The number of internet users surfing the web for health-related information has risen sharply in the last year, according to the US marketing firm Harris Interactive. Although the poll looks at a US sample only, it measured how many people use the internet to look for information about health topics and found that numbers continue to increase from year to year.
Like hypochondriacs, ‘Cyberchondriacs’, those who surf the web for medical or health-related information, are likely to snub the non-disease explanations and simple causes for their ailments and instead focus on the serious, life-threatening conditions.
The first Harris poll of cyberchondriacs in 1998 found that over 50 million American adults had gone online to look for health information. By 2005, that number had risen to 117 million. In their most recent poll, the number had jumped to 175 million from 154 million the previous year, possibly as a result of the American health care reform debate.
On the other side of the world The Sydney Morning Herald wrote a visit to an internet clinic will probably diagnose drowsiness as chronic fatigue, anal itch as bowel cancer and a headache as a tumour. There have even been recorded cases of men complaining of menstrual problems while some women have queried the possibility of having prostate cancer!
But this is no laughing matter; internet diagnosis can have a domino effect on the patient. The patient first starts off with one or two symptoms, when other possible symptoms are ‘suggested’ the patient begins to believe or convince themselves that these suggested symptoms were there are along, and before you know it, the on-screen diagnosed condition has anxiety added to it. Since many benign conditions share similar symptoms with more serious ailments and are normally listed side-by-side, serious problems such as a brain tumour rank alongside more common causes such as stress with users often assuming the worst rather than the more likely diagnosis.
On the other hand, self-diagnosis or misdiagnosis over the internet can also disguise something more serious. If you ignore the symptoms say of testicular cancer as nothing more than a lump downstairs that will ‘go-the-way-it-came’ after researching it on the internet, you may be postponing the medical attention you urgently require.
The net however swings a double-edged sword in the direction of men. As we know, men are not as diligent of their health as women may be, and are therefore more reluctant to attend the GP for any sign of ill-health.
The internet fortunately (& unfortunately at the same time) provides a much needed kick for men to pay greater attention to their health and to visit their doctor should they have any concerns. Men who have paid a visit to an online net doctor instead of being eased at what they have found will often seek a ‘second opinion’ from their GP.
According to a recent UK study, many GPs feel ‘intimidated’ by the increasing numbers of web-savvy patients arriving into their surgeries with a number of patients reporting bizarre conditions that some GP’s had never even heard of! Nowadays the GP’s waiting room sees patients kept occupied flicking through their downloaded notes of ailments or illnesses that they purport to have in a ‘student becomes the teacher’ scenario, except in the majority of cases the student gets an ‘F’ on his assignment!
Medical practitioners are open to a patient's research as this encourages communication between a doctor and a patient, however there are concerns as patients who self-diagnose on information sourced from the internet can exaggerate one set of symptoms in support of their own self-diagnosis thus preventing a doctor's ability in reaching a correct diagnosis. Unlike an internet doctor a GP is often able to eliminate the more serious conditions based on what he or she sees in front of them, upon further examination, and is able to factor in the patient’s medical history. It is safe to say that a virtual diagnosis is no substitute for actual real expert advice.
Often the physical one-to-one contact with a GP will give you more peace of mind than any online analysis thrown up of your health, however should you find yourself racing home to dive online for a now ‘third’ opinion to validate what your GP has diagnosed is in fact correct, or to check up on the more scarier side effects of any recently prescribed drugs it is best advised that should you have any concerns your first place of call should be back at your GP’s office of pharmacy - I have never known an internet site to make house calls, call a loved one or phone an ambulance, never mind writing a repeat prescription!
Although cyberchondria causes unnecessary anxiety, seeking medical information online can also be beneficial, after all there is a big difference between using the internet for information gathering and diagnosis, this includes when patients are treated or diagnosed by a qualified practitioner and need to source further information on the prevention and management of their illness, or if they wish to join a discussion forum to chat to other people with a similar condition.
However those seeking medical information online should visit websites that are associated with credible medical facilities, government agencies, health bodies, institutes or established online medical journals, again your GP, in the flesh I may add, is there to advise you of the best ones.
