Posted on 01/31/2011 3:42:05 PM PST by 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.
(Excerpt) Read more at news.com.au ...
It’s all B/C they are recording your health info. Making your records easier to share with the the *MAN*. What? You wanted eye contact? What good could that possibly do?
So, when you go to the doctor, and you tell him your syptoms, and he leaves the room for a while, just what do you think he is doing?
He’s Googling your symptoms.
Not that well....I still feel the general malaise. I get lots of exercise, softball four days a week in summer and fall and volleyball three days now that winter is here. That's not enough, it doesn't do anything for the cardio.......I got to work on that.
Prior to my retirement four years ago, I always had lots of energy since I was always on the go. But I've steadily gone downhill since then.....
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.
It is too easy to believe you understand a medical situation, when in fact you don’t have enough information.
Love that quote - can I steal it for a facebook status?
Your wife sounds like an interesting woman. You’re a lucky man. :)
Right now, they are *breaking in* a new computer program...so they don’t leave the room...do it right in front of you on the laptop! Hope you weren’t expecting eye contact with this visit? Meh.
It’s yours.
walk. That’s my advice.
I’m nowhere near retirement. But a year or so ago I got this fancy cell phone(casio G’z One) with a built in pedometer. Just doing my job I tend to walk anywhere from 1 to 8 miles a day. Take my job away and that would probably drop to near zero every day.
Also, sauna/steam bath/hot tub
She did. She went on the diet and now more than ten years later is in much better health.
I cured my own RA by reading Adelle Davis' book. Massive doses of Vit C cures lots of things.
That wasn't working PLUS he had none of the other symptoms usually associated with a wide variety of cardiovascular problems.
So, one day I went on the internet to see what i could learn about Bradycardia/Tachycardia (a minor part of the problem) ~ and discovered it's a huge body of knowledge that requires you to learn another 100+ words just to read any of it, so I learned the words, and began reading ~ then one day I made a major discovery ~ Atrial Fibrillation can be caused by an extra sinus node.
Not news of course ~ probably every doctor knows that ~ but this was in a Swedish medical research paper, and it was about a single situation ~ the plight of some Sa'ami as compared to Finns of non-Sa'ami background engaged in the same occupations (to wit, reindeer herding, fishing, tree-cutting, etc.).
There appeared to be a genetic component. There were "other symptoms" associated with that component ~ and lo and behold virtually every member of the family out several degrees had one or more of those "other symptoms". A lot of it revolved around genes on Chromosome 6 (always a clue when all the stuff is on one chromosome because that suggests a powerful hereditary component ~ maybe even "tribal").
If you read the piece in National Geographic about the tribe of Sa'ami who herd sheep in the Kola peninsula in and among the abandoned military barracks buildings, you'd undoubtedly discovered that they are herding sheep because the soil there still has too much radioactive debris from the Chernobyl disaster to herd closer cropping reindeer. They also think sheep meat stinks beyond all belief so they never eat that meat themselves.
I share that condition. It's something not widely shared beyond that particular tribe ~ except by their relatives.
Over in Finland there are about 500 of the exact same tribe. They are subjected to intense medical study by the Swedes and Finns. I did more research into that question and found that the Skolt Sa'ami are a favorite research subject since they have a compact group and can be readily compared to Finns in the same environment doing the same jobs.
As a result there are literally THOUSANDS of special detailed studies that've been made of that body of people over the last 50 years. Many of those studies have been translated into English and they are on the net. Plus, best deal in the world, the Finns engaged in that research ALSO are in a number of cooperative research projects with Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals and Indiana University, and Purdue University, etc. The cooperative project reports are immediately translated into English and are published on the internet.
Using a number of research papers about the Skolt I was able to quickly diagnose my father's particular problem. He, at the same time found an advertisement in the local newspaper about a new cardiac team moving to Bloomington, Indiana who were trained to take care of persistent arterial fibrillation.
That was certainly serendipitous.
He went to them. They fixed him up on an outpatient basis, and ever since he has not had that symptom.
He has other symptoms of other "problems" characteristic of having his particular set of genes but most of them wouldn't be problem if he lived North of 30 degrees North latitude and worked outdoors all winter long and breathed that intensely dry Arctic air.
Which reminds me, today is a nice day ~ freezing drizzle ~ probably go out for a brisk walk ~ get that sting going in my face that says I'm OK ~ even if you're not. My kinda' world, and the Swedes still want to know what makes us different.
Seriously. If doctors would allow patients to email them and would answer their emails, it would be great. They could even charge fees for this access. Only one doc I know has such access, and he’s a doc who doesn’t take insurance. He answers every email within hours.
Since we have no access to the doctor, and his bulldogs who answer the phone know nothing, we have no choice but to visit Dr. google!
Wow, you are cruel to and ashamed of your wife, who’s just trying to inform herself. Sad.
I did some Internet research and found that it was exactly the WRONG drug for my specific circumstances due to other thins the GP was treating me for. I went back to him with three very large independent studies and said I was not taking the drug. He read the studies and called me to apologize. Bottom line he had been bought with a few lunches ad a very pretty drug salesperson.
Treat!!!
If is doesn’t work, treas with something else.
Eventually computers will replace most doctors... they’re trying to shut down the competition - just like newspapers tried... good luck guys.
I don’t think I’ve ever tried diagnosing myself via the internet. But I have looked up several things for more information after I had been diagnosed (e.g., my recent allergy diagnoses).
What a putz ... talking about your wife like that in a public forum. Says a lot about you and almost as annoying as that large graphic that must accompany your every post.
The last time I saw a doc he didn't even touch me. Have you ever had a doc call and ask how you're doing?
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