News About DiagKNOWsis

Beginning Tuesday, February 7, readers can learn tips and information about empowering themselves to be better patients by reading the Syracuse Post Standard. Founder of DiagKNOWsis, Trisha Torrey, will author the columns which will appear on a biweekly basis.  Articles will be linked from this site as they become available.

A new book that will expand on the information offered at the DiagKNOWsis website is in the works.  With a working title of:  DiagKNOWsis:  Figuring Out What to Do About What You've Got, it is now in the outline and research stage. 

Have you ever been misdiagnosed -- or missed being diagnosed?  Have you spent time researching and networking to get answers that might help you make those tough medical decisions?

People with research and misdiagnosis stories to tell are needed for anecdotal information to be used in the book.  Real names will not be used, but the author must maintain those records to keep the book credible.  If you are interested in being interviewed for the book, and

1.  You have previously been misdiagnosed
2.  Have contributed to a re-diagnosis because of information you have learned yourself or
3.  You have learned information on your own that helped you and your doctor make treatment decisions...

Then we would like to hear from you.  Please contact the author at mail(at)diagknowsis.org 

In response to an article in MORE Magazine, Trisha Torrey, founder of diagKNOWsis.org submitted a Letter to the Editor which has been published in the July / August issue of the magazine.

The letter addressed an article written by Laurence Gonzales in the May issue which described women who trusted their instincts when it came to making health and medical decisions, and some very different outcomes that resulted. 

To see the magazine's copy of the article, link here.

To see a copy of the original letter (which was edited for print), link here.

In an effort to separate solid and knowledgeable health information as offered on the internet, vs that information which may not be helpful to patients and professionals, the organization Health on the Net developed eight principles to help consumers make that determination.  The results are an accreditation program called HONCode, used worldwide by only those organizations which meet the criteria of the eight principles.

Those principles are:  Authority, Complementarity, Confidentiality, Attribution, Justifiability, Transparency of authorship, Transparency of sponsorship and Honesty in advertising and editorial policy.  You can learn more about the principles at http://www.hon.ch/HONcode/Conduct.html .

diagKNOWsis.org has now received that accreditation, confirming it is a useful and credible tool for health research.  It has met the stringent guidelines required by HON.  It takes its place among the 4,500 sites on the net which have also been accredited.

After being diagnosed with a rare form of cancer in the summer of 2004, then proving three months later that the diagnosis was wrong, Trisha Torrey of Syracuse, New York decided to empower others learn to do the same kind of research she did to learn about their diagnoses, too.

Learn more about how this new resource came about, and how you can contribute to its offerings at the diagKNOWsis.org website:

www.diagknowsis.org/about.htm