Widespread access to the internet has significantly increased the quantity of information available to us. We’re no longer confined to books, what’s on the evening news or the words of consultants and professionals. Instead, we can go hunting for ourselves. Whether you’re refurbishing your house, looking for a new job or trying to buy a digital camera, you now have the opportunity to be better informed and to make better decisions about what you need.

However, armed with Google, it’s also possible to become obsessed. Nowhere is this truer than when it comes to health. You can search symptoms, browse lists of diseases and find out about the rarest of health conditions, and with the slightest bit of imagination it’s easy to convince yourself minor symptoms are the first sign of an incurable disease.

The nature of the internet, evolving web technologies and easy-to-use software also mean anyone with a small amount of tech savviness can start a website. Social media sites such as StumbleUpon, My Space and Facebook have made it possible for anyone to post information and opinions. While some of this is useful and informative, a lot isn’t.

One of the hardest aspects of using the internet is working out how to find the good stuff. What’s available online and what would you benefit from reading? Plus, how do you sort out the rubbish from the gold to find health information that’s useful to you?

Where to start?

There is some wonderful information available online as long as you know where to look. You can search out the right weight loss plan for you and join exercise forums to keep you motivated and on track with your fitness goals. While on other sites, you can ask questions of health professionals, work out what’s for dinner and research treatment options for different health conditions.

There are more than 100 million websites on the internet. Type almost any word into Google and you’ll get thousands, if not millions, of responses. The sheer quantity of information is overwhelming. Among these results will be relevant information, but there will also be a lot of dross. Therefore one of the basic skills to master when using the internet is how to find the good stuff. There are three strategies for doing this:

• Use the websites of respected independent bodies and health authorities.
• Learn how to quickly assess the quality of websites.
• Build up a network of trusted sites and use these to filter health information.

Respected websites and health authorities

When researching, start with the websites of independent bodies and health authorities. Good places to begin include:

• The ABC website’s health category — www.abc.net.au/health
• The Victorian government’s Better Health Channel — www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au
• Wikipedia — en.wikipedia.org (Though be careful with this site as the information is user-generated and not always fact-checked.)
• The BBC website’s health category — www.bbc.co.uk/health
• The Heart Foundation — www.heartfoundation.org.au
• British Nutrition Foundation — www.nutrition.org.uk
• WebMd — www.webmd.com
• Wellbeing magazine — www.wellbeing.com.au

The websites mentioned in the Respected Websites box yield information that’s well researched and clearly explained. Some of it’s also slightly conservative, but these are excellent places to start. The ABC and BBC also provide links to discussions on current health topics and they podcast and provide transcripts to a range of their TV and radio programs.

Where you go next depends on what you’re looking for. The internet provides many opportunities to find out information, connect with others who are doing the same and make sense of the latest health research. Don’t limit yourself to the above websites, as delving deeper can pay dividends.