Jerusalem - Someone writes the symptoms of his illness on search engines and diagnoses himself with a serious illness, and another applies home recipes from social media, and his pain multiplies instead of disappearing. Cases have become popular after the spread of the Internet and the ease of access to it, making it closer and easier for the patient to book an appointment and visit a specialist doctor.
Al-Jazeera Net went to family and pediatric medicine specialist, Dr. Amani Zuaiter, to talk about the Internet in the medical balance, between the negatives and positives of diagnosis and consultation through it.
Why do some of them choose the Internet to diagnose their symptoms?
Easier and faster
Some people view the Internet as faster and easier than visiting a doctor. A click of a button on a mobile phone leads to hundreds of results from different sources, images, and possibly similar experiences as well. The patient is also in a hurry to find out his diagnosis because of his fear and anxiety, so he prefers the fastest and closest way, rather than waiting for the doctor’s appointment the next day or week.
Shy
Embarrassment and shyness, especially in diseases or consultations related to sexual health, is a common reason that pushes a person to the Internet. Some of them ask the doctor during the session about everything related to diabetes, for example, while leaving some questions that he is embarrassed to ask to the Internet, and here comes the role of the doctor in taking the initiative to ask the patient and dispel shyness
In addition, others are ashamed to reveal some of their organs in front of the doctor, so they try to reassure or check themselves through the Internet.
physical hindrance
The financial factor cannot be overlooked, as a person may not have free health insurance, so some are forced to pay a fee for consultation or medical examination, which leads to preferring free diagnosis via the Internet.
the fear
Fear or pre-stereotypical expectation dominates the minds of some patients, who are afraid of visiting a doctor as a result of bad experiences from the past, or are afraid of receiving negative news about the result of their examination, especially if one of their relatives or loved ones has experienced a similar disease, so the patient prefers to search online, and prefer the desired results. Or gathering evidence from various sources to support his hypothesis.
Disadvantages of remote diagnostics
electronic illusion
Doctor Amani Zuaiter says that the diagnosis differs according to the patient’s condition, circumstances, and medical record. Medical advice via the Internet is general, and may not suit all questioners. The solutions are not equal once they resemble a few symptoms, so the questioner may fall into the net of electronic illusion, while his condition is Simple, for example, he reads about rare cases, gets anxious and tense, and begins to expand negatively, and he may psychologically assume the disease he read about.
Misdiagnosis
Resorting to the Internet exclusively delays the diagnosis, as the patient is afraid or reassured, so he postpones the visit to the doctor, or he may fall into the wrong diagnosis. The information and sources on the network are not always accurate and reliable, even if they are under the cover of a “medical study.” There are some studies that are funded and directed by companies to promote According to Dr. Zuaiter, there are special standards for medical studies, in contrast to those that do not include a large segment or are based on weak scientific foundations, which lead to confusion and inaccurate diagnosis.
Zuaiter stresses that the correct medical diagnosis is an integrated process that may not be limited to reading from the Internet, as it includes clinical and laboratory examination, and depends on assessing the patient's condition and record. Sensitivity, for example, differs between a healthy person and another with a disease in the digestive system.
Ineffective treatment
After the medical diagnosis, the patient resorts to a prescription via the Internet, which may be unscientific or useless, and sometimes delays the patient's recovery. Like high cholesterol, it may be genetically caused, and it does not work with it to adhere to a healthy system only in isolation from medication.
invasion of privacy
Some ask their questions and medical problems or publish pictures of pain points through groups of private and public communication sites, which violates their privacy and exposes them to the analyzes and answers of non-professionals and amateurs. Comments on communication sites are not subject to censorship or legal and medical responsibility.
Loss of conditioning and psychological support
When diagnosing his patient, the doctor is keen to follow an appropriate method to tell him the truth about his illness if it is serious, with the support of an accompanying psychologist and the participation of some of the patient's relatives, and this advantage is lost by the questioner via the Internet.
He may receive without introduction the news of his illness, which may not be accurate, and may be accompanied by false information that frightens the patient and hinders him from progressing in treatment, and Zuaiter says that she sometimes strives with the patient to change the stereotypes that he formed from his random surfing on the Internet.
Double-edged
Despite its negative repercussions, the positive aspect of medical education via the Internet cannot be denied - if used intelligently - and Dr. Zuaiter advises obtaining the correct diagnosis from the doctor first, and then the stage of education and awareness begins after learning about the disease and recommending a professional treatment plan.
And she concludes, "There are many medical articles on the Internet, but they always remind their readers that they do not replace a doctor's visit. Our body is not a field of experiments, and the specialist doctor is always better than (Dr. Google)."
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