Evaluating Health Information
It is always important to assess the website or material used when learning about health information. Below are several links to assist you in learning what to ask and look for when learning about health topics.
Here are some links to news sources that discuss health issues. These help keep one up-to-date on topics, but often further research is needed.
As ranked by the Medical Library Association.
An American Sickness : how healthcare became big business and how you can take it back by The New York Times bestseller. "The definitive guide to the past and future of health care in America." --Siddhartha Mukherjee, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Emperor of All Maladies and The Gene At a moment of drastic political upheaval, a shocking investigation into the dangerous, expensive, and dysfunctional American healthcare system, as well as solutions to its myriad of problems In these troubled times, perhaps no institution has unraveled more quickly and more completely than American medicine. In only a few decades, the medical system has been overrun by organizations seeking to exploit for profit the trust that vulnerable and sick Americans place in their healthcare. Our politicians have proven themselves either unwilling or incapable of reining in the increasingly outrageous costs faced by patients, and market-based solutions only seem to funnel larger and larger sums of our money into the hands of corporations. Impossibly high insurance premiums and inexplicably large bills have become facts of life; fatalism has set in. Very quickly Americans have been made to accept paying more for less. How did things get so bad so fast? Breaking down this monolithic business into the individual industries--the hospitals, doctors, insurance companies, and drug manufacturers--that together constitute our healthcare system, Rosenthal exposes the recent evolution of American medicine as never before. How did healthcare, the caring endeavor, become healthcare, the highly profitable industry? Hospital systems, which are managed by business executives, behave like predatory lenders, hounding patients and seizing their homes. Research charities are in bed with big pharmaceutical companies, which surreptitiously profit from the donations made by working people. Patients receive bills in code, from entrepreneurial doctors they never even saw. The system is in tatters, but we can fight back. Dr. Elisabeth Rosenthal doesn't just explain the symptoms, she diagnoses and treats the disease itself. In clear and practical terms, she spells out exactly how to decode medical doublespeak, avoid the pitfalls of the pharmaceuticals racket, and get the care you and your family deserve. She takes you inside the doctor-patient relationship and to hospital C-suites, explaining step-by-step the workings of a system badly lacking transparency. This is about what we can do, as individual patients, both to navigate the maze that is American healthcare and also to demand far-reaching reform. An American Sickness is the frontline defense against a healthcare system that no longer has our well-being at heart.
Eating Clean for Dummies by Everything you need to start eating clean Whether you've lived on white carbs and trans fats all your life or you're already health conscious but want to clean up your diet even further, Eating Clean For Dummies, 2nd Edition explains in plain English exactly what it means to keep a clean-eating diet. Brought to you by a respected MD and licensed nutritionist, it sets the record straight on this lifestyle choice and includes recipes, the latest superfoods, tips and strategies for navigating the grocery store, advice on dining out, and practical guidance on becoming a clean eater for life. Clean eating is not another diet fad; it's used as a way of life to improve overall health, prevent disease, increase energy, and stabilize moods. Eating Clean For Dummies shows you how to stick to foods that are free of added sugars, hydrogenated fats, trans fats, and anything else that is unnatural or unnecessary. Plus, you'll find recipes to make scrumptious clean meals and treats, like whole grain scones, baked oatmeal, roasted cauliflower, caramelized onion apple pecan stuffing, butternut mac and cheese, and more. Get the scoop on how clean eating helps you live longer, prevent disease, and lose weight Change your eating habits without sacrificing taste or breaking your budget Make more than 40 delicious clean-eating recipes Deal with food allergies and sensitivities You are what you eat! And Eating Clean For Dummies helps get you on the road to a healthier you.