WILMINGTON -- An increasing number of people are turning to the internet to seek medical advice. They're affectionately called "cyber-chondriacs."
According to one poll there were about 160 million of them in 2006.
Dr. Catherine Sotir is a family practitioner at Wilmington Health Associates. She says she and her colleagues are seeing more and more people turning to the internet -- before they turn to them.
"There's a couple of dangers of it, as well. One is if you have some symptoms and you look it up and you diagnose yourself and you have something serious, but per your diagnosis it's not so serious," Dr. Sotir said.
Sotir says with so many people on the internet at home, it's only natural to look up symptoms on sites like WebMD. The problems arise when people get carried away with self-diagnosis.
"Sometimes people read or look things up on the internet and think they have something and in fact they don't," Sotir said.
If you do your own research, doctor Sotir suggests letting your doctor know what you find on medical web sites.
Wilmington resident Michael Agnew said, "I use them for checking out medications after I'm prescribed them to read up on what they're used for mostly."
Agnew is a college student who says many people his age are turning to the web for medical advice and not necessarily by choice.
"A lot of kids that don't have insurance right now," Agnew said. "I think that's becoming a big problem in America."
Dr. Sotir says it's great to be prepared with background information before you go to the doctor, but don't get into the habit of visiting websites instead of visiting your physician.
An outrage.
We live in a culture where preventative medicine in frowned upon, because there's more money to be made if we actually get sick. There's also more money to be made by treating, rather than curing, and by finally fixing the problem after it's developed into something serious. Can you really blame Americans for being paranoid about their health?!
We look on the internet for information about absolutely everything these days because it's vast, and convenient - but they are name-calling those who look on the internet for health information? "Cyber-chondriacs" meine buttocks. Health fears seem perfectly rational to me, and so does seeking information!
I think that we should be taught more about our bodies, rather than deal with this terrifying feeling of alienation from our bodies caused by the idea that only medical professionals can "know" what's going on with them.
How many of us have gone in with a problem, looking for an accurate diagnosis, only to have incompetent buffoons carelessly under-prescribe or over-prescribe us into MORE PROBLEMS?
Oftentimes doctors will rush you through becuase they don't have time to go in depth, or they just forget certain details. That info is avail.. online... just as information about other things is.
Here's my personal experience with the very accurate medical information out there on the internet: I had several symptoms, and found out about something called "GERD" online. When I went in for an evaluation, well, first the doctor told me that it was "only anxiety" and to just relax. Thanks doc!
The next doctor confirmed my suspicions that it was indeed GERD. I was told to avoid certain foods, but he left out a few, which I mentioned. He said, "Why yes, actually.. those too.. how did you know?" The internet. I also found much, much more about it online later which helped me deal with it without medication. Hmmmmmmm... Deal.. without.. paying.. more.. money?
If you're getting your medical information online, then there's a possibility that you don't need to go in and pay them a hundred dollars a pop, to wank you around for three hours then send you home with some fancy prescription poo capsules.
I'm not saying avoid going to see a doctor all together by any means. I'm just saying, the internet can offer lot's of help when it comes to non-life threatening problems (which still cost us an arm and a leg at the doctors office just for a diagnosis).