Shortcomings of Dr. Internet
A recent study found that people who self-diagnose their symptoms using information from the World Wide Web are more likely to wrongfully believe they have a serious illness. Credit: Fotolia
If your main source of advice for medical questions comes from Dr. Internet, you may be searching for trouble.
A recent study found that people who self-diagnose their symptoms using information from the World Wide Web are more likely to wrongfully believe they have a serious illness. The study, published in the Journal of Consumer Research, also found that those doing "symptom matching" searches for others were more levelheaded. For example, people who mistake their chest pains for a heart attack correctly diagnose the problem as indigestion when they search the same symptoms for someone else.
A bigger problem is when people take advice from untrustworthy medical sites. One way to avoid that is to know which sites have reliable information. SeniorNet is holding a free seminar on how to research medical issues on the Internet, 3:30 p.m. Tuesday at Harborfields Public Library. For information, call 631-427-3700, ext. 268.
