It offered me a set of ebooks containing information on serious health issues ranging from cancer to heart disease. Each ebook came with a sales page that could be published on the internet to sell the book. Each ebook also came with a related email course that could be given away free to get people to sign up for a mailing list.

Because so many people turn to the internet for health and medical information, sets like this are considered "hot." And because the price was barely $30, I guarantee they'll sell out quickly… but I won't be one of the buyers.

You see, I don't know much about cancer or heart disease. I know what I read in magazines and what my doctor tells me. You probably know more about these issues than I do. There's no way I could read though those ebooks and know whether they contain current, reliable information or not.

Chance are, the people that buy this set of ebooks and sales pages won't know any more about cancer and heart disease than I do. Chances are, they won't care if the books are reliable or not. They're just looking for things to sell on the internet.

Why should you care about this? Because YOU are the target audience the sellers of these ebooks are looking for.

There are thousands of internet marketers all around the world just trolling cyberspace looking for people with health problems so they can sell them crap.

I publish Pain Health News because pain has been a huge part of my life. Because I know what it's like to be crippled with pain, I'm very particular about what I share and recommend. Because I know how vulnerable pain patients are, I have a tremendous feeling of responsibility for you, my readers.

I know, from sad experience, what it's like to be seeking pain relief and be exploited by people who look at you with dollar signs in their eyes. That's why I got so angry when I received this offer for ebooks on cancer and heart disease.

If you buy a book on gardening that contains unreliable information on marigolds, it's not going to have a huge impact on your life. But if you buy a book that has unreliable information on cancer, heart disease…or pain…it could have all sorts of negative consequences.

So here's my warning to you. When you see sales pitches for health-related items, whether that item is a book or a drug or a nutrient or an appliance, do your homework before you buy. Check out the person or company selling the item or service or drug you're interested in. Look for references. Look for reviews. Look for verification of the claims that are being made.

I know how seductive advertising can be when it offers pain relief. I say, with some embarrassment, I've bought it all. But I learned. I am now a world-class expert in using Google to track down and verify every claim made for an item I'm interested in. I don't buy so much as a bottle of aspirin without Googleing to see where it's manufactured. Here are a few tricks I've learned for tracking down reliable information.

Before you buy any product, especially online or on TV, go to Google, type in the name of that product, the plus sign and the word "review." For example, you would type in the Google search bar "kinoki + review" (without using the punctuation marks.) Then search again, typing "kinoki + study" (again, without the quote marks.) Then type in "kinoki + complaints" (again, without quotes.) Of course, you can go far deeper with your searches–and you should — when an item involves your health, but just these 3 simple searches will bring you thousands of returns filled with information you can use to decide whether or not an item is worth buying.

How do you find products to help with pain? Do you rely on TV ads? Do you look though catalogs? And how do you decide what's worthwhile? Feel free to share in the comment box below. Your participation in the conversation is most welcome!

### Bonnie Boots publishes Pain Health News to provide information, motivation and conversation to people in pain. Subscribe using the box on the top right side to receive updates.

(The poster I defaced for my post illustration was orginally titled "Cry Of The Werewolf" starring Nina Foch, a 1944 Columbia Movies release)