Just scanning Twitter or WebMD there is almost an overabundance of medical information. For example, what kind of medical devices to purchase, what ailments are lurking around the corner, professional studies and opinion articles. What is all this information doing to us? Is it making us educated medical consumers or flooding us with bad information?

The overabundance of information is both helpful and harmful. An article’s headline the other day was “Is It a Cough or Throat Cancer”; this article had great merit as far as addressing what kinds of coughs (i.e. if you’ve smoked for twenty plus years) are warnings for throat cancer. In the sea of medical information the headlines that get attention are those that seem the most extreme. This kind of brief medical “scare” can’t be good for waiting room lines and doctor office telephone lines. So how does one filter this kind of panic?

The first key to filtering out erroneous medical information is to check your browser. If you are not on a trusted site or you are reading an opinion piece, take the information with a grain of salt. Just because the author’s title is Dr. doesn’t mean the information is valid. Read the author’s credentials. How long has the author practiced medicine, what are his/her specialties? Don’t trust titles or sites without doing your research.

Secondly, check multiple trusted sites. Its common to get second opinions in medicine and highly encouraged so why would medical research be any different? Read a lot and familiarize yourself with your research especially if you have a concern you’d like to take to your doctor.

The bottom line is to take all information with a grain of salt and be sure you are reading trusted sources. With the influx of medical information on the Internet it is imperative that consumers use common sense to filter out the good information from the bad.