What were the hottest health-related questions in 2023, and how can you tell which sources are reliable?

The Dayton Daily News asked area health experts whether there is a similar trend in cases and whether we should trust what we read in online searches.

Josh Ordway, M.D., of Springboro Family Medicine at Premier Health, said while he didn't see an unusually high number of strep throat cases last year, he did see more cases in older patients. Ta. Streptococcal pharyngitis is usually a common illness in children.

“It's highly contagious,” Ordway said, adding that the bacteria that causes strep throat is spread through respiratory droplets.

Ordway said she often gets questions about cholesterol and blood pressure. Paying attention to these numbers can help patients manage their risk of heart disease and heart attack, he said.

“Bad cholesterol increases your risk of cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke. High blood pressure also increases your risk of heart attack and stroke,” Ordway said. “High blood pressure and bad cholesterol greatly increase the risk of adverse effects that can be fatal.”

These numbers can be elevated due to genetic factors and lifestyle choices, and the best way to lower them is to eat a healthy diet and exercise regularly, he said.

Ordway said people should try to eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, while also limiting carbohydrates, limiting or eliminating trans fats, and limiting saturated fats.

“Cardiovascular exercise is great for both of these things,” Ordway says. He suggested doing some form of exercise to get your heart rate up, about 30 minutes a day, five days a week.

What is safe online?

It's fine to use Google search to find health information, but local public health experts say you need to make sure it's from a reliable source.

“The CDC website, the Health and Human Services website, these sites have a ton of information on a variety of topics and may provide additional resources as well,” said Dan, public affairs manager for the Dayton Department of Public Health. Suffolette said. Montgomery County.

Local, well-known health care providers and accredited universities, especially medical schools, may also publish articles related to a variety of topics or related to new research, he said.

People can also verify a website's domain, said Nate Smith, communications coordinator for the Clark County General Health District. According to him, his websites with domains such as government (.gov), educational (.edu), and healthcare (.org) are almost always outnumbered by his commercial (.com) websites. It is said to be highly reliable.

“Also, be wary of personal blogs and sites that have a clear commercial purpose,” Smith says.

Other ways to determine the trustworthiness of a website include checking if the information has a recent publication date, cross-checking the information, looking for citations and references, and checking for bias. He said that these include: Well-edited content is also more trustworthy.

Smith says it's also important to understand the purpose of the website. Educational and informational sites are more trustworthy than sites that sell products or promote a particular opinion.

Factors that indicate a source may be unreliable include: lack of author name or attribution; lack of citations or references; overly sensationalized or biased presentation; inconsistency with other sources; lack of transparency; There is a lack of commercial intent or advertising, anonymous or unverifiable claims, and/or editorial review, Smith said.

Top searches

According to Google, below are the most popular health questions in 2023.