Can you put trust in your online doctor? (Image: Frazer Hudson)

IF YOU regularly turn to a search engine to find out whether, say, you should put ice on a twisted ankle, you’re far from alone. Sixty-one per cent of American adults seek out health advice online, according to a survey published last month by the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Around a third of those surveyed admitted they changed their thinking about how they should treat a condition based on what they found online. Yet a growing body of evidence suggests that much online health information is …