Challenges

FindZebra

The search engine for difficult medical cases.

Human Dx

Get answers from top doctors before getting care.

The Complexity of Simply Searching for Medical Advice

How the anti-vaccine movement used an information void to inject itself into the top results.

CrowdMed

CrowdMed is revolutionizing healthcare by harnessing ‘the wisdom of crowds’ to help solve even the world’s most difficult medical cases quickly and accurately online. After 4 years of development and refinement, CrowdMed’s patented prediction market technology can suggest diagnoses to real-world medical cases that have stumped doctors for years.

Growing up in poverty weakens later health – even if you escape it

Our childhood affects our health across the course of our lives. Stress, it seems, is a major contributor. While a life lived with financial, educational and social security and stability may not be free of worries, a disadvantaged childhood means more exposure to a number of difficult circumstances and events.

Our phones can now detect health problems from Parkinson’s to depression. Is that a good thing?

Digital phenotyping, which can detect patterns from text messages, movements, and even our speech, could transform health care. But is our personal information at stake?

Stress Over Your Family Can Make or Break Your Long-Term Health

A new study says your romantic relationship doesn't have as big an impact on your "longevity" as siblings and parents do.

Your grip strength could hint at future health problems

A decrease in grip strength at certain ages has been tied to a higher chance of death from cancers and cardiac disease.

The problem with American health care is the care

Our health care system hasn’t caught up with the evolving face of disease in America. It is still mostly a workforce of doctors and nurses who dutifully treat patients in hospitals with expensive drugs and high-tech medical devices. If we could reconfigure health care to detect and address the root causes of costly illness, health reform would be a true success.

Yes, You Can Reverse Disease

Scientists are turning back the clock on these five health problems.

Survey: Millennials just don’t trust their doctors

Millennials are shaking up how companies communicate healthcare information. Across generations, Americans are concerned about false or misleading health information online, according to a new survey from Weber Shandwick and KRC Research on how age groups get their health information and how much they trust it. The report found millennials have little trust in healthcare professionals. Of all generations, millennials had the biggest trust gap with their doctors...

This is why you shouldn’t believe that exciting new medical study

We now live in an age of unprecedented scientific exploration. Through the internet, we have this world of knowledge at our fingertips. But more information means more bad information, and the need for skepticism has never been greater.

When Evidence Says No, but Doctors Say Yes

Long after research contradicts common medical practices, patients continue to demand them and physicians continue to deliver. The result is an epidemic of unnecessary and unhelpful treatments.

A Better Online Diagnosis Before the Doctor Visit

As Internet Symptom-Checkers Improve, Health-Care Providers Say It's OK to Search.

Can Humans Evolve To Be Immune To Diseases?

We absolutely can evolve resistance to some diseases. But only some, and perhaps only temporarily before they evolve new means to overcome our defenses. And we will never evolve resistance to all disease.

Can Tech Take The Kidney Punch Out Of Kidney Care?

Health care as an industry skews more toward the bottom line than patient care. Add to that the uncertainty of the insurance market, and we see a destabilization of patient options and available information. We must be our own advocates, and research is our best weapon against disease. Knowledge is power, so we were told as kids.

Crowd diagnosis could spot rare diseases doctors miss

Diagnosing rare illnesses could get easier, thanks to new web-based tools that pool information from a wide variety of sources.

How to Find the Best Medical Information Online

You’re wise not to believe everything you read, especially when it comes to health and medical information on the World Wide Web. To help you sort through the online clutter and locate reliable, trustworthy medical information, here are a few tips to follow, along with some top-rated sites you can always turn to with confidence.

How to Get Patients to Take More Control of Their Medical Decisions

For years, people have been urged be more active in their own care. Now providers are giving them better tools to make that happen.

How to Get Reliable Medical Information on the Internet

Getting sick seems a lot more stressful now that we have the internet. You can research your symptoms, but inevitably you'll fall down a rabbit hole of illnesses that are so unlikely, every search will turn up a life-threatening disease. It is possible to get reliable, useful information, vet it properly, and even get an expert opinion, all online. Here's how.

