Featured White Papers
Content provided in partnership with
Are Americans hypochondriacs? It's important to pay attention to your health. But are people going overboard? - Backtalk - Brief Article
Natural Health, May-June, 2002
WE AMERICANS ARE INCREASingly interested in our health. More than 60 million of us sought health information online in 2000, according to a survey done by the Pew Charitable Trusts, a Philadelphia-based nonprofit advocacy group. And we made more than 84 million outpatient visits to the hospital in 1999--that's nearly 50 percent more than in 1992, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
Some say we're overdoing it in our effort to stay well, and in the process we may be putting our health at risk. Indeed, one 2000 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that half the health information websites reviewed contained contradictory diagnostic or treatment information. And eager patients often incorrectly self-diagnose or pressure doctors into giving them certain drugs. For example, an estimated 50 percent of all antibiotic prescriptions are inappropriate for the illness, according to a 1995 report by the U.S. Congress Office of Technology Assessment.
Do you think we worry too much about our health? Let us know via fax (617-457-0979) or email (naturalhealth @weiderpub.com). Look for your replies in our Mailbox section in the August issue.
COPYRIGHT 2002 Weider Publications
COPYRIGHT 2002 Gale Group
Find Research Guides for:
Find Featured Titles for: Technology
Most Popular Articles in Health
- Fuel your workout: exercisers who eat before they work out have more energy ...
- Soothe a dry, itchy scalp: 5 easy expert solutions
- Cocktails and calories: Beer, wine and liquor calories can really add up. ...
- The sour truth about apple cider vinegar - evaluation of therapeutic use
- The, six best supplements you've never heard of: these secret weapons can ...
- More »