HOW SAFE IS WEB SELF-DIAGNOSIS?

By Special to U-T San Diego 12:01 a.m.Sept. 17, 2013Updated8:28 p.m.Sept. 13, 2013

In a post-industrial society, one that relies heavily on computer technology, many people are using the Web to try to figure out what ails them. Then they search for a cure.

After all, it is more easily accessible than a trip to the doctor’s office. It’s also less expensive.

Dr. Julie Phillips, an emergency medicine physician affiliated with Sharp Grossmont Hospital in San Diego, said the Web can indeed be useful for people suffering from minor illnesses or aches and pains.

“People can get advice about proper rest, nutrition and medicine. It is common in an era of uninsured people,” she said. “Information found over the Internet is often accurate for simple problems.”

She said, for example, that when someone treats a sprain with either heat or ice, depending on the information found, that doesn’t present a problem.

“But, it can also provide a false reassurance when it comes to more serious symptoms, like shortness of breath,” Phillips said.

If someone experiencing something serious misinterprets their symptoms as something less serious, that false sense of reassurance delays some people from seeking needed medical attention for hours, she said.

“When you have progressively worsening symptoms and cannot perform your daily functions of living, that is when people should seek professional medical help,” she said.

Individuals may think they know more about themselves than others know about them, Dr. Srini Pillay wrote in a 2010 Psychology Today article. Pillay wrote that people often need to see themselves in a mirror to see more clearly. That mirror is a physician.

However, there are sites, such as www.webmd.com and www.mayoclinic.com, that have legitimate and reliable medical information, Phillips wrote.

“We must take what is out on the Web with an open mind. It can help lead us in the right direction,” she stated. “I’d be more concerned with non-medically trained people writing about medicine and health on the Web.”

Dr. Jeffrey Benabio, a board-certified dermatologist and physician director of Healthcare Transformation at Kaiser Permanente San Diego, agreed that there are pros and cons when using the Web for medical information.

He said misinformation might lead people to misinterpret what ails them, causing them to be apprehensive rather than reassured.

“If they diagnose a headache by using the Web and believe they have a brain tumor, this can definitely make someone anxious,” he said.

On the other hand, if the Web surfer learns about their symptoms from a reliable source, that may motivate him to see a physician sooner.

Benabio warned that the Web has a good measure of medical quackery, so the public must adhere to a healthy amount of buyer beware.

“Exploiting people with problems through quackery by tempting them to use their products has always been with us, but it is maxed exponentially with the use of the Web,” Benabio said. “This provides an opportunity for people to be taken advantage of.

“I’m hopeful that over time, the misinformation put out there by certain websites will simply wither and that reputable websites will thrive.”

He said the Web can help people by empowering them with information and, through social networking, provide the support they may need.

With common ailments, Benabio said people can get very useful information on the Web. It can change people’s behaviors, which can prove very beneficial.

“For example, many people lack enough sleep. Some excellent websites have information that may allow people to get a better night’s sleep without using medications,” Benabio said.

Benabio, no stranger to the Web, blogs at www.thedermblog.com as well as at www.benabio.com. He is @dermdoc on Twitter.

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