How to Measure a Medical Treatment’s Potential for Harm

As we wrote last week, many fewer people benefit from medical therapies than we tend to think.

Radiation Dose in X-Ray and CT Exams

Following are comparisons of effective radiation dose with background radiation exposure for several radiological procedures described within this website.

Save Your Life: Get ICE

By its very definition, an emergency is not planned. We never know when we or someone we love could be in an accident or have a heart attack. We don’t want to think about this, but it’s true. How can we prepare? The solution takes just a minute. The answer is ICE.

Self-Diagnosing Online? Study Finds Sites Are Only Accurate About Half Of The Time

Looking at 23 websites, the Harvard study found that a third listed the correct diagnosis as the first option for patients. Half the sites had the right diagnosis among their top three results, and 58 percent listed it in their top 20 suggestions.

Still Undiagnosed? 3 Options to Try

For those patients who are desperate to find out why they’re sick and how to restore normal life, Functional Medicine, the Undiagnosed Diseases Network, and CrowdMed might be worth considering.

The Smart Way To Search The Internet For Health Information

Read this Before You Turn to Dr. Google. House calls are back and they are only a click away; but could overindulging in access to health information actually be hurting us?

The Zuckerberg Chan Initiative Isn’t as Crazy as It Sounds

Why the couple wants to give away $3 billion to “cure all diseases”

Verily Is Building A Google For Medical Information

Anyone can use a search engine like Google to locate the nearest seafood restaurant, or the best school in their neighborhood. But medical researchers don't have an easy way to type in questions and receive meaningful answers.

We Asked People What Health Problems They Hide From Their Partners

It's not a lie—it's just an omission of information.

WebMD Knows Best?

How the digital era is changing the way we make medical decisions.

What Does Stable Condition Mean?

How can someone be "critical but stable"?

4 Ways to Be a Better Patient

As long as you use the Internet to self-educate rather than self-diagnose, a little online research can be a good thing.

Ten Top Technologies That Will Transform The Healthcare Industry

As healthcare moves to a model of any-time, any-place, continuous and personalized care, it is important to identify the key technologies that will enable this transition and work toward their implementation into different care settings.

The 10 Most Expensive Common Medical Conditions

Over the course of a year two out of every 1,000 people will rack up $100,000 or more in medical bills. These are the "high cost patients" who make insurance premiums go up and bedevil policy makers. These are people who are really sick.

The 10 Types of ER Patients

If you fall into one of these categories, here’s how to improve your care.

Ada Health

Ada Health is on a mission to bring the future of personalized care to everyone. Founded in 2011 by a team of doctors, scientists and engineers, Ada offers an AI-powered health platform that is helping millions of people around the world understand their health and navigate to the appropriate care.

Personal Remedies

Personal Remedies delivers advanced technology solutions that empower patients, caregivers and providers, with instant evidence-based and individualized guidance on chronic illnesses and dietary regimens. We enable personalized nutritional care plans that can lead to remarkable outcomes for patients and the world’s growing chronic illness challenges.

Trip

The Internet's leading resources for Evidence-Based Medicine. Allowing users to rapidly identify the highest quality clinical evidence for clinical practice

VoxHealth

At VoxHealth™, we want to improve online medical information and help people learn more about human disease. We analyze millions of anonymized medical records and provide you with the results. Straightforward search. Clear visuals. New insights.

ddxof

ddxof: is a compilation of cases based on real patients, each inspiring an algorithm for the evaluation and management of their chief complaint or diagnosis.

Diagnosis

Dr. Lisa Sanders recreates hard-to-solve medical case studies.

Evidently Cochrane

Evidently Cochrane aims to make Cochrane evidence really accessible, and to encourage discussion about it, through blogs which usually feature new or updated Cochrane reviews on a health topic. Sometimes we have a special week with multiple blogs on one topic. It is for everyone who is interested in finding and using the best quality evidence to inform decisions about health.

First Opinion

No more waiting rooms! Text a doctor for free.

Go Ask Alice

Alice! is not one person, but a team. The Go Ask Alice! site is supported by a team of Columbia University health promotion specialists, health care providers, and other health professionals, along with a staff of information and research specialists and writers.

