With So Much Fake “Information” Out There, How Do You Know What’s Real?

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With So Much Fake "Information" Out There, How Do You Know What's Real?

In recent weeks, much has been written and reported about fake news and its effects, particularly on the 2016 elections.

Fake news is made-up “information” that is presented in a way that mimics credible journalistic reports. These fake reports — often bearing instructions such as FORWARD TO EVERYONE YOU KNOW!!!! — are spread online via social media to large audiences.  Many readers, unable to sort out truth from fiction, took some fairly outrageous stories to be true.

It might seem easy to chuckle at some of the preposterous articles floating around, but sometimes it really can be difficult to differentiate accurate information from bogus. The internet is full of millions of websites packed with words and words. But how accurate are these words? How reliable is the source, especially when you don’t have a chance to ask questions or interact with a person?

It’s best to carefully identify trustworthy sources of information and stick with them.

Heart patients, for example, might turn to Google to find information about their heart conditions.  However, when presented with nearly 82 million websites claiming to offer information about heart attack, how does one know which of these sites offers authentic and dependable information? Similar to false information, misinformation, ‘under-information’ and ‘outdated-information’ can be problematic and sometimes dangerous when it comes to your health. We have seen patients bring into our office false information about unproven supplements and concoctions to treat heart disease or misinformation about bizarre or extremely rare side effects of some life-saving treatments.

Your best bet is to identify sources with a solid reputation for authenticity and that are trusted by your heart specialist. CardioVisual, for example, is a mobile heart heath app developed by practicing cardiologists who present completely accurate and reliable information about heart conditions such as heart attack, atrial fibrillation (afib), stroke and sleep apnea. Material contained in the CardioVisual mobile app is carefully curated by experts who are recognized authorities in their fields. Globally, tens of thousands of cardiologists and professionals use CardioVisual to help provide simplified and reliable information to their patients using more than 100 short videos about most heart conditions and treatments.

So that’s one topic off your list!  Download the free CardioVisual app today (iOS or Android) and rest assured that you are not getting fake news about heart health.