Background Individuals with rare diseases may face challenges that are different from those
experienced in more common medical conditions. A wide range of different rare conditions …

To understand why and how people share health information online, we interviewed
fourteen people with significant health concerns who participate in both online health …

Effective engineering of the Internet is predicated upon a detailed understanding of issues
such as the large-scale structure of its underlying physical topology, the manner in which it …

Online health information comes from a variety of online sources. Based on a typology of
online sources, this research examines the direct and combined influences of original …

Background: Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is chronic systematic disease that affects people
during the most productive period of their lives. Web-based health interventions have been …

An increasing number of online support groups (OSGs) have embraced the features of
social networking. So far, little is known about how patients use and benefit from these …

Aims and objectives To explore the contribution of family members in promoting and
supporting the self‐management of chronic conditions amongst adult family members …

OBJECTIVE: Huntington's disease (HD) is an inherited disorder, characterized by a
progressive degeneration of the brain. Due to the nature of the symptoms, the genetic …

The purpose of the current study was to identify potential factors leading to preference for
social interaction in online support groups (OSGs) over offline interaction. By identifying …

Essay Focus www. thelancet. com Vol 371 June 14, 2008 2049 available treatments, and
the location of knowledgeable clinicians. Successful completion of this information is often …