Care must be taken when searching for medical information, especially as many rely on the Internet to diagnose their condition themselves, and to seek treatment without resorting to a doctor.
Miguel Muñoz, in an article published in the Spanish newspaper Confidencial, says that many Web users are turning to websites for help with health problems they complain about, a study published in the Pew Research Center in the United States.
Experts in the study say that 80% of people who use the Internet in the northern half of the American continent rely on these sites as a source of information in this area.
According to a BBC report, Americans are not alone in this habit, as this behavior is widespread around the world, mainly by consulting various sites to understand their symptoms and how they are associated with a particular disease or health condition. And try to reach a self-diagnosis, and get remedial solutions without resorting to specialists.
Doctors caution the need to be cautious of this method, as some Internet sites may be unreliable, so you should resort only to sites that provide the correct information.
Anti-misinformation
After consulting with many experts in the field, doctors found that in many cases they complain about the behavior of their patients, who have become skeptical about the diagnosis of the doctor, and compare it with the information they found on the Internet, although in many cases it is wrong or incomplete; Feeling anxious and confused, because of being misled.
Experts say some sites that people visit for medical advice are unreliable, and in some cases not neutral, because they suggest that they are interested in their interests, but they are not. Sometimes these sites give visitors advice to panic and intentionally amplify the symptoms, without any good reason.
How do you use search engines?
Companies and advertisers are aware that more and more people are researching their health online (there are 70,000 searches every minute, according to some experts), so we should always keep in mind that there are many possibilities for information manipulation. Karl Hangan, director of the Oxford Medical Research Center, said the sites manipulate visitors to lead them to the information they want to see.
That is why 35% of people try to diagnose their health problems online, a behavior that can be very dangerous, and although searches are often made for non-serious health problems, people ask very serious questions about diseases such as cancer. In addition, Dr. Hangan recommends using Google Scholar, a medical and academic information search engine.
Scottish doctor and writer Margaret McCartney warns of the risk of mistakes. In order to avoid this hypothesis, McCartney explains that the first search results that appear in the introduction are not always correct, but must continue to prove, because the most popular choices are not necessarily the most correct, and sometimes must go to the third page in the search results.
According to Carl Hangan, articles that present symptoms and try to identify the disease should not be trusted. According to a study by the British Medical Journal, this type of site guesses the correct diagnosis at one in three times, but there are more accurate and reliable sites than others, such as the US WebMD (WebMD) and KidsHealth .org), an educational platform supported by many charities specializing in children's health.
Forums double-edged sword
Doctors Hangan and McCartney agree that access to some social media groups, when suffering from health problems, may be helpful, since these specialized forums can find new information and get some support as well, but be careful because many These sites are funded by commercial companies, in order to maximize sales.
Experts point out that this happens because these types of sites and forums have difficulty in obtaining funding, and therefore have to accept funds from companies specialized in the manufacture and marketing of the drug, in exchange for the promotion of some products. Doctors are advised to use more than one source for information, and also rely on the experience of other patients, and advice provided by the doctor before making a decision.
Dr. Hangan also advises to sit down with someone close to your family and friends, tell him about the information you get online and discuss it with him.