Guys on a Diet (GoaD)

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Living The Lifestyle - Monday 7/17/23

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crewahl
crewahl Posts: 3,953 Member
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This is a thread for everyone. If you're new to GoaD, or to weight loss, your questions and comments are always welcome. If you're maintaining, or a long-term loser, your thoughts on the topic may be just what someone else needs to hear. If you're reading this, join in the discussion!

Each weekday, a new topic is offered up for discussion.

Monday - crewahl (Charlie)
Tuesday – Wildcard
Wednesday - misterhub (Greg)
Thursday -imastar2 (Derrick)
Friday - Wildcard

Today's Topic: Attribution, please

When you have a health or medical or weight loss question, where do you go for information? Call your doctor's office? Your health insurer's website? A weight loss or medical community like GoaD or Connect or whatever? Do you rely on different federal health institutions or associations for whatever the issue is? Do you turn to Dr. Google, and if so, how do you cut through the clutter to select who to read for information?

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  • crewahl
    crewahl Posts: 3,953 Member
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    I’ll confess to a tendency to use Dr. Google as my first source for potential insights. I’ll generally skip past the sponsored links and look for something from a large “brand name” purveyor of insight - Mayo Clinic, Cleveland Clinic, Medline, or potentially WebMD.

    I tend not to make the associations my first source - American Heart Association, American Cancer Society, etc. - because I have a perception that they have an agenda specific to their area that’s driven by idealistic health thoughts rather than pragmatic ones. Left to their devices, we’d all be eating grass direct from the yard and anyone with a BP over 110/60 would be promptly medicated. (Okay, I’m overstating, but it can seem that way.)
  • ClayandRocks
    ClayandRocks Posts: 69 Member
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    Pretty much the same as above.

    Because I have a background adjacent to the biomedical field, I consider myself able to inform myself pretty much as well as a typical GP would be. For something related to a specialty such as endocrine, neurology, whatever, I would want to consult with them if I still have concerns.

    FYI, there is such a thing as Google Scholar, which can help in finding original research related to nutrition (or whatever). Interpreting the results can be challenging. I find that many people who cite research findings do not quite get the story right (usually attributing greater significance than warranted).
  • 88olds
    88olds Posts: 4,485 Member
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    I try to limit myself to Mayo Clinic or NIH. I try to limit myself doing medical research online. That said, when I had my one serious health issue I went to 3 different Drs for opinions.
  • cakeman21k
    cakeman21k Posts: 5,977 Member
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    I am married to an MD, guess where I get all of my medical advice from! And when I don't listen to her "advice" I pay the "husbands tax" until I do!
  • crewahl
    crewahl Posts: 3,953 Member
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    ClayandRocks wrote: »
    FYI, there is such a thing as Google Scholar, which can help in finding original research related to nutrition (or whatever). Interpreting the results can be challenging. I find that many people who cite research findings do not quite get the story right (usually attributing greater significance than warranted).

    Thanks for that tip. I agree that many reviews of scholarly analysis tend to take place so that someone can latch onto one small piece of the analysis that supports their pet theory. Reading the original, in all its statistical or otherwise obscure language, is valuable. I just tried GooglemScholar and was able to find an article I was looking for. Thanks; I’ll sure use that again!
  • crewahl
    crewahl Posts: 3,953 Member
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    cakeman21k wrote: »
    I am married to an MD, guess where I get all of my medical advice from! And when I don't listen to her "advice" I pay the "husbands tax" until I do!

    I should have included that one in the question, shouldn’t I? 😉
  • misterhub
    misterhub Posts: 6,280 Member
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    I use Google a lot. But, I also skip unknown sources in favor of sources I trust (e.g., Mayo). I also do look at the nutritional information provided on the government web sites. That is not to say that I won't use some random piece of info as a jumping off point for some deeper research; however, I don't take that random piece of data at face value.
  • imastar2
    imastar2 Posts: 6,009 Member
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    After the last 4 years I pretty much totally town to the docs. I have several over a period since I was 65 and now 14 years later I continue to turn to my Doctor's. I generally back up what they recommend with Dr Google and find out what they're prescribing and learn everything I can about the condition as they see it.

    I wouldn't hesitate to question them and have on occasions but pretty satisfied with their answers.

    When it come to weight I find they have the same strategy that many do diet, eat healthy, etc;

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