Medical Self Diagnosis

People have been diagnosing their own ailments for centuries, but with the advent of the Internet, more people are turning to medical websites to determine the nature of their illness and how they can treat it. Cyberchondria is the new term for people who research and diagnose their illnesses online. Unfortunately, because the body is a complex organism, medical self-diagnosis can be a dangerous, and even deadly, practice.

History

• Before microscopes, pharmaceuticals and stethoscopes, people turned to family or community to diagnose illness. If self-diagnosis didn't cure the ailment, an individual might visit the local apothecary, shaman or even grandma for treatment. A staple of early treatment was chicken noodle soup, nicknamed "grandmother's penicillin." It is still used by many today who diagnose themselves with a cold or flu.

Who Self-Diagnoses

• According to the Pew Internet & American Life Project, 79 percent of people who don't have chronic illnesses search the Internet to diagnose themselves. Furthermore, a whopping 86 percent of Internet users who have a disease or illness look up information about the disease online.
  A study by the Hartman Group found that more than half (57 percent) of all women have used the Internet to self-diagnose at least occasionally. Women under the age of 40 self-diagnose more frequently (62 percent) than women over the age of 50 (53 percent).

Diagnosing Illness

• When self-diagnosing online, always use reputable sites. Online portals that allow you to input your symptoms are more reliable than blogs or forums where other people post the diagnosis of their own symptoms. Use sites such as those of the National Institutes of Health or Mayo Clinic. Other reputable sites include organizations specializing in certain diseases, such as the American Cancer Society and American Heart Association.
  Use the information as a general reference. If an ailment is minor, such as a rash between the toes, try an over-the-counter remedy. If symptoms persist, see a doctor. Knowledge gained online can be used to discuss your symptoms intelligently with your doctor.

Benefits

• Self-diagnosis offers convenience and financial savings. Many people would rather crawl out of bed in their pajamas and read about their symptoms than get dressed and drive to the doctor's office and pay the cost of an office visit, which runs an average of $60 or more.
  Many people don't like to be at the mercy of a doctor they may only rarely see. They want to gain the information themselves and be able to make their own health care decisions, and diagnosing their own illness helps them feel empowered and in control.

Dangers

• Self-diagnosis can be a dangerous practice. Medical practitioners study for years to be able to differentiate one disease from another with similar symptoms. An individual with a sore throat might diagnose themselves as having a simple cold, when, in fact, the true diagnosis is strep throat and requires antibiotics.
  Cyberchondriacs also tend to lack objectivity. When Googling the term "headache," it would be easy for an individual to believe he has a brain tumor since more than 25 percent of the results list it as a possible cause. In reality, only about 0.002 percent of the population ever develops a brain tumor.
  Perhaps the biggest danger of self-diagnosis is missing or dismissing something serious. Aching joints and lack of appetite could indicate the flu or fibromyalgia, but it could also be a sign of cancer. A visit to a doctor can be the difference between cough medicine and chemotherapy.