Healthgrades

At Healthgrades, our mission is to provide trusted information that helps consumers and providers make meaningful connections.

HealthTap

HealthTap is here to help you. Our Interactive Health Network and mobile apps connect doctors with patients in smarter ways, provide education to those who seek it and disseminate trusted, vetted, peer-reviewed health information far and wide!

HealthUnlocked

Join the health movement. Ask questions. Get answers. Connect with others like you.

Inspire

Inspire builds online health and wellness communities for patients and caregivers, in partnership with national patient advocacy organizations, and helps life science organizations connect with these highly engaged populations.

Isabel

The Isabel Symptom Checker is very different. For the first time, it gives you access to a highly sophisticated medical diagnosis tool that is much more powerful than previously available symptom checkers. Using the latest searching technologies, the system can take a pattern of symptoms in everyday language and instantly compute from our vast database of 6,000 diseases, the most likely ones.

MedHelp

Founded in 1994 out of a shared need for better medical information and support, MedHelp is the pioneer in online health communities. The MedHelp site connects people with the leading medical experts and others who have similar experiences.

MedWorm

MedWorm collects updates from over 5000 authoritative data sources (growing each day) via RSS feeds.

PatientsLikeMe

Making healthcare better for everyone through sharing, support, and research.

PreOp

This is an information resource designed to help you understand the nature of a medical condition and the surgical procedure most commonly used to treat it.

SelfHacked

Whether you struggle with a chronic health issue or feel you want to improve aspects of your health. You’re in the right place.

Smart Patients

Smart Patients is an online community where cancer patients and caregivers learn from each other about treatments, clinical trials, the latest science, and how it all fits into the context of their experience.

SymptomFind

Investigate your body’s specific signs and signals, and let us guide you toward the next practical steps.

Syndromespedia

Syndromespedia is a blog site maintained by a professional doctor in order to inform the public about various syndromes.

The Doctor Weighs In

A global leader in providing reliable, high-quality content to those seeking cutting-edge information about health, healthcare, and innovation.

The Hippocratic Post

The world’s first global blogging site specialising in medical issues ◾Reaching out to medical professionals and students as well as savvy consumers in the UK and abroad to keep them abreast of latest developments in their field ◾Featuring blogs from some of the world’s most eminent medical professionals including professors from Harvard, Oxford, Cambridge, KCL and UCLA

TheVisualMD

Improving health and vitality by empowering people to visually understand and manage their health.

What Doctors Don't Tell You

Since its launch all those years ago, What Doctors Don't Tell You has been acknowledged as one of the world's very best health newsletters by several commentators, including leading publisher and health campaigner Burton Goldberg, leading holistic healer Dr John Diamond and the Holistic Health Library.

X-RayRisk.com

While the need for education in this area has clearly been established, there are no widely available resources that provide information to both patients and health care providers about the increased risk of cancer from medical imaging. X-RayRisk.com is an educational website that focuses on estimating this risk.

Your.MD

Your.MD gives you personal, trusted and actionable information – instantly.

AlmostaDoctor

almostadoctor is a place for medical professional and students to learn about stuff. It is run by Dr Tom Leach. In 2009, Tom saw a huddle of people around a photocopies in the Hospital Library. They were passing round copies of his notes. Ever since then, Tom has uploaded all of his notes, and encouraged his friends to do the same.

American Council on Science and Health

The American Council on Science and Health is a consumer education consortium concerned with issues related to food, nutrition, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, lifestyle, the environment and health.

Authentic Medicine

Authentic Medicine is about connecting us back to the roots of medicine. This online “magazine” will constantly be updated with informative and challenging opinions and ideas. The goal is to fight back against those things that are taking us away from the direct care of patients while still pointing out the lunacy and hypocrisy of this job.

Better Health

Better Health’s mission is to support and promote healthcare professional bloggers, provide insightful and trustworthy health commentary, and help to inform health policy makers about the provider point of view on healthcare reform, science, research, and patient care.

Better Health Channel

The Better Health Channel (BHC) provides health and medical information that is quality assured, reliable, up to date, easy to understand, regularly reviewed and locally relevant. BHC does not have any advertising or sponsorship and is fully funded by the State Government of Victoria (Australia).

