Whenever I need to know anything nowadays, I mostly just look on the internet and sometimes I ask my virtual PA ‘Alexa’ to look for me!  I even dabble in artificial intelligence (AI) (but I tread carefully on both).  However, you need to be very careful in acceptance of what is credible information and what isn’t.

As a relatively experienced health blogger and activist, I like to think of myself as ‘internet savvy’, so I occasionally find myself using ‘Dr Google’ to diagnose my own aches, pains and unusual feelings (and I confess to using it to help others).  I mostly find there are no real or definitive answers online for many patient- reported issues.  All of that said, there is no doubt that I am a big supporter of using Google for my own issues and to help others, either via my blog posts or to help answer someone’s question in my patient group using those skills. 

Although I seem to learn something on each piece of research, I also find some really worrying stuff.  Some symptoms can have dozens of reasons and I often realise how difficult it can often be for a doctor faced with unusual, vague and nonsensical symptoms! However, I also feel sympathy for any patient online patient looking for answers. 

On a recent online symptom check for lower left abdominal spasms, I discovered I was pregnant with an alien baby!  (Ronny Allan)

The internet is really powerful but also really dangerous.  For example, if you look up “best treatment for cancer”, you have an astonishing 300 million offerings. Right there with rigorous, evidence-based sites, there are those offering fermented foods and DIY cancer cure kits (e.g. fake healthcare news and cancer myths). Worried patients sometimes need help to distinguish between sensible advice and fanciful claims/ miracle cures. In a study published in 2019, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO)’s second annual National Cancer Opinion Survey, a surprising 40% of Americans believe cancer can be cured solely through alternative therapies (higher in younger patients).   In a similar study in UK, the NHS blamed social media for the spread of fake healthcare news.  Unfortunately, social media ‘misinformation’ includes ‘alleged’ cures for various ailments including cancer.  I think we’ve all been there, we check twitter, Facebook, Pinterest etc and we find the ubiquitous miracle cures for every illness under the sun.  Easy to find, easy to read and worryingly, easy to share.  Surely these cures must be true, after all…..it’s on the ‘NET’.  Read more about the sort of things to look for – click here. 

When I combine my own experience with what I read on patient groups and forums, I can see that internet searching is not for the faint of heart.  Some people are already in a state of anxiety before they started searching Dr Google’s archives, and what they find has probably made their anxiety worse.  In fact, the rise of the internet has created a new term for those who worry themselves sick and continually misdiagnose symptoms on the internet – ‘Cyberchondriac’.