Most people would visit the doctor only when they absolutely need to due to irrational fears of getting jabbed by a needle in the clinic. Hence, they’d turn to ‘Dr Google’ for consultation; however, it is clearly not the best solution as experts have recently pointed this out.
According to The Star, a team of medical professionals, politicians, and business people had attended the health summit held in Hanover, Germany recently. One of the main issues they discussed was the digitalisation of healthcare where patients turn to the internet for advice instead of making personal visits to the healthcare centre.
In fact, Martina Wenker from the state medical association for Lower Saxony (AEKN) said,
“The constant accessibility of medical information of varying degrees of accuracy on the internet is very unsettling for many patients,” she said.
After Googling the symptoms, many patients would incur an unfounded fear of having critical illnesses which is a condition known as ‘cyberchondria’. We’ve all had our fair share of experience in this aspect, right?
Source: Stop Dr Google
“We doctors have to take these patients’ fears seriously and properly sort out all the information for them, which is best done in face-to-face communication between the doctor and patient,” she added.
Seeking consultation from trained and professional doctors is, of course, your best bet but there’s no harm in learning more about our illnesses online, provided that we are looking at credible medical websites.
Do you know someone who always goes to ‘Dr Google’ instead of a real doctor? Tag them in the comments! XD
Also read: Doctor Urges M’sians to Use Condoms to Prevent HIV, Netizens Say He’s Promoting Adultery