ButYouDontLookSick.com

The mission of ButYouDontLookSick.com is to help everyone with a chronic illness or invisible disability, in order for them to live their lives to the fullest and not feel isolated and alone. We believe that our medical circumstances have put us in a unique and understanding position, so that we can help each other through similar difficult times.

Canoe.com

We are committed to providing information on a wide variety of health topics, disease conditions, and treatment options. Our intent is to provide consumers with a better understanding of healthcare issues and to present explanations of medical information that may help them become knowledgeable consumers of health care and actively participate in caring for their own health.

Clueless Doctors fail to keep up with the latest science

Collection of thoughts for a book to come. I now focus only on neuroscience and specifically on certain brain functions and irregularities as they relate to chronic pain.

ConsumerLab.com

Vitamins, herbs, and other supplements are not regularly tested by any government organization. Only ConsumerLab.com continually evaluates nutritional supplements in a laboratory environment. It also investigates problems with drugs.

Critical Health News

Critical Health News brings together select alternative health voices, whose perspective and expertise offer evidence of the bodies natural ability to heal its self. Our goal is to create and gather the most meaningful health related information together as a service to give our readers the tools to empower themselves.

DiagKNOWsis

There is no question that one of the most disturbing events in life is to receive a difficult health diagnosis for one's self, or a loved one...But what is far more important is that we take responsibility for our own health, and our own decision-making.

Doctor NDTV

Our website is focused on an Indian audience, who do not always have access to high quality medical information. This site will, we hope, provide them with information that they can trust, be appropriate to their social and economic circumstances and, most importantly, be of an international quality. It is designed to be a one-stop site, where all the questions a person asks regarding his or her health problems, will be answered in clear and simple language.

Dr. Hyman

MARK HYMAN, MD is dedicated to identifying and addressing the root causes of chronic illness through a groundbreaking whole-systems medicine approach called Functional Medicine. A four-time New York Times bestselling author, through his private practice, education efforts, writing, research, and advocacy, he empowers others to stop managing symptoms and start treating the underlying causes of illness.

eHealth Forum

eHealth Forum is a place where you can get your medical questions answered by real health professionals and other forum members. You can access an existing thread by browsing topics like cancer, diabetes, arthritis, and even cosmetic procedures or ask a doctor for health advice by submitting a health question to one of our medical experts.

EmbarrassingProblems.com

We recognize that the Internet is an ideal means of providing information on a range of personal health matters that some people may initially find hard to discuss. We opted for the phrase 'embarrassing problems' for the site in the spirit of straight talking and for sheer impact. We're not implying that the topics discussed on the site should be viewed as being 'embarrassing' – quite the reverse, in fact. We hope the information on our site will persuade you that your embarrassing problem is not so embarrassing after all and/or will provide some helpful information.

eMedicineHealth

eMedicineHealth.com is a consumer health information site that was launched in May 2003. The site contains over 900 health and medical articles written by physicians for patients and consumers.

Empowered Doctor

Extensive website covering a wide range of medical conditions.

FamilyDoctor.org

FamilyDoctor.org’s vision is to be the number one choice for all individuals seeking trusted health and wellness information online.

Genetic and Rare Conditions Site

Lay advocacy and support groups, information on genetic conditions and birth defects for professionals, educators, and individuals, National and International organizations.

HealingWell

HealingWell.com is about living mindfully and healing well with chronic illness. It is a community where people come together, reach out, find support and understanding, and share what works for them with others. HealingWell.com features a thriving support community, blog, videos, a popular newsletter, articles and resources to help you actively manage the challenges of living with chronic illness. The goal is simple....to help you take control of your illness and start "healing well".

Health Union

Our approach combines new, original content published every day with digital, social and mobile technologies to cultivate active, engaged online communities.

HealthBoards

Dealing with a medical condition is often difficult. Connecting with others who are going through the same thing can make a world of difference. HealthBoards.com is where you can make those connections. HealthBoards provides a unique one-stop support group community offering over 200 message boards on various diseases, conditions, and health topics.

HealthCentral

HealthCentral's mission is to empower millions of people to improve and take control of their health and well-being.

