Finding Science-Based Answers to Health Questions

When someone has a health-related question today, they are most likely to do a Google search for their symptoms. Of course, what they are looking for is good advice on what will help them. But the results they get back will be a mixture of actual good advice mixed with con-men and quacks selling snake-oil cures. How can a person who wants to find reliable advice sift through all the mountains of useless information?

The key to finding good health advice is to seek advice that is supported by good scientific research, which can be difficult if you are not sure where to look. Here are the resources that I use when trying to find health advice:

Science-Based Medicine

Blog that covers all topics related to science and health. Posts on the site are written by a staff of ten physicians and researchers in various medical fields. They also provide a topic-based reference guide to direct you to information on different topics.

The Cochrane Collaboration

Systematic reviews of evidence-based health therapies and products. Use the search function to find evidence about your particular interest.

Quack Watch

A guide to fraudulent health products, services, and theories. Includes articles on quackery in medicine in general and how to identify it.

PubMed

Search the scientific medical literature directly. This site is a little more technical, but you can find information on the individual papers that support or contradict various health claims.

The above links are good general resources. In addition, here are a few random interesting sites:

Snake-Oil Supplements

A graphic showing which supplements are supported by evidence. Not a general reference, but a quick guide to get you started.

Carl Sagan and the Beauty of Science

The Symphony of Science

Symphony of Science is an amazing set of music videos created by John Boswell that uses the technique called auto-tuning to change the voices of some of the greatest and most influential people of science into music. Anyone who has even a passing interest in space or science can't help but enjoy the way these songs convey the majesty and beauty of the natural world.

My favorite Symphony of Science video:


Pale Blue Dot

Carl Sagan, the late great astronomer and writer, features prominently in the videos. One of the first things I noticed listening to them was how poetic the words of Carl Sagan can be, at least when edited for Symphony of Science. But even without editing, his words are without a doubt, some of the most poetic and powerful things I have ever heard. His words will make you realize how small you are on the cosmic scale, and in turn, will make you realize how petty most of the problems humans create are. Pale Blue Dot is a video with Carl Sagan's words set to music, and powerful words they are.