Feeling under the weather? Fifty years ago, you’d likely book a visit with your family physician, then the primary source of health knowledge. No longer. In this era of consumerism - people, especially Canadians, also turn to books, magazines, friends, family, and that great cyber-highway, the Internet.

Searching for health information is the number-one online activity in Canada, according to a recent Ipsos-Reid poll. Of 1,000 respondents, two-thirds (66 percent) of those online have visited a health Web site, up from 55 per cent in 2000. Many continue to do so on a regular monthly (66 percent) or weekly (22 percent) basis. Researchers also found women are more likely to search for health information on the Internet than men (76 percent versus 56 percent). Eighty-one per cent of users visit sites offering disease prevention, treatment, and cure information, as well as sites about nutrition (51 per cent), prescription drugs (35 percent), and exercise (29 percent), followed by those offering support groups (13 percent).

"The Internet has had a dramatic effect on empowering Canadians by making them more knowledgeable about their health,” noted Andrew Grenville, senior vice president of Ipsos-Reid’s Healthcare practice, in a December 2002 press release. “Over the years, our research has revealed an ongoing trend in which Canadians are becoming more active participants in their own health. The Internet is helping Canadians feel less like patients and more like informed consumers."

For Alana Holt of Victoria, BC, becoming informed meant doing her own research after her doctor recommended she give Zantac, an over-the-counter heartburn medication, to her colicky four-month-old son Marlon. “I was really concerned, so I wanted to check it out. How much would this affect my child? I wanted to make sure I was making the most educated decision.”

Alana eventually refused the Zantac, whose reported side-effects include constipation, nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting, as well as damage to liver, cardiovascular, and central nervous systems. Instead, she discovered that removing spices, caffeine, and high-acid foods from her own diet while breastfeeding and making simple changes, such as holding Marlon upright more often and walking with him until he fell asleep, reduced his colic.

"The Internet is a great source of information," says Dr. Nigma T. Sciortino of West Vancouver. “However, at times it can be misleading. When it comes to health, there is no one-size-fits-all medicine.” Thus, when patients arrive at her office laden with Internet printouts, she reviews the data with them to validate or disprove the information. Indeed, as many of Canada’s close to 10-million Internet users have discovered, the Web can be fraught with advice containing pitfalls that are contradictory, wrong, outdated, and, without proper interpretation, possibly quite dangerous.

"I recommend patients continue to do their own research, as health is their responsibility; however, information should be discussed with their naturopathic physician," Dr. Nigma stresses.

Alana agrees that patient-physician communication is essential. “We all have to take responsibility for our health and work with the doctor as a team instead of just relying on them,” she says. “I think it would be scary if we didn’t educate ourselves because of where the health-care system is at right now.”

A graduate of the UBC School of Journalism, Michelle Hancock is former managing editor of alive Magazine and an advocate of complementary medicine and freedom of choice in health care.

Source: alive #255, January 2004