HealthCommunities.com

HealthCommunities.com is a health website dedicated to educating users about diseases, conditions and overall well-being. It is intended for adults 18 and older who are interested in complementing the advice of their physician with additional learning.

HealthDirect

We are a government-funded service, providing quality, approved health information and advice.

Healthline

We focus our efforts on offering readers and visitors to our site objective, trustworthy, and accurate health information, guided by the principles of responsible journalism and publishing. Our editorial philosophy is to use relevant and accurate content to promote a healthy lifestyle and facilitate disease prevention, as well as to offer clinically significant, medically reviewed information for those who are seeking answers to their health questions.

Healthlinks

A Worldwide Resource for Healthcare Consumers and Professionals Providing links to health Services and Products, Alternative Health, Education, Dental and Medical Resources, Hospitals, Employment, Healthcare Publications, Mental Health and Much More!

HealthlinkUSA

The HealthlinkUSA Talk Health Forum is a place where you can discuss specific health questions and exchange information with others.

HealthTalk.org

Healthtalk.org provides free, reliable information about health issues, by sharing people's real-life experiences. You can watch people sharing their stories about cancer, autism, motor-neurone disease, pregnancy, drugs, depression and much more.

Insiders Health

InsidersHealth (IH) brings you the latest health news, tips for healthy living, and discoveries and breakthroughs in natural medicine. You'll learn about anti-aging solutions, how to keep your heart pumping stronger, ways to ease joint discomfort, how to boost your energy levels, tips to sleep better, hear better, see better, and much more.

Internet Health Pilot

This site links to hundreds of sites that offer trustworthy information. Startng with trustworthy sites is usually more efficient and reliable than searching with Google.

InternetMedicine.com

To help health care workers and patients understand about the effects of the internet on the practice of Medicine and Healthcare in the world, and to update new developments that are constantly occurring in this field of Internet Medicine.

InvisibleIllnessWeek.com

So what is your visible hope? We are collecting your images, photos, illustrations, of things that bring you hope! Sometimes hope can be hard to understand, because we cannot see it. But perhaps we can try to show others the images in our life that help us feel hopeful even when dealing with chronic illness or pain.

LiveScience

To leave our fans five minutes smarter than when they arrived at our homepage.

MayoClinic

Find information on hundreds of conditions. Check your symptoms. Improve your lifestyle.

MedBroadcast

All MediResource health content is clinically reviewed by a health care professional. Authors of health content are always qualified medical writers. Clinical reviewers are health care professionals selected for their experience and topic expertise. All articles are edited by medical editors experienced in the production of medical information for the public.

MediBid

MediBid is an online marketplace which is about quality, choice, and value. Many insurance companies show you no more than whether your doctor is “in-network” or not. MediBid allows you to see the training, education and experience of the doctor before you make your selection.

Medical Daily

Medical Daily is dedicated to covering health and science news that matters most to our generation. We cover a wide range of stories, but ultimately we are driven by two core values: first, to contribute to our readers’ understanding of what is a very complex and constantly changing field of information, and second, to keep in mind the ultimate “smell test” —we want our stories to be the kind of things you talk about at a bar with your friends.

MedicineNet

MedicineNet.com and onhealth.com are online, healthcare media publishing companies. We provide easy-to-read, in-depth, authoritative medical information for consumers via its robust, user-friendly, interactive website. Since 1996, MedicineNet.com has had a highly accomplished, uniquely experienced team of qualified executives in the fields of medicine, healthcare, Internet technology, and business to bring you the most comprehensive, sought-after healthcare information anywhere.

Medifocus.com

Since 1996, Medifocus has been the largest provider of medical information reports to consumers in North America. The Medifocus.com, Inc. management, supported by a team of highly experienced medical research professionals, along with the assistance of the Medical Advisory Board, are dedicated to providing the latest and most comprehensive detailed information about specific medical conditions.

MedlinePlus

MedlinePlus is the National Institutes of Health's Web site for patients and their families and friends. Produced by the National Library of Medicine, it brings you information about diseases, conditions, and wellness issues in language you can understand. MedlinePlus offers reliable, up-to-date health information, anytime, anywhere, for free.

