Doctors warn the cybersick
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.DOCTORS are on the alert for a new kind of victim: the cyberchondriac. With so much health information now on the Internet, thousands of people are using their computers to try to match symptoms with diseases.
But this mix-and-match self-diagnosis means that many of them with relatively trivial symptoms have been linking them with serious diseases such as brain tumours and Alzheimer's.
As a result, GPs have been getting called out at night by cyberpatients who believe they have a life-threatening disease as a result of what they have read.
Now, an increasing number of doctors are setting up their own GP practice web sites to help to filter the information that patients can get from the Internet.
Since Lytham St Anne's GP, Dr Nick Lowe, set up his web site, more than 2,500 of his patients have visited it. "One of the problems is that if you simply type your problem into a search engine, you get swamped with things to look at. One thing I worry about is people going on to the Internet with a health concern before seeing the doctor and perhaps going into things intended for health professionals and frightening the living daylights out of themselves.
Just how many health sites there are on the Internet is not known, but there are several million each for conditions like depression, anxiety, stress, cancer, dementia and alternative health. Some are specifically intended for doctors and assume a clinical knowledge that will not mistake symptoms of indigestion for those of stomach cancer.
Another hazard for the unguided cyperpatient is that there are also many commercial health sites run by companies which promise cures. In many cases there is no proof they work, and in some instances they could be potentially dangerous if mixed with other medication.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments