Searching Symptoms Could Be A Health Risk

Just two decades ago it was unimaginable that reliable medical information could be sourced from anywhere other than a health care professional. The sudden onset of symptoms meant a visit to a doctor, chat with a nurse or trip to the emergency room. The internet has changed the way we look at our symptoms. Nowadays most people would turn to the internet for their first-contact health education than to a doctor.
What may seem like a quick, convenient and cost-free way of deciding whether you really do need medical attention or not, may actually be putting your health at risk. Sometimes even minor symptoms may be a prelude to a serious medical event that may follow within hours or days. Furthermore many serious ailments can present with common and non-specific symptoms which may not seem like a cause for concern.
The issue does not lie with medical websites offering reliable information but rather in the way the user interprets it in order to make a health care decision. The wrong interpretation could turn out to be a matter of life or death. What could have been averted or at least minimized with prompt medical attention is instead delayed because the ‘internet said so’.
Take a burning chest pain for example. Most people would immediately think that it is heartburn, a symptom that is not usually a cause for concern. Heartburn is a result of stomach acid flowing backwards into the food pipe (esophagus). Although uncomfortable and often distressing, heartburn is not potentially life-threatening.
However, what may seem like heartburn could in fact be cardiac pain, and it may even be a heart attack. The vast majority of medical websites state that typical heart attack chest pain is crushing or constricting in nature. Unfortunately the human body is not always typical.