Physicians are getting concerned about people increasingly looking to the Internet for their first diagnosis.

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Online Self-Diagnosis Worrying
Physicians
Google seems to be the first point of medical consultation
for many people. Rather than visit
their family practice physician when
they experience some strange
sensation or symptom, they tend to
first Google it and self-diagnose their
condition.
Tendency to Google Symptoms on the Rise
A recent report based on an analysis of Google UK showed
that since 2008, the number of people who turn to Google
rather than consult a doctor to search for terms related to
their health, has surged.
The trend has been noticed in the U.S. too, with a new
survey from The Pew Research Center's Internet &
American Life Project showing that in 2013, about 35% of
Americans went online to diagnose themselves or others.
Up to 41% of the respondents did get their Internet
diagnoses confirmed by a medical professional, but 18%
actually got the opposite confirmed which goes to show
that all Internet diagnoses are not valid. One in three of
those surveyed never found it necessary to follow up with a
doctor what they found out about their symptoms, which
implies that they trusted their self-diagnosis to the extent
they didn't consider it worthwhile to get it double checked.
This does have significant implications for the mental

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health of patients in terms of their perspective and
expectations for treatment and recovery.
The practice is markedly high in India as well. In a survey
conducted in 27 Indian cities which involved 650 doctors,
44% of the doctors claimed that when patients visit them,
they are stuffed to the brim with information while 90%
said that patients imagine or expect the worst after their
Google experience. Crucially, 50% of doctors believed that
patients’ online health investigations made it more difficult
for them to interact with patients. The survey also noted
that health issues ranked second in topics most popularly
searched online.
Beware of Wrong Information
While a lot of information found on reliable medical
websites is certainly useful, there is also a lot of misleading
and irrelevant information out there, which could scare
searchers. People could end up getting mistaken to the
point that that they falsely think they have cancer, while
their actual medical condition could hardly be that serious.
The opposite is also true, where people having a serious
ailment think that it really isn’t that serious thanks to what
they read on some site.
Symptoms could be similar for multiple disorders. People
going through a slow heart attack could experience
symptoms similar to people experiencing indigestion,
acidity or similar digestive issues. In this case, there is the

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chance for an online searcher to either underestimate or
overestimate the actual condition.
Cross Check Your Findings
People who still want to check their symptoms online
would do well to follow a safe pattern for searching. They
have to be careful not to fall prey to quackery. There are
reliable medical websites such as Mayo Clinic and the
CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) which
are known to have the right information
People often browse medical information online when they
just want to kill time. Educating yourself about your
condition is a good thing. But building up health anxiety or
hypochondria is not. While physicians must try to assuage
such patients, the latter must double check the information
they’ve discovered and confirm it with their physician.