The biggest problem with internet health sites is the risk if miss leading information
Many people look to the internet to help them understand many things better including health care. The problem with looking on the internet for health care is that it can be very miss leading and force someone to believe that their problem is smaller or bigger then what it is. I mean honesty do you think doctors would spend the amount of time that it take to learn and understand the human body if something as simple as typing in your symptoms onto a online database will diagnose health care problems? Don’t get me wrong its perfect for learning more about a problem that a professional doctor diagnose you with. But the problem is people are using sites like WEB Md for first diagnoses.
WHY?
Many people use these types of sites because they do not have health insurance to go to the doctor. In 2006, the percentage of Americans without health insurance was 15.8%, or approximately 47 million uninsured people (http://sickothemovie.com/_media/SiCKO_sickofactoids.pdf).Most of these people don’t have no other way to a least try and figure out whats wrong with them. When I went to webmd and typed in stomach pain 171 different problems that I could have had come up. I think this is where the problem come in at. It may be easy for webmd to figure out what symptoms go along with a disease but it don’t know how to eliminate the diseases that are not your problem. Something professional doctors can do.
Thank you very much for the use of facts in your blog! This is helping me understand your point of view! Please continue to use them in your future blogs. You have such a touchy subject for some people, one that is still being debated over, even though its origin is not to new. I'd never exaclty looked at it from the point of view that people are using this site as a first diagnosis and not being careful about the results that they find. It amazes me that people seem to think that they can use the first diagnosis that pops up when a stomach ache can point to a lot of different things, even something like a brain tumor. Keep up the good work.
ReplyDeleteI totally agree that if your'e sick, the best place to go is to the doctor's office. I am currently guiding my research to find out if online health information has caused individuals to self diagnose and the effects from it. While the information can be misguiding and unaccurate, there are other inportant, relivant factors that are missed and unmentioned on online medical websites such as vitals. (How is blood pressure, temperature, pulse,and other things such as persperations and the physical look of an ill person evaluated on the computer?
ReplyDeleteA lot of people do use web MD or other website sources to check an illness or symptoms of what they may think they have because they do not have the health insurance, but I think that just because they have a stomach ache or is sick, it does not mean they should just go to the doctors. I believe, in a way it is just common sense. Of course we are all worried about the what-if's and what-could-be but,that is why they have generic brands or over the counter drugs to help. They have pain relievers and medications for colds, and as said on the labels, if the pain or the cold continues after a week of use, than you may see your doctor.
ReplyDeleteGoing to see a doctor for a minor pain or a cold could cost you over $150 when you can just buy Tylenol Cold or Advil for $10.00 or less.
In the physicians office as well as on a website, you can only be diagnosed by the symptoms that you supply. If a symptom is accidentally omitted, you will end up with the wrong diagnosis. However, the doctor is looking at you and will do the physical assessment that the website will miss. When did our health become so inconsequental? I have experienced being without health insurance and have struggled with the repayment of the expences going to the doctor. But when you put your priorities in order, you make sacrifices. You abandon the prada purse and take care of yourself,first. People seem to forget that, you will not leave this planet without owing somebody, and my choice won't be a credit card for purchases that "you can't take with you". Instead I will owe the doctors office and be secure in the knowledge that all is well OR not. Not having insurance may be a temperary situation, as it was for me. And in response to Marry's comment, you may be able to pay $10. for the Tylenol or Advil now, but what if its not a simple cold? And at what cost do we forego a professionals' opinion? $10. now or thousands of dollars later, after you've been mis-diagnosed, are you willing to take that chance?
ReplyDeleteThere are many different diseases in which some have the same side effects. When you go online and look up your symptoms there are a lot of different illnesses that can relate to what you might have. The only way to really be sure is by seeing your doctor not take the information you find online...it is not one hundred percent accurate. I can relate to this because i sometimes have small bruising out of nowhere when i looked online it said i might have low iron,or some blood disease. When i went to the doctor i had some blood work and they said everything was fine..therefore i didn't have to worry about anything. I was so happy. After that i never really bothered reading about medical problems online. I don't see the point.
ReplyDeleteResponding back to Jacqueline, I can understand as to what if the problem is much more than you expected, but I am sure people SHOULD know their own bodies by now, and how its functions. Also, people SHOULD know their parents medical history, grandparents and/or great grandparents medical history. It's very common that if your parents or grandparents had a certain illness, you are at risk of getting that same illness, therefore, to be more cautious of whether or not you do, they should educate themselves on that illness.
ReplyDeleteOf course no one would want to risk being mis-diagnosed, but if it's not a simple cold, then that is when people have their decisions of whether or not to make a stop to the doctors office.
I reluctantly disagree with those who believe that using Internet medical sites can be harmful. People have to be involved in their medical treatment in some form. Not to say that an untrained person can diagnose and treat themselves. But, just to be able to have some grasp on what you’re relaying to your doctor about the symptoms your exhibiting. Even a doctor must rely on the patient to tell them what’s wrong no matter how well they are at the practice of medicine.
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