You’re tired - very tired. And thirsty. A little dizzy, perhaps. Throw in the odd headache and bout of nausea. If you Google your symptoms, chances are the news is going to be bad (diabetes) or very bad (secondary bone cancer). What’s more likely is that you have absolutely nothing wrong with you other than a 21st century condition known as ‘cyberchondria’. However, unless you take it to extremes and Start imagining you have a life-threatening disease when you clearly don’t, a little online research into health and wellbeing shouldn’t hurt.
A good patient is an educated one and the best health-related sites tell you what kind of questions to ask your doctor, so if you really do have something wrong with you, you’ll have a better chance of covering everything in one appointment and perhaps a greater understanding of what your doctor is telling you.
Or you may be able to avoid a doctor’s appointment altogether. Take head lice: You can stock up on spray, shampoo, combs and so on from a pharmacy (I counted 18 products to treat them on one pharmacy shelf) but you could find the nits keep coming back. The British Medical Journal’s site at www.besttreatments.co.nz has roughly 740 words on the symptoms of head lice, another 500 on why people get them and another 600 on treatments. It also suggests 10 or so questions to ask your doctor regarding treatment. For each of the conditions listed on the site (everything from nits to life-threatening diseases) there’s a description, a rundown on how common it is, and advice on what to expect if you’ve been diagnosed with it. Illnesses are listed alphabetically and also categorised according to topics, such as children’s health and the digestive system.
The high incidence of skin cancer in New Zealand is a good reason to educate yourself about what to look out for. Best Treatment’s articles are a good start. Another useful site is Molemap (www.molemap.co.nz), where you can study photos of melanomas and basal cell carcinoma, and compare them with your own skin’s irregularities. If you’re worried, see your doctor without delay. You definitely don’t want to mess around finding answers online if you suspect you have cancer.
Sites like Best Treatments, the Mayo Clinic (www.mayoclinic.com), NetDoctor (www.netdoctor.co.uk), Family Doctor (www.familydoctor.org) and the local Family Doctor (www.familydoctor.co.nz) are possibly the most reliable resources for health on the Web. They’re authoritative, they have experts on hand to answer advice, and their content is well categorised and targeted at people who aren’t medical professionals. You’ll find much of the medical information available online actually consists of scientific articles written by medical professionals for medical professionals.
Another useful local site is the Ministry of Health’s (www.moh.govt.nz), which is less about symptoms and diagnoses – it links to Best Treatments for those - and more about studies and health news. One of its most useful features is its links section, which takes you to a directory of New Zealand health sites, including support organisations. Southern Cross Healthcare’s site (www.southerncrosshealthcare.co.nz) also has reasonably detailed information on a long list of conditions, and each links to relevant specialist and support organisations.
There’s also a huge amount of anti-orthodox medical content online, and no apparent checks on the kind of advice it offers. This might be useful for some, but you have to wonder about people using 21st century technology – such as online forums – to promote things like unassisted childbirth, which leads, in a horrifying number of cases, to infant death. If you don’t believe this, check out ‘natural family living magazine’ Mothering’s forum at www.mothering.com. It’s this kind of lay – and in the worst cases, crackpot and downright dangerous - advice that puts online medical self-education in a bad light. It’s one thing to get help online from professionals; it’s another to put your faith in people who have no expertise and are using the Internet to push a potentially dangerous anti-medical-establishment message.
Even a site as conservative as the BBC’s health section - another good, basic source for health education (www.bbc.co.uk) – includes a ‘health-sharing’ forum where you’ll find people popping in to ask for help with things like diagnosing a rapid heartbeat and difficulty breathing. By the time they’ve read the answers (one respondent helpfully suggested internal bleeding could be the cause) it may well be too late.
Taking responsibility for your own health and self care can only be a good thing. Just remember that there is only so much you can do to usefully diagnose a condition yourself and whatever you do, don’t get so sidetracked by your own research that you put off seeking expert medical advice in person. There’s a good chance that if you’re afraid of what you’ve discovered online about your symptoms, your doctor will quickly put your mind at rest.
Medicine is one area that doesn’t invite a DIY approach. It’s fine to do your homework, but letting the Internet take the place of the services of a GP or specialist could put your life in jeopardy.