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goodhealth.
ON TO H EALTHWant to know more about that niggling symptom you
get in the early hours? Bonnie Vaughan
suggests you skip Dr Google and go straight to the medical
websites with credentialsne of the facts of 21stcentury life is
that weget practically all ourinformation online. ltt also
where
we go to seek health advice. Whohasn't run to Google when a cold
haslasted more than a week or there'san inexplicable pain in your
elbow?
A recent US poll measuring popularonline pursuits found that 80
per centof internet users seek health andmedical information
online, beatingother popular cyber-pastimes such asshopping and
browsing the news.
Depending on how you look at it,that's either a mightily
impressivefigure or an extremely disturbing one.On the one hand,
taking a proactiverole in managing your own health isempowering.
But on the other, there'sa lot of misleading information outthere
that could catapult you directlyfrom simply curious to
panic-stricken.
While there's nothing wrong witha little self-education, there
are smartways to search to separate the wheatfrom the chaff. Here's
how.
6.4
DO YOURRESEARCHThe worst thing you can do is simply typeyour
symptoms into your search engineand dive into the first results you
find.Search for'sore throatl for instance, andyou could end up
convinced you've gotneck cancer. lt is imperative that youexamine
any research you find and crosscheck it back to the original
source.
'Ask yourself where the informationcame fromi'urges Professor
Moyez Jiwa,chair of health innovation at CurtinUniversity."Who
wrote it? Has it beenreviewed by a healthcare professional?ls the
information current?"
It is also vital to separate fact fromopinion, he stresses."The
internetprovides some very good informationif you follow some
simple rulesl'
GET PROFESSIONALADVICEItt obvious why we run to the web
forhealth advice. lt's free, it doesn't requirean appointment, it's
open 24/7, andit'sless confronting than seeing a GP or
specialist face-to-face, especially if youhave an embarrassing
problem.
But it is a huge mistake to rely on theinternet alone. For
example, in her 20-plusyears as a nutritionist and
naturopath,Teresa Mitchell-Paterson has seen a trendin food allergy
self-diagnosis, which hasput many people at potential risk.
"People draw all kinds of conclusionswhen they go online without
getting anyreal substance to their symptoms,,'shesays."They're
often getting the wronginformation. And by the time they'vecome to
us, they've excluded so manyfoods they're missing out on a
widerange of nutrients, which can have asignificant impact on their
healthl'
On top of that, Mitchell-Paterson says,those who self-diagnose
by Google oftenend up wasting more time and moneythan those who
consult a healthpractitioner. "People constantly come intothe
practice with bags full of supplementsthat they've spent 5400 or
$500 on aftergoing onlinei'she says. "They'll take thewrong dose,
they're not being monitored,there's no follow-up, and eventually
theyend up with us after alli'
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kS.'i.!*+
#
ffi%ASKYOURDOCTORTO GOONLINE, TOO
One ofthe greatestbenefits of easy accessto medical
informationis that GPs no longerhold all the cards.
"We need to bemore up-to-date andto have our computersswitched
on duringconsultations so that wecan, if necessary, searchfor
something a patientwishes to know about,"says Jiwa. And, heinsists,
it speeds up theconsultation process.
"Using the internethas got more torecommend it thanto detract
from it,"he concludes. "lt's awonderfultool." )
