Search, find, diagnose…

I found out that diabetes runs in my family and was very interested to know the causes and how to live with it. So how did I get my information? Doctors? No. Family members? No. The internet, of course.

As Lewis (2006, 521) says the, “emergence of RealAge.com and other personalized health websites can be seen as part of a broader trend across the media. From television to the print media, health issues today are increasingly talked about in terms of individual rather than governmental or social responsibility.” It is true that all types of media encourage people to take their health and lifestyle issues into their own hands. As Erin mentions in her blog, the aforementioned website is even endorsed by Oprah.

But with people being able to gather their own information online, people are more likely to self-diagnose or become “cyberchondriacs,” as spoken about in the Taylor (2002) article. All the information that is uploaded on the internet is hard to moderate and therefore you need to be very careful with what you consume and always question the validity of the information. The abundance of information would not be such an issue if all patients took their information or concerns to a licensed medical practitioner. Unfortunately this is not the case.

The BBC reported on a study which stated that “only about 200 of 500 sites offered correct information, Archives of Disease in Childhood reports.” Lucy also agrees that not all sources of medical or lifestyle information are correct. With this in mind we need to ask ourselves what we are really reading when we use the internet to find medical information. Should we really put our health at risk just to save a trip to the doctors?

BBC. 2010. Internet child health advice ‘wrong.’ BBC News. April 12.

Diabetes Australia. 2011. http://www.diabetesaustralia.com.au/ (accessed April 11, 2011)

Lewis, T. (2006). Seeking health information on the internet: lifestyle choice or bad attack of cyberchondria? Media, Culture & Society, volume 28, issue 4: 521-539. Available on CMD.

Taylor, H. (2002) ‘The Harris Poll #21: Cyberchondriacs Update’, URL (consulted

September 2003): http://www.gsbc.com/harris_poll/index.asp?PID=299

Summers, K. 2010. Internet Health Source: Who to Trust? http://www.healthwriting.com/internet-health-sources-who-to-trust/ (accessed April 11, 2011)