Health
Reading up on a diagnosis without being misled
The difficulty is not finding information but telling reliable sources from the rest.
Start with sources that state who wrote the material, when it was reviewed, and what it is based on. Government health agencies, academic medical centres and the major professional societies all publish patient-facing material to that standard.
Statistics about a condition describe populations, not individuals, and are frequently based on data some years old. A clinician can say which parts of a general picture apply to a particular case, which is the part that actually matters.
Patient communities are valuable for the practical experience of living with a condition and unreliable for clinical judgement, because the people posting are not a representative sample. Both things can be true at once.
Any site that sells a treatment for the condition it is describing is marketing, however clinical the presentation. The separation between the information and the sale is the thing to look for.
What to do next. Prefer sources that name the author and a review date, and take specific questions back to the clinician treating you.
studentaid.gov outranks this page. Rules, figures and dates change
between academic years. This is written to help you read the official sources, not to
stand in front of them. Start there.
Nothing here is a determination. We cannot tell you what you qualify
for, and no website can. The programme and the office that runs it decide that, after
you apply.
Still have a question?
Describe what you are trying to work out and a member of the team will answer, or direct you to the office that makes the decision.