Health organizations are highly discouraging the use of Wikipedia, an Internet encyclopedia, because it can be filled with errors.
People cannot be blamed for resorting to the Internet when they are trying to provide a quick fix on things. It is efficient and it could really give answers. Wikipedia, however, is not a highly suggested place to go to. Anyone can literally change what is written on this website.
The solution that they are trying to instill to people’s minds is to go directly to the doctor. Self-medication will not help, especially for those who easily believe what they see online.
The American Osteopathic Association Finds Errors
Upon checking the web about medical ideas, the American Osteopathic Association found out that Wikipedia has several costly errors written on it. They have checked and saw that 10 of the most dangerous diseases are misrepresented in their information sheet.
They have reviewed almost all possible diseases in the page. They have been through lung diseases, coronary, even hypertension. These are the most commonly searched on the Web. Upon seeing the journals, they have found out that 9 out of 10 of these diseases do not have the proper information.
They have checked it through peer reviews. Only one passed it. This is very crucial because the website claims that they have quality writers on the site.
How Big Has Wikipedia Become
The main feature of this website is to let people add up to the existing contents. They can share what they know about the topic, provided that they should fall in the categories written on the page. This, however, is the main thing that makes it dangerous. What if the people adding new information do not even know what they are talking about?
Despite all these, Wikipedia has become a solid reference to a lot of people in the field. Currently, they have 31 million entries. Most of these are related to health issues. Statistics suggests that 70 percent of medical students are relying on this website while 47 percent of medical practitioners do so.
The Internet could really be helpful, but if it will only make things worse, then, work with the conventional way of settling things. Wikipedia has proven its worth already. It becomes reliable when you are there to search for general knowledge, but not really for heavy medical ideas. Do you have any websites in mind that are legit enough?
