How much can you trust medical information from the internet?

Explain the problems that arise between doctors and patients due to information obtained from the internet and how to resolve them. Emphasize the importance of getting the right information from trusted sources and trusting your doctor.

 

A cool mom gives her opinion. Before she can finish reading that her child has a fever, she asks what’s wrong. After a quick guess, the doctor starts by controlling her breathing. The child had been running a high fever for over a week and had chapped lips and red, puffy eyes. He had a rash on his neck and palpable bruises. “Kawasaki? My child is different, are you sure it’s Kawasaki?” The doctor explained that the symptoms can vary and that complications can occur, even if they are atypical. She asked if there were any other treatments, what would happen if there was no treatment, who were the leading names in this field, and then pulled out her phone and started googling.
It reminded me of a TIME article from a few years ago, “What If Your Patients Were Googlers? It talked about the frustration doctors are experiencing when some patients come into the office with Google searches on their phones. These patients are increasingly difficult to deal with, as they come to the doctor with fragmented information and demand their own solutions. In the case of rare diseases, patients may know more than doctors.
Eighty percent of U.S. internet users look up their health information online, and 63% say what they find online influences their health care. Only 25% check where the information came from and when it was posted, and the rest don’t care about the quality of the information.
Information on the internet can be both good and bad. When it’s right, it can save you a lot of explaining. But when it’s wrong, it’s very hard to correct. Daniel Kahneman, professor emeritus at Princeton University in the United States, says that there are two types of thinking in the brain: fast and slow. Fast thinking is emotional, intuitive, and immediate, while slow thinking is slow and logical, controlling thoughts and behaviors. In general, humans are fast thinkers and tend to attach great importance to firsts, such as “first experiences” or “first loves.” Therefore, the first information we encounter in the media or on the Internet is not only accepted without judgment, but also not easily changed, even if it is wrong.
So how can we use the internet to get the right information? The truth is, not all medical information on the internet is problematic. Trustworthy sites run by government agencies, media organizations, and university hospitals can give you advice on how serious your symptoms are and which department you should see. They can also answer questions you didn’t get answered or didn’t have time to ask after your doctor’s appointment, and they can help you manage chronic conditions and prevent diseases that run in your family.
It’s also useful for people who are stuck in a foreign country and don’t know how to deal with stress, smoking, alcohol, or other health hazards, or who want advice on alternative medicine. Social networking services (SNS), which are gaining popularity due to the spread of smartphones, should not be left out. Recently, a number of university hospitals, including Yonsei University and Korea University, have opened Twitter accounts to provide simple medical information and health advice in real time, as well as information on health lectures held at the hospital. In fact, in one case, a man who tweeted about an abnormality and received medical advice from a medical professional via Twitter visited a hospital for treatment. This improvement in the quality of medical information online has also had the positive effect of increasing people’s interest in health.
The internet has made it easier for patients to access medical information. In many cases, we research and study our symptoms online before going to the doctor. But the thing is, that’s not all. Much of the information on the internet comes from so-called “carders” with unclear sources. It’s important to discern and acquire important information, but above all, to focus on trusting the doctor sitting in front of you. The irony of doubting your doctor based on flimsy information can lead to unfortunate consequences that prevent you from getting a true diagnosis.