Medscape

Medscape offers specialists, primary care physicians, and other health professionals the Web's most robust and integrated medical information and educational tools. After a simple, 1-time, free registration, Medscape automatically delivers to you a personalized specialty site that best fits your registration profile.

Merck Manual

Find information on medical topics, symptoms, drugs, procedures, news and more, written in everyday language.

Mercola

My motivation, whether you are a member of the Mercola.com community, or have just heard about me for the first time, is to make you as healthy as you can possibly be.

NHS

Find out what choice means in the 21st-century NHS and learn how you can take control of your health and treatment.

NORD

NORD is a unique federation of voluntary health organizations dedicated to helping people with rare "orphan" diseases and assisting the organizations that serve them. NORD is committed to the identification, treatment, and cure of rare disorders through programs of education, advocacy, research, and service.

OnHealth

OnHealth is a consumer website that delivers clear, credible, and comprehensive medical and health information in an easy-to-read, user-friendly visual format. The site launched in 2016 to inform and educate users with hundreds of in-demand content topics, all medically reviewed and vetted by our trusted and reliable network of U.S. board-certified physicians.

Patient

Patient is the web’s leading independent health platform, established for over 15 years. With more than 18 million visits a month, it is a trusted source of information for both patients and health professionals across the globe.

Patient Power

Patient Power® is a service of Patient Power, LLC, based in Seattle and founded by two health communications pioneers, Andrew and Esther Schorr. They previously founded HealthTalk, a leader in support for people with chronic illnesses and cancer. Patient Power® is devoted to helping you and your family through knowledge, to get the best medicine and return to good health.

Private Healthcare UK

We help you to make the right choice in selecting a healthcare provider. In this section we feature some common diseases conditions, treatments, operations and tests.

ProHealth

Welcome to ProHealth.com, where you'll find a range of tools for proactive health management at your fingertips: comprehensive nutritional support for any number of health concerns, updates on the latest medical news, chat rooms, message boards and support communities with thousands sharing information, advice and treatment experiences.

Ranker

The most common illnesses are listed here. They include the most common communicable diseases and and common infectious diseases. Most common bacterial diseases and common viral diseases can be gotten over quickly or treated medically by a doctor. Since these are so common, there's definitely treatments for these diseases.

Right Diagnosis

RightDiagnosis.com is one of the world’s leading providers of online medical health information. The site is an independent, objective source of factual, mainstream health information for both consumers and health professionals.

RxList

The RxList disease and condition listing contains explanations of many medical conditions and tests. Disease articles are written by U.S. Board Certified Physicians. To use the listing, browse the terms by selecting a letter.

ScienceDaily

Your source for the latest research news.

Sharecare

Each person is unique. Your health, your body...you. There are ups and downs. Highs and lows. Start getting what you need to make the most of it: -A true assessment of your body's age. -Guidance and insight from top health associations, systems and experts. -Programs to get you to your goals. Sharecare. Get your health here.

Surgeon General

The Surgeon General serves as America's Doctor by providing Americans the best scientific information available on how to improve their health and reduce the risk of illness and injury. The Surgeon General is appointed by the President of the United States with the advice and consent of the United States Senate for a 4-year term of office.

The Mighty

Billions of people are facing serious health conditions — including many of us at The Mighty. It’s so easy to feel like we are facing these challenges alone. The truth is, we are all facing disability, disease and mental illness together. But when we look online for help, all we often find is medical information. We want a community, too. That’s what The Mighty is building.

The Scientist

The Scientist reports on the most exciting discoveries and innovative trends across the spectrum of life science research.

TheHealthSite

TheHealthSite.com: Health advice - Made in India. For India.

ThirdAGE

50+ Woman's Site for a Healthy Body, Mind, & Spirit Since 1997.

VirtualMedicalCentre

Australia’s leading source for trustworthy medical information written by health professionals.

WebMD

WebMD provides valuable health information, tools for managing your health, and support to those who seek information. You can trust that our content is timely and credible.

YourMedicalSource

YourMedicalSource is a company specializing in creating outstanding, reliable, up-to-date health information delivered over the Web.