Stop Googling your symptoms. Doctors are sick of it

News.com.au ^ | January 31, 2011 | By staff writers

[Daffynition]

DOCTORS have warned they are seeing too many "cyberchondriacs", those patients who misdiagnose their illnesses after Googling their symptoms.

The Australian Medical Association is concerned the plethora of online medical information is doing more harm than good, with patients increasingly referring to the internet for advice before consulting a trained GP.

[Christian Engineer Mass]

Man what a horror story. How many thousands every day don’t do their own research.

And when they make a mistake, of course they cover it up if they can. Like if they prescribed the wrong drug and the patient was getting worse, they’d just change the prescription without telling the patient or anyone else

I want to get insurance that ONLY covers actual emergencies - ie. actual insurance rather than a shared payment scheme. Many states don’t allow that right?

I’m still looking for a site that’s a good state ready-reckoner, a table with things like gun laws, right-to-work, health insurance laws, etc

[Conservativegreatgrandma]

Amazing story. I'm so glad you stuck with it and helped your dad. I, too, thought my sister was dying and she would say that without this knowledge, she believes she would not be here today.

The drugs the doctors were giving her were killing her and they were doing nothing to help her underlying condition. Sad.

[Ladysmith]

I had a nurse call me after an operation. Thank God, too, cuz I wasn’t feeling right, told her the symptoms and wound up in ER.

[fr_freak]

I never said “don’t use it”.
I never said don’t 2nd guess your doc.
I said don’t pretend your google research can replace a medical degree.

In your case, you second-guessed your doc based on what you referred to as "common sense", yet you don't think that researching one's condition with a reputable source (of which there actually are many on the internet) is valid? I really don't understand where that comes from. Would you feel better if someone second-guessed their doctor after spending many hours in a medical library?

[G Larry]

I said don’t pretend your google research can replace a medical degree!!!!

Research and ask questions until you’re satisfied they’ve been answered.

You must posses enough critical thinking skills to understand the difference between having valid concerns dismissed and having them thoroughly considered.

[fr_freak]

I said don’t pretend your google research can replace a medical degree!!!!

You must be getting frustrated, because I see your use of exclamation points is increasing. Well, I'm getting a little frustrated, too, because I don't ever recall suggesting that people should consider internet research to be a proper substitute for a medical degree, and yet, here you are, tossing that strawman out.

I am merely trying to make the point that when one does his own research, even before any initial doctor's visit, one is doing himself a favor because one is not replacing 10 years of medical training with the internet, one is protecting himself against stupidity, incompetence and apathy in a doctor. Doctors aren't perfect, and their medical degrees don't guarantee that they will approach any subject with competency, anymore than a trade school mechanics certification guarantees that your mechanic will fix your car right. To me, a doctor is merely one more resource available to me to help fix my problem; he is not the final arbiter of fixing my problem.

Bear in mind that doctors kill something like 100,000 people a year in the US with misdiagnoses, mistreatment and other forms of malpractice.