People are increasingly logging on to the web to access health information and tools and are even relying on its prescription DR GOOGLE?
Socialising apart there is a growing breed of people who are logging on to the web to find answers to their medical queries. At times it is the curiosity of the people that leads them to Google their symptoms to arrive at a self-diagnosis.
Most seek further information after a diagnosis. In some cases, the doctors themselves encourage their patients to read up more about their medical condition on the web. Dr Nisha Leekha, a gynaecologist practising in upmarket Hauz Khas in Delhi believes in precisely that. Internet is akin to an aide for her, “helping the patients understand in detail about the problem that they have been diagnosed with”.
Counting the clicks The Engaged E-patient Population Report by Pew Internet estimates that between 75% and 80% of internet users have looked online for health information.
Also, people who feel they have a lot at stake aremore likely to engage intensely with online resources. Nearly 75% of e-patients with a chronic condition say their last health search affected a decision abouthowto treat an illness or condition, compared with 55%of other e-patients.And31%of epatients say they or someone they know has been significantly helped by following medical advice or health information found on the internet. Only 3%of health seekers say they or someone they know has been seriously harmed by following the advice or information they found online.
However, not everyone agrees with this methodology. “When it comes to heart care, there are certain standard sites likeMayoClinic, Cleveland Clinic, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute…these are authentic sites and their information can be relied on.
They definitelymake a layman aware.
But at the same time asking the patients to surf the net may not be a good idea because they may access wrong information.
So,we ourselves try and explain everything to the patients and share with them our in-house literature,” says Dr Suman Bhandari, Director, Interventional Cardiology, Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre.
However, the netizens are definitely clicking their way to health. The first site 32-year-old Anurag Pandit consults in case of any problem is “Dr Google”.A health-conscious advertising executive, Pandit routinely hits the Google search engine with his symptoms and tries to arrive at a diagnosis on the basis of the search results.He personally consults a doctor only if he suspects the “symptoms to be serious.” And what does he mean by that? “I have just recovered from typhoid. All the symptoms, I found on the net, pointed at that. I went ahead and got a test done to confirm the same. Only then did I consult a doctor,” shares Pandit. For him, it is about “being in control.” Matter of trust But can the medical information on the internet be trusted? “I have had people leaving a medication midway through their treatment and having a severe relapse, just becausesomesite givesthem the incorrect information that the medicationwas harmful. Others read about their side effects and presume they should not take medication,” says Dr Samir Parikh, consultant Psychiatrist, Chief, Department of Mental Health and Behavioural Sciences. He is a case in point. He started to blog to ensure the people get the right and scientific information. And not everyone gets what they are looking for.WhenKritika Kaushik keyed in Dronis 30 to find ou whythe doctor had prescribed her tha medicine—evenWikipediacameback with a question: “What is Dronis 30? Please help us answer this question.” Kaushik had resorted to “the interne to fill in the gaps left by her doctor.” As the patient-doctor relationship gets commodified, it’s the internet that is being relied on to ‘get that persona touch’ — trying to get in touch with other patients.
Parikh has an advice for patients like Kaushik who are ready to trust even Wiki:“Sites fromrecognised hospitals medical colleges, medical forums, jour nals, give clinical and scientific infor mation, but for every one such site there are many that do exactly the op posite. That’s the concern. Some may not be able to distinguish between the two, andmaybe vulnerable to non-sci entific information causing harms.” So, the next time you log on for di agnosis or prescription, practise cau tion.Andmake sure you see a doctor! Worth a click There are general information sites, medical research sites, patient sites and disease-specific sites and even web tools to monitor specific health conditions.
Here are the top five sites by US market share of visits:
1. Webmd.com It covers A-Z of health—information about disease, news and lifestyle advice.
It also has a detailed ‘drugs & supplements’ section to help you find a drug and read the latest news on it. It also provides a Pill Identification tool to help people identify prescription drugs and over-the-counter medicines.
2. Mayoclinic.com The MayoClinic site is as exhaustive and apart from providing general health information provides details on tests and procedures. So, you can read up on any test that your doctor has prescribed to you and know all about it. All the information on the website is claimed to be backed by the expertise of Mayo’s 3,400 physicians and scientists.
3. Righthealth.com If you are looking for one health nugget each day—try Righthealth’sDaily Dose, a daily health update by a doctor, featuring one item a day.
4. Medicinenet.com Apart from the usual information and tools to manage your health, this site has a dedicated space for doctor-to-patient and patient-to-patient stories. Also, there’s a Medterm dictionary to help you decode all those complex terms that your doctor drops without any further clarification.
5. Yahoo! Health A neat and easy to navigate website to access basic information about mind & mood, diet & fitness, everyday wellness and much more.
Drugs.com,MSNHealth,RxList,WebMDMedicalSymptomCheckerand Healthlinearetheotherpopularsites.
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