Using Jargon for better web searches

There is a massive amount of information available to everyone out there at the touch of a keyboard these days. This is an amazing and wonderful time to be living, but it can also be overwhelming and confusing trying to sift the wheat from the chaff!

There are answers to a vast array of the questions we might have throughout the day - problem is that the answers are often contradictory and very confusing.
If you are NOT an expert (which would be why you are looking stuff up in the first place!) it can be hard to figure out what exact question you should be asking to get the best answers.
I have some suggestions for getting better and more reliable search results in some of the areas in which I have some expertise and experience.

The biggest help is using the jargon and terminology of whatever specialty you are searching for information regarding.
Want to find out more about the rash on your cat? Try feline dermatitis.
Your feet are swelling up? Pedal edema would be a starting place to search.
 How well does madeupatoinin work for fakediseaseitis? Search for efficacy (medical term for effectiveness) of madeupatoinin in fakediseaseitis treatment.
This will work for non-medical stuff as well - there is just so much crap out there to sort through that having a starting place to find reliable information can be really helpful. The phrase "evidence-based" is your new BFF for searches.
You know you have success when Google asks you if you want to see "scholarly articles" based on your search. A good chunk of those are only moderately comprehensible to anyone outside of the area of expertise but I generally scan them anyway. Even the regular hits you get should be of better quality - places like the NIH, WHO, Mayo clinic for medical stuff indicate you are on the right track. And NIH also has veterinary articles as well.

Some helpful links to bookmark:

Medical Dictionary

National Library of Medicine

Merck Veterinary Manual

TOXNET - Don't Panic




Some quick search terms that can be really useful:

Efficacy = effectiveness of a drug or treatment
Mechanism of Action = how something, usually a drug, works. This is unknown more often than you would think!
Conflict of Interest = anyone publishing a medical paper is required to reveal any money, support or other potential influences involved in the study and publication. This isn't necessarily a bad thing if it exists but should be taken into consideration.
Canine: dogs
Feline: cats
Geriatric - elders, seniors and used in pretty much all species
Pediatric - sub-adults, children, infants
Adverse effects - this is the list of unwanted or unintended effects of a treatment that have been reported in clinical trials as well as after release. Having an adverse effect is NOT the same thing as having an allergy. It just means that you experienced one of the effects of the drug outside of it's intended purpose. The severity or seriousness of these adverse effects determine whether the treatment should be discontinued. ALWAYS report them to your provider, they will help you decide if the need for the treatment is balanced by the side effect and may prescribe another treatment to address the side effect (example would be getting laxatives to deal with constipation from a drug).
Allergic reactions are included in the list of adverse effects, and would require immediate discontinuation of the drug. But again - ALWAYS report this to your provider. They need this info so they don't prescribe another drug in the same family in the future.
Metabolism - this describes how a drug is changed by the body. Often the active form of the drug only exists after the liver has had it's way with the drug. Processing by the liver is also how many drugs are broken down into metabolites for elimination by the bowels or kidneys. Knowing how something is metabolized helps your provider to adjust dosages depending on how well kidneys and liver work. Dogs have super-livers that break down a lot of drugs really well, which means they need much larger doses of some drugs than even humans do!
Osteopath - You see some doctors listed as DO rather than MD. What's up with that? Osteopathy is a second path to practicing medicine for doctors in the US. History of Osteopathic Medicine. Chiropractic techniques are a part of their practice as well as conventional allopathic medicine. The focus is more holistic, and DOs also specialize just like MDs in cardiology, oncology, neurology, etc.

 

Here's an example search that will give you an idea of what you might see using the right jargon in a search: efficacy of inhaled albuterol on reactive airway disease

 

Professional jargon, especially of the medical sort has gotten a bad rap. People see it as an attempt by elitist healthcare providers to shut them out of conversations about their healthcare. And it does happen, but mostly without any ill intent. That jargon is a refined language (lots of it Latin) that allows healthcare professionals to speak very precisely to each other about specific things and use words that have very exacting meanings. Regular English is like a Basset Hound - really adorable and easy to love but incredibly sloppy. One big role of nursing has always been to function as the interpreters of medical jargon between the medical team and families. But since our roles have become more extensive and complex we often fall into the bad habit of using that jargon with our patients as well.
So this can get you started in trying to do some of your own translations!

This should be a no-brainer, but Imma say it anyway for reasons: DO NOT USE ANY ADVICE YOU FIND HERE OR ANYWHERE ELSE ON THE INTERNET AS A REPLACEMENT FOR ACTUAL MEDICAL ADVICE. EVER. YOU ARE A SPECIAL SNOWFLAKE AND NEED TO BE EXAMINED BY A MEDICAL PROFESSIONAL (OR FLUFFY DOES) AND GIVEN A REAL DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT PLAN. SERIOUSLY. MED SCHOOL TAKES A REALLY DAMN LONG TIME FOR A GOOD REASON. YOUR PALEO ANCESTORS LIVED VERY SHORT, PARASITE INFESTED AND DISEASE RIDDLED LIVES. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quackery