than car sites when it comes to special interests and profit motive. After 35 years working in the health care field, I’m convinced there are more whack jobs in this industry than anywhere else. Between the pharmaceutical companies, vegetarians, vegans, animal rights groups, diet books, supplement makers, holistic healers, Reiki masters, Ayurvedic cleansers, chiropractors, naturopaths, ionized water vendors, sports drink makers, and toenail fungus treatment providers, it’s bloody tough to get a straight answer to any health-related question.
That’s where helpguide.org comes in. I just found this site and it looks really good. I was researching Lewy Body Disease, a condition I’d never heard of until today, and they have quite an extensive description of the disease and its treatment. The site gets into a broad variety of topics related to both physical and mental health and it’s all FREE. There’s no advertising either…always a good sign.