Search

Background The Internet is increasingly used as a source of information. This study investigates with a multidimensional methodology the quality of information of websites dedicated to obesity treatment and weight-loss interventions. We compared websites in English, a language that it is used for the international scientific divulgation, and in Italian, a popular local language. Methods Level of Evidence: Level I, systematic review search on four largely used search engines. Duplicated and unrelated websites were excluded. We checked: popularity with PageRank; technological quality with Nibbler; readability with the Flesch Reading Ease test or the Gulpease readability index; quality of information with the DISCERN scale, the JAMA benchmark criteria, and the adherence to the Health on the Net Code. Results 63 Italian websites and 41 English websites were evaluated. English websites invested more in the technological quality especially for the marketing, experience of the user, and mobile accessibility. Both the Italian and English websites were of poor quality and readability. Conclusions These results can inform guidelines for the improvement of health information and help Internet users to achieve a higher level of information. Users must find benefits of treatment, support to the shared decision-making, the sources used, the medical editor's supervision, and the risk of postponing the treatment.

Telomeres are specialized structures of repetitive nucleotide sequences that cap the ends of human chromosomes. Their main purpose is to maintain genome stability and integrity, and to protect the cell from progressive DNA shortening during repeated division. Human enzyme telomerase complex maintains the length of telomere repeats.1 Despite the high levels of telomerase activity in cancer cells, telomere shortening can still occur. Some recent reports describe reduced telomere length in myelofibrosis (MF) regardless of hydroxycarbamide therapy, suggesting a possible prognostic relevance for this biomarker.2, 3, 4 As yet, no studies have investigated telomere dynamics following treatment with ruxolitinib, a JAK1/2 inhibitor approved for the treatment of intermediate-2 and high risk MF, primary or post-polycythemia vera (PV) and essential thrombocytemia (ET).5