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You a Cyberchondriac?
With the exception of e-mail and online shopping, surfing for
medical information may be the most popular use of the Web.
The Internet has opened the door separating doctors and their
reference books from the public. Where people once had to visit
a real-life M.D. or sleuth around the library for information,
now most medical journals are just a click away. And health-oriented
sites cater to those cravings. However, experts say it’s
best to use Internet health references in moderation. The ease
of the Web’s instant, 24-hour health information can be
foiled by misinformation, misunderstanding and the danger of
becoming addictive.
The byte that keeps on giving
The Web’s medical cybermines start small. Consider, for
instance, recent widely circulated e-mail messages warning that
tampons carry asbestos and antiperspirants cause breast cancer.
“E-mail turns people who might not be inclined to pass
along bad info into rumormongers,” says David Emery, an
Internet technology specialist who debunked both rumors with
extensive research on his Web site, urbanlegends.about.com.
Like magazines and newspapers, “e-mail is in written form,
which is powerful,” he says. E-mail can be even more powerful,
he adds, because clipping a story from a newspaper or magazine
and sending it to a friend requires initiative and declares
endorsement. With e-mail, people hit the forward button without
taking responsibility for the message. Like a rumor, e-mails
circulating bad medical information gain credibility by sheer
momentum and the power of repetition.
The land
of instant “experts”
Which brings up another major problem: credibility. Of the
tens of thousands of medical Web sites, only a fraction get
the stamp of approval from watchdog organizations like the
Health on the Net Foundation, Emery says. Also, many health
sites are hosted by amateurs with limited research skills
or even an ax to grind. Often, it’s difficult to know
whether the author of the Web site is a legitimate expert
or not.
Marc Feldman,
M.D., professor of psychiatry at the University of Alabama,
Birmingham, says that for those lacking publishing or professional
credentials who are eager to get their word out, the Web is
instant, free, and has the potential of reaching more eyes
than a bestseller does. And unlike medical journals, which
run articles based on peer-reviewed research by scientific
experts citing substantiated sources with footnotes and bibliographies,
“anyone can publish anything on the Web with a simple
upload,” he says.
Information
overdose
While real doctors rely on knowledge, experience, vital signs
and symptoms to diagnose a condition, computers can only regurgitate
the range of conditions a given symptom could account for,
from the common cold to cancer. Type in a symptom like “sore
throat,” for instance, and you’ll get links for
everything from tuberculosis to throat cancer when you might
just have the flu. “Serious surfing gets the Web-wired
thinking about esoteric illnesses that they’d never even
have heard about had it not been for the Internet,” Feldman
says. The results can range from unwarranted concern to cyberchondria,
a condition triggered by excess surfing that afflicts about
9 percent of people who surf the Web for medical info, Feldman
says.
A case
in point: 29-year-old Melanie Edwards from Austin, Texas,
who noticed she had eczema and turned to the Web for treatment
information. Self-diagnosis sites let her type in her symptoms--a
rash--and returned possible ailments, including cancer, lymphoma
and HIV. Edwards started spending three hours at a time surfing
the Web. The more she focused on her symptoms, the worse they
got. Finally, she went to seven doctors in search of diagnoses
to validate her worst fears. One physician even administered
extensive tests to prove to her that she wasn’t seriously
ill. In the end, the eczema healed with topical treatment
prescribed by a doctor.
When
the Web can be your ally
Despite its vast potential to lead you down a blind medical
alley, scare you senseless or give you a bad case of cyberchondria,
the Internet can bolster your health care when used judiciously.
Medical Web
sites often can help you fine-tune your symptom complaints,
provide lists of questions to ask your doctor and help you eliminate
ailments. In short, they can give you enough information to
prepare you to see a real-life doctor and aid her treatment
of you. Some sites suggest and show you how to develop a list
of questions to take to the doctor to maximize her time--and
save time and money you might otherwise spend on seeing specialists
or getting unnecessary tests.
Chloe
Jones (not her real name), a magazine editor, is an example
of someone who used the Web to her advantage. After months
of oversleeping, feeling cold constantly and having no appetite,
she “hit the Web heavy” and discovered that her
symptoms pointed to hypothyroidism, a disease in which the
thyroid, which regulates your metabolism, underproduces.
While
her hummingbirdlike energy and build didn’t entirely
match the disease profile (many people with hypothyroidism
are sluggish and overweight) her doctor was so impressed with
Jones’ research, she agreed to test her--and found that
Jones’ hunch was right. Now on thyroid medication, Jones
credits the Internet for “bringing out my inner medical
activist.”
Caveat
emptor
For the sick, Internet support groups can also act as a clearinghouse
for news on breast cancer research, for example, and as a
community of empathetic ears offering unquestioning comfort.
But before you log on electronically, heed the body physical.
Did you pass blood in your stool? Find a lump in your breast?
Severe symptoms require immediate attention from a real-life
doctor, not a virtual one. If navigated wisely, the Internet
can make you a better health consumer. Misuse it, however,
and you could get tangled in a frightening medical web of
your own making.
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