if MN deletes all health threads where inappropriate advice given

[inappropriateportioncontrol]

it's going to be pretty sparse around here and on the health board .
It might save time and interest if threads asking for advice on health matters were not allowed.
Just saying .

2 threads deleted now, never mind, it sparked a discussion and some of the advice was good

"I wondered if it's just that it's easier to delete the thread then police the comments."

I think the answer would be yes, which is odd as if the thread is well behaved and does not breach the guidelines then to me a thread should still stand, but it seems even then threads have been pulled in the past

Seems odd to pull two threads on the same subject and by the same poster and to give two different reasons.
Ah well

.

Assuming the second thread was started by the same poster of course ...

Ah. Good thinking.

I personally think it would be complete overkill to ban health advice threads.
Unless the NHS has suddenly fallen on its knees with people phoning for ambulances or waltzing into A&E telling them 'I'm here because people on Mumsnet told me to come' the threads for advice should be left to the op to make the decision for themselves

There's so many rules to use this site as it is. Lots of guidelines etc which most people follow. It's not fair that something as invaluable as getting advice from women with knowledge can or should be taken away because the moderators aren't happy dealing with probably multiple reported replies on 1 thread. But hello... isn't it their job to review and delete as appropriate....??

Also disagree with the constipation thread being deleted and I would like an update from the op. I need to know if she's ok and what happens next. Poor woman

I find health posts very helpful and informative. It's helpful to read posts from other people suggesting things you might not have considered before. It's not mnhq's right to police that.

There have been times in my life that being able to reach out and ask health questions on message boards has been invaluable. Especially when someone is dealing with a serious illness, there can be many related issues that a doctor isn’t necessarily going to be able to help with, but another person who has had a similar experience can provide guidance on how to navigate.

The internet is where I got pravtical tips on following the very strict diet the doctor had me on when I had thyroid cancer . The internet is where I was able to talk to other women learning to advocate for ourselves in a disinterested bureaucracy. The internet is where I share tips on finding safe food and products with other allergy sufferers

there will always be bad information in the mix. I can be on an allergy board and inevitably 5% of the posts will be people suggesting unsafe food because they don’t know what they are talking about. That doesn’t mean those discussions aren’t worth having. You just have to make sure the educated posters call them out.

Please could you let me know what her update was? Was quite worried about her! Think she had a gp appointment yesterday? TX

There is no current update, the update she provided was then deleted.

@soupfiend

There is no current update, the update she provided was then deleted.

I assumed @HappyHamsters read the update to know about it.

While I agree that the health threads can be (and have been significantly so in the past) useful, I do wish that people would read these threads properly. In fact those are the posts that should be deleted.

People who were saying 'just drink more water' or 'get some Dulcolax' etc were massively irresponsible, as well as hugely arrogant for thinking that their pearls of wisdom were required so far into the thread, without even bothering to read the OP's updates.

A clear case for more reporting, I think. And a specific deletion message (and email to the poster?!) about reading the full thread. Hopefully then the rest of the thread will be left to stand.

I won't be posting any more advice on health threads, there's no point if the threads get deleted or they are just trolls posting, there is a health post today asking for advice and a possible diagnosis. No one is going to monitor the thread and decide what is good and what is bad advice.,

Sounds like the whole thing was probably made up, judging by the MN post at the end of this thread https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/4995826-to-want-to-know-if-the-op-of-deleted-post-who-hadnt-had-a-bowel-movement-for-4-weeks-is-ok

We won't get an update if it was a troll post or if she has been banned. There were a few things about the post that, in hindsight, didn't make sense. If it was real then hope she's feeling OK.

@HappyHamsters

MNHQ post

"Morning, everyone.

Just to fill you in, we were concerned that there was lots of health misinformation on that thread and we didn't want anyone in the predicament described to be dissuaded from seeking immediate medical advice in favour of some of the home remedies described, so we deleted it.

However, having looked into things further, we had reasonable suspicions that the OP may not have been completely above board. Given all that, we felt it was best to delete second thread the OP started from a new account.

We hope that explains things a bit further. As this is a thread about a thread, we're going to lock it to new posts now."

I dont normally get too bought in to threads, Ive often been a bit sneery about people that overinvest and feel all upset about stuff like this but I cant help but feel disappointed about that, about being hoodwinked

Oh well

Dreadful medical advice is rife on MN. Many times, dangerous advice, telling a poster to ignore their GP and watch a YouTube video instead or listen to a podcast or read a blog about the Real Truth about cholesterol, saturated fats, HRT, ...
A good way of culling the irresponsible posts would be to delete any that suggests ignoring a GP or specialist's advice followed by a link to some kind of social media.

Surely everyone who posts on MN knows that some people who respond will not be genuine. When I look down 'Threads I'm Watching' many of them have been removed due to PBP or just your everyday troll.

I usually work on the theory that the more interesting a thread is, the more likely it is a troll. But I am a huge cynic.