Doctor, Doctor I Keep Catching Online Illnesses.
Posted: Friday, April 10, 2009
by Connor Davidson
My Books and Articles (under construction)
There are now about 380,000 websites offering self – diagnosis help. According to a survey 81% of people think they know the problem before they consult a doctor. Self – diagnosis is a growing trend among computer users. I wish to point out self – diagnosis is not really a good idea. For a start can you be sure the website has reliable information? Do you fully understand your symptoms? Are you inventing symptoms?
When you self – diagnose you flick through the symptoms and see a match; assume you have it and log off. You must consider everything not simply the first thing the site comes back with.
I am not a qualified doctor but I diagnose people who use the site as being a cybercondriac - an individual that reads symptoms of illnesses on the net and begins to believe they're sick.
So I advise you to see a doctor before you go and think something stupid. The doctor is not always correct but he/she is more likely to be correct than you and some website – for all we know could be made by a ten year old with a dictionary. So be very careful: if you use these sites you are going to get upset over (most likely) nothing.
Connor Davidson 03/10/09
This Article has been viewed 1,110 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
More commentsThanks to the Internet, we now have millions of "experts" in fields as far-ranging as medicine, politics, economics, and of course computers. Good article, Connor, and thanks for reminding people that "it's on the 'net so it MUST be true" isn't necessarily so. :)Please log in to respond to this comment.The internet has no police force as such. Hence sites can publish false information and get away with it for years.Please log in to respond to this comment.
HI Connor, another great piece and very well written. I love your diagnosis of a cybercondriac. ha! funny, but more than likey, sadly true.Bravo! Blessings to you TeresaPlease log in to respond to this comment.Thanks for the comment.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Seriously dude! this sites make you sick even if you are not. Good article & good advise. God bless you.Please log in to respond to this comment.Thanks for the comment.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Connor,I loved the line that the article may have been written by a 10-year-old! Bravo! Actually though, I thought cybercondriacs were those who tried fixing their computers without good knowledge of what is really happening! Like an article I read recently about working in your registry. Bad advice.Thanks for a great read,NancyPlease log in to respond to this comment.It may be ambiguous...Thanks for the comment.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Good advice, Connor. I usually check out the MD websites AFTER my doctor has made a diagnosis, just to see what the diagnosis really entails and what I might expect. For over four years I was occassionaly bothered by severe chest pains. I went through all the checks and spend several days in the hospital many times because heart disease ran in my family. They could find no signs of heart attack damage to my heart at any time. The final diagnosis was Coronary Spasms. I had never heard of it and the doctors didn't tell me much about it, so I looked it up on WEB MD and got a few good answers. I have to take Nitroglycerin twice a day for the rest of my life, but I have had no more problems. Yes, it is certainly best to get a diagnosis from a doctor FIRST.Thanks for sharing.SandraPlease log in to respond to this comment.I agree with you...Doctors are good but they are not perfect!Thanks for the comment.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Great article. I am not a fan of self diagnosis web sites, you could go on there, put in your symptons and it come out with something you were not expecting. Therefore you could then be worrying over something that it quite probably isn't.Nowadays i do not think we have enough faith in the health systems, thats why people use these self help websites.Please log in to respond to this comment.It sounds to me like misplaced trust.Thanks for the comment.Please log in to respond to this comment.
I found it to be a little bit choppy when reading it. I haven't personally tried using these websites, but I think that his point is made.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Heh, i 100% agree. Guilty of this myself actually. But I think slef-daigonosing isn't bad, so long as it is used just to get idea of what might be possibly wrong with someone. Obviously it shouldn't replace a doctor's opinion.Please log in to respond to this comment.Fair enough. Just make sure you never do what some people do... Go into the doctors and say "I have this, that and the next thing and if you disagree I will find a doctor who agrees with me!"Please log in to respond to this comment.
Yes! Hey, I sometimes fall into this trap. Hmmm, pain in stomach. Yikes! I look it up and OMG, I have stomach cancer. Oh, I forgot. I had chili dogs for lunch. LOL!Please log in to respond to this comment.You are not alone.Thans for the comment.Please log in to respond to this comment.
Hi Connor.Good article and good cautions.I do look at WebMD and it has helped me on numerous occasions. But I never think that it has all the answers. Mostly I'm just looking for information that might help me to understand what a doctor might say.Oh, and for sure, doctors are not perfect. I'm reading "Why We Make Mistakes" right now and in it, Hallinan sites statistics that show that doctors' secretaries are almost as good at getting a diagnosis right as are the doctors. Woo! What a thought.I've always felt that we would be smart to better educate ourselves about our health and not just leave it to the professionals. So for that reason, I am in favor of medical information websites. Not all of them, obviously across the board. Oh well, this is becoming way too circular in my head and I think I'd better quit.Thanks,DiannePlease log in to respond to this comment.I agree that we should educate ourself in medicine - I have read numerous books on the subject. I would rather trust a book than a website.Thanks for the comment.Please log in to respond to this comment.
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