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HomeScience & TechMedical Information on Internet Good or Bad?

Medical Information on Internet Good or Bad?

Do you want to know medical information on internet good or bad? If your answer is yes then this blog provides you all information regarding this.

Why is it a terrible idea to use Google to look up information about your health?

The Internet resembles a maze of information. It’s easy to become lost among the plethora of pseudo-experts disseminating false medical information. People’s perceptions of reality can be manipulated by the algorithms that determine search results. You can, and probably have fallen into the trap of insufficient information. Like me, for instance.

Misleading data is an art form.

It was just another chilly evening in the dead of winter. For some days, my back had been bothering me. Although the itching was not severe enough to warrant a trip to the doctor, I felt compelled to investigate further. I noticed a centimeter-sized mole in the mirror. I knew I needed to bring it to a dermatologist because I’m a health-conscious person. But something went awry with my decision-making process after that. I expected to have to wait weeks for a meeting. Uncertainty for weeks. However, assistance was available right away. It’s on the web.

There was no need to be concerned; the mole had always been there, and it didn’t appear strange. But I needed an immediate response to the questions that were swirling about in my thoughts, not something that would come later. The suspicion that it was serious grew stronger, evoking negative emotions. I went to my computer and typed in a question to Google. Even back then, I could see that I was making a major error. How many times had I read that you should never Google health because the information is unreliable? I couldn’t tell you how many pieces I’d written about the dangers of checking symptoms online. However, in situations like this, rational thought has no place. Nothing else is more important than discovering the truth as quickly as possible. I typed in “itching mole” as a search term and found a maze of useless material and recommendations.

The Infermedica blog keeps you up to date.

The images that appeared suggested a straightforward answer: cancer. Melanoma instances, prognosis, and treatments were all covered in the articles. I’d fallen into the trap, and it was too late to separate scientific, evidence-based medical information from patients’ stories that had nothing to do with my situation. I clicked the links for all of the suggested search results, starting with the ones at the top.

Without knowing anything about my circumstance, Google provided the worst conceivable diagnosis. Worse, it abandoned me with a mountain of incomprehensible data. I could blame myself for being duped, but I, like millions of other Internet users, have no way of navigating through the jumble of data on the screen. Why shouldn’t we trust Google when it comes to medical advice if the Internet has become a credible source of daily knowledge?

The engine of deception

I was worried when I found myself at the emergency hospital early the next morning after a sleepless night. I was both angry and cheated a few minutes later. The search engine was completely incorrect. The algorithms had presented me with the most popular results, rather than the most relevant ones, based on the number of clicks. Google, Bing, Yahoo!, and Baidu all claim to be able to identify ailments, but they entice us with sensational, not reasonable, information. Sadly, the majority of us are unaware of this. This not only deceives those seeking assistance but also jeopardizes medical knowledge and doctors’ skills.

It’s difficult to distinguish between truth and deception when objective knowledge and phony medical news are mixed together. Surprisingly, the Internet’s classification system makes expert opinions less accessible than medical conspiracy theories.

Google receives around one billion health questions each day, with over 90% of the overall search engine market share. 70,000 queries are answered by Dr. Google per minute. There is no other healthcare institution in the world that serves such a large number of people. Despite this, no research into its effects on patients’ health has been conducted. When making health-related decisions based on Google searches, we can only approximate the magnitude of the negative impacts and expenses.

The issue extends far beyond simply looking up symptoms on the internet. On the Internet, medical misinformation propagates quickly: individuals at high risk of heart disease may discover that statins are damaging to their health, and parents seeking up vaccines may be presented with false information about how dangerous vaccines are for children. Advertisements for super diets, miracle herbs, and mysterious alternative remedies play with our emotions in an attempt to debunk medical realities. Doctors continue to caution people not to seek solutions on the internet, but erroneous healthcare notions continue to propagate.

“Fake news threatens our democracy and our lives,” argues Dr. Haider Warraich, a cardiologist at Duke University, in The New York Times article “Dr. Google is a Liar.”

Dr. Warraich informed me, “There is no doubt that search engines can be valuable, not only for patients but also for clinicians.”

“While searching for symptoms through search engines might be beneficial to some, it can often lead to misinformation for others because it does not capture the complete context of the patient’s condition. Patients may be needlessly alarmed or given false reassurance as a result of this approach, both of which are harmful.”

For years, Google has been chastised for the methods used to convey the results of a patient’s search, which have allowed false information to spread. I’m not implying that Google is a horrible company. On the other hand, the Silicon Valley tech behemoth is seeking to make a few adjustments in response. Patients should, for example, have access to trustworthy information through “knowledge panels.” Google Maps now shows local drug disposal locations to help fight the opioid epidemic. These endeavors are a drop in the bucket compared to the enormity of the needs.

Enlightenment comes from AI.

I learned a lot from the evening I let myself be misled. To be clear, there’s nothing wrong with looking for health-related material on the internet. The Internet, on the other hand, has made information more accessible to all. Patients are growing more self-assured, and they and their doctors are sharing responsibility for their health. The global lack of medical personnel necessitates societal involvement. The Internet is also a tremendous repository of knowledge that is both useful and interesting. However, if you asked me why Google is harmful for your health, I would tell you that medicine is a science, not a guessing game. Google’s algorithms, on the other hand, are biased against scientific evidence.

Things are changing, thankfully, for the better, thanks to technological advancements. In order to deliver appropriate responses, artificial intelligence algorithms examine hundreds of thousands of pages in medical publications and research findings. Symptom checkers, for example, can provide a trustworthy health assessment. These AI-powered solutions are solely focused on scientific proof. Patients explain their symptoms and respond to syndrome-related questions instead of typing a term into a search engine. The health evaluation contains information on possible causes of symptoms, treatment alternatives, and lab tests that may be recommended. Symptom checkers, of course, assess the patient’s health only on the information provided; they are unable to see, hear, touch, or examine the user.

Why is 2020 regarded as a watershed moment in the healthcare industry?

Symptom checks, on the other hand, have a clear advantage over search engines. They are designed in collaboration with doctors and are loaded with scientific information similar to that acquired by medical students. They gather information from reputable sources, and machine learning ensures that they are always improving. They provide the greatest AI-powered patient guidance available online. This is a rapidly developing field. Only a few years ago, the first symptom checkers were introduced. National health systems and insurers now employ them to assist individuals in navigating their own health or finding the correct doctor, distributing health services online, and conducting fast health evaluations. The goal is difficult but worthwhile: to draw patients out of the information quagmire and improve digital health literacy, or the capacity to sift through internet information to effectively manage one’s health. People can defend themselves from misinformation if they have the expertise necessary to identify, classify, and apply health-related data.

A doctor’s consultation cannot be substituted for an online health examination. However, there are occasions when you want to know what’s wrong as quickly as possible, rather than waiting for a doctor’s appointment. In any situation, keep in mind to use caution when seeking internet guidance. You’ll drown in a sea of unrelated data and diagnosis if you don’t.

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