One of the key health issues coming into play for women, especially as they reach middle age, is heart attack and how to recognize one from other middle-age maladies. In the past, most medical research on heart attacks has focused on men, not women. Television and radio media, magazines, and independent periodicals highlight the risks of heart attacks, but, again, most of those are about risks that men face. They do not address issues unique to women, such as the way menopause may cause changes in a woman’s body that can mimic a heart attack, or vice-versa.

So where do you find the correct answers to your questions? There are literally thousands of resources and links on the Internet that contain some sort of information. But, how can you know that the information is reliable and correct?

Both men and women use the Internet for information. In the mid-90s, approximately 30 percent of women used the Internet but in 2004, the number of women using the Internet grew to 70 percent.

Yahoo and Google are the dominant search engines available on the Internet today. Type in a few words and you get huge lists of articles and other information links to wade through. The only problem is that this is time consuming and often does not really give us the information that you want or need. As Veruka Salt said in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, “I want it now!”

When using the Internet search engines, use a “Three R Rule. Reduce the hits, determine Relevancy, and find Reliable sources.” With some preparation and a basic understanding of how the Internet works, you can learn how to get the information you need quickly and find more of what you want, when you want it!

First, write a list of words that describe exactly what you are looking for. For example, if you are going to look up information on heart attacks in women, a normal list might include heart attack, women, chest pain.

Expand your thinking to include exactly what you want to know. It may be helpful to ask yourself questions and choose only the main words: What are the symptoms of heart attacks in women? What are the causes of female chest pain? Also, think of as many different ways to describe the topic as possible, for example, cars can be automobiles or vehicles.

Where and what else can you do to find more information without going through some two million references on just Yahoo alone?

Sometimes, people can be somewhat “tunnel-visioned” when dealing with life’s issues, so you should expand your thinking. To the word list, you might add medical, information, references, symptoms, resources.

Now that you have your list of key words, type in what you really want to know. Typing in heart attack symptoms in women will narrow the search from more than two million references to a more manageable 732,000.

Recognize that the number one hit or even the whole first page of results from your search may not be what you are looking for. If the first few results do not meet your needs, then refine your keywords and start over. In most cases, the top 10-15 hits look like they may give the information you need.

Resources on Yahoo or Google usually have a title article in bold print and a web link that is usually italicized. This will give you further clues about the resources. For example, of the top 10 references you found for heart attack symptoms in women, perhaps three were commercial entities designed to sell you something, and not likely to provide the information needed. Next, look at the text portion (description) of the search links. This generally can help you further reduce your list to three or four sites that are relevant.

Find Reliable Sources

Reliability is the hardest quality to determine. Anyone can create a web page and put information on it; that is the freedom of the Internet. There is no requirement that information be accurate. So, here are tips to judge the reliability of information:

• Look for a copyright date, generally found at the bottom of the index (home) page of a site. If you do not see a copyright, go no further, leave the site and return to your narrowed list of sites.
• If the copyright is, for example, 1996- 2005, then you know that the site is well maintained and has been established for an extended period of time. This does not give 100 percent reliability, but it can further “reduce” your list and is an indication that the information is correct and documented.

Once you travel the Internet a few times, you will find some websites that offer the type of medical information that you might need for future questions. Create an information sheet that lists key websites and their links typed out. Or add the links to your “Favorites ” list on your computer.

The information you get on the Internet can help you determine whether or not a problem is critical. But it is not a substitute for medical care. Researching medical conditions on the Internet can help you be better prepared when you visit your physician by knowing what questions to ask.

Fran Reno
Technical Consultant, Childcare Health & Marketing

Resources

Two of the major search engines are www.google.com and www.yahoo.com. Many organizations and their websites provide medical information on specific illnesses or topics such as the American Heart Association or American Diabetes Association.

Some sources for medical information are:
www.mayohealth.org
www.medline.plus
www.webmd.com