by Cindy A. Abole, Public Relations

When it comes to questions about health and medicine, consumers are turning to a more convenient resource, the Internet, for answers. Like a two-edged sword, the power of the Internet can supply more information at the touch of a button. It can also deliver misinformation and opinion with equal ease.

The ability to access information with computers has changed the way most consumers do more product research. Rooted from early government projects like the Advanced Research Project Agency Network (APRAnet) and National Science Foundation (NSFnet) in the 1950s, the Internet quickly evolved to be today’s most powerful global computer network.

“There’s a uniqueness to how information is routed from here to there,” said Curtis Wise, Ph.D., MUSC professor of physiology, describing how the movement of data can be compared to how a ground shipment is routed between two points, for example Charleston and Atlanta. Although a fleet of trucks may start from Charleston, drivers can take numerous routes to arrive at the Atlanta destination. The same applies to how information is routed on the World-Wide-Web. Each packet of information flows through a variety of cable routes to get to a specific user.

In 1997, a polling company examined 160 web sites dealing with health information and discovered that 47 percent were operated by respected and reliable organizations affiliated with medical centers, government agencies and professional organizations. Today, more sites are produced by consumers, vendors, manufacturers and other sources.

Online tools such as the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ “healthfinder” is an example of one unique gateway that has been used increasingly by Internet visitors. Created as the government’s resource for consumer health information in 1987, the program links browsers to a selection of online publications, clearinghouses, databases, websites, support and self-help groups, as well as government agencies and non-profit organizations. In its first year of service, “healthfinder” confirmed more than 1.7 million visitors to its website.

“Medical literature over the years has included very little raw data,” said Frank Starmer, Ph.D., associate provost for information technology. “Most papers are based largely on interpretive opinion. Apart from the fundamental laws that govern and define the hard sciences like physics and biology, Internet communications carry no guarantees of authenticity. Consequently we must develop skills in critically assessing the believability in what we read.”

Starmer and Wise believe that consumers need to question truthfulness and the validity of posted information on the web. Consumers should ask themselves two questions: How helpful is the Internet to me? and Where can I go with all this information? These questions stress a valid point as they relate to a site’s credibility and to links within a cyberspace world.

Posting information on the web is also easy. In 1997, consumers produced one out of four health sites on the web. A cancer patient, for example, might post information about treatments he or she underwent. Unfortunately, there’s no way to determine how effective these treatments may be for others.

“Information available via the Internet has varying degrees of noise that may not be readily apparent,” Starmer said. “Access to such large volumes of information from many different sources provides new opportunities for continuous learning as well as challenging our thinking skills and our ability to separate quality information from propaganda. The Internet affects millions instead of a few, which ultimately, I believe, will create many new opportunities for life-long learning. For example, the average lay person is no longer limited to the resources available from a single library but can now virtually wander around the world, picking and choosing information to help explore a critical, personal or professional question.”

From one physician’s perspective, Alex Chessman, M.D., associate professor of Family Medicine, welcomes patients who use the web as an educational tool for improving their health knowledge. “Many professionals have expressed concern that there is no guarantee that any information gained on the Web is accurate. That’s true, however, of all information, even the results of a New England Journal of Medicine article quoted on the evening news, ‘Information always has to be evaluated and applied to each specific person and situation.’”

According to Wise, many websites are peer reviewed, or confirmed by individuals or groups who are professionally or academically accredited. A disclaimer, usually placed on a website’s homepage, helps to identify peer-reviewed sites. But what seems credible, may not be. Journals posted on the web can be questionable material. Although sponsored by professional organizations, some journals are affiliated with for-profit agencies and are often dictated by an editorial board which may process and approve articles and research as slowly as printed medical literature. Yet, the web remains one of the most timely and convenient vehicles to access worldwide, he said.

The Virtual Hospital, a continuously updated digital health sciences library, was created by the University of Iowa’s Department of Radiology and the Electric Differential Multimedia Laboratory in 1987. A peer-reviewed site, the Virtual Hospital has won numerous awards for best medical and healthcare Web site by various Internet groups and providers including MD Link, Healthlinks.net, OMNI Magazine and America Online. Although the disclaimer assures the site’s validity, it also forewarns visitors about how new scientific knowledge affects changing medical treatments, drug therapies and etc. It also challenges consumers to confirm all information compiled by their own research.

Today, more patient areas are beginning to resemble small multimedia centers equipped with computers and deskstations. “What’s confusing is when patients want to discuss a new treatment or technique read from a magazine or TV,” Chessman said. “The ability to judge the credibility of this information can be difficult. It’s different using the Internet.” Physicians can actually sit down with patients and review information at a website, targeting specific patient questions and providing answers or relevant resources.

Recently, MUSC and Hollings Cancer Center (HCC) have stepped forward by opening ACT!, a computer-based interactive consumer health resource informing consumers about clinical trials information. Funded by Ortho-Biotech, consumers can obtain cancer and blood disease information by accessing ACT! at its website or kiosks located at HCC and the North Charleston Wal-Mart store’s pharmacy center.

“The web is immediate,” Chessman continued. “It may take time to learn how to navigate it, but it provides immediate learning of every variety. The Internet is one more method to help get information. And it’s a method available to anyone who can access the web, anywhere, at any time of day.”