Evamist.com – Finding reliable health information on the Web

The anatomy of a search

It’s easy to type a word or phrase into a search engine (a search engine is a fancy name for something like "Google" or "Yahoo") and click "Search." But how sure are you that the information you get is the information you need? If you are new to searching the Web, or even if you are a seasoned Web-browsing pro, here are a few pointers to narrow down the information you find.

For this example, we have used a commonly used search engine. Not all search results will look exactly like this one, but the same principles apply.

Take a look at the results of a search for the word medicine in the graphic below. You may not notice immediately, but the page is divided into two distinct types of results: sponsored links and nonsponsored links. The sponsored links, in this example, appear in the top yellow box and along the right-hand side of the page.

Sponsored links are links that an advertiser purchased to appear when certain search terms are used. This does not mean they are not reliable sources. But they may be less relevant to your search. Sometimes they are on target, other times they are not. For example, you may notice that some of the sponsored links that turned up when “medicine” was searched for in the snapshot below were advertisements for pet medicines. Nonsponsored links show up based on the relevance of their content to the search term you entered.

Other popular results are from sources that offer encyclopedic definitions of nearly anything you could imagine to search. While these sites may be useful for some things, their content is supplied by the everyday Internet user, not medical professionals. The likelihood of misleading or false information is high.

You should not only look at the description (in blue in this example), but at the actual link (in green).

» Previous page

Important Safety Information

Evamist^® is approved by the FDA for use after menopause to reduce moderate-to-severe hot flashes.

Estrogens increase the chance of getting cancer of the uterus (womb). Report any unusual vaginal bleeding right away while you are using Evamist. Vaginal bleeding after menopause may be a warning sign of cancer of the uterus. Your healthcare provider should check any unusual vaginal bleeding to find out the cause.

Do not use estrogens with or without progestins to prevent heart disease, heart attacks, strokes, or dementia. Using estrogens, with or without progestins, may increase your chance of getting heart attacks, strokes, breast cancer, and blood clots. Using estrogen, with or without progestins, may increase your risk of dementia, based on a study of women age 65 years or older. Evamist should not be used if you have unusual vaginal bleeding; currently have or have had certain cancers, including cancer of the breast or uterus; had a stroke or heart attack in the past year; currently have or have had blood clots; currently have or have had liver problems; or think you may be, or know that you are, pregnant.

The most common side effects that may occur with Evamist are headache, breast tenderness, the common cold, nipple pain, back pain, nausea, and joint pain.

You and your healthcare provider should talk regularly about whether you still need treatment with Evamist.

Please see full prescribing information for Evamist.

You are encouraged to report negative side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch or call 1-800-FDA-1088.